Unit 1 Cognition and Memory Add-ins Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms and definitions provided in the Unit 1 Cognition and Memory add-ins.

Higher-order thinking

Complex, conscious cognitive processes that are intentional and crucial for self-referential activities.

Gambler’s fallacy

The belief that the chances of something happening with a fixed probability become higher or lower as the process is repeated, where people believe that past events affect the probability of something happening in the future.

Sunk-cost fallacy

Our tendency to continue with an endeavor we've invested money, effort, or time into—even if the current costs outweigh the benefits.

Functional fixedness

A cognitive bias that negatively affects a person's ability to problem-solve and innovate.

Multi-store model

A model stating human memory has three different modes (sensory register, short-term, and long-term store), and a separate control process accompanies each mode.

Cognitive load

The idea that our working memory has a limited capacity and when we exceed that capacity, learning becomes difficult.

Elaborative encoding

Relating and connecting the new information to already existing knowledge—creating meaningful associations.

Method of loci

A mnemonic device (loci means locations in Latin) that uses imagined physical locations to aid memory, based on the fact that humans are good at remembering places, not so much words.

Maintenance rehearsal

The process of repeatedly verbalizing or thinking about a piece of information.

Procedural memory

A type of implicit, long-term memory that helps people perform tasks without conscious awareness and is involved in developing habits and skills.

Prospective memory

A form of memory that involves remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point in time.

Retrospective memory

Memory of people, words, and events encountered in the past, which can be implicit or explicit.

Autobiographical memory

A specific category of long-term memory that encompasses an individual's personal memories of life experiences and events, including emotions and knowledge related to one's own life.

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

A word-retrieval error that occurs when someone is unable to recall a well-known word, despite knowing it.

Isolation effect

Phenomenon where items that stand out or are distinctive are more likely to be remembered than those that blend in.

Alzheimer’s disease

A specific type of dementia characterized by progressive memory loss and cognitive decline; a chronic brain disorder that slowly destroys a person's memory, intellectual abilities, and personality.

Encoding failure

A breakdown in the process of getting information into the cognitive system, which can occur because of inattention to the target information or interference when the target information is presented.

Forgetting curve

Hypothesizes the decline of memory retention in time, showing how information is lost over time when there is no attempt to retain it.

Constructive memory

A psychological concept that analyzes how the brain creates memories, asserting that memories may not fully recall real happenings since they can be altered by new information, perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes.

Imagination inflation

A type of memory distortion that occurs when imagining an event that never happened increases confidence in the memory of the event.

Suggestibility

The process of memory distortion as the result of deliberate or inadvertent suggestion.