Ch 7/8 Memory, Cognition, Language

Question 1

Herman Ebbinghaus

Answer 1

Created the nonsense syllable to study “pure” memory.

He devised a relearning method to measure how much he forgot over time

Question 2

Noam Chomsky

Answer 2

1965

Behind every string of words people produce, called surface structures, there is a deep structure (abstract representation of the relationships expressed in a sentence)

Question 3

Ann Premack and David Premack

Answer 3

Taught their chimp, Sarah, to communicate by placing different shaped chips, each symbolizing a word, on a magnetic board

Question 4

Elizabeth Loftus

Answer 4

Explained why someone might “remember” a traumatic event that didn’t actually occur.

Suggest b/c books or psychotherapists that use guided imagination/ hypnosis. Denial is “evidence” of denial of truth

Question 5

David Premack

Answer 5

Known for Premack’s Principle (ch6)

(List of behavioral preferences from most desirable to least desirable)

and teaching chimp to communicate

Question 6

Benjamin Whorf

Answer 6

1956

Language determines how we think-

Language determinism

Question 7

Auditory (acoustic) memory

Answer 7

Mental representations of information as a sequence of sounds

Tunes

Question 8

Storage

Answer 8

The process of maintaining information in memory over time

Ex. Vacation from 2008

Question 9

Visual memory

Answer 9

The mental representation of information as images

Ex. Best friends face

Question 10

Maintenance Rehearsal

Answer 10

Repeating information over and over to keep it active in short term memory

Ex. Repeating a phone number

Question 11

Elaborative rehearsal

Answer 11

A memorization method that involves thinking about how new information relates to information already stored in long- term memory

Ex. associating someone’s name to something you already know

Question 12

Sensory registers

Answer 12

Memory systems that hold incoming information long enough for it to be processed further.

Ex. Temporary storage bin

Question 13

Selective attention

Answer 13

The focusing of mental resources in only part of the stimulus field

Ex. Taking test

Question 14

State dependent memory

Answer 14

Memory that is aided or impeded by a person’s internal state

Ex. Learn something while under influence, more likely to recall better if under

Question 15

Context specific memory

Answer 15

Memory that can be helped or hindered by similarities or differences between the context in which it is learned and the context in which it is recalled.

Ex. Eyewitness of crime creates a mental map

Question 16

Decay theory

Answer 16

A description of forgetting as the gradual disappearance of info from memory

Ex. Words on Ring fade

Question 17

Repressed memory

Answer 17

A painful memory that is said to be kept out of the consciousness by psychological processes.

Ex. Abuse

Question 18

Information processing system

Answer 18

Mechanisms for receiving information, representing it with symbols, and manipulating it

Ex. Computer

Question 19

Reaction time

Answer 19

The time between the presentation of a stimulus and overt response to it

Ex. Dropping a ruler.

Question 20

Evokes potential

Answer 20

A small, temporary change in EEG voltage in the brain that is caused by some stimuli.

Ex. P300 are normally stronger in response to unusual stimuli rather than predictable ones

Question 21

Natural concept

Answer 21

A concept that has no fixed set of defining features but has a set of characteristic features.

Ex. An ostrich can’t fly but is still a bird.

Question 22

Prototype

Answer 22

A member of a natural concept that possesses all of most of its characters if features.

Ex. A chicken is a prototypical bird

Question 23

Mental model

Answer 23

A representation of particular situations or arrangements of objects that guided our interaction with them

Ex. Someone explaining what their living room looks like.

Question 24

Script

Answer 24

A mental representation of a familiar sequence of activity.

Ex. Going to a restaurant and knowing the sequence of events that you can expect.

Question 25

Concept

Answer 25

A category of objects, events, or ideas that have common properties.

Ex. Square is defined as a shape with four equal sides and four right angle corners

Question 26

Cognitive maps

Answer 26

A mental model of familiar parts of the environment.

Ex. Navigating house when lights are off.

Question 27

Propositions

Answer 27

A mental representation of the relationship between concepts.

Ex.
Heather-> Dumped-> Jason

Question 28

Images

Answer 28

A mental representation of visual information

Ex. Friend talking about event.

Question 29

Algorithms

Answer 29

A systematic procedure that cannot fail to produce a correct solution to a problem, if a solution exists.

Ex. Math formulas

Question 30

Narratives

Answer 30

Like a script??

Question 31

Syllogism

Answer 31

An argument made up of two propositions, called premises, and a conclusion based on those premises.

Ex. P1: this class is for seniors. P2: I am not a senior. Conclusion: I cannot take this class

Question 32

Artificial intelligence

Answer 32

The field that studies how to program computers to imitate the products of human perception, understanding, and thought.