Unit 5: Cognition

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134 Terms

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Information processing model
compares our mind to a computer.
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Encoded
when our sensory receptors send impulses that are registered by neurons in our brain, similar to getting electronic information into our computer’s CPU (central processing unit) by keyboarding.
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Donald Broadbent
modeled human memory and thought processes using a flowchart that showed competing information filtered out early, as it is received by the senses and analyzed in the stages of memory.
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Attention
is the mechanism by which we restrict information.
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Shallow processing
we use structural encoding of superficial sensory information that emphasizes the physical characteristics, such as lines and curves, of the stimulus as it first comes in.
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Deep processing
occurs when we attach meaning to information and create associations between the new memory and existing memories (elaboration).
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Semantic encoding
associated with deep processing, emphasizes the meaning of verbal input.
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Atkinson–Shiffrin three-stage model of memory
describes three different memory systems characterized by time frames
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Sensory memory
visual or iconic memory that completely represents a visual stimulus lasts for less than a second, just long enough to ensure that we don’t see gaps between frames in a motion picture.
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Auditory or echoic memory
lasts for about 4 seconds, just long enough for us to hear a flow of information.
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Selective attention
focusing of awareness on a specific stimulus in sensory memory, determines which very small fraction of information perceived in sensory memory is encoded into short-term memory.
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Automatic processing
is unconscious encoding of information about space, time, and frequency that occurs without interfering with our thinking about other things.
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Parallel processing
a natural mode of information processing that involves several information streams simultaneously.
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Effortful processing
is encoding that requires our focused attention and conscious effort.
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Short-term memory (STM)
can hold a limited amount of information for about 30 seconds unless it is processed further.
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Chunk
can be a word rather than individual letters or a date rather than individual numbers.
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Alan Baddeley’s
working memory model involves much more than chunking, rehearsal, and passive storage of information.
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Working memory model
is an active three-part memory system that temporarily holds information and consists of a phonological loop, visuospatial working memory, and the central executive.
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Explicit memory
also called declarative memory, is our LTM of facts and experiences we consciously know and can verbalize.
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Procedural memories
are tasks that we perform automatically without thinking, such as tying our shoelaces or swimming.
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Prospective memory
is our memory to perform a planned action or remembering to perform that planned action.
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Long-term memory (LTM)
is the relatively permanent and practically unlimited capacity memory system into which information from short-term memory may pass.
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Implicit memory
also called non-declarative memory, is our LTM for skills and procedures to do things affected by previous experience without that experience being consciously recalled.
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Hierarchies
are systems in which concepts are arranged from more general to more specific classes.
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Concepts
can be simple or complex.
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Prototypes
which are the most typical examples of the concept.
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Semantic networks
are more irregular and distorted systems than strict hierarchies, with multiple links from one concept to others.
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Dr. Steve Kosslyn
showed that we seem to scan a visual image of a picture (mental map) in our mind when asked questions.
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Schemas
are preexisting mental frameworks that start as basic operations and then get more and more complex as we gain additional information.
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Script
is a schema for an event.
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Connectionism
theory states that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections between neurons, many of which work together to process a single memory.
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Artificial intelligence (AI)
have designed the neural network or parallel processing model that emphasizes the simultaneous processing of information, which occurs automatically and without our awareness.
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Neural network
computer models are based on neuronlike systems, which are biological rather than artificially contrived computer codes; they can learn, adapt to new situations, and deal with imprecise and incomplete information.
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Long-term potentiation (or LTP)
involves an increase in the efficiency with which signals are sent across the synapses within neural networks of long-term memories.
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Flashbulb memory
a vivid memory of an emotionally arousing event, is associated with an increase of adrenal hormones triggering release of energy for neural processes and activation of the amygdala and the hippocampus involved in emotional memories.
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Anterograde amnesia
the inability to put new information into explicit memory; no new semantic memories are formed.
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Retrograde amnesia
involves memory loss for a segment of the past, usually around the time of an accident, such as a blow to the head.
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Hermann Ebbinghaus
experimentally investigated the properties of human memory using lists of meaningless syllables.
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Savings method
the amount of repetitions required to relearn the list compared to the amount of repetitions it took to learn the list originally.
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Overlearning effect
Ebbinghaus also found that if he continued to practice a list after memorizing it well, the information was more resistant to forgetting.
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Serial position effect
When we try to retrieve a long list of words, we usually recall the last words and the first words best, forgetting the words in the middle.
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Primacy effect
refers to better recall of the first items, thought to result from greater rehearsal Recency effect
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Retrieval cues
can be other words or phrases in a specific hierarchy or semantic network, context, and mood or emotions.
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Priming
is activating specific associations in memory either consciously or unconsciously.
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Distributed practice
spreading out the memorization of information or the learning of skills over several sessions, facilitates remembering.
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Massed practice
cramming the memorization of information or the learning of skills into one session.
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Mnemonic devices
or memory tricks when encoding information, these devices will help us retrieve concepts.
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Method of loci
uses association of words on a list with visualization of places on a familiar path.
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Peg word mnemonic
requires us to first memorize a scheme.
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Context-dependent memory
Our recall is often better when we try to recall information in the same physical setting in which we encoded it, possibly because along with the information, the environment is part of the memory trace
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Mood congruence
aids retrieval.
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State-dependent
things we learn in one internal state are more easily recalled when in the same state again.
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Forgetting
may result from failure to encode information, decay of stored memories, or an inability to access information from LTM.
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Relearning
is a measure of retention of memory that assesses the time saved compared to learning the first time when learning information again.
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tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
Sometimes we know that we know something but can’t pull it out of memory.
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Interference
Learning some items may prevent retrieving others, especially when the items are similar.
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Proactive interference
occurs when something we learned earlier disrupts recall of something we experience later.
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Retroactive interference
is the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.
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Sigmund Freud
believed that repression (unconscious forgetting) of painful memories occurs as a defense mechanism to protect our self-concepts and minimize anxiety.
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Misinformation effect
occurs when we incorporate misleading information into our memory of an event.
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Misattribution error
Forgetting what really happened, or distortion of information at retrieval, can result when we confuse the source of information—putting words in someone else’s mouth—or remember something we see in the movies or on the Internet as actually having happened.
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Language
is a flexible system of spoken, written, or signed symbols that enables us to communicate our thoughts and feelings.
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Morphemes
are the smallest meaningful units of speech, such as simple words, prefixes, and suffixes
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grammar
Each language has a system of rules that determines how sounds and words can be combined and used to communicate
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syntax
The set of rules that regulate the order in which words can be combined into grammatically sensible sentences in a language
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semantics
The set of rules that enables us to derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences
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Babbling
is the production of phonemes, not limited to the phonemes to which the baby is exposed.
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Holophrase
one word—to convey meaning.
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Telegraphic speech
they begin to put together two-word sentences.
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Overgeneralization
or overregularization in which children apply grammatical rules without making appropriate exceptions.
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Linguistic relativity hypothesis
has largely been discredited by empirical research.
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Metacognition
thinking about how you think
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Algorithm
is a problem-solving strategy that involves a slow, step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution to many types of problems.
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Insight
is a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem.
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Trial-and-error approach
This approach involves trying possible solutions and discarding those that do not work.
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Inductive reasoning
involves reasoning from the specific to the general, forming concepts about all members of a category based on some members, which is often correct but may be wrong if the members we have chosen do not fairly represent all of the members.
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Deductive reasoning
involves reasoning from the general to the specific.
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Fixation
is an inability to look at a problem from a fresh perspective, using a prior strategy that may not lead to success.
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Functional fixedness
a failure to use an object in an unusual way.
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Availability heuristic
estimating the probability of certain events in terms of how readily they come to mind.
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Representative heuristic
a mental shortcut by which a new situation is judged by how well it matches a stereotypical model or a particular prototype.
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Framing
refers to the way a problem is posed.
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Anchoring effect
is this tendency to be influenced by a suggested reference point, pulling our response toward that point.
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Confirmation bias
is a tendency to search for and use information that supports our preconceptions and ignore information that refutes our ideas.
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Belief perseverance
is a tendency to hold onto a belief after the basis for the belief is discredited.
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Belief bias
the tendency for our preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, making illogical conclusions seem valid or logical conclusions seem invalid.
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Hindsight bias
is a tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly predicted the outcome of the event.
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Overconfidence bias
is a tendency to underestimate the extent to which our judgments are erroneous.
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Creativity
is the ability to think about a problem or idea in new and unusual ways, to come up with unconventional solutions.
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Convergent thinkers
use problem-solving strategies directed toward one correct solution to a problem
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Divergent thinkers
produce many answers to the same question, characteristic of creativity.
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Brainstorm
generating lots of ideas without evaluating them.
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Psychometricians
are involved in test development in order to measure some construct or behavior that distinguishes people.
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Constructs
are ideas that help summarize a group of related phenomena or objects; they are hypothetical abstractions related to behavior and defined by groups of objects or events.
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Standardization
is a two-part test development procedure that first establishes test norms from the test results of the large representative sample that initially took the test and then ensures that the test is both administered and scored uniformly for all test takers.
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Norms
are scores established from the test results of the representative sample, which are then used as a standard for assessing the performances of subsequent test takers; more simply, norms are standards used to compare scores of test takers.
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Test-retest method
the same exam is administered to the same group on two different occasions, and the scores compared.
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Split-half method
the score on one half of the test questions is correlated with the score on the other half of the questions to see if they are consistent.
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Interrater reliability
the extent to which two or more scorers evaluate the responses in the same way.
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Validity
is the extent to which an instrument accurately measures or predicts what it is supposed to measure or predict.