AP Psych Unit 2B

Effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Explicit memory

retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and “declare.”

Automatic processsing

unconscious encoding of incidental information and of familiar or well-learned information

Implicit memory

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.

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.

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.

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Mnemonic devices

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Spacing effect

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

Testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information.

Memory

the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Intelligence

the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

General intelligence

according to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.

Intelligence quotient

defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100. On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100.

Mental age

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age.

Chronological age

the exact amount of time that has passed from a person's date of birth to a given date.

Psychometrics

the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.

Standardized(standardization)

defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group.

Valid(validity)

the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

Predictive validity

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict

Constructive validity

how much a test measures a concept or trait.

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results

Test-retest reliability

measures the consistency of a test by giving the exact same test to the same group of people on two separate occasions

Split-half reliability

measures the consistency of a test by checking whether different parts of a test produce similar results

Sterotype threat

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

Symantic memory

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems

Explicit memory

explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems

Memory consolidation

the neural storage of a long-term memory.

Infantile amnesia

inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories before the age of three to four years.