PSY 372 Final: Flashcards

Method for improving memory: What is Rehearsal?

conscious repetition​

Method for improving memory: What is the Keyword Method?

Using a familiar word to remember new information to create a mental image, making it easier to remember the associated information.

Method for improving memory: What is the Method of Loci?

A mnemonic device that links what you’re trying to remember to locations passed on a familiar journey

Method for improving memory: What is the Pegword technique?

A mnemonic device that links items you need to remember with a pre-defined list of words that rhyme with numbers, creating mental images

Memorize list of peg words

Take new list of things and link it to peg words

You rhyme what you need to do or what needs to be remembered with the word “bun,” “shoe”, etc…

Method for improving memory: What is the Self-reference effect?

Individuals remember information better when they relate it to themselves or their own experiences. This technique emphasizes the personal relevance of the material.

• We already know a lot of information about ourselves

• Self-concepts are often interrelated​

• Information related to the self is more likely to be rehearsed

Method for improving memory: What is Chunking?

organizing info into smaller, more manageable, and meaningful units (or "chunks") → leads to greater memorization

Method for improving memory: What is the Testing effect?

A phenomenon where learning and memory are enhanced by actively retrieving information through practice tests, rather than simply restudying material

Method for improving memory: What is the Distributed practice effect?

(spaced learning) = better long-term retention and recall

(massed learning) = worse

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(spaced learning) is broken into multiple, spaced-out sessions over time

(massed learning) is crammed and occur close together in time, either in one lengthy session or with short intervals.

Method for improving memory: What is an Acronym?

An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word

• ex: “HOMES” to remember great lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

• ex: “NASA” to remember the “National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Method for improving memory: What is an Acrostics?

This method takes the first letter of each word in a list to form a new sentence that will serve as a cue for recalling the order of the list.

• ex: "Every Good Boy Does Fine" → lines of treble clef in music: E, G, B, D, F. 

What you’re trying to remember is ACROSS A SENTENCE

Method for improving memory: What does the Encoding-specificity principle state?

states that memory retrieval is most effective when the context at the time of encoding (learning) matches the context during retrieval (recall). 

matching external state of initial learning with time needed to encode

Method for improving memory: What is State-dependent learning?

The learning phenomenon that recalling information is more effective when your (physical, emotional, or mental) state during retrieval matches the state you were in when you learned it.

Emotion, Mood, and Memory​: Differentiate the Pollyanna principle, the positivity effect, and mood congruence.

Pollyanna principle: Pleasant information is processed more efficiently and accurately than unpleasant information

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Positivity effect: as time goes on, negative memories begin to not hurt as much and fade away into the back of our minds— “time heals all wounds”

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Mood congruence: recall is better for memories that fit with our current mood​

Prospective Memory: Differentiate retrospective and prospective memory.

Retrospective Memory: The ability to remember memories from the past. 

• Think: “Retro” means “old”

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Prospective Memory: The ability to remember to do something in the future. 

• Think: “Proactive”

• More likely to focus on actions than ideas​

• Memory failure is particularly likely when the action is different from normal routines​

What is Consolidation?

the process of solidifying new memories from a fragile state (note it can be disrupted) to a more permanent state​.

Consolidation​: What is Reconsolidation?

Process where long-term memory becomes temporarily vulnerable to disruption or modification every time it is retrieved (or reactivated)

• Think: Everytime you recall a memory, it becomes susceptible to influence or change

• memories are never fixed, always susceptible to contamination

Consolidation​: What is Long-term potentiation?

When you practice one thing over and over, there is a pattern of neural activity firing with it. The more you practice, the more these neurons fire, which leads to persistent strengthening of synapses and an increase in signal transmission.

• Think: POTENTiation as in “Action POTENTIAL”

• The synaptic connection between two neurons strengthens over time the more they’re firing in the same path

Consolidation​: What is Graded amnesia?

a type of retrograde amnesia where the loss of memory is more pronounced for recent memories than older, more distant memories

• This may be because the hippocampus, which can be temporarily disrupted (by a concussion or other trauma) was unable to fully form the memories​

What is the Reminiscence bump

phenomenon where old people recall memories from their adolescence and early adulthood more vividly, typically between the ages of 10 and 30.

• “Heightened memory”

What is a Flashbulb Memory?

A vivid recollection of an emotionally significant event​

• ex: 9/11, John F Kennedy assassination

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Constructivist Approach​: What is Source Misattribution?

When someone forgets where they heard something​

Constructivist Approach​: What is a Schema?

generalized, well-integrated knowledge about something​. This sometimes makes us falsely recall seeing things that aren’t true (because they are schema-consistent)

• ex: (books in the office)​

Constructivist Approach​: What is a Stereotype?

A widely held belief or schema about a particular social group that is often based on oversimplified generalizations and are often harmful. The problem with this is that memories may be inaccurately recalled in a way that is consistent with stereotypes

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• Not passively received → actively created/shaped (by experiences/interactions)

  • (Ex: “Pat was at the shooting range” may lead to a memory of a male, even if we are told Pat is a female)​

Constructivist Approach​: What is Boundary Extension?

refers to a memory distortion where individuals recall a scene as containing information that was actually beyond the visible boundaries of the image they saw; people remember a scene as having a wider-angle view than what was truly experienced. 

Think: We tend to fill in the blanks for scenes that aren’t captured in their full essence

Constructivist Approach​: What is Consistency Bias?

People rely on self-perceptions to interpret actions rather than fully assessing their behavior and specific context. 

Think: we exaggerate our personal consistency

Eyewitness testimony​: What is the Post-event misinformation effect?

Misleading information can alter memories​ after the event occurs

• May be caused by retroactive interference or source misattribution​

Eyewitness testimony​: What is Weapon focus?

The presence of a weapon decreases memory for other details in a situation​

Eyewitness testimony​: What is the Post-identification feedback effect?

describes how the eyewitness’s confidence inflates after they receive confirming feedback following an identification, like in a lineup.

• This feedback, such as "You identified the actual suspect," leads witnesses to retrospectively overestimate their certainty, attention, view, and speed of identification.

  • Essentially, the confirmation bias after making an identification can lead to a false appearance of reliability in an eyewitness's testimony. 

What are the 3 parts of semantic memory Nordlund wants you to know?

1. General knowledge

2. Lexical knowledge

3. Conceptual knowledge

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**** REFRESHER: “Semantic memory” refers to the long-term storage of general knowledge.

Differentiate the following parts of semantic memory: general knowledge, lexical knowledge, conceptual knowledge

• General knowledge: facts, dates​

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• Lexical knowledge: the knowledge of words (names/labels) and their meanings. It includes the spelling, pronunciation, and definitions of words, as well as their relationships to other words (synonyms, antonyms)​, and knowing names of objects.

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• Conceptual knowledge: understanding of principles, concepts, categories​, and theories. It goes beyond simply knowing facts and words, and relates them to each other to form a coherent understanding of the world. Conceptual knowledge allows us to categorize things, make inferences, and solve problems.

  • ex: 4 y/o understanding that if she drops something, it will fall onto the ground— shows she understands the concept of gravity even though she doesn’t know that gravity is a thing that exists.

Category Recognition: What is Prototype​?

most ideal image or example of that category.

• EX: A robin is considered a prototype for “birds”, where golden retrievers are considered the prototype for “dogs”

Category Recognition: What is Prototypicality?

The degree to which a particular member of a category represents the typical characteristics or “prototype” of its category

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• Some members are more "typical" or representative of the category than others. 

• EX: Penguin has a low prototypicality for “bird” category as compared to a robin.

Category Recognition: What is Graded Structure?

Describes how the structure of category membership in the prototype theory is not a strict binary (either/or) but rather a graded spectrum.

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• Category members vary along a continuum of prototypicality​

Category Recognition: What is Family Resemblance?

The degree to which members of a category share features, the degree of similarity​

Category Recognition: What is Exemplar Theory?

It argues that people categorize things by comparing new items to stored examples (exemplars) in memory, rather than relying on a general, abstract idea (prototype) of the category.

Explain the Network Model (including nodes and connection weights)

The Network Model states that knowledge is represented as a series of interconnected nodes​.

• Nodes: a representation (i.e. concepts, individual cases, properties)

• Connection Weights: the strength of the bond between two nodes of information​

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  • Affected by how often these two nodes are activated together (training a network)​

  • Can be positive (excitatory) or negative (inhibitory)​

Network Model​: What is Graceful degradation?

The ability to provide partial memory as opposed to all or nothing​

Recognition: What is the Sensory-functional hypothesis?

our semantic system relies on clues to distinguish information:

1. Sensory features for living things

2. Functional features for non-living things

What is Mental Imagery?

mental representation of sensory stimuli​

Mental Imagery: What is Analog code?

mental images closely resemble real-world objects or scenes (it is different from the propositional code)

Mental Imagery: What is Propositional code?

Mental images are abstract (language) representations that do not resemble real-world objects or scenes.

Language: What are Phonemes?

Basic unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another within a spoken language; vary from one language to another​

• English has 47, but it varies considerably by language

Language: What are Graphemes?

smallest units in a writing system (ex: letters)​

Think: Things are written on a graph

Language: What are Morphemes?

The smallest unit of language that has meaning (ex: grammatical function)

Grammar: What is Morphology?

The study of how we create words by combining morphemes​

• examines how morphemes combine to create new words or modify existing ones, affecting their meaning and grammatical function. 

Grammar: What is Syntax?

The rules governing the arrangement of words into phrases and clauses to form grammatically correct sentences within a language.

Speech Perception: What is Phonemic Restoration?

a perceptual phenomenon where listeners "hear" missing speech sounds (phonemes) in words or sentences

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This occurs because the brain uses contextual information (surrounding words and sounds) to fill in the gap, creating the illusion that the missing phoneme was actually present. 

Speech Perception: What is the McGurk effect?

When auditory and visual information (lips) conflict, it affects our perception of speech

Language Perception: What is Lexical ambiguity

words can have different meanings (ex: “He threw a rock at the bank”)​

Differentiate anaphoric, instrument, and causal inferences

• Anaphoric inferences: connecting things in one sentence to things in the other

  • (Ex: The sentence: “Charlie is a German Shepherd-Lab mix. She won the dog show.” → connects Charlie from the first sentence to the pronoun "she" in the second)​

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• Instrument inferences: assumptions about tools, objects, or methods

  • (Ex: If a sentence says "He flew to New York," you might infer he used a plane, or in the sentence “He pounded the nail”, you might infer he used a hammer)​

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• Causal inferences: connecting causes and effects across sentences

  • (Ex: She took an aspirin. Her headache went away.)

Neurolinguistics: What is Lateralization?

Dominance in one area of the brain in specific functions​

• Left hemisphere = language​

• Right hemisphere = faces​

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Problem Solving: What is Trial and Error?

Attempting several different solutions until we succeed​

Problem Solving: What is Insight?

A sudden and often unexpected realization or understanding that leads to a solution

• different from trial and error because instead of a steady progression towards the answer, people suddenly go from having no idea to having the answer.​

Problem Solving: What is Fixation?

A person’s rigid adherence to a particular method, even when it's clearly not working; inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective​

• Think: Fixation = “stuck”

Problem Solving: What is Functional Fixedness?

a cognitive bias where people tend to perceive objects or ideas only in their most common or typical use, making it difficult to see them as having other, potentially useful functions

Problem Solving: What is the Means-end Approach?​

A strategy that identifies and reduces the difference between the current state and the desired goal.

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• It involves breaking down a complex problem into smaller subgoals and then finding the best way to achieve each subgoal to ultimately reach the overall goal. 

Problem Solving: What is the Hill-climbing approach?

A strategy that includes choosing an option that appears most likely to lead to desired goal​

Creativity: differentiate Divergent and Convergent production

• Divergent Production focuses on generating a wide range of idea

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• Convergent Production focuses on narrowing down those ideas to select the best solution

Decision Making: Differentiate Algorithms and Heuristics

Algorithms are specific, defined, step-by-step procedures that are slow-paced and guarantee a solution

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Heuristics are efficient problem-solving strategies or “rules of thumb” that are swifter and save you time, but do not guarantee a correct answer

• _{Exhaustive search: trying all possible options ​}

Decision Making: What is Availability Heuristic?

People judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily they can recall examples of it.

How available the instance is in their mind

Decision Making: What is Recognition Heuristic?

when making a decision, people choose something they recognize instead of something unfamiliar

Decision Making: What is Representativeness Heuristic?

Judging things according to how well they represent a prototype​

• helpful for quick decisions, can lead to errors because it doesn't consider the actual probability of the event occurring

Decision Making: What is Default heuristic?

people tend to choose the default option

Decision Making: What is Illusory Correlation?

Describes when individuals perceive a relationship between two things when none exists or is weak.

• This can lead to misjudgments, stereotypes, and flawed decision-making

THINK: The illusion that a strong relationship exists (between two things) when there isn’t one

Decision Making: What is Base Rate Fallacy?

Describes how people estimate the likelihood of an event occurring based on irrelevant information instead of the statistical likelihood of it happening.

Decision Making: What is Conjunction Fallacy?

Describes how people believe that two events occurring together (a conjunction) is more probable than one of the events occurring alone.

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This violates basic probability rules, as the probability of two events happening together can never be greater than the probability of either event happening individually. 

Decision Making: What is Small-Sample Fallacy?

Describes how people think a small sample is as representative of the entire population as a large sample​

Decision Making: What is Confirmation Bias?

People seek out evidence that supports their bias rather than evidence that contradicts it.

Decision Making: What is Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic?

a cognitive heuristic where a person’s initial idea (the anchor) influences or “adjusts” another person’s beliefs

Decision Making: What is Expected Utility Theory?

People estimate the utility of an action when the outcome is uncertain and consider the potential outcomes and their probabilities

Think: People carefully consider and estimate the probabilities of potential next steps or a “course of action” when an outcome is uncertain. An example would be a coach deciding what they need to do next to lead their team to victory in a close game— ex: “Should I have the setter tip the ball over, or should she set it to the outside hitter? What are the probable outcomes of each of these routes, and how likely are each to give us a point?”

Decision Making: What is Prospect Theory?

suggests that individuals tend to make decisions based on potential gains and losses, and that losses are felt more strongly than gains— acknowledges that emotions and psychological factors play a significant role in our choices

Think:

• Focusing on potential gains makes people more risk-avoidant​

• Focusing on potential losses increases risk-taking​

Decision Making: What is Deduction vs Induction in Reasoning?

Both are types of reasoning:

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• Inductive is a bottom-up approach;

  • start: specific observations

  • end: general conclusions. 

    • It guarantees the truth of the conclusion IF the premises are true.

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• Deductive is a top-down approach;

  • start: general principles or premises

  • end: specific conclusions

  • deducting as you get more specific

Decision Making: What is Syllogism?

A type of deductive reasoning where a conclusion is drawn from multiple propositions/premises

• Ex: All men are mortal (premise)​ → Socrates is a man (premise)​ → Therefore, Socrates is mortal (conclusion)​

What is the Belief-bias effect?

In decision-making, people are more likely to:

• accept an argument that…

  • aligns with their existing beliefs, even if the argument is logically flawed

• Reject an argument that…

  • contradict their beliefs, even if the arguments are logically sound.