Unit 5 - Memory and Problem Solving

Question 1

Encoding

Answer 1

Input of memory
Visual Encoding: picture images
Acoustic Encoding: sound of words
Semantic Encoding: meaning of words

Question 2

Storage

Answer 2

File system of memories; stored mainly in the lobes of the cortex and cerebellum; the hippocampus forms memories, especially explicit memories.

Question 3

Retrieval

Answer 3

Getting information out from memory.

Question 4

Parallel Processing

Answer 4

We encode numerous sensory experiences simultaneously.

Question 5

Sensory Memory

Answer 5

Initial recording of sensory information; holds sensory information long enough to be processed or transferred to short term memory.

Question 6

Iconic/Echoic Memory

Answer 6

Visual/Auditory memory

Question 7

Working Memory (Short-Term Memory)

Answer 7

Conscious processing of information/ holds 7+/-2 (5-9) items; holds these items for 20-30 seconds.

Question 8

Long-Term Memory

Answer 8

Relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

Question 9

Explicit (Declarative) Memory

Answer 9

Facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare.

Question 10

Implicit (Non-declarative)/Procedural Memory

Answer 10

Memories of how to do things; automatic procedures.

Question 11

Effortful Processing

Answer 11

Learning and/or storing that requires attention and conscious effort to process information.

Question 12

Herman Ebbinghaus and Rehearsal (Repetition)

Answer 12

The amount we remember correlates with time spent learning

Question 13

Automatic Processing

Answer 13

Unconscious encoding of the incidental information, such as space, time, frequency, and of well-learned information.

Question 14

Mnemonics

Answer 14

Memory aids; techniques that a person can use to help themselves remember or memorize things.

Question 15

Chunking

Answer 15

Organizing items into familiar, manageable, units, such as acronyms.

Question 16

Methods of Loci

Answer 16

Items are mentally associated with specific physical locations.

Question 17

Spacing Effect

Answer 17

Distributed practice yields better long-term retention than massed practice.

Question 18

Testing Effect

Answer 18

Enhanced memory after retrieving (test yourself as you go).

Question 19

Shallow Processing

Answer 19

Encoding on the structure or appearance of words.

Question 20

Deep Processing

Answer 20

Encoding meaning of the words (semantic encoding) to obtain the best retention.

Question 21

Semantic Encoding

Answer 21

Meaning of something is encoded, opposed to encoding the sound of vision of it.

Question 22

Hippocampus

Answer 22

Processes explicit (declarative) memories.

Question 23

Flashbulb Memory

Answer 23

Highly emotional moment may give rise to a clear, strong, and persistent memory; not free from/still susceptible to errors.

Question 24

Cerebellum

Answer 24

Processes implicit (procedural) memories.

Question 25

Long Term Potentiation

Answer 25

Increase in a synapses' firing potential.

Question 26

Priming

Answer 26

Activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations (retrieval cues), predisposing one's perception of something.

Question 27

Retrieval Cue

Answer 27

Any word, place, emotion, clue, etc., that triggers a memory.

Question 28

Context Effect

Answer 28

Improved recall of information when the context present at encoding and retrieval are the same.

Question 29

Mood-Congruent/State-Dependent Memory

Answer 29

Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current mood (or state of consciousness); high, drunk, depressed, happy, etc.

Question 30

Serial Position Effect (Primacy and Recency Effect)

Answer 30

Recall is better for first (primacy effect) and last items on a list (recency effect), but poor for middle items.

Question 31

Amnesia

Answer 31

Severe memory loss due to injury, disease, etc.

Question 32

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 32

Inability to remember past episodic information; caused by head injury.

Question 33

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 33

Inability to form new memories; related to hippocampus damage.

Question 34

Encoding Failure

Answer 34

Original information was not encoded correctly the first time; caused by not paying attention; to avoid, we are encouraged to use effortful processing.

Question 35

Retrieval Failure

Answer 35

If cues present during encoding are missing, memory cannot be retrieved.

Question 36

Ebbinghaus' Forgetting Curve

Answer 36

Most forgetting happens right after learning something; initial plunge then levels off, slowly declines until completely forgotten.

Question 37

Proactive (Forward Acting) Interference

Answer 37

Disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new information.

Question 38

Retroactive (Backwards Acting) Interference

Answer 38

Disruptive effect of new learning on recall of old information.

Question 39

Repression

Answer 39

Freudian term; defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Question 40

Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer Experiment

Answer 40

Showed that people remember things differently depending on the language used to describe an event; we alter memories at times based on experiences and expectations.

Question 41

Misinformation Effect

Answer 41

Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event; in the Loftus and Palmer Experiment some participants added broken glass to their memory of the event.

Question 42

Source Amnesia

Answer 42

Attributing to the wrong source an event that we experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined.

Question 43

Convergent Thinking

Answer 43

Thinking that looks for only one solution.

Question 44

Divergent Thinking

Answer 44

Looking for multiple ways to solve problems.

Question 45

Algorithms

Answer 45

Methodical logical rules or procedures that guarantee solving a particular problem; will eventually reach the correct solution.

Question 46

Heuristics

Answer 46

Simple thinking strategies that allow us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; more prone to error.

Question 47

Representative Heuristic

Answer 47

Any time we judge the likelihood of something based on how well it represents a prototype; causes us to override the use of statistics or logic.

Question 48

Availability Heuristic

Answer 48

Any time we judge the likelihood of something based on information in our recent memories; leads to incorrect conclusions based on personal experience.

Question 49

Insight

Answer 49

Sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem.

Question 50

Confirmation Bias

Answer 50

Tendency to search for information that confirm a personal bias.

Question 51

Fixation

Answer 51

Inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective.

Question 52

Mental Set

Answer 52

Tendency to only see solutions that have worked in the past; inhibits our creativity.

Question 53

Functional Fixedness

Answer 53

Tendency to think only of the familiar functions of an object.