Unit 5: Reading Flashcards
Parallel Processing
Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously
Memory
The persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and retrieval of information
Encoding
Getting information into our brain
Storage
Retain that information
Retrieval
Later get the information back out
Sensory memory
The brief recording of sensory information
Short-term memory
An activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored and forgotten
Working Memory
A form of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming information
Explicit Memories
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”
Implicit Memories
Retention independent of conscious recollection, something you do but cannot explain how to do
What information do we automatically process?
Information about space, time, and frequency
Iconic memory
Info remembered unconsciously and effortlessly
Echoic Memory
Info you must work to remember
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units
Mnemonic
Memory aid to organize information. Example: PEMDAS
Testing Effect
Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information
Shallow processing vs. Deep processing
Shallow Processing - only taking into account the structure or appearance of words
Deep Processing - processing that goes in depth on the meaning of words
Parts of the brain that aid in explicit memory
Frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and hippocampus
Parts of the brain that aid in implicit memory
Basal ganglia, cerebellum, and hippocampus
Flashbulb memories
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Long Term Potentiation
An increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation
Automatic vs. Effortful memory processing
Automatic memory involves implicit memories without conscious recall. Effortful memories involves explicit memories with conscious recall
How is memory measured?
In three levels of retention:
1. Recall
2. Recognition
3. Relearning
Retrieval Cues
External cues that can trigger memories
Priming
External cues that activate associations that help us retrieve memories
State Dependent Memory
Memory that depends on the emotional state you were in
Context Driven Memory
Memory that depends on where you are and what you are doing
Mood Congruent
Retaining to the same physical context or emotional state in which we formed a memory can help retrieve it
Serial Position Effect
Tendency to best recall the last and first items in a list
Anterograde Amnesia
Inability to form new memories
Retrograde Amnesia
Inability to recall memories from one’s past
Storage Decay
Poor Durability of stored memories
Proactive interference
When old information blocks the retrieval of new information
Retroactive interference
When new information blocks the retrieval of old information
Repression
A defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness
Misinformation Effect
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event
Source Amnesia
Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experiences, heard about, read about, or imagined. Can be the cause of false memories
Deja Vu
The eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
Cognition
Mental activates associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating
Prototype
A mental image or best example of a category
Convergent Thinking
Narrows problem solutions to determine the single best one
Divergent Thinking
Expands the number of possible problem solutions
Creativity
Ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
What part of the brain is responsible for creativity
Left Parietal lobe
5 Components of Creativity
- Expertise
- Imaginative Thinking Skills
- A venturesome personality
- Intrinsic motivation
- A creative environment
Algorithm vs. Heuristics
Algorithms are logical rules that guarantee the answer. Heuristic is simple thinking that allows us to solve problems efficiently (but more error prone)
Confirmation Bias
Searching for an answer you want and ignoring what you don’t like
Fixation and Mental Sets
Create an inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective, which leads us to only focus on one solution
Intuition
An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
Overconfidence
The tendency to be more confident than correct, to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments
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
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
Language
Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
Phonemes
In a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
Morphemes
In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning
Grammer
In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others
Babbling Stage
4 Months old - Children will start uttering various sounds, unrelated to the household language
One-Word Stage
1-2 Years old - Child mainly speaks in single words
Two-Word Stage
2 Years old - Child speaks in two-word statements
Telegraphic Stage
Early speech, child speaks using nouns and verbs
Broca’s Area Damage
Understand but not speak
Wernicke’s Area Damage
Speak but not understand
