Cognitive Psychology Vocab Flashcards
the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information
memory
a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier
ex: fill in the blank test
recall
a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned
ex: multiple choice test
recognition
a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again
ex: studying for midterms at school
relearning
the process of getting information into the memory system
ex: someone gives you their phone number
encoding
the process of retaining encoded information over time
ex: you remember the phone number for future reference
storage
the process of getting information out of memory storage
ex: deciding to call the person and remembering their phone number to type
retrieval
processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions
ex: when you see a car coming, you process its shape, color, and size all at once
parallel processing
the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
ex: feeling a raindrop, your memory records the sensation so that you can recognize it
sensory memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as digits of a phone number while calling, before the information is stored or forgotten
short-term memory
the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system (includes knowledge, skills, and experiences)
ex: a wedding, birthday, any important day/event
long-term memory
a newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory
ex: linking information you’re reading to information you already previously knew
working memory
retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”
ex: knowing how many continents there are, remembering how to solve a math problem
explicit memory
retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection (also called nondeclarative memory)
ex: riding a bike, singing a familiar song, brushing your teeth
implicit memory
encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
ex: reading something and understanding or trying to memorize your class schedule
effortful processing
unconscious encoding of incidental information and of well learned information
ex: space, time, frequency, word meanings
automatic processing
a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, a picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
ex: seeing a billboard while driving by in a car, riding a train and seeing a cow pasture
iconic memory
a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3-4 seconds
ex: you’re in class and your attention drifts to thoughts of the weekend; suddenly your teacher says, “what did I just say?”; you can recover the last few words
echoic memory
organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
ex: you hear the number sequence 4-2-3-5 but memorize it as 42-35
chunking
memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
ex: in this sequence of words: bicycle, void, cigarette, inherent, fire; you are most likely to remember bicycle, cigarette, and fire because they have a visual image
mnemonics
the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
ex: Mia studies in each week, whereas Sarah studies the night before the test; Mia gets a better score
spacing effect
enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information; sometimes referred to as retrieval practice effect
ex: if you read a piece of text through twenty times, you will not learn it by heart so easily as if you read it ten times while attempting to recite it from time to time and consulting the text when your memory fails
testing effect
encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words
ex: elementary level, bases words off letters or sounds
shallow processing
encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention
ex: analyzing text and critical thinking
deep processing
explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems
ex: specific details like where George Washington lived, where Shakespeare was born, or what did people in Egypt eat in the 1400s
semantic memory
explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems
ex: where you parked your car this morning, the dinner you had with your friend last month, your mom’s birthday
episodic memory
a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit (conscious) memories- of facts and events- for storage
ex: learning speeches or lines in a play
hippocampus
the neural storage of a long-term memory
memory consolidation
a clear, sustained memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
ex: assassination of JFK, 9/11
flashbulb memory
an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory
long term potentiation
the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory
ex: a child sees a bag of candy next to a red bench; the next time they see a bench they think of/look for candy
priming
the idea that cues and contexts specific to particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it
ex: if you study for a test in a specific room, you will perform better on that test if you take it in the same room
encoding specificity principle
the tendency to recall experience that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood
ex: if we are happy, we will remember the positive things about that particular time
mood-congruent memory
our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list
serial position effect
an inability to form new memories
anterograde amnesia
an inability to retrieve one’s past
retrograde amnesia
the forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information
proactive interference
the backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information
retroactive interference
in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
repression
a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again
reconsolidation
occurs when misleading information has distorted one’s memory of an event
misinformation effect
faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined; it is at the heart of many false memories
source amnesia
the eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before”; cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval from an earlier experience
deja vu
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
cognition
a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
concept
a mental image or best example of a category (our assumptions or stereotypes of people)
prototype
the ability to produce new and valuable ideas
creativity
narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution
convergent thinking
expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions
divergent thinking
a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem
algorithm
a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently
heuristic
a sudden realization of a problem’s solution
insight
a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
confirmation bias
in cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving
functional fixedness
a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past
mental set
an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
intuition
estimate the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information
representativeness heuristic
estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common
availability heuristic
the tendency to be more confident than correct-to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements
overconfidence
clinging to one’s initial conception after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
belief perserverance
the way an issue is posed; how an issue is worded can significantly affect decisions and judgements
framing
our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
language
in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
ex: the word cat contains three phonemes c-a-t
phoneme
in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word
ex: cat is one morpheme (most words have 2-3 because it can be a prefix or suffix)
morpheme
in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others
grammar
beginning around 4 months, the stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
babbling stage
the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words
one word stage
beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements
two-word stage
early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram- “go car”- using mostly nouns and verbs
telegraphic speech
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speech) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)
Aphasia
helps control language expression- an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech
Broca’s area
a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
Wernicke’s area
the strong form of Whorf’s hypothesis-that language controls the way we think and interpret the world around us
linguistic determinism
a powerful data reduction technique that enables researchers to investigate concepts that cannot easily be measured directly
factor analysis
your ability to process new information, learn, and solve problems
fluid intelligence
your stored knowledge, accumulated over the years.
crystallized intelligence
the first commonly used intelligence test specifically designed for adults, which measures intelligence using both verbal and non-verbal tasks
WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale)
early IQ test created by Terman that originally measured intelligence by dividing mental age by chronological age and multiplying by 100
Stanford-Binet
a general mental ability that underlies multiple specific skills, including verbal, spatial, numerical and mechanical
Spearman’s concept of g
