*Unit 5: Cognitive Psychology

Question 1

Explain the Atkinson-Schriffrin 3 Stage Model of Memory.

Answer 1

• Encoding into sensory memory: we first encode (get information into our brain) and process it as a fleeting sensory memory
• Storage in short term memory: memory is then processed and stored (retained) through rehearsal into a short-term memory bin
• Retrieval from long term memory: finally short-term memory is encoded through rehearsal and stored into long-term memory for later retrieval

Question 2

What are the different methods of encoding information?

Answer 2

Semantic encoding: encoding by meaning (most effective way of encoding)

Visual encoding: encoding by images (best for visual learners)

Acoustic encoding: encoding by sounds (most common way of encoding)

Chunking and hierarchies: encoding by organization

Question 3

What are the types of long-term memory?

Answer 3

Implicit and Explicit (Semantic, Episodic)

Question 4

What are the types of retrieval

Answer 4

Recall: some people, through practice, visual strategies, or biological differences, have the ability to store and recall thousands of words or digits, reproducing them years later

Recognition: the average person can view 2500 new faces and places, and later can notice with 90 percent accuracy which ones they’ve seen before

Relearning: some people are unable to form new memories, especially of episodes; although they would not recall a puzzle-solving lesson, they might still solve the puzzle faster each lesson

Question 5

What is working memory?

Answer 5

Working memory: a newer understanding of short-term memory that involves more conscious, active processing of auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term storage.

Question 6

What are explicit memories?

Answer 6

Explicit Memory: (declarative memory) memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare.” Processed by the hippocampus. Explicit memories are formed through studying, rehearsing, thinking, processing, and then storing information in long-term memory.

Question 7

What are implicit memories?

Answer 7

Implicit memory: (procedural memory) memory without conscious recollection of skills, preferences, and dispositions. Processed by the cerebellum. Implicit memories are formed without our awareness that we are building a memory, and without rehearsal or other processing in working memory.

Question 8

What are some examples of automatic processing?

Answer 8

• Space: While reading a textbook, you automatically encode the place of a picture on a page. (i.e. when trying to recall info on the test, you may visualize its location on the page)
• Time: We unintentionally note the events that take place in a day. (i.e. we can retrace our steps chronologically to find a lost item of jewelry)
• Frequency: You effortlessly keep track of things that happen to you. (i.e. “this is the 3rd time I’ve run into her today”)

Question 9

What is effortful processing:

Answer 9

Effortful processing: encoding that requires attention and conscious effort. Effortful processing strategies are ways to encode information into memory to keep it from decaying and make it easier to retrieve. This is also known as studying.

Question 10

What is the spacing effect?

Answer 10

Distributing rehearsal (spacing effect) is better than practicing all at once. Robert Frost’s poem could be memorized with fair ease if spread over time. Hence, the saying, “practice makes perfect.”

BIG IDEA: Rehearsal yields better long-term retention if learning is distributed over time.

Question 11

What is the serial position effect?

Answer 11

We tend to remember the first and last items in a list of words, names, or syllables.

Question 12

What is the self-reference effect?

Answer 12

One method for semantic encoding information is the self-reference effect.

The self-reference effect suggests that by simply making information “relevant to me,” we process it more deeply, and the information will remain more easily accessible.

Question 13

What are mnemonics?

Answer 13

Mnemonic techniques use vivid imagery in aiding memory. Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids.

• Method of Loci: used by ancient Greek orators (speakers) to remember their main points by associating them with a familiar series of locations
• Link Method: involves forming a mental image of items to be remembered in a way that links them together.
• Peg Word: requires you to memorize a jingle with peg words, then visually associate peg words with to-be-remembered info

Question 14

What is iconic memory?

Answer 14

When our eyes register a fleeting visual image (iconic memory), we can recall it for less than a second.

Question 15

What is echoic memory?

Answer 15

Even if attention is elsewhere, fleeting sounds and words (echoic memory) can still be recalled for 3-4 seconds.

Question 16

What is long-term potentiation?

Answer 16

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) refers to synaptic enhancement after learning (Lynch, 2002). An increase in neurotransmitter (serotonin) release or receptors on the receiving neuron indicates strengthening of synapses.

Question 17

What is a flashbulb memory?

Answer 17

A flashbulb memory is a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event (i.e. where you were when you heard about 9/11). It differs from other memories in its’ striking clarity, but like other memories, this memory is not free from errors.

Question 18

How does intense emotion cause the brain to form intense memories?

Answer 18

• Emotions can trigger a rise in stress hormones.
• These hormones trigger activity in the amygdala, located next to the memory-forming hippocampus.
• The amygdala increases memory-forming activity and engages the frontal lobes and basal ganglia to “tag” the memories as important.

Question 19

How are explicit memories processed?

Answer 19

• Retrieval and use of explicit memories, which is in part a working memory or executive function, is directed by the frontal lobes.
• Encoding and storage of explicit memories is facilitated by the hippocampus. Events and facts are held there for a couple of days before consolidating, moving to other parts of the brain for long-term storage. Much of this consolidation occurs during sleep.

Question 20

How are implicit memories processed?

Answer 20

The cerebellum (“little brain”) forms and stores our conditioned responses. We can store a phobic response even if we can’t recall how we acquired the fear.

Question 21

What is anterograde amnesia?

Answer 21

Anterograde Amnesia: when a person is unable to make new memories that are declarative (explicit), but can form new memories that are procedural (implicit). After losing his hippocampus in surgery, patient Henry M. remembered everything before the operation but couldn’t make new memories.

Question 22

What is retrograde amnesia?

Answer 22

Retrograde amnesia can be caused by head injury or emotional trauma and is often temporary.
It can also be caused by more severe brain damage; in that case, it may include anterograde amnesia.

Question 23

What is priming?

Answer 23

Priming: the activation (often unconsciously) of particular associations (retrieval cues) within our web, which aids memory. Priming triggers a thread of associations that bring us to a concept, just as a spider feels movement in a web and follows it to find the bug. Our minds work by having one idea trigger another; this maintains a flow of thought.

Question 24

What is context-dependent memory?

Answer 24

Part of the web of associations of a memory is the context. What else was going on at the time we formed the memory? We retrieve a memory more easily when in the same context as when we formed the memory. Did you forget a psychology concept? Just sitting down and opening your book might bring the memory back.

Question 25

What is state-dependent memory?

Answer 25

Our memories are not just linked to the external context in which we learned them. Memories can also be tied to the emotional state we were in when we formed the memory. Mood-congruent memory refers to the tendency to selectively recall details that are consistent with one’s current mood. This biased memory then reinforces our current mood!

Question 26

What is storage decay?

Answer 26

Even after encoding something well, we can still forget it. Why? Because Poor durability of stored memories leads to their decay. Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve demonstrates this principle that over time, forgetting occurs rapidly at first, and then levels off. Thus, how long we remember information depends on how long ago we learned it.

Question 27

What is encoding failure?

Answer 27

Encoding failure: An inability to retrieve information due to poor encoding. One explanation for forgetting is that we fail to encode information for entry into our memory system. We cannot remember what we do not encode.

Question 28

What is retrieval failure?

Answer 28

Retrieval Failure: When information is retained in the memory store, but it cannot be accessed. Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) is a retrieval failure phenomenon. For instance, given a cue (i.e. What makes blood cells red?) a person might say that the word begins with an H, but they just can’t remember the whole word (hemoglobin).

Retrieval failure often occurs due to interference. Interference occurs when learning certain items interferes with retrieving other items, especially when those items are similar. Sleep, for example, can protect us from interference. In one study, people who slept after learning a list of non-sense syllables forgot less of the syllables than people who stayed awake.

Question 29

What is motivated forgetting? What is repression?

Answer 29

Motivated Forgetting: When people unknowingly revise their memories.

Repression: A defense mechanism (according to Freud) that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Question 30

What is the misinformation effect?

Answer 30

Misinformation Effect: After exposure to subtle misinformation, many people misremember.

Question 31

What is source amnesia?

Answer 31

Source Amnesia: Attributing an event to the wrong source that we experienced, heard, read, or imagined (misattribution).

Question 32

What is false memory syndrome?

Answer 32

A condition in which a person’s identity and relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of a traumatic experience, which is sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists.

Question 33

What do cognitive psychologists do?

Answer 33

Cognitive psychologists are psychologists who study mental activities such as concepts, problem solving, decision making, and judgment formation in great detail.

Question 34

What are prototypes?

Answer 34

Mostly, we form concepts with prototypes, which are mental images or best typical examples. For example, our prototype of a triangle is an equilateral triangle, while our prototype of a bird is a small bird, like a robin rather than a penguin.

Question 35

When do prototypes fail us?

Answer 35

• Prototypes fail us when examples stretch our definitions, as in considering whether a stool is a chair.
• Prototypes fail us when the boundary between concepts is fuzzy, as in judging blue-green colors or computer-blended faces.
• Prototypes fail us when examples contradict our prototypes, such as considering whether a whale is a mammal, or a penguin is a bird.

Question 36

What are category hierarchies?

Answer 36

Category Hierarchies: mental categories of similar concepts, which we cluster and then subdivide into increasingly smaller and more detailed units.

Question 37

What are the 4 main methods of problem solving?

Answer 37

Trial and error: attempt various solutions until stumbling upon one that works

Algorithms: methodical, logical rules or procedures that guarantee solving a particular problem

Heuristics: mental shortcuts or rule of thumb strategies that allow us to solve problems more efficiently than algorithms

Insight: a sudden realization to the solution of a problem

Question 38

What are heuristics?

Answer 38

Heuristics are simple, thinking strategies that allow us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently. Heuristics are less time consuming, but more error-prone than algorithms.

Representative - Judging the likelihood of things or objects in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, a particular prototype.

Availability - We use the availability heuristic when we estimate the likelihood of an event based on how much it stands out in our mind, that is, how much it’s available as a mental reference. Example: thinking that winning at a slot machine is likely because we vividly recall the times we’ve won before (thanks to bells, lights, and flowing coins)

Question 39

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 39

Confirmation Bias: A tendency to search for information that confirms a personal bias. This is a major obstacle to problem solving because once people form a wrong idea, they will not budge from their illogic.

Question 40

What is a mental set?

Answer 40

The tendency to approach problems using a mindset (procedures and methods) that has worked previously.

Question 41

What is functional fixedness?

Answer 41

Functional Fixedness: A tendency to think only of the familiar functions of an object.

Question 42

What is belief bias?

Answer 42

Belief Bias: When our preexisting beliefs distort logical reasoning causing us to make invalid conclusions.

Question 43

What is belief perseverance?

Answer 43

Belief Perseverance: When we cling to our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence. Belief perseverance often fuels social conflict. For example, anti-capital punishment supporters will continue to support their cause, even in the face of refuting evidence that the death penalty deters crime. Once beliefs form and are justified, it takes more compelling evidence to change them than it did to create them.

Question 44

What are phonemes?

Answer 44

Phonemes: The smallest distinct sound unit in a spoken language.

bat, has three phonemes: b · a · t
chat, has three phonemes: ch · a · t

Question 45

What is a morpheme?

Answer 45

Morpheme: The smallest unit that carries a meaning. It may be a word or part of a word.

Milk = milk
Milkshake= milk . shake
Unforgettable = un · for · get · table

Question 46

What makes up grammar?

Answer 46

Semantics and Syntax

Question 47

What are semantics?

Answer 47

Semantics is the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences.

Examples:

• Semantic rules tells us that adding –ed to the word laugh means that it happened in the past.
• Semantic rules also tell us that describing something as “phat” means that it is cool or likeable rather than obese.

Question 48

What is syntax?

Answer 48

Syntax consists of the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences. In English, syntactical rule says that adjectives come before nouns – ex: white house. In Spanish, it is reversed – ex: casa blanca.

Question 49

Describe language development.

Answer 49

Children learn their native languages much before learning to add 2+2. We acquire the use of 10 new words per day (on average) between ages 2 and 18. By the time you graduate from high school, you will know approximately 60,000+ words.

1. Babbling stage (4 months)
2. One-word stage (1yo)
3. Two-word stage (Before 2yo)
4. Language development stage (After 2yo)

Question 50

What is aphasia?

Answer 50

Aphasia is an impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (causing impaired speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (causing impaired understanding). Damage to the angular gyrus leaves an injured person able to speak and understand, but unable to read.

Question 51

Does language influence our thinking?

Answer 51

Language and thinking intricately intertwine. Thinking affects our language, while language affects our thoughts.

Question 52

What is the “bilingual advantage”?

Answer 52

People who are bilingual have numerous brain connections and neural networks. They also have a hidden talent, the ability to suppress one language while learning another. This ability tends to go along with other forms of executive control, such as resisting distraction and inhibiting impulses.

Question 53

What are the different intelligence theories?

Answer 53

Charles Spearman - General intelligence (G)
Louis Thurstone - 7 clusters of abilities
Howard Gardner - 8 intelligences
Robert Sternberg - 3 intelligences
Creativity and Intelligence - 5 components
Emotional Intelligence - 4 components

Question 54

What was Charles Spearman’s theory of intelligence?

Answer 54

Charles Spearman (1863-1945) argued for intelligence as one general mental ability since those who score high on one factor (i.e. verbal intelligence) typically score higher than average on other factors (i.e. spatial or reasoning ability). He used factor analysis to propose that there is a general intelligence (g) that underlies the various clusters of intelligence.

Question 55

What was Louis Thurston’s theory of intelligence?

Answer 55

Thurstone found that the results of 56 skill tests fell into 7 clusters. However, further analysis showed that people who were strong in one cluster tended to be strong in other clusters (proving the G factor). These categories were verbal comprehension, inductive reasoning, word fluency, spatial ability, memory, perceptual speed, and numerical ability.

Question 56

What was Howard Gardner’s theory of intelligence?

Answer 56

Gardner believed there were eight intelligences: naturalist, linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal.

Question 57

What was Robert Sternberg’s theory of intelligence?

Answer 57

Sternberg believed that success in life was related to three abilities: practical intelligence, analytical intelligence, and creative intelligence.

Question 58

What is creativity?

Answer 58

Creativity refers to the ability to produce ideas that are novel and valuable. Creative intelligence involves using those ideas to adapt to novel situations. Convergent thinking is a left-brain activity involving zeroing in on a single correct answer. Creativity, however, uses divergent thinking, the ability to generate new ideas, new actions, and multiple options and answers.

Question 59

What are Robert Sternberg’s five components of creativity?

Answer 59

Creative environment, venturesome personality, expertise, intrinsic motivation, and imaginative thinking.

Question 60

What is social intelligence?

Answer 60

Social intelligence refers to the ability to understand and navigate social situations.

Question 61

What is emotional intelligence?

Answer 61

Emotional intelligence involves processing and managing the emotional component of those social situations, including one’s own emotions.

Question 62

Why is the legitimacy of emotional intelligence sometimes questioned?

Answer 62

Gardner and others criticize the idea of emotional intelligence and question whether we stretch this idea of intelligence too far when we apply it to our emotions.

Question 63

What does “genius” seem to correlate with?

Answer 63

• overall brain size.
• the size of some brain regions such as the parietal lobe.
• high brain activity in the frontal and parietal lobes.
• extra gray matter (brain cell bodies, seen as more brain surface area/convolutions).
• extra white matter (axons) leading to high connectivity among different regions.

Question 64

What do verbal and general intelligence test scores correlate with?

Answer 64

• Speed of retrieving information from memory

- Speed of receiving and processing sensory and perceptual information

Question 65

How is IQ calculated?

Answer 65

[(Mental age) / (Chronological age)] x 100

Question 66

What do WAIS and WISC Tests include?

Answer 66

• Describing similarities and differences between objects or between concepts.
• Doing math problems, presented as story problems, while being timed.
• Being tested on speed of decoding, translating symbols to numerals.
• Assembling blocks into prescribed patterns while being timed
• Digit span retention and re-ordering (working memory).
• Vocabulary knowledge and general knowledge.
• Question and sentence comprehension and expression.
• Arranging related pictures in chronological/story sequence.
• Picture completion

Question 67

What is the Flynn Effect?

Answer 67

Performance on intelligence tests has improved over the years, worldwide.

Question 68

What is content validity?

Answer 68

Content Validity: How well a test measures a particular behavior or trait. For example, a driving test has content validity if it accurately measures driving ability.

Question 69

What is predictive validity?

Answer 69

Predictive Validity (i.e. Criterion-Related Validity): How well a test functions in predicting a particular behavior or trait. For example, aptitude tests have predictive validity if they can predict future achievement.

Question 70

What is fluid intelligence?

Answer 70

Fluid intelligence refers to the ability to think quickly and abstractly. This decreases with age.

Question 71

What is crystallized intelligence?

Answer 71

Crystallized intelligence refers to accumulated wisdom, knowledge, expertise, and vocabulary. This increases with age.

Question 72

What is down syndrome?

Answer 72

A condition of severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup.

Question 73

Do identical twins share intelligence?

Answer 73

Identical twins seem to show similarity in specific talents such as music, math and sports. Their brains show similar structure and functioning as well. There are specific genes which may have a small influence on ability.

Question 74

Is intelligence heritable?

Answer 74

Studies of twins, family members, and adopted children together support the idea that there is a significant genetic contribution (heritability) to intelligence.

Question 75

Does nurture influence intelligence?

Answer 75

Long story short, yes.

• Fraternal twins raised together tend to show similarity in intelligence scores.
• Identical twins raised apart show slightly less similarity in their intelligence scores.
• Life experiences, such as early neglect and schooling, significantly influence intelligence.
• Children moved from a deprived environment to an environmentally enriched one show gains in intellectual intelligence.

Question 76

What are some male/female intelligence differences?

Answer 76

• Girls tend to be better at spelling, locating objects, and detecting emotions.
• Girls tend to be more verbally fluent, and more sensitive to touch, taste, and color.
• Boys tend to be better at handling spatial reasoning and complex math problems.
• It is a myth that boys generally do better in math than girls. Girls do at least as well as boys in overall math performance and especially in math computation.

Question 77

What explains the “racial” intelligence test score gap?

Answer 77

• Racial categories are not distinct genetically and are unscientific.
• Both “whites” and “blacks” have higher intelligence test scores than “whites” of the 1930s.
• “Whites” may have more access to “fertile soil” for developing their potential, such as:
  
  • schools and educational opportunities.
  • wealth, nutrition, support, and educated mentors.
  • relative freedom from discrimination.