AP Psychology Unit 2: Cognition, Memory, and Intelligence

What is cognition?

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Define a concept in psychology.

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

What is a prototype?

A mental image or best example of a category that helps classify new information.

What is assimilation in cognitive psychology?

Fitting new information into existing schemas or mental frameworks.

Provide an example of assimilation.

A child who knows what a dog is sees a cow and calls it a 'dog.'

What is accommodation?

Adjusting existing schemas or creating new ones to incorporate new information that doesn't fit.

Provide an example of accommodation.

A child learns that a cow is not a dog, so they create a new schema for 'cow.'

What is an algorithm?

A set of step-by-step procedures that provides the correct answer to a particular problem.

What is a heuristic?

An educated guess based on prior experiences that helps narrow down possible solutions for a problem.

What is the availability heuristic?

Basing decisions on examples and information that immediately spring to mind.

Define hindsight bias.

The tendency to believe an event was predictable only after it has occurred.

What is the representativeness heuristic?

Comparing the present situation to the most representative mental prototype.

What is confirmation bias?

A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and ignore contradictory evidence.

Define fixation in problem-solving.

The inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving.

What is a mental set?

A predisposition on how we think; a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way.

What is priming in psychology?

Exposure to one stimulus influences how you respond to a later stimulus, often without conscious awareness.

Define framing in cognitive bias.

The process of presenting or posing an issue or question, affecting decisions and judgments.

What is overconfidence in decision-making?

The tendency to overestimate our own knowledge, skill, or judgment.

What is the gambler's fallacy?

The mistaken belief that past random events affect the probability of future random events.

Define sunk cost fallacy.

The tendency to continue an endeavor once an investment has been made, even when it's not the best decision.

What is creativity in psychology?

The ability to produce new and valuable ideas.

What is convergent thinking?

Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.

What is divergent thinking?

Expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions.

What are the three retention measures psychologists use to assess memory?

Recall, recognition, and relearning.

What is explicit memory?

Conscious memory that requires effort to recall facts and experiences.

What is implicit memory?

Unconscious memory that does not require conscious effort to recall, such as procedural memories.

What is long-term potentiation?

An increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation, serving as the neural basis for learning and memory.

What is prospective memory?

The type of memory that helps you remember to do things in the future.

What are the two types of prospective memory?

Event-based and time-based.

What is the multi-store model of memory?

A model that describes three different memory systems: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

What is sensory memory?

The very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

What are the types of sensory memory?

Iconic memory (sight), echoic memory (auditory), and haptic memory (touch).

What is short-term memory?

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, typically for 10-30 seconds.

What is long-term memory?

The relatively permanent storehouse of the memory system, capable of holding vast amounts of information.

What is the working memory model?

A model that emphasizes active processing of information rather than just storage.

What is shallow processing?

Processing that focuses on surface features, leading to weak memory traces.

What is deep processing?

Processing that focuses on meaning and semantic connections, leading to stronger, longer-lasting memories.

What role does the amygdala play in memory?

It is involved in declarative and episodic memory and is the primary processor of emotional reactions.

What is the function of the cerebellum in memory?

It is involved in implicit memories and conditioned associations.

What is the role of the hippocampus in memory?

It helps process explicit memories of facts and events for storage.

What is functional fixedness?

A cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used.

What is mental set?

A tendency to approach problems in a particular way, often based on past experiences.

What is framing in decision-making?

The way information is presented, which can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

What are gambler's and sunk-cost fallacies?

Cognitive biases that lead individuals to continue investing in a losing proposition due to prior investments.

What are executive functions in psychology?

Cognitive processes that include memory, planning, problem-solving, and decision-making.

What is rehearsal in memory?

The process of repeating information to ensure it is remembered.

What is parallel processing?

The brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, allowing simultaneous processing of multiple aspects of a problem.

What is automatic processing in memory encoding?

The unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and meaning.

What are the three levels of processing?

Structural (look of a word), Phonemic (sound of a word), Semantic (meaning of a word).

What are mnemonic devices?

Memory aids that use vivid imagery and organizational devices to enhance memory.

What is the method of loci?

A mnemonic technique that uses objects in a room as visual representations of items on a list.

What is chunking in memory?

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units to enhance memory retention.

What is the spacing effect?

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than cramming.

What is self-referent encoding?

Connecting new information to something meaningful or memorable to enhance recall.

What is the serial position effect?

The tendency to best remember items at the beginning and end of a list.

What is George Miller's theory about short-term memory?

We can store about seven pieces of information (give or take two) in short-term memory.

What is maintenance rehearsal?

Repetition of information for immediate recall, such as repeating a phone number.

What is elaborative rehearsal?

Creating associations and personal connections to move information into long-term memory.

What is autobiographical memory?

A memory system that involves recalling personal experiences and facts from one's life.

What is amnesia?

Memory loss, often due to brain damage.

What is anterograde amnesia?

An inability to form new memories.

What is retrograde amnesia?

An inability to recall past memories.

What is traumatic amnesia?

Memory loss caused by a severe, non-penetrative blow to the head.

What is hysterical or fugue amnesia?

Temporary memory loss linked to severe psychological trauma.

What is childhood or infantile amnesia?

The inability to recall events from early childhood, possibly linked to language development.

What are the three retention measures in psychology?

Recall, recognition, and relearning.

What is the encoding specificity principle?

The idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory are most effective for recall.

What is state-dependent memory?

The tendency to recall experiences consistent with the state in which they were encoded.

What is mood-congruent memory?

The tendency to recall experiences consistent with one's current mood.

What is the testing effect?

Improved memory that results from retrieval practice.

What is meta-cognition?

The ability to think about one's own thinking, including planning and assessing understanding.

What did Hermann Ebbinghaus demonstrate about memory?

Response speed in recalling or recognizing information indicates memory strength.

What is the forgetting curve?

A theory that describes how memory retention decreases over time, initially rapidly, then leveling off.

What is encoding failure?

The inability to create a memory due to insufficient attention during the encoding process.

What does retrieval failure refer to?

The situation where a memory is stored but cannot be accessed or recalled.

What is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon?

A temporary inability to remember a word one knows well, feeling that it is just out of reach.

What is motivated forgetting?

The process of intentionally forgetting painful or traumatic memories, often through repression.

What is proactive interference?

The disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information.

What is retroactive interference?

The disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information.

What is constructive memory?

The process by which the brain creates memories influenced by new information, beliefs, and perceptions.

What is reconsolidation in memory?

The process of condensing a memory to minimal information, which may leave out some details.

What is imagination inflation?

A type of memory distortion where imagining an event that never happened increases confidence that it actually occurred.

What is the misinformation effect?

A phenomenon where misleading information distorts one's memory of an event.

What is source amnesia?

Impaired memory for how, where, or when information was learned despite good memory for the information itself.

What is déjà vu?

The eerie sense that you have experienced something before, triggered by cues from a current experience.

Who conducted experiments on the misinformation effect?

Elizabeth Loftus.

What is the significance of the Mandela Effect?

It refers to a phenomenon where a large group of people remember an event differently than how it occurred.

What is the role of attention in memory encoding?

Attention is crucial for properly encoding information into memory; without it, memories may not form effectively.

What does the term 'decay' refer to in memory?

The fading of memory over time, often due to the information becoming unimportant.

What is the relationship between confidence and accuracy in eyewitness testimony?

The most confident eyewitnesses are often the most persuasive but may not be the most accurate.

What is overlearning?

Additional rehearsal of verbal information that increases retention, especially when distributed over time.

What is the importance of rehearsal in memory retention?

Rehearsing material, even after it is learned, helps to reinforce memory and improve retention.

What is the definition of forgetting?

The inability to retrieve or recall information that was previously encoded and stored.

What is the effect of competing information on memory retrieval?

Competing information can interfere with the ability to recall stored memories.

What are the psychological principles behind memory construction errors?

Memory construction can be influenced by new information, beliefs, and perceptions, leading to errors.

What is the role of emotional factors in memory retention?

Emotional factors can enhance or impair memory retention, particularly with traumatic or stressful events.

What is the purpose of the Memory Fair project mentioned in the notes?

To study a memory-related topic and create an interactive station that educates peers through hands-on demonstrations.