the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
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general intelligence
according to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test
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factor analysis
a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score.
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iconic memory
a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
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echoic memory
a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.
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chunking
organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
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mnemonics
memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
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spacing effect
the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.
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testing effect
enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information.
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shallow processing
encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words.
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deep processing
encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.
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savant syndrome
a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing.
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emotional intelligence
the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.
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grit
passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals
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intelligence test
a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores.
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achievement test
a test designed to assess what a person has learned.
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aptitude test
a test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn
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mental age
a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age
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Stanford-Binet
the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test
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intelligence quotient
defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ = ma/ca × 100)
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Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
the most widely used intelligence tests; they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests.
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standardization
defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group
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normal curve (normal distribution)
the bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes.
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reliability
the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting
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validity
the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to.
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content validity
the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest.
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predictive validity
the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior
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cohort
a group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as from a given time period
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crystallized intelligence
our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
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fluid intelligence
our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood
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cross-sectional study
research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time
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longitudinal study
research that follows and retests the same people over time
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intellectual disability
a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life
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down syndrome
a condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.
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Heritability
the proportion of variation among individuals in a group that we can attribute to genes. It may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied.
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stereotype threat
a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype
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memory
the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information
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recall
a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test
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recognition
a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test
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relearning
a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again
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encoding
the process of getting information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning
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storage
the process of retaining encoded information over time
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retrieval
the process of getting information out of memory storage
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parallel processing
processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions
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semantic memory
explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems
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episodic memory
explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems
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hippocampus
a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit (conscious) memories—of facts and events—for storage
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memory consolidation
the neural storage of a long-term memory
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flashbulb memory
a clear, sustained memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.
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long-term potentiation
an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory
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priming
the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory
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encoding specificity principle
the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it
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mood-congruent memory
the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood
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serial position effect
our tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and first (primacy effect) items in a list
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anterograde amnesia
an inability to form new memories
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retrograde amnesia
an inability to retrieve information from one’s past
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proactive interference
the forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information.
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retroactive interference
the backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information
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repression
in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
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reconsolidation
a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again
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misinformation effect
occurs when misleading information has distorted one’s memory of an event.
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source amnesia
faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined
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déjà vu
hat eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.
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cognition
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
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concept
a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.
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prototype
a mental image or best example of a category
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creativity
the ability to produce new and valuable ideas
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convergent thinking
narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution
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divergent thinking
expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions.
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algorithm
a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem
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sensory memory
the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
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short-term memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as digits of a phone number while calling, before the information is stored or forgotten.
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long-term memory
the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.
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working memory
a newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.
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explicit memory
retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare."
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effortful processing
encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
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automatic processing
unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings
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implicit memory
retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection
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heuristic
a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently
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insight
a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions
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confirmation bias
a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.
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fixation
in cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving.
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mental set
a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past
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intuition
an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.
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representativeness heuristic
stimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information
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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.
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overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.
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belief perseverance
clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
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framing
the way an issue is posed; how an issue is worded can significantly affect decisions and judgments.
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language
our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.
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phoneme
in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.
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morpheme
in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix).
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grammar
in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. Semantics is the language’s set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is its set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.
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babbling stage
beginning around 4 months, the stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
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one-word stage
the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.
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two-word stage
beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements.
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telegraphic speech
early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—“go car”—using mostly nouns and verbs.
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aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)
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Broca's area
helps control language expression—an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.
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Wernicke's area
a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.
Studied by 281 people
