Intelligence, Memory, and Development Flashcards

Flashcards covering memory, intelligence theories, developmental psychology, perception, and problem-solving concepts from lecture notes.

Recall

Remembering what you have been told without cues, typically associated with essays.

Recognition

Remembering what you have been told with the help of cues, such as in multiple-choice questions (MCQ).

Repressed memories

Unconsciously buried memories used to defend the ego, according to the psychodynamic approach.

Encoding failure

Forgetting information because you never paid attention to it or encoded it in the first place.

Proactive interference

A phenomenon where old information blocks the recall of new information.

Retroactive interference

A phenomenon where new information blocks the recall of old information.

Constructive memory

The way we update memories with new information, associations, and feelings, making memory unreliable.

Source Amnesia

Forgetting who told you a piece of information or where you heard it.

Misinformation effect

The distortion of memory caused by suggestion or misinformation.

Framing

The way a question is phrased, which impacts how information is perceived or recalled.

Imagination Inflation

Increased confidence that an event happened after imagining it, even if it did not actually occur.

Anterograde amnesia

The inability to form new memories.

Retrograde amnesia

The loss of old memories.

General intelligence (g)

A single form of intelligence that underlies all mental abilities, suggesting that if you are smart in one area, you are smart in others.

IQ Formula

$$IQ = \frac{\text{mental age}}{\text{chronological age}} \times 100$$

Psychometrics

The field of psychology and education dedicated to creating tests.

Standardization

Giving a test using consistent procedures and environments and grading it the same way.

Split-half reliability

A method of testing reliability by comparing two halves of a test.

Test-retest reliability

Using the same test on two different occasions to check for consistency.

Construct validity

Ensuring a test measures what it is intended to measure, such as an IQ test actually measuring intelligence.

Predictive validity

The ability of a test to accurately predict a trait, such as high math scores predicting success as an engineer.

Standard deviation

A measure of how much scores vary from the mean; in IQ testing, $1$ standard deviation is $15$ points.

Aptitude test

A test designed to predict your ability to learn a new skill, such as the ASVAB.

Achievement test

A test designed to measure what you already know, such as an AP exam.

Eugenics

The study of how to improve the gene pool by discouraging individuals from reproducing.

Stereotype threat

Feeling at risk of conforming to negative stereotypes about your group, which can influence behaviors and cognitions.

Stereotype lift

Performing better on a test when comparing oneself to other groups associated with negative stereotypes.

Flynn effect

The steady rise of IQ scores over the past $80$ years, likely due to better education and healthcare.

Fixed Mindset

The belief that intelligence is fixed from birth, often leading to less effort.

Growth mindset

The belief that abilities can be developed through work and determination, leading to more effort.

Cross-sectional study

A study that evaluates people of different ages at the same point in time; it is inexpensive and quick but may have cohort effects.

Longitudinal study

A study that follows the same people over a long period of time to eliminate cohort differences.

Teratogens

External agents like alcohol or drugs that can cause abnormal prenatal development.

Maturation

The natural course of development that occurs regardless of environment, such as learning to walk.

Rooting reflex

The innate response where an infant turns their face toward a finger when touched on the cheek.

Functional Fixedness

The inability to see more than one common use for an item, hindering creative problem-solving.

Sunk Cost fallacy

Continuing an action because of a prior investment, even when stopping would be more beneficial.

Gambler's Fallacy

The belief that something is more likely to happen because it is "due," despite the events being independent.

Forgetting curve

The concept that recall decreases rapidly at first and then reaches a plateau.

Distributed practice

Reviewing material a little every night to reset the forgetting curve; also known as the spacing effect.

Structural encoding

Shallow processing that focuses on the physical structure of a stimulus, such as whether a word is capitalized.

Semantic encoding

Deep processing that focuses on the meaning of words, leading to better memory retention.

Chunking

Breaking information into smaller units to aid memory, such as a phone number.

Method of loci

A mnemonic device that uses locations to remember a list of items in order.

Context dependent memory

The phenomenon where information is best remembered in the same environment where it was learned.

Iconic Memory

Visual sensory memory that lasts for approximately $0.3\,\text{seconds}$.

Echoic Memory

Auditory sensory memory that lasts for $2-3\,\text{seconds}$.

Short Term Memory (STM) capacity

Memory that lasts $30\,\text{seconds}$ to $1\,\text{minute}$ and can hold $7 \pm 2$ items.

Long-term potentiation

The neural basis of memory whereby connections are strengthened over time with repeated stimulation.

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to best remember the beginning (primacy effect) and the end (recency effect) of a list.

Place theory

The theory that the location where hair cells bend in the cochlea determines the perception of sound, specifically for high pitches.

Frequency theory

The theory that the rate at which action potentials are sent determines the perception of sound, specifically for low pitches.

Conduction deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the bones of the ear or the ear drum.

Sensorineural deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea, hair cells, or auditory nerve.

Vestibular sense

The sense of balance, controlled by semicircular canals in the inner ear.

Gate-control theory

The theory that we have a mental and physical "gate" that controls how much pain is experienced.

Olfaction

The sense of smell, which is the only sense that does not route through the thalamus.

Top-Down Processing

Processing that starts with the whole idea or prior expectations and moves to smaller parts.

Bottom-Up Processing

Processing that starts with smaller sensory parts and builds up to the whole idea.

Inattentional Blindness

Failure to notice something added to a scene because of intense focus on another task.

Cocktail party effect

The ability to notice your name being spoken across a room even when you were not paying attention.

Retinal Disparity

A binocular depth cue where the slightly different images cast on each retina help determine depth.

Prototypes

Ideal examples used as a comparison for all instances of a concept.

Availability heuristic

A mental shortcut where judgments are based on the first thing that comes to mind.

Metacognition

The process of thinking about or reflecting upon the way one thinks.