Columbus State Intro To Psychology Exam 2

Memory

the retention of information or experience over time

Encoding

the process by which information gets into memory storage

Storage

encompasses how information is retained over time and how it is represented in memory

Retrieval

takes place when information that was retained in memory comes out of storage

Levels of Processing

Sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory

Elaboration

the formation of a number of different connections around a stimulus at a given level of memory encoding; like creating a huge spider web of links between some new information and everything one already knows

Three Stage Memory Model

sensory input goes into sensory memory; through the process of attention, information moves into short-term memory, where it remains for 30 seconds or less unless it is rehearsed; When the information goes into long-term memory storage, it can be retrieved over a lifetime

Sensory Memory

time frames of a fraction of a second to several seconds; holds information from the world in its original sensory form for only an instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses

Iconic Memory

visual sensory memory, which is retained only for about ¼ of a second (ex. our ability to "write" in the air using a sparkler on the Fourth of July)

Short-term Memory

time frames up to 30 seconds; a limited-capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless we use strategies to retain it longer

Chunking

involves grouping or "packing" information that exceeds the 7 ± 2 memory span into higher-order units that can be remembered as single units; works by making large amounts of information more manageable

Rehearsal

the conscious repetition of information

Working Memory

a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow us to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks

Long-term Memory

time frames up to a lifetime; a relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of information for a long time

Explicit Memory

(declarative memory) the conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts and events and, at least in humans, information that can be verbally communicated (ex. recounting the events in a movie you have seen)

Episodic Memory

the retention of information about the where, when, and what of life's happenings—how we remember life's episodes (ex. includes the details of where you were when your younger brother or sister was born, what happened on your first date, and what you ate for breakfast this morning)

Semantic Memory

a person's knowledge about the world; includes one's areas of expertise, general knowledge of the sort learned in school, and everyday knowledge about the meanings of words, famous individuals, important places, and common things (ex. involved in a person's knowledge of chess, of geometry, and of who the Dalai Lama, LeBron James, and Lady Gaga are)

Implicit Memory

related to non-consciously remembering skills and sensory perceptions rather than consciously remembering facts; memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience; (ex. the skills of playing tennis and snowboarding, as well as in the physical act of text messaging; song you heard playing in the supermarket, even though you had not noticed that song playing)

Procedural Memory

a type of implicit memory process that involves memory for skills (ex. assuming that you are an expert typist, when you type a paper you are not conscious of where the keys are for the various letters; somehow, your well-learned, non-conscious skill of typing allows you to hit the right keys)

Schema

a preexisting mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information; these from prior encounters with the environment influence the way we handle information—how we encode it, what inferences we make about it, and how we retrieve it

Script

a schema for an event; often have information about physical features, people, and typical occurrences- This kind of information is helpful when people need to figure out what is happening around them; help to organize our storage of memories about event (ex. if you are enjoying your after-dinner coffee in an upscale restaurant and a man in a tuxedo comes over and puts a piece of paper on the table, your script tells you that the man probably is a waiter who has just given you the check)

Retrieval Cue

cues that can prompt your memory

Recall

a memory task in which the individual has to retrieve previously learned information, as on essay tests

Recognition

a memory task in which the individual only has to identify (recognize) learned items, as on multiple choice tests

Serial Position Effect

the tendency to recall the items at the beginning and end of a list more readily than those in the middle

Flashbulb Memory

the memory or emotionally significant events that people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than everyday events

Repressed memories

(repression) a defense mechanism by which a person is so traumatized by an event that he or she forgets it and then forgets the act of forgetting; main function is to protect the individual from threatening information

Motivated forgetting

forgetting that occurs when something is so painful or anxiety-laden that remembering it is intolerable

Eyewitness testimony

memory in criminal matters; much of the interest in this focuses on distortion, bias and inaccuracy in memory

Forgetting theories

interference theory, decay theory, tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon

Encoding Failure

information was never entered into long-term memory

Retrieval Failure

causes of this include problems with the information in storage, the effects of time, personal reasons for remembering or forgetting, and the condition of the brain

Interference

theory that people forget not because memories are lost from storage but because other information gets in the way of what they want to remember

Decay

theory stating that when an individual learns something new, a neurochemical memory trace forms, but over time this trace disintegrates; suggests that the passage of time always increases forgetting

Cognition

the way in which information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing

Thinking

the process of manipulating information mentally by forming concepts, solving problems, making decisions, and reflecting critically or creatively

Concepts

a mental category that is used to group objects, events and characteristics

Prototype

mental image that best fit a category

Algorithm

strategies- including formulas, instructions, and the testing of all possible solutions- that guarantee a solution to a problem

Heuristic

shortcut strategies or guidelines that suggest a solution to a problem but do not guarantee an answer

Fixation

using a prior strategy and failing to look at a problem from a fresh new perspective

Functional Fixedness

failing to solve a problem as a result of fixation on a thing's usual functions

Confirmational bias

the tendency to search for and use information that supports one's ideas rather than refutes them

Hindsight bias

the tendency to report falsely, after the fact, that one has accurately predicted an outcome

availability heuristic

a prediction about the probability of an event based on the ease of recalling or imagining similar events. Just because you saw a plane crash doesn’t make flying more dangerous for you.

Intelligence

all-purpose ability to do well on cognitive tasks, to solve problems, and to learn from experience

Validity

the soundness of the conclusions that a researcher draws from an experiment; in the realm of testing, the extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields a consistent, reproducible measure of performance

Standardization

the development of uniform procedures for administering and scoring a test, and the creation of norms (performance standards) for the test

IQ Test

intelligence test- to measure intelligence, Binet came up with idea of comparing a person's mental abilities to the mental abilities that are typical for a particular age group

IQ Test Purpose

to determine mental age (MA), which is an individual's level of mental development relative to that of others

IQ Test Scores

High=130+, Low=70 or less

Cultural Bias

different cultures see things differently and with early IQ tests they were culturally biased; culture-fair tests are intelligence tests that are intended to be culturally unbiased

Gifted

possessing high intelligence (an IQ of 130 or higher) and/or superior talent in a particular area

Intellectual disabled

(formerly known as mental retardation) a condition of limited mental ability in which an individual has a low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional intelligence test, and has difficulty adapting to everyday life

Spearman's G

Spearman noted that schoolchildren who did well in math also did well in reading, and he came up with the idea that intelligence is a general ability, which he called g. This view of intelligence suggests that general intelligence underlies performance in a variety of areas, whether it is mathematics, verbal ability, or abstract reasoning. Spearman's g essentially assumes that the intelligent person is a jack-of-all-cognitive trades.

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

theory that intelligence comes in three forms: analytical, creative, and practical

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligence's

theory the suggests there are nine types of intelligence, or "frames of mind"- verbal, mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, existentialist

Language

a form of communication- whether spoken, written, or signed- that is based on a system of symbols

Chomsky versus Behaviorism

Noam Chomsky argued that humans come into the world biologically prewired to learn language at a certain time and in a certain way; behaviorists argued that language represents nothing more than chains of responses acquired through reinforcement

Milestones

all children are different and acquire language at varying rates, but these milestones provide a general sense of how language emerges in human life; 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months, 18-24 months, 2 years, 3-4 years, 5-6 years, 6-8 years, 9-11 years, 11-14 years, 15-20 years

Cross-sectional design (Study)

a research design in which a group of people are assessed on a psychological variable at one point in time

Longitudinal Study

a research study in which a group of people are assessed on psychological variable multiple times over a lengthy period of time

Nature

an individual's biological inheritance, especially his or her genes

Nurture

an individual's environmental and social experiences

Resilience

a person's ability to recover from or adapt to difficult times

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

human beings use schemas (mental concept or framework that organizes information and provides a structure for interpreting it) to make sense of their experience

Assimilation

an individual's incorporation of new information into existing knowledge

Accommodation

an individual's adjustment of his or her schemas to new information

Sensorimotor stage

Piaget's first stage of cognitive development, lasting from birth to about 2 years of age, during which time infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with motor (physical) actions

Preoperational stage

Piaget's second stage of cognitive development, lasting from about 2 to 7 years of age, during which thought is more symbolic that sensorimotor thought

Concrete Operational stage

Piaget's third stage of cognitive development, lasting from about 7 to 11 years of age, during which the individual uses operations and replaces intuitive reasoning with logical reasoning in concrete situations

Formal Operational stage

Piaget's fourth stage of cognitive development, which begins at 11 to 15 years of age and continues through the adult years; it features thinking about things that are not concrete, making predictions, and using logic to come up with hypotheses about the future

Object Permanence

Piaget's term for the crucial accomplishment of understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot be directly seen, heard

Conservation Task

The beaker test determines whether a child can think operationally—that is, can mentally reverse action and understand conservation of the substance. (a) Two identical beakers are presented to the child, each containing the same amount of liquid. As the child watches, the experimenter pours the liquid from B into C, which is taller and thinner than A and B. (b) The experimenter then asks the child whether beakers A and C have the same amount of liquid. The preoperational child says no. When asked to point to the beaker that has more liquid, the child points to the tall, thin one

Egocentric Thinking

preoperational children cannot put themselves in someone else's shoes; they cannot take another's perspective

Wisdom

expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life; may increase with age because of the buildup of life experiences, but individual variations characterize people throughout their lives

Temperament, types

an individual's behavioral style and characteristic ways of responding

Easy Child Temperament

generally is in a positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines in infancy, and easily adapts to new experiences

Difficult Child Temperament

tends to be fussy and to cry frequently and engages in irregular daily routines

Slow-to-warm-up Child Temperament

has a low activity level, tends to withdraw from new situations, and is very cautious in the face of new experiences

Infant Attachment

the close emotional bond between an infant and his or her caregiver

Secure Attachment

how infants use the caregiver, usually the mother, as a secure base from which to explore the environment

Harlow's Experiment

Harlow separated infant monkeys from their mothers at birth and placed them in cages in which they had access to two artificial "mothers." One of the mothers was a physically cold wire mother; the other was a warm, fuzzy cloth mother (the "contact comfort" mother). Each mother could be outfitted with a feeding mechanism. Half of the infant monkeys were fed by the wire mother, half by the cloth mother. The infant monkeys nestled close to the cloth mother and spent little time on the wire one, even if it was the wire mother that gave them milk

Ainsworth's Attachment Styles

Mary Ainsworth devised a way to study differences in children's attachment, called the strange situation test. In this procedure, caregivers leave infants alone with a stranger and then return. Reponses of children to this situation are used to classify their attachment style. Ainsworth used the term secure attachment to describe how infants use the caregiver, usually the mother, as a secure base from which to explore the environment. In the strange situation, the secure infant is upset when the mother leaves but calms down and appears happy to see her when she returns. Infants who are securely attached are more likely to have mothers who are responsive and accepting and who express affection toward them than are infants who are insecurely attached

Erikson's Theory of Socioemotional Development

eight psychosocial stages of development from infancy through late adulthood; meant to emphasize how a person's psychological life is embedded in and shaped by social relationships and challenges faced by the developing person

Trust vs. Mistrust

Infancy (birth to 1 1/2 years); a sense of trust requires a feeling of physical comfort and minimal amount of fear about the future; infants' basic needs are met by responsive, sensitive caregivers

Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

Toddlerhood (1 1/2 to 3 years) After gaining trust in their caregivers, infants start to discover that they have a will of their own; they assert their sense of autonomy, or independence; they realize their will; if infants are restrained too much or punished too harshly, they are likely to develop a sense of shame and doubt

Initiative vs. Guilt

Early childhood (3-5 years); As preschool children encounter a widening social world, they are challenged more and need to develop more purposeful behavior to cope with these challenges; children are now asked to assume more responsibility; uncomfortable guilt feelings may arise, though, if the children are irresponsible and are made to feel too anxious

Industry vs. Inferiority

Middle and late childhood (elementary school years, 6 years to puberty); at no other time are children more enthusiastic than at the end of early childhood's period of expansive imagination; as children move into the elementary school years, they direct their energy toward mastering knowledge and intellectual skills. The danger at this stage involves feeling incompetent and unproductive

Identity vs. Identity Confusion

Adolescence (10-20 years); Individuals are faced with finding out who they are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life; an important dimension in the exploration of alternative solutions to roles; Career exploration is important

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Early Adulthood (20's, 30's); Individuals face the developmental task of forming intimate relationships with others. Erikson described intimacy as finding oneself yet losing oneself in another person.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Middle adulthood (40's, 50's); A chief concern is to assist the younger generation in developing and leading useful lives

Integrity vs. Despair

Late adulthood (60's - ? ); Individuals look back and evaluate what they have done with their lives. The retrospective glances can be either positive (integrity) or negative (despair)

Parenting Styles

Authoritarian, Authoritative, Neglectful and Permissive

Authoritarian Parenting

Restrictive, punitive punishment style in which the parent exhorts the child to follow the parents directions and to value hard work and effort

Authoritative Parenting

Parenting style that encourages the child to be independent but that still places limits and controls on behavior

Neglectful Parenting

Parenting style characterized by a lack of parental involvement in the child's life

Permissive Parenting

Parenting style characterized by the placement of few limits on the child's behavior

Gender

the social and psychological aspects of being female or male