Chapter 8, Exam #3

Question 1

Black box

Answer 1

the idea that the mind is either nonexistent or unknowable. what happens in the mind is a black box (dark place) that cannot be opened or understood and should not be the subject of scientific investigation

Question 2

information processing

Answer 2

the idea that the mind acts like a computer. information arrives from the enviornment (input), is processed by mental activities (process), and then fed back out into the environment (output)

Question 3

Forgetting

Answer 3

the loss of info from memory over time, or the decline in the strength of a response following a period without practice

Question 4

Proactive interference (PI)

Answer 4

forgetting that occurs when previously stored material interferes with the ability to remember similar, more recently learned material (1 interferes with 2)

Question 5

Proactive facilitation (PF)

Answer 5

increased ability to learn new information due to the recall of old information (1 helps with 2)

Question 6

Retroactive interference (RI)

Answer 6

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information (2 interferes with 1)

Question 7

Retroactive facilitation (RF)

Answer 7

increased comprehension of previously of previously learned information due to the acquisition of new information (2 helps wirth 1)

Question 8

Sensory memory

Answer 8

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system. Visual (iconic) auditory (echoic)

Question 9

Short term memory

Answer 9

activated memory that holds a few items briefly
brief memory- 30-60 sec
limited capacity- chunks (7+/-2)
fragile- easy to obliterate
active- memories get transformed and manipulated

Question 10

iconic storage

Answer 10

a very brief visual memory that acts as a buffer and allows people to hold visual info for a short period of time (tv screen turning black or following a flashlight)

Question 11

echoic storage

Answer 11

a very brief auditory memory that acts as a buffer and allows people to hold auditory information (the sound of a spoken word) for 2-4 seconds

Question 12

flashbulb memory

Answer 12

very powerful episodic memory resulting from extremely surprising, emotionally arousing, and personally important events (person remembering meeting her biological mom)

Question 13

procedural memory

Answer 13

long term memory, of how to perform different actions and skills (how to do certain things)

Question 14

semantic memory

Answer 14

long term memory, that stores general knowledge, including the meaning of words and concepts (what you had for breakfast yesterday)

Question 15

episodic memory

Answer 15

long term memory, are related to specific events and the personal experiences of the learner (remembering last thanksgiving with your grandma)

Question 16

implicit memory

Answer 16

long term memory, is not consciously avaliable to the person and exists below the level of awareness (remembering your mothers maiden name)

Question 17

primary effect

Answer 17

a characteristic of memory in which recall of the first two or three items in a list is particularly good

Question 18

recency effect

Answer 18

a characteristic of memory in which recall is particularly good for the last few items in a list

Question 19

state dependent learning

Answer 19

refers to the concept that what a person learns in one state is best recalled in that state

Question 20

cue dependent learning (encoding specificity)

Answer 20

study while chewing gum and take a test while chewing gum

Question 21

mnemonics

Answer 21

memory aid, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices (ROY G BIV)

Question 22

prompts (prompted recall)

Answer 22

cued, fill in the blank, aided recall of a crime

Question 23

method of loci system

Answer 23

attach words or phrases to a word to help remember

Question 24

peg word system

Answer 24

associating an idea with a peg word (one is bun, two is a shoe)

Question 25

keyword system

Answer 25

forming of interactive images that link a sound and meaning of a foreign word to the sound and meaning of a familiar word

Question 26

overlearning

Answer 26

practicing material beyond the point where it can be repeated once without error

Question 27

free recall

Answer 27

memory assessment technique that acquires the retrieval of info from memory without any aids such as cues, prompts, or hints (taking SAT without notes)

Question 28

relearning (savings)

Answer 28

a measure of explicit memory that involves assessing how much more quickly information is processed or learned when it is studied again after it has already been learned but then forgotten

Question 29

recognition

Answer 29

a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned (a multiple choice test)

Question 30

delayed matching to sample

Answer 30

memory assessment technique in which an animal is shown a stimulus, and then after a delay, it must select which of several other stimuli matches the first the first stimuli

Question 31

delayed extinction

Answer 31

memory assessment technique that involves training an animal with operant conditioning and then extinguishing the response either immediately or after some delay. if the extinction is faster after a delay compared with no delay, it shows the animal has forgotten the response

Question 32

gradient degradation

Answer 32

memory assessment technique that reveals forgetting by a flattening of the generalization gradient

Question 33

paired associates

Answer 33

nonsense syllables presented in pairs in experiments that measure recall

Question 34

reminiscence

Answer 34

a memory, the act of recalling the past

Question 35

What are the major premises of behaviorism? How are these different from cognitive psychology?

Answer 35

The major premises of behaviorism is that when one action leads to another action or something is learned it is simply because it was provoked, kind of like “this happens because of this” concept. Cognitive psychology recognizes the internal aspects of learning or behavior

Question 36

What approach does behaviorism take toward the study of learning? What approach is taken by cognitive psychology? How are they the same or different?

Answer 36

behaviorism: measure the response (whatever it takes to press the bar) specify the setting ( what stimuli are the organisms responding to?) identify the reinforcers and punishers that control behavior
cognitive: identify important environmental conditions. observe changes in behavior. infer the mental processes required to explain the behavior

Question 37

what are the 4 processing stages for info acquisition according to the cognitive approach to learning

Answer 37

• input (visual and auditory)
• sensory memory (brief iconic and echoic memory)
• short-term memory (chunk memory)
• encoding (integrate info into existing store of knowledge)

Question 38

EXP performs better on Task B than CONT:

Answer 38

PF

Question 39

EXP performs worse on Task B than CONT:

Answer 39

PI

Question 40

EXP performs better on Task A than CONT:

Answer 40

RF

Question 41

EXP performs worse on Task A than CONT:

Answer 41

RI

Question 42

Describe what happens to proactive interference as the time between task completion and testing increases

Answer 42

Proactive interference increases over time (learning a new language is harder when youre older)

Question 43

Describe what happens to retroactive interference as the time between task completion and testing increases

Answer 43

retroactive interference decreases over time (studying for psych then right after for history will interfere with psych. but studying history a few days later will not interfere as much)

Question 44

what are the 3 stages of memory?

Answer 44

encoding
storage
retrieval

Question 45

what are the 3 stages of memory systems?

Answer 45

1. Sensory memory- iconic (fade to black) echoic (delayed “hearing” of words at the front of a sentence)
2. Short term memory- brief short duration (30 sec) limited capacity (chunks 7+/-2) fragile interference (PI and RI) active working memory (recall the states that start with M)
3. Long term memory- procedural memory (riding a bike) episodic memory (remembering where you were on 9/11) semantic memory (remembering the theory of evolution) implicit memory (recovered memories from post traumatic amnesia)

Question 46

what is the major reason why memories fail?

Answer 46

Not paying enough attention while encoding
distortion
retroactive interference

Question 47

what are the principle features of short term memory? (STM)

Answer 47

brief memory, limited capacity, fragile memory, active memory

Question 48

what are the principle features of long term memory? (LTM)

Answer 48

Procedural is the memory of how to complete activities (i.e., riding a bike)
Semantic is the memory of concepts (i.e., remembering the theory of evolution)
Episodic is the memory if events (remembering where you were on 9/11/01
Implicit is the unconscious memory (i.e., recovered memories from post-traumatic amnesia)

Question 49

how do researchers explain the primary effect in serial learning?

Answer 49

the good recall for the information at the beginning.
Due to long term memory. The first items in the series get processed and encoded into long term memory. This is especially true for the very early items but as more and more items are added the person has more trouble with encoding because the preceding items are causing proactive interference. This accounts for the gradual decline in recall as the series grows longer.

Question 50

how do researchers explain the recency effect in serial learning?

Answer 50

the improved recall for the information at the end of the series comes from the fact that you learned those items most recently and they are still in your short-term memory. The beginning items get moved to long term memory and the ending are still in short-term memory but the middle items have both proactive and retroactive interference so they are not remembered well

Question 51

Identify and explain seven ways to improve memory

Answer 51

1.Over learn the material.
2.Shorten the retention interval.
3.Protect against interference:
PI: Don’t learn too much confusing material prior to studying (e.g., don’t study English before you study German).
RI: Don’t learn too much confusing material between studying and testing (e.g., go to sleep before your exam, don’t study for another exam).
4. Relate material to prior experience (elaborative rehearsal).
5. Reproduce the internal or external learning context during testing:
State dependent learning (e.g., mood, drugs)
Cue dependent learning (encoding specificity)
6. Use mnemonics (e.g., method of loci, peg system, Linkword Language System). ROY G BIV
7. External aids (e.g., string, timer).

Question 52

Free Recall( advantage and disadvantage)

Answer 52

Disadvantage is that just because a student recall something studied earlier does not mean they have forgotten everything about what they studied.

Question 53

Cued Recall (advantage and disadvantage)

Answer 53

Allows the opportunity to provide cues to measure the degree of forgetting by the number of prompts requires to produce behavior.

Question 54

Recognition (advantage and disadvantage)

Answer 54

Allows people to pick out the correct answer, but may also lead to confusion if there are similar answers.

Question 55

Relearning /savings(advantage and disadvantage)

Answer 55

If less training is required to reach a previous level of performance, then less forgetting has occurred.