Cognition

Encoding

Processing information into long-term storage.

Structural (visual) encoding

Shallow encoding of picture images or the appearance of letters.

Phonemic (acoustic) encoding

Shallow encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words.

Semantic encoding

Deep encoding of meaning.

Storage

Retention of encoded information over time.

Retrieval

Getting information out of memory storage.

Memory

Persistence of learning over time through storage and retrieval of information.

Sensory memory

Immediate, initial recording of sensory information; most goes unprocessed.

Short-term (working) memory

Briefly holds a few items from sensory memory; about 7 ± 2 items in your teacher’s model.

Long-term memory

An essentially unlimited storehouse of information.

Iconic memory

Sensory memory for vision, lasting a fraction of a second.

Echoic memory

Sensory memory for sound, lasting 1–2 seconds (teacher’s slide).

Explicit memory

Declarative memories that are typically easy to explain; includes events and facts.

Implicit memory

Nondeclarative memories typically impossible to explain in words; shown in skills or conditioning.

Semantic memories

Facts and information we have learned.

Prospective memory

Remembering to carry out an intended action in the future.

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information.

Effortful processing

Encoding requiring attention and conscious effort; produces durable, accessible memories.

Deep processing

Encoding information by its meaning (semantic processing).

Shallow processing

Encoding based on appearance or sound rather than meaning.

Metacognition

Thinking about and monitoring your own thinking.

Rehearsal

Conscious repetition of information.

Spacing effect

Distributed study or practice produces better long-term retention than cramming.

Serial position effect

Tendency to recall the first and last items in a list best.

Imagery

Mental pictures used in thinking and remembering.

Mnemonics

Memory aids or tricks, such as ROY G. BIV.

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units.

Long-term potentiation

Long-lasting improvement in signal transmission between neurons stimulated together.

Amnesia

Forgetting or memory impairment associated with brain injury or trauma.

Phonological loop

Working-memory component that holds speech and sound information.

Visuospatial sketchpad

Working-memory component briefly storing visual information and manipulating mental images.

Method of loci

Mnemonic that links items to imagined locations, such as rooms in a house.

Recall

Retrieving information from memory without seeing possible answers (essay or fill-in).

Recognition

Identifying a target from possible choices (multiple choice).

Priming

Activation of associations in memory that influences later responses, often unconsciously.

Déjà vu

Cues in the current situation may subconsciously trigger familiarity with an earlier experience.

Mood-congruent memory

Recalling experiences related to your current mood.

State-dependent memory

Remembering information better when in the same internal state as when it was encoded.

Proactive interference

Old information blocks new information.

Retroactive interference

New information blocks old information.

Misinformation effect

Misleading information after an event can distort memory of the event.

Source amnesia

Remembering information but forgetting where or how you learned it.

Gambler’s fallacy

Mistaken belief that past independent events affect future independent outcomes.

Sunk-cost fallacy

Continuing because of what you have already invested, even when stopping is better.

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Temporarily being unable to retrieve a familiar word or name.

Cognition

Mental activities involved in thinking, knowing, remembering, and problem-solving.

Concept

Mental category that groups similar things or ideas.

Prototype

Typical or ideal example used to represent a concept.

Algorithm

A rule or procedure that guarantees the right solution; often impractical.

Representativeness heuristic

Judging based on similarity to a prototype in your mind.

Availability heuristic

Judging based on examples that first or easily come to mind.

Schema

Organized mental framework of knowledge and expectations.

Assimilation

Fitting new information into an existing schema.

Accommodation

Changing a schema to fit new information.

Creativity

Producing original and useful ideas; teacher notes it is difficult to define.

Convergent thinking

Finding the correct answer to standard questions with little creativity required.

Divergent thinking

Generating creative ideas and many possible solutions.

Confirmation bias

Looking for evidence that confirms beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Insight

Suddenly realizing a solution after pondering a problem.

Fixation

Being unable to see a problem from a fresh perspective.

Mental set

Falling into established thought patterns or previously successful methods.

Functional fixedness

Inability to see a new use for an object.

Overconfidence

Being more confident than accurate; heuristics can lead to it.

Belief perseverance

Maintaining a belief even after it has been proven wrong.

Framing

How a question or information is worded influences decisions.

Phoneme

Smallest unit of sound in a language.

Morpheme

Smallest meaningful unit of language, including words and word parts.

Grammar

Rules of a language.

Semantics

Meaning of words and sentences.

Syntax

Order of words in a language.

Cooing

Soft vowel-like sounds babies make when content and engaged; slide gives no age.

Babbling stage

Around 4 months: spontaneously making various sounds.

One-word stage

9–18 months in teacher’s slides: speaking single words.

Two-word stage

Around age 2: speaking in two-word statements, mainly nouns and verbs.

Telegraphic speech

Around age 2: short two-word statements using mainly nouns and verbs.

Linguistic determinism

Whorf’s idea that language determines or influences the way we think.