Unit 7 Flashcards
memory
the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.
encoding
the converting of a sensory input into a way of being processed and deposited in memory. (processing information and making it into a memory)
storage
the process of retaining encoded information overtime
retrieval
getting information out of the memory storage
parallel processing
being able to process lots of sensory information at the same time
sensory memory
brief recording of sensory (taste,smell, etc) information in the memory system.
short-term memory
activated memory that remembers a few things briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before it is stored or forgotten.
long-term memory
that enables one to retain, retrieve, and make use of skills and knowledge hours, weeks, or even years after they were originally learned.
working memory
brain system that provides temporary storage for such complex cognitive tasks as language comprehension, learning, and reasoning.
explicit memory
Explicit memory requires you to consciously recall information. For example, imagine someone asks you what the capital of France is. To answer, you’d likely access your memory to find the correct answer: Paris.
effortful processing
encoding that requires attention and con-scious effort.
automatic processing
unconscious processing of information, such as space, time and of well-learned information, such as word meanings
implicit memory
memory for a previous event or experience that is produced indirectly (ex. riding a bike)
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.
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.
chunking
the process by which the mind divides large pieces of information into smaller units (chunks) that are easier to retain in short-term memory.
mnemonics
any device or technique used to assist memory
spacing effect
people learn material easier and more effectively when it is studied several times over a long period of time rather than in a short period of time.
testing effect
finding that taking a test on previously studied material is better than restudying that material for an equivalent amount of time.
shallow processing
encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words
deep processing
Deep processing involves elaboration rehearsal which involves a more meaningful analysis (e.g. images, thinking, associations etc.) of information and leads to better recall. For example, giving words a meaning or linking them with previous knowledge.
hippocampus
a curved structure in our temporal lobes that is responsible for memory
flashbulb memory
clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event. (trauma/shocking memory)
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
recall
a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.
recognition
form of remembering characterized by a feeling of familiarity when something previously experienced is again encountered
relearning
a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.
priming
the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory (forgetting why u walked in a room)
mood-congruent memory
consistency between one’s mood state and the emotional context of memories recalled. During positive mood states, individuals will tend to retrieve pleasant memories, whereas during negative mood states, negative thoughts and associations will more likely come to mind.
serial position effect
Our tendency to recall best the last (a recency effect) and first items (a primacy effect) in a list.
anterograde amnesia
an inability to form new memories
retrograde amnesia
an inability to retrieve information from one’s past
proactive interference
interference in new learning due to previous learning of similar or related material. (ex. learning french after 2 years of spanish)
retroactive interference
occurs when new information interferes with your ability to recall information that you could remember previously. Things that are more recent and fresh are easy to remember, but old information feels far away, even if you spent more time learning it. An example of this is switching your password from Psych2020 to Psych#2021 and then not being able to recall your old password.
repression
psychological defense mechanism in which unpleasant thoughts or memories are pushed from the conscious mind
misinformation effect
incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event. (the skittle experiment we did in class)
source amnesia
an inability to remember from where existing knowledge was acquired. For a basic example, most of us remember learning how to read and write, but we don’t remember learning to walk.
deja vu
that eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.
cognition
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
concept
a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.
prototype
Prototypes are used to enhance memory and recall, since you can keep a prototype of something and then match new, similar things to the prototype in order to identify, categorize, or store this new thing. For example, if I ask you to imagine a dog, what do you imagine?
creativity
the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
convergent thinking
narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution. joining two or more different observations or ideas together so that they provide additional information, for example, putting the pieces of a puzzle together so they make a complete picture.
divergent thinking
expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions).
insight
a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions.
algorithm
An algorithm is a step by step method that guarantees to solve a particular problem.
heuristic
a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error - prone than algorithms.
confirmation bias
the tendency of people to favor information that confirms their existing beliefs or hypotheses
mental set
a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past (doing something the same way if it has worked in the past)
intuition
an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
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. (basing view of a product based on one positive or negative review)
availability heuristic
estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory. (judging a situation based on examples of similar situations that initially come to mind)
overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct
belief perseverance
tendency to maintain one’s beliefs even in the face of evidence that contradicts them. An example of belief perseverance is a person who believes that smoking does not cause cancer despite the abundance of evidence that shows that smoking does cause cancer
framing
the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments. For example, let’s say that a doctor who is going to be performing surgery on you says you have a 90 percent chance of survival. That sounds pretty good, right? If it was framed differently by saying you have a 10 percent chance of dying
language
words and the way we combine them to communicate meaning
phoneme
in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.
morpheme
in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word
grammar
in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. In a given language, semantics is the set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.
babbling
beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.
one-word stage
the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.
two-word stage
beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements.
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 either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding).
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
wernicke’s area
controls language reception a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
linguistic’s determintation
Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think
richard atkinson
drew an analogy between information storage in computers and information storage in human memory
george miller
pointed out small capacity of STM in famous paper “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two”
hermann ebbinghaus
first person to conduct scientific studies of forgetting
eric kandel
studied conditioned reflexes in a simple organism - a sea slug; led to a Nobel Prize
elizabeth loftus
researched misinformation effect
robert sternberg
proposed the triarchic theory that divides intelligence into three types: componential, experiential, and contextual
wolfgang kohler
german psychologist whose research focused on human perception
amos tversky
discovered systematic human cognitive bias
daniel kahneman
is an Israeli-American psychologist and economist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, as well as behavioral economics
steven pinker
is an experimental cognitive psychologist and a popular writer on language, mind, and human nature.
noam chomsky
contribution to psychology is the concept of universal grammar, which states that language is innate, or inborn, instead of learned
paul broca
broca was a neuroanatomist who made contributions to the study of the limbic system and rhinencephalon. His research on the localization of speech in the brain paved the way for new research into the lateralization of brain functions.
carl wernicke
made discoveries about brain function
benjamin lee whorf
developed the principle of linguistic relativity
