Cognition Unit Flashcards
Memory
Learning that has persisted overtime; information that has been acquired, stored, and can be retrieved
Dual-track
Brain processes many things simultaneously by means of parallel processing
Richard Atkinson and Richard shiffrin
Proposed a model with 3 stages; informational processing model
Working memory
New form of short term memory using auditory and visual-spatial info though conscious
Explicit memory
The facts and experiences we can know and declare. We encode these memories through effortful processing
Effortful processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Automatic processing
Happens without awareness, encoding of incidental information produces implicit memories
Implicit memory
Unintentionally memorized
Iconic memory
Memory through visual stimuli; sperling experiment; memory doesn’t last more than a few .1 of seconds
Echoic memory
Memory through auditory stimuli which can be recalled in about 3-4 seconds
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units
Mnemonics
Uses vivid imagery to remember thing easier and to make a story with it
Hierarchies
Composed of a few broad concepts divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts
Spacing effect
Learning over time
Testing effect
Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than rereading information
Shallow processing
Encoding on a basic level (letters, numbers)
Deep processing
Encoding based on the meaning of the words
Hippocampus
Helps process explicit memories for storage
Cerebellum
Plays a key role in forming and storing the implicit memories created by classical conditioning
Basal ganglia
Deep brain structures involved in motor movement, facilitate formation of our procedural memories for skills
Amygdala
Emotion-related memory formation
Flashbulb memory
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Priming
The activation, often unconsciously, of associations in memory
State-dependent
Can recall better when in the same psychological state (sober, drunk, high)
Mood-congruent
Can recall depending on mood
Serial position effect
Tendency to recall last and first items on list
Anterograde amnesia
An inability to form new memories
Retrograde amnesia
An inability to retrieve information from past memories
Encoding failure
We cannot remember what we have not encoded
Storage decay
The course of forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off over time
Ebbinghaus
Forgetting curve: decreases over time
Retrieval failure
Sometimes even stored information cannot be accessed, when leads to forgetting
Proactive interference
Occurs when prior learning disrupts your recall of new information
Retroactive interference
Occurs when new learning disrupts recall of old information
Repression
Basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
Misinformation effect
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event