Unit 5: Cognitive Psychology Flashcards
Memory
Learning that persists over time
recall
retrieving information that is not currently in your conscious awareness but that was learned at an earlier time (ex: a fill-in-the-blank question tests your recall)
recognition
identifying items previously learned (ex: a multiple choice question tests your recognition)
relearning
learning something more quickly when you learn it a second or later time (ex: when you study for a final or engage in a language used in early childhood, you relearn the material more easily than you did initially)
Encoding
get information into our brain
Storage
Retain the information
Retrieval
get the information back out
sensory memory
immediate, brief recording of sensory information in the memory system; first step to the 3 stage memory forming model
short-term 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; 2nd model to the 3 stage memory forming model
long term memory
the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system; includes knowledge, skills, and experiences; final step to the 3 stage memory forming model
working memory
psychologists’ newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming auditory/visual information, and of information retrieved from long term memory
effortful processing
encoding that requires attention and conscious effort, process by which we encode explicit memories
explicit/declarative memories
retention of facts/experiences that one can consciously know and declare
automatic processing
unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time and frequency or of well-learned information, such as word meanings
implicit/nondeclarative memories
retention of learned skills classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection
iconic memory
a sensory memory of visual stimuli; a picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
iconic memory
a sensory memory of visual stimuli; a picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
echoic memory
the momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled with 3-4 seconds (auditory version of iconic mem)
chunking
organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
mnemonics
memory aids; especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
Spacing effect
the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
shallow processing
encodes on a basic level, such as the structure or appearance of words
deep processing
encodes semantically, based on the meaning of the words; the more meaningful the processing, the better the retention
flashbulb memory
clear memory of an emotionally significant event
long-term potentiation
increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory
semantic memory
explicit memory of facts and general knowledge, one of our two conscious memory systems
episodic memory
explicit memory of personally experienced events, one of our two conscious memory systems
hippocampus
neural center located in the limbic system(temporal lobe), helps process for storage explicit memories of facts and events
memory consolidation
the neural storage of long-term memory; the hippocampus acts as a loading dock for the to-be-remembered episodes while other memories migrate elsewhere
basal ganglia
deep brain structures involved in motor movement; facilitate formation of procedural memories for skills
priming (memory)
the often unconscious activation of certain associations that predispose one’s perception, memory or response
encoding specificity principle
the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it
mood congruent
the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood
serial position effect
our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list
recency effect
when given a list of items, we recall the last items quickly and well as they are still in our working memory
primacy effect
when given a list of items, after a delay and when our attention is elsewhere, we tend to recall the first items best
anterograde amnesia
an inability to form new memories
retrograde amnesia
an inability to retrieve information from one’s past
proactive interference
when prior learning disrupts recall of new information
retroactive interference
when new learning disrupts recall of old information
repression
in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories
reconsolidation
a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again
misinformation effect
occurs when misleading information has distorted one’s memory of an event
source amnesia
fault memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined, a.k.a. source misattribution
deja vu
the eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before”, cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
concepts
a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people
prototypes
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 category
creativity
ability to produce new and valuable ideas
convergent thinking
the ability to provide a single correct answer
divergent thinking
the ability to consider many different options and to think in novel ways
algorithms
a methodical, logical rule/procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem; contrasts with the faster but more erroneous heuristics
heuristics
a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more erroneous than algorithms
insight
a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; opposite of strategy-based solutions
confirmation bias
tendency to search for information that supports preconceptions and to ignore/distort contradictory evidence
fixation
an inability to come to a fresh perspective
mental set
tendency to approach a problem with the mindset of what has previously worked
intuition
an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
representativeness heuristics
estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information
availability heuristics
estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps due to their vividness) we presume such events are common
overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct; to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements
belief perseverance
our tendency to cling to our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence
telegraphic speech
early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram (“go car”) using mostly nouns and verbs
aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage to Broca’s area (speaking) or Wernicke’s area (understanding
Broca’s area
helps control language expression;
an area of the frontal lobe; usually in the left hemisphere that direct muscle movement involved in speech
Wernicke’s area
a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression in the left temporal lobe
linguistic determinism
idea that language controls the way we think and interpret the world around us; Whorf’s hypothesis
linguistic influence
the weaker form of linguistic determinism; idea that language affects thought and world view is relative to our cultural language
Stanford-Binet
the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test
standardization
defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group
normal curve
a symmetrical, bell shaped curve that describes the distribution of data, 68% w/in one standard deviation, then 95%, 99%.
reliability
the extent to which a test yields consistent results as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting
content validity
the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest
predictive validity
the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation b/w test scores and the criterion behavior
crystallized intelligence
accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tend to increase with age
fluid intelligence
Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tend to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood
