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Memory
The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.
Encoding
The processing of information into the memory system.
Storage
The retention of encoded information over time.
Retrieval
The process of getting information out of memory storage.
Sensory memory
The immediate, brief recording of sensory information.
Short-term memory
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is either stored or forgotten.
Long-term memory
The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.
Working memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious active processing of incoming information.
Explicit memory
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare.
Implicit memory
Retention independent of conscious recollection.
Automatic processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental information.
Effortful processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
Chunking
The organizing of items into familiar, manageable units.
Mnemonics
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.
Shallow processing
Encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words.
Deep processing
Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words.
Hippocampus
A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.
Flashbulb memory
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
An increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.
Recall
A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier.
Recognition
A measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned.
Relearning
A memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.
Priming
The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.
Mood-congruent memory
The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood.
Serial position effect
Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.
Anterograde amnesia
The inability to form new memories.
Retrograde amnesia
The inability to retrieve information from one's past.
Proactive interference
The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.
Retroactive interference
The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.
Repression
The basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
Misinformation effect
Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.
Source amnesia
Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined.
Déjà vu
The eerie sense that you have experienced something before.
Cognition
The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
Heuristic
A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently.
Convergent thinking
Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.
Divergent thinking
Expanding the number of possible problem solutions.
Confirmation bias
The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs.
Mental set
A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.
Intuition
An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought.
Overconfidence
The tendency to be more confident than correct.
Framing
The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.
Phoneme
The smallest distinctive sound unit in language.
Morpheme
The smallest unit that carries meaning; can be a word or part of a word.
Grammar
A system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate with and understand others.
Babbling stage
The stage of language development in which infants spontaneously utter nonsense sounds.
One-word stage
The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.
Two-word stage
The stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements.
Telegraphic speech
Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—using mostly nouns and verbs.
Aphasia
Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage.
Broca’s area
Controls language expression; an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere.
Wernicke’s area
Controls language reception; a brain area involved in language comprehension.
Linguistic determinism
The strong form of whorf's hypothesis—that language controls the way we think and interpret the world.
Intelligence
The mental ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.
Intelligence test
A method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others.
General intelligence (g)
A general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities.
Factor analysis
A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test.
Savant syndrome
A condition in which a person with a serious mental disability demonstrates profound and prodigious capacities or abilities.
Grit
Passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.
Emotional intelligence
The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.
Mental age
A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that typically corresponds to a given level of performance.
Stanford-Binet
The widely used American revision of Binet's original intelligence test.
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
A scoring system for intelligence tests; 100 is determined to be average.
Achievement test
A test designed to assess what a person has learned.
Aptitude test
A test designed to predict a person's future performance.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
The most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance subtests.
Reliability
The extent to which a test yields consistent results over time.
Validity
The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to.
Content validity
The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest.
Heritability
The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes.
Teratogens
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.
Maturation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.
Autism spectrum disorder
A developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication.
Attachment styles
The way in which infants form bonds and relationships with caregivers.
Temperament
A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.
Parenting styles
Different approaches to raising children, including authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative.
Gender roles
The expected behaviors, attitudes, and personality traits assigned to males and females.
Adolescence
The transitional period from childhood to adulthood.
Frontal lobe maturation
The development of the frontal lobe, crucial for decision-making and impulse control.
Identity formation
The process of developing a distinct personality and self-concept.
Social clock
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.
Cross-sectional study
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another.
Longitudinal study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.
