Unit 5 Flashcards
Define encoding
Processing of information into the memory system
Define storage
Process of retaining encoded information over time
Define retrieval
Process of getting information out of memory storage
Define sensory memory
Immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
Define short-term memory
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as 7 digits of a phone number before information is stored or forgotten
Define long-term memory
Relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system like knowledge, skills, and experience
Define working memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information and information retrieved from long-term memory
Define explicit memory
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare
Define effortful processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Define automatic processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental information such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information like word meanings
Define implicit memory
Retention independent of conscious recollection
Define iconic memory
A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
Define echoic memory
A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds
Define chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
Define mnemonics
Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
Define spacing effect
Tendency for distributed study to yield better long-term retention than massed study
Define testing effect
Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information
Define shallow processing
Encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words
Define deep processing
Encoding semantically based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention
Define memory
Persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and retrieval of information
Define flashbulb memory
Clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Define long-term potentiation
An increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation
Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory
Define recall
Measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test
Define recognition
Measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned as on a multiple choice test
Define relearning
Measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again
Define priming
Activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory
Define mood-congruent memory
Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood
Define serial position effect
Tendency to recall best the first and last items of a list
Define anterograde amnesia
An inability to form new memories
Define retrograde amnesia
An inability to retrieve information from one’s past
Define proactive interference
The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information
Define retroactive interference
The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information
Define repression
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
Define misinformation effect
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event
Define source amnesia
Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined
The heart of many false memories
Define deja vu
Eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before”
Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
Define cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Define concept
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
Define prototype
A mental image or best example of a category
Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories
Define creativity
Ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
Define convergent thinking
Narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution
Define divergent thinking
Expands the number of possible problem solutions
Define algorithm
A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem
Define heuristic
Simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms
Define insight
A sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions
Define confirmation bias
Tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
Define mental set
Tendency to approach a problem in one particular way; often a way that has been successful in the past
Define intuition
An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
Define representative heuristic
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
Define availability heuristic
Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common
Define overconfidence
Tendency to be more confident than correct
To overestimate the accuracy for our beliefs and judgments
Define belief perseverance
Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
Define framing
The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments
Define language
Our spoken, written, or signed words and the way we combine them to communicate meaning
Define phoneme
In a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
Define morpheme
In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or part of a word
Define grammar
In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others
Define semantics
Set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds
Define syntax
Set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences
Define babbling stage
Beginning at about 4 months, stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
Define one-word stage
Stage in speech development, from about 1-2 years, during which a child speaks mostly in single words
Define two-word stage
Beginning about age 2, stage of speech development during which a child speaks mostly in 2 word statements
Define telegraphic speech
Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram using mostly nouns and verbs
Define aphasia
Impairment of language, usually caused by left-hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)
Define Broca’s area
Controls language expression, an area of the frontal lobe usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech
Define Wernicke’s area
Controls language reception, a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression usually in the left temporal lobe
Define linguistic determinism
Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think
Define intelligence
Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
Define intelligence test
A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores
Define general intelligence
A factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test
Define factor analysis
A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test; used to identity different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score
Define savant syndrome
Condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill
Define grit
Passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long term goals
Define emotional intelligence
Ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions
Define mental age
A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; chronological age that typically corresponds to a given level of performance
Define Stanford-Binet
The widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test
Define Intelligence quotient (IQ)
Defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age
Define achievement test
Test designed to assess what a person has learned
Define aptitude test
Test designed to predict a person’s future performance
Define Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance subtests
Define standardization
Defining uniform test procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pre tested group
Define reliability
Extent to which a test yields consistent results as assessed by the consistency of scores on 2 halves of the test, 2 alternate forms of the test, or on retesting
Define validity
Extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to
Define content validity
Extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest
Define predictive validity
The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior
Define cohort
Group of people from a given time oeriod
Define crystallized intelligence
Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
Define fluid intelligence
Ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood
Define intellectual disability
Condition of limited mental ability; indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life
Define Down Syndrome
Condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21
Define heritability
Proportion of variation among individuals that we attribute to genes
May vary depending on population and environment
Define polygenetic
Intelligence appears to be polygenetic, each gene accounting for less than 1% of intelligence variation
Involving many genes
Define stereotype threat
A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype
Define test bias
Whether a test predicts future behavior only for some groups of test-takers
