Cognitive Psychology – Lecture 1 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from Cognitive Psychology Lecture 1, including brain plasticity, memory systems, research findings, and study strategies.

Hebb’s Rule

Principle that neurons that fire together strengthen their connection (“cells that fire together wire together”).

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

Enduring increase in synaptic strength following repeated stimulation; neurochemical basis of learning.

Neuroplasticity

The brain’s ability to reorganize its structure and function in response to experience.

Sensorimotor Cortex Expansion

Enlargement of cortical area representing the left-hand fingers in string musicians due to practice.

Hippocampus

Deep brain structure crucial for forming new memories, spatial navigation, and high neuroplasticity.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to create new memories after brain damage, typically to the hippocampus or MTL.

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of access to memories formed before brain damage.

Medial Temporal Lobe (MTL)

Brain region that, with the hippocampus, supports encoding and retrieval of new memories.

Memory Consolidation

Gradual stabilization of memories, allowing cortical regions to retrieve information without hippocampal help.

fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

Non-invasive imaging that tracks blood-oxygen changes to localize brain activity.

Patient H.M.

Amnesic whose hippocampus removal prevented new explicit memories but spared procedural learning.

Procedural Memory

Implicit memory for skills and habits, shown by improvement without conscious recollection.

Explicit (Declarative) Memory

Conscious memory for facts and events.

Semantic Memory

Subtype of explicit memory for general knowledge unlinked to specific time or place.

Episodic Memory

Subtype of explicit memory for personally experienced events bound to context.

Implicit (Non-Declarative) Memory

Unconscious memory expressed through performance, including conditioning, priming, and skills.

Conditioning

Learning associations between stimuli and/or responses.

Priming

Influence of prior exposure on later performance or judgment, outside awareness.

Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Effect

Tendency to falsely remember semantically related but non-presented words.

Loftus & Palmer (1974) Study

Demonstrated wording effects on memory; “smashed” led to higher speed estimates than “hit.”

Cognitive Interview

Forensic technique encouraging context reinstatement, exhaustive reporting, varied order, and perspective changes.

Recognition

Identifying previously encountered information as familiar.

Recall

Actively retrieving information from long-term memory without cues.

Encoding

Process of getting information into memory storage.

Retrieval

Accessing stored information from memory.

Desirable Difficulties

Learning challenges (e.g., testing, spacing, elaboration) that enhance long-term retention.

Retrieval Practice (Testing Effect)

Act of recalling information to strengthen memory more than additional study does.

Spacing Effect

Improved long-term retention when study sessions are distributed over time.

Elaboration

Deep encoding strategy of linking new information to existing knowledge and generating examples.

Retrieval Failure

Inability to recall stored information, often temporary.

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

Feeling of imminent recall without full retrieval, often with partial information (e.g., syllable count).

Roediger & Karpicke (2006)

Study showing long-term advantages of testing over restudying for retention.

Self-Reference Effect

Enhanced memory for information related to oneself.

Generation Effect

Better recall for information one actively produces compared to passively read content.

Deep vs. Shallow Encoding

Encoding based on meaning (deep) yields better memory than encoding based on surface features (shallow).

Flashbulb Memory

Vivid, detailed recollection of emotionally significant events.

Sleep and Memory Consolidation

Sleep, especially REM, supports hippocampal replay and stabilization of new memories.

Exercise and Memory

Physical activity enhances communication between hippocampus and cortex, improving vivid recollection.