Ch. 7 Vocab

Question 1

the processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning

Answer 1

encoding

Question 2

the process of retaining encoded information over time

Answer 2

storage

Question 3

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Answer 3

retrieval

Question 4

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision; contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving

Answer 4

parallel processing

Question 5

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Answer 5

sensory memory

Question 6

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten

Answer 6

short-term memory

Question 7

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system; includes knowledge, skills, and experiences

Answer 7

long-term memory

Question 8

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory

Answer 8

working memory

Question 9

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”; also called declarative memory

Answer 9

explicit memory

Question 10

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Answer 10

effortful processing

Question 11

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

Answer 11

automatic processing

Question 12

retention independent of conscious recollection; also called nondeclarative memory

Answer 12

implicit memory

Question 13

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

Answer 13

iconic memory

Question 14

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

Answer 14

echoic memory

Question 15

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Answer 15

chunking

Question 16

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice

Answer 16

spacing effect

Question 17

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information; also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning

Answer 17

testing effect

Question 18

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

Answer 18

shallow processing

Question 19

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

Answer 19

deep processing

Question 20

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage

Answer 20

hippocampus

Question 21

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Answer 21

flashbulb memory

Question 22

an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Answer 22

long-term potentiation (LTP)

Question 23

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test

Answer 23

recall

Question 24

a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test

Answer 24

recognition

Question 25

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

Answer 25

relearning

Question 26

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response

Answer 26

priming

Question 27

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood

Answer 27

mood-congruent memory

Question 28

our tendency to recall best the last (a recency effect) and first items (a primacy effect) in a list

Answer 28

serial position effect

Question 29

an inability to form new memories

Answer 29

anterograde amnesia

Question 30

an inability to retrieve information from one’s past

Answer 30

retrograde amnesia

Question 31

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Answer 31

proactive interference

Question 32

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Answer 32

retroactive interference

Question 33

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Answer 33

repression

Question 34

incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event

Answer 34

misinformation effect

Question 35

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined; also called source misattribution–at the heart of many false memories

Answer 35

source amnesia

Question 36

that eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before”; cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

Answer 36

déjà vu

Question 37

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Answer 37

cognition

Question 38

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Answer 38

concept

Question 39

a mental image or best example of a category; provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)

Answer 39

prototype

Question 40

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Answer 40

creativity

Question 41

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Answer 41

convergent thinking

Question 42

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions)

Answer 42

divergent thinking

Question 43

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem; contrasts with the usually speedier—but also more error-prone—use of heuristics

Answer 43

algorithm

Question 44

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

Answer 44

heuristic

Question 45

a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Answer 45

insight

Question 46

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Answer 46

confirmation bias

Question 47

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

Answer 47

mental set

Question 48

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

Answer 48

intuition

Question 49

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Answer 49

representativeness heuristic

Question 50

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Answer 50

availability heuristic

Question 51

the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

Answer 51

overconfidence

Question 52

clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Answer 52

belief perseverance

Question 53

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Answer 53

framing

Question 54

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Answer 54

language

Question 55

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Answer 55

phoneme

Question 56

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word

Answer 56

morpheme

Question 57

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others; semantics is the set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences

Answer 57

grammar

Question 58

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

Answer 58

babbling stage

Question 59

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Answer 59

one-word stage

Question 60

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements

Answer 60

two-word stage

Question 61

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—“go car”—using mostly nouns and verbs

Answer 61

telegraphic speech

Question 62

impairment of language, usually caused by left-hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)

Answer 62

aphasia

Question 63

controls language expression—an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

Answer 63

Broca’s area

Question 64

controls language reception—a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

Answer 64

Wernicke’s area

Question 65

Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Answer 65

linguistic determinism

Question 66

the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

Answer 66

memory