Cognition Unit Review

Memory

the retention of information or experience over time

Serial position effect

our tendency to recall the last and first items in a list best

Phonemic encoding

the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words

George Miller

Who did work with short-term memory that basically showed it is temporary storage of recent events and is primarily acoustically coded?

Maintenance rehearsal

simple repetition to keep an item in short-term memory until it can be used

Elaborative rehearsal

organization and understanding of the information that has been encoded in order to transfer the info to long-term memory

7 +/- 2 bits

capacity of short-term memory

30 seconds

average duration of short-term memory

Semantic memories

long-term memory of general principles and facts

Explicit memories

conscious memories of facts and events we actively tried to remember (also called declarative memories)

Method of loci

a memory visualization technique where you memorize a series of places, and then you use a vivid image to associate each of these locations with something you want to remember

Primacy effect

tendency to remember the first items in a list

Recency effect

the tendency to remember the last items in a list

Source amnesia

the inability to remember where or how you learned something

Cognition

the mental processes involved in acquiring, organizing, remembering, using, and constructing knowledge

Prototype

the best example of a concept or category

Priming

when a person's response to a stimulus can be influenced by a previous exposure to a related stimulus, without conscious intention

Algorithm

a step-by-step formulaic process that will yield a solution

Heuristic

a simple strategy used to quickly form judgments, make decisions, and find solutions

Belief perseverance

the tendency to maintain a belief even after the evidence we used to form the belief is contradicted

Mental Set

a fixed frame of mind

Framing

the way an issue is posed or worded, which can impact judgments or decision-making

Divergent thinking

coming up with as many ideas or solutions to a problem as we can

Consolidation

the process of stabilizing and strengthening new memories so they can be stored long-term in the brain; usually happens during sleep

Infantile amnesia

the inability to remember events from early childhood

Central executive

the part of working memory that directs attention and processing

Spacing effect

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice

Testing effect

the tendency for better long-term retention of information after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information

Repression

when distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious

Recall

the ability to retrieve information or events from the past without a specific cue

Relearning

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

Misinformation effect

occurs when misleading information has distorted one's memory of an event

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM)

a form of extreme memory ability in which events from one's personal past can be recalled with great accuracy, including recollecting the days and dates of specific experiences

Fixed mindset

the idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change

Construct validity

the degree to which a test measures the concept it claims to be measuring

Predictive validity

the degree to which a test score or measurement can accurately predict a future outcome

Standardization

the process of making a test uniform by administering and scoring it in the same way for all test takers, allowing psychologists to compare test scores from different individuals and samples

Flynn effect

the rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations

General intelligenc (g)

a broad mental capacity that influences a person's ability to learn and solve problems

Phonological loop

the part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information

Visual-spatial sketchpad

the part of working memory that is responsible for the brief storage of visual information, and creating and manipulating mental images

Imagination inflation

a memory phenomenon in which vividly imagining an event markedly increases confidence that the event actually occurred

Constructive memory

describes how the brain creates memories, which can be influenced by new information, perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes; memories are not directly recalled as they happened, but instead are shaped by the brain as information is processed and retrieved from storage

Mood-congruent memory

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood

Bottom-up processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

Top-down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

Prosogagnosia

inability to recognize faces

Change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment

Inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

Iconic memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

Echoic memory

momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; sounds can be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

Semantic encoding

the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words

Chunking

a memory aid of grouping items into meaningful sequences or clusters

Long-term memory

relatively permanent storage with an unlimited capacity

Episodic memories

long-term memories of specific events in a person's life

Procedural memories

long-term memories of skills and how to perform them

Implicit memories

unconscious memories that we might not even realize we have (also called non-declarative memories)

Mnemonic devices

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

State dependent memory

when information is more likely to be recalled if the attempt to retrieve it occurs in the same physical or emotional state as when it was originally encoded

Proactive interference

when previous material learned can block the ability to retrieve the newer material

Retroactive interference

when new material can block the ability to retrieve the older material

Retrograde amnesia

memory loss of information acquired before a trauma that caused the amnesia

Anterograde amnesia

memory loss of information presented after a trauma

Representative heuristic

when you judge the likelihood of things based on how well they represent particular prototypes that you hold in your mind

Availability heuristic

when you judge a situation based on examples of similar situations that come to mind initially (what comes readily to mind)

Overconfidence

the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our judgments

Confirmation bias

when we look for evidence that confirms our beliefs

Convergent thinking

determining the best idea or answer to a problem

Hippocampus

where explicit memories are formed in the brain

Cerebellum

where implicit memories are formed in the brain

Gambler's Fallacy

an incorrect inference that a sequence of independent events makes future events more or less likely

Recognition

the ability to identify or recognize previously encountered people, objects, or events

Achievement test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned

Aptitude test

a test designed to predict a person's future performance

Autobiographical memory

the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story

Growth mindset

the idea that our abilities are malleable qualities that we can cultivate and grow

Test-retest reliability

a method for determining the consistent measurement of a test by comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate occasions

Split-half reliability

a method for determining the internal consistency of a test by comparing an individual's scores on two parts of the test

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results

Validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Intellectual Quotient (IQ)

a number that is often used as a measure of a person's intelligence and is found by dividing the mental age of the person as given by a score on a special test by their age in years and multiplying by 100

Sunk cost fallacy

our tendency to continue with an endeavor we've invested money, effort, or time into—even if the current costs outweigh the benefits

Multiple Intelligences

the hypothesis that intelligence consists not of one underlying ability but of many different abilities

Context-dependent memory

the theory that information learned in a particular situation or place is better remembered when in that same situation or place

Cocktail party effect

the ability to concentrate on one voice amongst a crowd

Deep processing

a cognitive process that involves actively engaging with information to make it meaningful and memorable

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

the temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that it's just out of reach