AP Psychology Unit 1: Learning & Memory

Amnesia

loss of memory

Anterograde amnesia

inability to form new memories

Autobiographical memory

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

Automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information

Central executive

the part of working memory that directs attention and processing

Chunking

Combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short-term memory.

Constructive memory

a process by which we first recall a generalized schema and then add in specific details

Context-dependent memory

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

Deep processing

encoding semantically. elaboration rehearsal which involves a more meaningful analysis (e.g. images, thinking, associations, etc.)of information and leads to better recall

Deja vu

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Distributed practice

spacing the study of material to be remembered by including breaks between study periods

Echoic memory

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli

Effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Elaborative rehearsal

a method of transferring information from STM into LTM by making that information meaningful in some way

Encoding

the processing of information into the memory system

Encoding failure

failure to process information into memory

Encoding specificity principle

the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it

Episodic memory

the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

Explicit memory

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

Flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Forgetting curve

A graph showing retention and forgetting over time.

Hippocampus

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.

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

Implicit memory

Memories we don't deliberately remember or reflect on consciously

Infantile amnesia

the inability to remember events from early childhood

Interleaving

switching between two different activities

Long-term potentiation

an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief rapid simulation

Maintenance rehearsal

A system for remembering involving repeating information to oneself without attempting to find meaning in it

Memory

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

Memory consolidation

transfer of short term memory to long term memory

Method of loci

use of familiar locations as cues to recall items that have been associated with them

Misinformation effect

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Mnemonics

memory aids

Mood-congruent memory

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

Multistore model of memory

The explanation of memory detailing three stores : sensory, STM/working, LTM

Neurogenesis

the formation of new neurons

Parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions

Phonemic processing

encoding information by focusing on how words sound

Phonological loop

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

Priming

a phenomenon in which exposure to one stimulus influences how a person responds to a subsequent, related stimulus

Proactive interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Procedural memory

the gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice

Prospective memory

remembering to do things in the future

Recall

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier

Recency effect

tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well

Recognition

a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned

Reconsolidation

a process in which previously stored memories becomes temporarily unstable and vulnerable to modification before being stored again

Rehearsal

the conscious repetition of information

Relearning

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time

Repression

in psychoanalytic theory. the exclusion of distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings from the conscious mind

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Retrieval cues

Stimuli that are used to bring a memory to consciousness or into behavior

Retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Retrograde amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past

Semantic encoding

the encoding of meaning

Semantic memory

a network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

Sensory memory

the immediate. brief collection of information from your senses

Shallow processing

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

Source amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced

Spacing effect

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

State-dependent memory

The theory that information learned in a particular state of mind (e.g., happy, sad, or intoxicated) is better remembered when in that same state of mind.

Storage

the retention of encoded information over time

Structural processing

Thinking about the physical appearance of words to be learnt

Testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving

Visuospatial sketchpad

A component of working memory where we create mental images to remember visual information

Working memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Acquisition

In classical conditioning, the initial stage of learning or conditioning

Antisocial behavior

actions that are deliberately hurtful or destructive to another person

Associative learning

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

Aversive conditioning

a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol)

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Biological preparedness

a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others

Biological predispositions

Genetically programmed tendencies to acquire classically conditioned fear responses to potentially life-threatening stimuli

Classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

Conditioning

the process of learning associations

Cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking

Cognitive map

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment

Cognitive learning

the acquisition of mental information

Conditioned reinforcer

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer

Conditioned response

a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

Conditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, an object, person, place, or item that becomes associated with a certain response through repeated exposure

Discrimination

in classical conditioning, the ability to perceive and respond to differences among stimuli

Discriminative stimulus

in operant conditioning, the antecedent stimulus that has stimulus control over behavior because the behavior was reliably reinforced in the presence of that stimulus in the past

Extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

Generalization

the tendency to respond in a similar way to stimuli that are similar but not identical to the original conditioned stimulus

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus

Higher-order conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus

Insight learning

The process of learning how to solve a problem or do something new by applying what is already known

Instinctive drift

tendency for animals to return to innate behaviors following repeated reinforcement

Latent learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Law of effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely

Learning

a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience

Learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Mirror neurons

Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation

Modeling

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Negative punishment

the removal of a stimulus to decrease the probability of a behavior's recurring

Neutral stimulus

in classical conditioning a stimulus that initially elicits no specific or automatic response until it is associated with an unconditioned stimulus

Observational learning

learning by observing others

One-trial learning

when conditioning occurs after a single experience involving relatively intense fear

Operant behavior

behavior that operates on the environment