AP Psych Unit 5 - Memory & Language (Cognition)

Memory

the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

Encoding

Get info into brain; the processing of information into the memory system

Storage

the retention of encoded information over time

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

parallel processing

processing many things simultaneously

Sensory Memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten; aka working memory

long-term memory

the relatively permanent storage of information

dual track memory

explicit memories and implicit memories

explicit memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"; effortful processesing

Implicit memory

Memories encoded without concious awareness (automatic processing); aka nondeclarative memory

effortful control

Encoding thay required attention and concuous effort

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information

3 things we automatically process

space, time, frequency

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; lasts about 3-4 seconds

capacity for short term memory

7 plus or minus 2

effortful processing strategies

chunking, mnemonics, hierarchies

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

mnemonics

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Hierarchies

Complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided into categories and subcategories

Spacing Effect

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention

Massed practice

cramming; produces speedy short-term memory but steep forgetting curve

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information

Shallow Processing

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

deep processing

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

Why does normal forgetting happen?

Encoding failure, retrieval failure, decayed neural connections

proactive interference

prior learning disrupts recall of new information

retroactive interference

new learning disrupts recall of old information

episodic memory

memories of specific events, stored in a sequential series of events

Semantic memory

general knowledge of the world, stored as facts, meanings, or categories rather than sequentially

Procedural memory

memories of skills and how to perform them

frontal lobes

Area where many regions of the brain send information for processing

Hippocampus

Registers and temporarily holds explicit memories; processes memories for later retrieval during sleep

frontal lobes and hippocampus

Dedicated to explicit memory formation

cerebellum and basal ganglia

dedicated to implicit memory formation

Cerebellum

Stores classically conditioned memories

Basal ganglia

Motor movement and procedural memories/skills

Infantile Amnesia

Cant consciously remember learning associations/skills from ages 0-3

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

long-term potentiation (LTP)

Neurons become more efficient at releasing and sensing neurotransmitters (more connections between neurons); neural basis for learning and memory

How is memory measured?

recall, recognition, relearning

Recall

retrieving information that is not currently in your conscious awareness but that was learned at an earlier time

recognition

identifying items previously learned

Relearning

learning something more quickly when you learn it a second or later time

Retrieval Cues

hints that make it easier to recall information; eg external cues, state-dependent memory, serial position effect

External cues

activate associations that help us retrieve memories; this process may occur without our awareness, as it does in priming

Priming

the activation of particular associations in memory; eg spelling "hare" rather than "hair" after hearing "rabbit"

state-dependent memory

what we learn in one state may be more easily recalled when we are again in that state

mood-congruent memory

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood; type of state-dependent memory

serial postion effect

Tendency to recall the last and first items in a list better

Recency effect

Tendency to recall the last item in a list best (serial position effect)

Primacy effect

Tendency to recall first item in a list best (serial position effect)

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories; results from damage to hippocampus; can still learn new skills; indicates procedural memory stored elsewhere

Retrograde amnesia

Inability to retrieve old memories

Repression

Sigmund Freud argued that we repress painful/unacceptable memories to preserve self-image and minimize anxiety; also believed these memories could be retrieved by later cue or therapy

Recovered memory phenomenon

individuals claim suddenly to remember events they have "repressed" for years, often in the process of therapy

Misinformation effect

Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Elizabeth Loftus

Her research on memory construction and the misinformation effect created doubts about the accuracy of eye-witness testimony (smashed vs hit)

Source amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined; authors and songwriters unintentionally plagiarize due to this

Deja vu

Eerie sent that "I've experience this before"; occurs when frontal lobe and hippocampus are out of sync)

Concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Prototype

a mental image or best example of a category; eg robins are more "birdier" birds than penguins because they fit bird prototype more

Creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Divergent Thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions)

Algorithms

step by step procedures that guarantee a solution

Heuristic

a simpler strategy that is usually speedier than an algorithm but is also more error prone

Insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution

Wolfgang Kohler

researcher who studied insight learning in chimps (Sultan)

Conformation Bias

a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions and to ignore contradictory evidence

mental set (rigidity)

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

Functional Fixedness

Inability to see new use for an object (example of mental set)

Intuition

fast, automatic, unreasoned feelings and thoughts

representativeness 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 (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

belief perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

Language

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Phonemes

the smallest distinctive sound unit

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning in a language.

Cooing phase

0-3 months; coo (vowel noises) when happy/content and cry when not content

Babbling stage

4 months, infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

one-word stage

the stage in which children speak mainly in single words; 1-2 years old

two-word stage

18 months - 2 years

telegraphic speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs.

Overgeneralization/overregularization

applying grammar rules in areas they don't apply; eg Jeff hitted my head so I throwed my truck

Noam Chomsky

Argued that humans have a predisposition to learn grammar rules

Aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

linguistic determinism

language determines the way we think

metacognition

awareness of one’s own cognitive processes; often involving a concious attempt to control them

elaborative encoding

encoding strategy to facillitate the formaion of memory by linking new information to what one already knows

self-reference

tendency to relate events or information to the self

maintenence rehearsal

repeating things over and over to keep them in short term memory; eg repeating phone # until it has been dialed

mehtod of loci

items to be remembered are converted into mental images associated with specific positions/locations

schema

collection of basic knowledge about a concept; scheme of dorm room typically has a bed and desk, not a persian rug

source monitoring

process of determinging the origins of one’s memories

consolidation

neurobiological process by which a permanent memory is formed through a learning experience

predictable world bias

predisposition to percieve order where order has not been proven to exist

executive functioning

higher level cognitive processes