intro to cognitive processes exam 2

acquisition

the process of placing new information into long-term memory

storage

the state in which a memory, once acquired, remains until it is retrieved. many people understand storage to be a “dormant” process, so that the memory remains unchanged while it is in storage. modern theories, however, describe a more dynamic form of storage, in which older memories are integrated with (and sometimes replaced by) newer knowledge

retrieval

the process of locating information in memory and activating that information for use.

modal model

a nickname for a specific conception of the “architecture” of memory. in this model, working memory serves both as the storage site for material now being contemplated and as the “loading dock” for long-term memory. information can reach working memory through the processes of perception, or it can be drawn from long-term memory. once in working memory, material can be further processed or can simply be recycled or subsequent use. this model prompted a large quantity of valuable research, but it has now largely been set aside, with modern theorizing offering a different (and more dynamic) conception of working memory

sensory memory

a form of memory that holds on to just-seen or just-heard input in a “raw” sensory form

short-term memory

an older term for what is now called working memory

working memory

the storage system in which information is held while that information is being worked on. all indications are that working memory is a system, not a single entity, and that information is held here via active processes, not via some sort of passive storage. formerly called short-term memory

long-term memory (ltm)

the storage system in which we hold all of our knowledge and all of our memories. long-term memory contains memories that are not currently activated; those that are activated are represented in working memory

free recall procedure

a method used for testing what research participants remember; participants are given a broad cue (e.g., “what happened yesterday?” or “what words were on the list?”) and then try to name the relevant items, in any order they choose. it is the flexibility in order that makes this recall “free”

primacy effect

an often-observed advantage in remembering the early-presented materials within a sequence of materials. this advantage is generally attributed on the fact that research participants can focus their full attention on these items, because at the beginning of a sequence the participants are not trying to divide attention between these items and other items in the series. often contrasted with the recency effect

recency effect

the tendency to remember materials that occur late in a series. if the series was just presented, the recency effect can be attributed to the fact that the late-arriving items are still in working memory (because nothing else has arrived after these items to bump them out of working memory). often contrasted with the primacy effect

serial position

a data pattern summarizing the relationship between some performance measure (often, likelihood of recall) and the order in which the test materials were presented (i.e., where the materials were located within the series). in memory studies, the serial-position curve tends to be u-shaped, with people being best able to recall the first-presented items (the primacy effect) and also the last-presented items (the recency effect).

memory rehearsal

any mental activity that has the effect of maintaining information in working memory. two types of rehearsal are often distinguished: maintenance rehearsal and relational (or elaborative) rehearsal

digit-span task

a task often used for measuring working memory’s storage capacity. research participants are read a series of digits (e.g., “8 3 4”) and must immediately repeat them back. if they do this successfully, they are given a slightly longer list (e.g. “9 2 4 0”), and so forth. the length of the longest list a person can remember in this fashion is that person’s digit span. also see operation span.

“7 plus-or-minus 2”

a range often offered as an estimate of the number of items or units able to be contained in working memory

chunks

the hypothetical storage units in working memory; it is estimated that working memory can hold 7 plus-or-minus 2chunks. however, an unspecified quantity of information can be contained within each chunk, because the content of each chunk depends on how the memorizer has organized the materials to be remembered

operation span

a measure of working memory’s capacity. this measure turns out to be predictive of performance in many other tasks, presumably because these tasks all rely on working memory. this measure is also the modern replacement for the (less useful) measure obtained from the digit-span task

working-memory capacity (wmc)

a measure of working memory derived from operation span tasks although termed a “memory capacity,” this measure can perhaps best be understood as a measure of a person’s ability to store some materials while simultaneously working with other materials

working-memory system

a system of mental resources used for holding information in an easily accessible form. the central executive is at the heart of the system, and the executive then relies on a number of low-level assistants, including the visuospatial buffer and the articulatory rehearsal loop

articulatory rehearsal loop

one of the low-level assistants hypothesized as being part of the working-memory system. this loop draws on subvocalized (covert, or silent) speech, which serves to create a record in the phonological buffer. materials in this buffer then fade, but they can be refreshed by another cycle of covert speech

subvocalization

covert (silent) speech in which one goes through the motions of speaking, or perhaps forms a detailed motor plan for speech movements, but without making any sound.

phonological buffer

a passive storage system used for holding a representation (essentially an “internal echo”) of recently heard or self-produced sounds.

concurrent articulation task

the speaking or miming of speech while doing some other task. in many cases, the person is required to say “tah-tah-tah” over and over, or “one, two, three, one, two, three.” these procedures occupy the muscles and control mechanisms needed for speech, so they prevent the person from using these resources for subvocalization

maintenance rehearsal

a rote, mechanical process in which items are continually cycled through working memory, merely by being repeated over and over. often contrasted with relational (or elaborative) rehearsal.

relational (or elaborative) rehearsal

a form of mental processing in which one thinks about the relations, or connections, among ideas. the connections created (or strengthened) in this way will later guide memory search

intentional learning

the acquisition of memories in a setting in which people know that their memory for the information will be tested later. often contrasted with incidental learning

incidental learning

learning that takes place in the absence of any intention to learn and, correspondingly, in the absence of any expectation of a subsequent memory test. often contrasted with intentional learning

shallow processing

a mode of thinking about material in which one pays attention only to appearances and other superficial aspects of the material; shallow processing typically leads to poor memory retention. often contrasted with deep processing

deep processing

a mode of thinking in which a person pays attention to the meaning and implications of the material; deep processing typically leads to excellent memory retention. often contrasted with shallow processing

level of processing

an assessment of how “deeply” newly learned materials are engaged; shallow processing involves thinking only about the material’s superficial traits, whereas deep processing involves thinking about what the material means. deep processing is typically associated with a greater probability of remembering the now-processed information

retrieval paths

a connection (or series of connections) that can lead to a sought-after memory in long-term storage

mnemonic strategies

techniques designed to improve memory accuracy and to make learning easier; in general, mnemonic strategies seek to help memory by imposing an organization on the materials to be learned.

peg-word system

a type of mnemonic strategy using words or locations as “pegs” on which to “hang” the materials to be remembered

context-dependent learning

a pattern of data in which materials learned in one setting are more likely to be remembered when the person returns to that setting but are less well remembered in other settings

context reinstatement

a procedure in which a person is led to the same mental and emotional state they were in during a previous event; context reinstatement can often promote more accurate and more complete recollection of that event

encoding specificity

the tendency, when memorizing, to place in memory both the materials to be learned and some amount of their context. as a result, these materials are likely to be recognized as familiar, later on, only if the materials appear again in a similar context.

node

an individual unit within an associative network. in a scheme using local representations, specific nodes or identifiable groups of nodes represent single ideas or concepts. in a scheme using distributed representations, ideas or concepts are represented by a pattern of activation across a wide number of nodes; the same nodes may also participate in other patterns and therefore in other representations.

associations or associative links

functional connections that are hypothesized to link nodes within a mental network or detectors within a detector network; these associations are often hypothesized as the “carriers” of activation from one node or detector to the next

sub threshold activation

activation levels below response threshold. subthreshold, by definition, will not trigger a response; nonetheless, this activation is important because it can accumulate, leading eventually to an activation level that reaches (or exceeds) the response threshold

summation

the addition of 2 or more separate inputs so that the effect of the combined inputs is greater than the effect of any one input by itself

lexical-decision task

a test in which study participants are shown strings of letters and must indicate, as quickly as possible, whether or not each string of letters is a word in their language. it is proposed that people perform this task by “looking up” these strings in their “mental dictionary.”

semantic priming

a process in which activation of an idea in memory causes activation to spread to other ideas related to the first in meaning

recall

the task of memory retrieval in which the rememberer must come up with the desired materials, sometimes in response to a cue that names the context in which these materials were earlier encountered (e.g., “name the pictures you saw earlier”), and sometimes in response to a cue that broadly identifies the sought-after information (e.g., “name a fruit” or “what is the capital of california?”). often contrasted with recognition.

recognition

the task of memory retrieval in which the items to be remembered are presented and the person must decide whether or not the item was encountered in some earlier circumstance. for example, someone might be asked, “have you ever seen this person before?” or “is this the poster you saw in the office yesterday?” often contrasted with recall

familiarity

in some circumstances, the subjective feeling that one has encountered a stimulus before; in other circumstances, the objective fact that one has indeed encountered a stimulus before and is now in some way influenced by that encounter, whether or not one recalls that encounter or feels that the stimulus is familiar

attribution

the step of explaining a feeling or event, usually by identifying the factors (or an earlier event) that are the cause of the current feeling or event. this term is often elaborated with the more specific term “causal attribution.”

source memory

a form of memory that enables a person to recollect the episode in which learning took place or the time and place in which a particular stimulus was encountered.

word-stem completion

a task in which research participants are given the beginning of a word (e.g., “com…”) and must provide a word that starts with the letters provided. in some versions of the task, only one solution is possible, so performance is measured by counting the number of words completed. in other versions of the task, several solutions are possible for each stem, and performance is assessed by determining which responses fulfill some other criterion

explicit memory

a memory revealed by direct memory testing and usually accompanied by the conviction that one is, in fact, remembering — that is, drawing on some sort of knowledge (perhaps knowledge about a specific prior episode, or perhaps more general knowledge). often contrasted with implicit memory

direct memory testing

a form of memory testing in which people are asked explicitly to remember some previous event. recall and standard recognition testing are both forms of direct memory testing. often contrasted with indirect memory testing

implicit memory

a memory revealed by indirect memory testing and often manifested as a priming effect in which current performance is guided or facilitated by previous experiences. implicit memories are often accompanied by no conscious realization that one is, in fact, being influenced by specific past experiences. often contrasted with explicit memory

indirect memory testing

a form of memory testing in which research participants are not told that their memories are being tested. instead, they’re tested in such a way that previous experiences can influence current behavior. examples of indirect tests include word-stem completion, the lexical-decision task, and tachistoscopic recognition. often contrasted with direct memory testing

illusion of truth

an effect of implicit memory in which claims that are familiar end up seeming more plausible thanks to a prior exposure to the claim, even if (and perhaps especially if) the person has no conscious memory of the prior exposure

source confusion

a memory error in which one misremembers where a bit of information was learned or where a particular stimulus was last encountered

processing pathway

the sequence of nodes and connections between nodes through which activation flows when recognizing or thinking about a stimulus or idea. the speed or ease of activation flow through this pathway is referred to as processing fluency

processing fluency

the speed or ease of processing involved in recognizing or thinking about a stimulus or idea; usually understood as a reflection of the speed or ease with which activation moves through a processing pathway

amnesia

a disruption of memory, often due to brain damage

retrograde amnesia

an inability to remember experiences that occurred before the event that triggered the memory disruption. often contrasted with anterograde amnesia

anterograde amnesia

an inability to remember experiences that occurred after the event that triggered the memory disruption. often contrasted with retrograde amnesia

korsakoff’s syndrome

a clinical syndrome characterized primarily by dense anterograde amnesia. korsakoff’s syndrome is caused by damage to specific brain regions, and it is often precipitated by a form of malnutrition that is common among long-term alcoholics

intrusion error

a memory error in which a person recalls elements that were not part of the original episode

drm paradigm

a commonly used experimental design named after its originators (deese, roediger, and mcdermott), for eliciting and studying memory errors. in this procedure, a person sees or hears a list of words that are related to a single theme; however, the word that names the theme is not itself included. nonetheless, people are very likely to remember later that the theme word was presented

schema

knowledge describing what is typical or frequent in a particular situation. for example, a kitchen schema would stipulate that a stove and refrigerator are likely to be present, whereas a coffeemaker may be or may not be present, and a piano is not likely to be present.

misinformation effect

an effect in which reports about an earlier event are influenced by misinformation that the person received (usually) after experiencing the event. in the extreme, misinformation can be used to create false memories concerning an entire event that actually never occurred.

retention interval

the amount of time that passes between the initial learning of some material and the subsequent memory retrieval of that material.

decay theory of forgetting

the hypothesis that with the passage of time. memories may fade or erode

interference theory

the hypothesis that materials are lost from memory because of interference from other materials that are also in memory. interference caused by materials learned prior to the learning episode is called “proactive interference;” interference caused by materials learned after the learning episode is called “retroactive interference.”

retrieval failure

a mechanism that probably contributes to a great deal of forgetting. retrieval failure occurs when a memory is, in fact, in long-term storage but the person is unable to locate that memory when trying to retrieve it.

tot phenomenon

an often-observed effect in which people are unable to remember a particular word, even though they are certain that the word (typically identified via its definition) is in their vocabulary. people in this state often can remember the starting letter for the word and its number of syllables (although this specific memory is sometimes incorrect), and they insist that the word is on the “tip of their tongue” (therefore, the tot label)

testing effect

a well-documented results pattern in which people have better memory (and less forgetting) for materials they have previously been tested on in comparison to materials they have not been tested on

autobiographical memory

the aspect of memory that records the episodes and events in a person’s life

memory consolidation

the biological process through which new memories are “cemented in place,” acquiring some degree of permanence through the creation of new (or altered) neural connections. consolidation involves changes in the brain that include the adjustment of synaptic connections and also the creation of new connections, and it unfolds over the hours after the target event. factors that disrupt a person’s biological state (including extreme fatigue, extreme stress, malnutrition, or a high level of intoxication) can prevent consolidation from occurring; in this situation, no enduring memory is created.

flashbulb memories

memories of extraordinary clarity, typically for highly emotional events, that are retained over many years. despite their remarkable vividness, flashbulb memories sometimes are inaccurate

episodic memory

explicit memory for personally experienced events

personal semantic memory

semantic memories that have personal significance

recollection

retrieval of contextual details

“remember”

recollection of contextual details

“know”

recognition feels familiar (no details)

hippocampus

relational binding and recollection

perirhinal cortex

item familiarity

parahippocampal cortex

contextual information

entorhinal cortex

major interface between hippocampus and cortex

proactive interference

older learning interferes

retroactive interference

newer learning interferes with old

fan effect

more associations slows retrieval

skill memory

memory for actions

direct memory tests

ask participants to consciously remember

indirect memory tests

measure effects of prior experience without asking for conscious remembering

propaganda effect

people are more likely to rate statements read or heard before as being true

classical conditioning

pairing a neutral stimulus with a reflexive response

operant conditioning

involves learning behavior-outcome associations

implicit conditioning

amygdala (emotional) and cerebellum (motor)

procedural memory

basal ganglia and cerebellum (such as habits)

priming

stimulus-specific cortical regions; cortical tuning (e.g., ventral visual stream)

script

conception of sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience

visual imagery

creates dual and relational representations

self-reference effect

links information to the self-schema

generation effect

active construction strengthens traces

organization

structured relationships improve retrieval routes

survival processing

evolutionary relevance increases distinctiveness