Unit Three (Cognition + Memory) Flashcards
Information Processing Theory
- Encoding-forming a memory code from basic sensory info
- Storage-maintaining info in memory over time
- Retrieval-recovering info from memory stores
Inattentional Blindness
Don’t see things because you’re not paying attention
Role of Attention
Involves focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events
Eidetic memory
Perfect photographic memory
Sensory Memory
Preserves sensory information in its original form for a fraction of a second
Echoic
Auditory memory
Iconic
Visual memory
Haptic
Tactile memory
Short Term Memory
Limited capacity store that keeps unrehearsed information for about 20-30 seconds
Maintenance Rehearsal
Remembering info indefinitely in STM (by repeating info over and over)
Chunking
Organizing info into smaller, more manageable units
Working Memory
Selects info from sensory memory, provides “mental workspace”, thinking
Phonological Rehearsal Loop
Audio rehearsal takes place here – can hold 2 seconds of auditory info
Acoustic Encoding
Conversion of info to sound patterns in working memory
Visuospatial Sketchpad
Temporary ability to hold and manipulate images in your mind – involves the occipital, and frontal lobes
Central Executive
Handles the info one must consider when making decisions from Sens. Memory and LTM
Elaborative Rehearsal
Incorporating existing knowledge into new information
Structural Encoding
Physical structure of the stimulus (faces, length of word)
Phonemic Encoding
Emphasize what a word sounds like
Semantic Encoding
Emphasizes the meaning of the words
Levels of Processing
The deeper you process info the longer the information is retained
Long Term Memory
Unlimited capacity to hold information over a lengthy period of time
Procedural Memory
Skills or mental directions to complete an action (tend to be the most reliable type of memory)
Declarative Memory
Personal memories, facts, events, may require conscious mental effort
Episodic
Internal diary of your life
Semantic
Warehouse of knowledge, usually with little memory of where info was originally learned
Prospective Memory
The ability to remember to do something in the future
Hippocampus
Helps in conversion of STM memory into LTM during consolidation
Amygdala
Helps one recall emotional memories
Retrograde Amnesia
Cannot recall info prior to accident due to info not being fully consolidated
Anterograde Amnesia
No new memories can be formed after the accident
Long term Potentiation
How synapses in a group of neurons strengthen to become the neural basis of learning/memory
Implicit Memory
When retention is exhibited on a task does not require intentional remembering (unconscious memory?)
Explicit Memory
Intentional recollection of previous learning
Retrieving Explicit Memories
Through elaborative rehearsal one remembers material in LTM better
Meaningful Organization
The more useful and valuable the info is considered by the working memory, the better the retrieval
Recall
Similar to an essay test where you remember information and express it logically
Recognition
Like a MC test
Retrieval Cues
Stimuli that are used to bring a memory into consciousness or into behavior
Encoding Specificity Principle
The more closely the retrieval cues match the form in which the info was encoded, the better it will be remembered
Context Dependent Memory
Being in the same place when the memory was encoded often aids recall
Mood Congruent Memory
One remembers according to their mood (if happy, remember the good times and vice versa)
State Dependent Memory
One remembers according to their state of consciousness (if tired, will remember times when tired)
Déjà Vu
“Already seen”, the strange feeling that what you are experiencing has already happened
TOT Phenomenon
Sometimes we can’t recall info because of poor match between encoding and retrieval cues or blocking
Transience
Impermanence of LTM and how memories seem to fade over time
Forgetting Curve
Most meaningless info is lost within a day, but what remains is retained with little further loss
Absent Mindedness
When attention is shifted sometimes we forget
Blocking
How we have difficult time recalling information due to competing info-three factors: similarity between 2 memories, it’s meaningless info, or your emotional state
Proactive Interference
When old info reaches forward and disrupts new memories
Retroactive Interference
When new information reaches back and disrupts old memories
Serial Positioning Effect
How we remember info from the beginning and end of a list at the expense of the middle information
Primacy Effect
How we remember beginning info best
Recency Effect
How we recall info best when its current
Misattribution Effect
A memory flaw where info is recalled, but the source of the memory is not remembered accurately
Reality Monitoring
Are our memories from real experiences or internal sources like dream or imagination?
Suggestibility
Memory distortion as the result the influence of others’ ideas/expectations
Misinformation Effect
Form of suggestibility caused by inaccurate info, possibly with goal of deception
Expectancy Bias
The distortion of recalled events to make them fit one’s expectations
Self-Consistency Bias
Believing we are consistent in our attitudes, opinions, and beliefs when we really aren’t
Unwanted Persistence
When a memory cannot be discarded or becomes too powerful and dominates your life – depression can result!
Advantages of the 7 Sins of Memory
Our mind works to unify our experiences and discard meaningless info – some errors of thinking actually focus our thoughts on what is important
Method of Loci
Involves associating items on a list with a sequence of familiar locations
Natural Language Mediators
Meaningful word associations that aid memory (jingles, rhymes, acronyms, stories)
Innateness (Nativist) Theory
Humans are genetically predisposed to learn language
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
Innate language learning mechanism
Social Communication Theory
Emphasizing the role of social interaction between the developing child and linguistically knowledgeable adults
Phonemes
Smallest speech unit in language that can be distinguished perceptually
Morphemes
Smallest unit of meaning in a language (can be words)
Semantics
Understanding the meaning of words and word combinations
Syntax (Grammar)
System of rules that state how words are arranged into sentences
Fast Mapping
Explains the growth in vocab – how children map a word to an underlying concept after one exposure
Overextension
Using a word too generally (everything round is a ball)
Underextension
Using a word too narrowly (there is no other doll but your favorite doll)
Overgeneralization
How grammatical rules are incorrectly applied (I goed home)
Linguistic Relativity
Language affects the nature of our thought
Thinking
Cognitive process using info from senses, emotions, and memory to create mental representations, such as concepts, schemas, and scripts
Concepts
Mental representations of items or ideas: building blocks of thought and mental organization
Natural Concepts
Mental representations of objects and events drawn from experience
Artificial Concepts
Concepts defined by rules like definitions and math formulas
Concept Hierarchies
Broad topics often can be divided
Schemas
Cluster of conceptual framework that provides expectations about topics, events, objects, people, etc.
Scripts (Event Schemas)
A cluster of knowledge about a sequence of events and actions, expected to occur in a particular setting
Conflicting Scripts
When you are confronted with two expectations of your behavior and you are unsure which to follow
Event-Related Potentials
Brain’s response to specific stimuli as shown on EEG
Confirmation Bias
ONLY accepting information that supports your established beliefs and disregarding contradictory evidence
Hindsight Bias
Once all the information is in, the results seem obvious, but not during the actual event
Anchoring Bias
Poor heuristic (learning) caused by basing(anchoring) an estimate on an unrelated quantity
Representative Bias
Using a prototype to judge future information (stereotypes and prejudice)
Gambler’s Fallacy
It’s going to hit!!! My time will come!!
Availability Bias
Estimate probabilities based on information that can be recalled from personal experience, or perception of that reality
Sunk Cost Fallacy
People use things they don’t like because they spend money on it
