Unit 2 Part 1 APPsych Study Set

metacognition

thinking about our thinking

cognitive bias

systematic way of thinking that interferes with a person’s ability to draw rational and objective conclusions

• skew perceptions, judgements, decision making, and problem solving

concepts

mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

• can for hierarchies from concepts

prototypes

a mental image of the best example of a specific concept or category

schema

a mental representation of a set of connected ideas

• framework for several related concept

• influenced by our assumptions, stereotypes, and expectations

assimilation

allows us to make sense of new info/situations by relating it to our existing schemas

accommodation

occurs when we take in new information and then change the schema in order to incorporate that new information

executive functions

a set of cognitive processes that help us manage and coordinate our thoughts and actions and achieve goal-directed behavior

• prefrontal cortex plays a key role in these processes

algorithms

specific set of step by step instructions for problem solving

heuristics

• mental shortcut

• faster but may lead to incorrect outcomes

• ex: choosing a restaurant based on the waiting line or how filled up its parking lot is

representativeness heuristic

• use to judge how closely something represents, or matches, our prototype for a given category

availability heuristic

• estimates the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common

• ex: car crashes vs. airplane crashes

confirmation bias

• cognitive bias

• tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or dismiss contradicting evidence

• ignoring the red flags

mental set

tendency to approach decision-making in a particular way based on past experiences, habits, or previously successful strategies

• can prevent us from exploring new approaches or alternative points of view

priming

• unconscious, so we might not realize when something influences our decisions

• involves exposing people to certain stimuli that unconsciously influence subsequent behavior or decisions

framing

a cognitive bias in which the way the information is worded influences how people perceive it and the decisions they make related to it

gambler’s fallacy

occurs when people believe that the outcomes of random events are influenced by previous outcomes, even when they are actually independent

• ex: coin toss

sunk-cost fallacy

occurs when people continue investing resources into a project or endeavor because they have already invested significant resources, even when continuing to invest would not be rational based on the current circumstances

• sunk costs should not effect our decision making

creativity

ability to produce novel and valuable ideas within any discipline

convergent thinking

in which a question has only one correct answer, limits creativity

divergent thinking

which is involved when a question or problem can have many possible responses, promotes creativity

functional fixedness

• hinders creativity

• cognitive bias that limits a person’s ability to see alternative uses for familiar objects or to think about problems in a novel way, they instead are fixated on the common use or function for that object

recall

• must retrieve info learned earlier

• fill-in-the-blank test

recognition

• identification of previously learned items

• multiple choice test

relearning

• assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

• reviewing previously learned material

long-term potentiation

increased efficiency in neural firing which can result from repeated connections between neurons

encode

get info into our brain

store

retain encoded info over time

retrieve

later get the info back out of our brain

three stage multi-store model

1. sensory memory

2. short-term/working memory

3. long-term memory

sensory memory

• immediate

• very brief recording of info picked up by our sensory organs

short-term memory

• temporarily holds a few select items in consciousness before it is either stored or forgotten

• requires rehearsal and active maintenance

• can hold 7 ± 2 pieces of info  

long-term memory

• the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system; includes knowledge, skills, experiences

iconic memory

• eye-conic

• a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli

• few tenths of a second long

echoic memory

• echo/sound

• a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli

• if attention is elsewhere a sound or words can be recalled for 3-4 seconds

capacity

amount of information that the memory storage can hold

• capacity of sensory memory is essentially unlimited

effortful processing

• encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

• has to go from STM to LTM

automatic processing

• this encoding does not require attention and conscious effort

• can go straight from SM to LTM

automatic processing track

creates implicit memories

• non-declarative, so well learned

• classically conditioned associations among stimuli

effortful processing track

creates explicit memories

• declarative memories, involve facts and experiences that one consciously know and declare

1st type of effortful processing ~ Semantic memories

• facts and general knowledge

2nd type of effortful processing ~ Episodic memories

• events in one’s own past

role of selective attention

• information which is not novel or important enough to gain our attention may be lost or forgotten rather than transferred to STM

working memory

is like an active scratchpad for the STM as we consciously analyze new information received in our working memory, we retrieve relevant information from our LTM storage

subsystem of the central executive ~ phonological loop

briefly holds auditory information as you engage in active, conscious processing

subsystem of the central executive ~ visuospatial sketchpad

briefly holds information about an objects appearance and location in space as you engage in active, conscious processing

Maintenance rehearsal

info is repeated to keep it actively present in the working memory for a brief period, such as saying something over and over again

• helps temporarily hold info

elaborative rehearsal

• cognitive strategy

• actively connect new info to existing knowledge in your LTM by creating meaningful associations, images, or stories, which help transfer info from STM to LTM

LTM holds…

both implicit and explicit memories and is essentially limitless

parallel processing

processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or a problem simultaneously

• typical for implicit memories

Sequential processing

processing one aspect o a stimulus at a time

• typical for explicit memories

shallow processing

focuses on superficial elements of words, such as sound or appearance

• less durable memory

• rehearsal, but memory won’t last long

structural encoding - shallow processing

based on physical appearance of a word

phonemic encoding - shallow processing

based on the sounds of the word

deep processing

involves semantic encoding, involving the meaning of the word

• deep processing leads to better retention

chunking ~ semantic

organizing info into familiar, manageable units enables us to recall it more easily

mnemonics ~ semantic

memory aids

• vivid imagery helps

• method of loci

  • visualize a familiar location and mentally place items you want to remember in that space

hierarchies

organizing knowledge

• broad concepts being divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts

distributed practice

retain info better when our encoding is distributed over time

spacing effect

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

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading info

memory consolidation

• neural process of converting STM into LTM

• can happen while awake or while sleeping

• involves strengthening neural connections through long-term potentiation

method of loci

visualize a familiar location and mentally place items you want to remember in that space

hippocampus importance in memory

seems to act as a loading dock where the brain registers and temporarily holds info until it is transferred for storage elsewhere

case study of Henry Molaison (HM)

• hippocampus was removed in hopes of reducing seizures

• couldn’t form NEW LT explicit memories

• could still perform cognitive tasks, working memory was functioning

• could still learn new skills because procedural memory uses different part of brain

infantile amnesia

• we have almost no conscious memory of our first 4 years

• why:

  • hippocampus is 1 of the last brain structures to mature

  • we index much of our explicit memory w/ a command of language that young children do not yet possess

retrospective memory

refers to remembering experiences or info we learned in the past

prospective memory

pertains to our intended future actions; in other words, its concerned w/ remembering to do something in the future

ex: you need to text someone before you go out, perhaps you’d put your phone next to the door

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

• can influence our decision making w/out our awareness