AP Psych Memory and Language Vocab

Recall

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information earlier
i.e. fill in the blank test

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units

Long-term memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

Recognition

A measure of memory in which the person identified items previously learned

i.e. a multiple choice test

Relearning

A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

encoding

The process of getting information into the memory system

Explicit Memory

Retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare

Storage

The process of retaining encoded information over time

Sensory memory

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly

retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory storage

Parallel processing

Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously

Implicit memory

Retention of learning skills are classically conditioned asociations

Working Memory

A newer understanding of short term memory thats adds conscious, active processing or incoming auditory/visual information

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information such as space, time, and frequency

Shallow processing

Encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words

Iconic memory

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli

Echoic memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli

Spacing effect

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term attention

Testing effect

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simple rereading, information

Deep processing

Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the word

Atkinson and Shiffrin

Responsible for the three-stage model of memory

George Miller

Responsible for the theory that short-term/working memory holds 7+2 pieces of information

Herman Ebbinghaus

Pioneered research on retetion, and forgetting

Mnemonics

memory aids

Mood congruent memory

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood

Episodic memory

Explicit memory of personally experienced events

Semantic memory

Explicit memory of facts and general knowledge

Hippocampus

Part of the limbic system that helps process explicit memory

Flashbulb memory

A clear sustained memory of an emotionally significant moment

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations

Long-term potentiation

An increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief rapid stimulation

Encoding specificity principle

The idea that cues in context specific to a particular memory will be the most effective in helping us recall

Serial position effect

Our tendency to recall best the last and first item in a list

Anterograde Amnesia

An inability to form new memories

Retrograde Amnesia

An inability to retrieve information from one’s past

Proactive interference

The forward acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information

Retroactive interference

The backward acting of disruptive effect of newr learning on the recall of old information

Repression

The basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-around thoughs, feelings, and memories

Reconsolidation

The process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

Misinformation effect

Occurs when misleading information has distorted one’s memory of an event

Source Amnesia

Faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined

Deja Vu

Cues from the current situation unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience, causing an uncomfortable feeling that you have experienced this before

Elizabeth Loftus

Famous fo her research on reconsolidation and the misinformation effect

Phoneme

In a languae, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Morpheme

In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning

Grammar

A system of language rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Babbling stage

Beginning around four months, the stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds

One word stage

Stage in speech development, from about age 1-2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Two words stage

Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly 2 word statement

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

Help control language expression by direction muscle movements in speech

Wernicke’s area

Helps control the language comprehension and expression by decodng language

Lingusitc detminism

Language controls the way we think and interprent the world around us, rendering us unable to think about concepts for which we have no vocabulary

Linguistc influence

Language affects thoughts, making our thinking and worldview related to but no restricted by our language

Noam Chomsky

Theorized that human beings have a universal grammar which is a biological predisposition to learn language

Benjamin Lee Whorf

Famous for the theory of linguistic determinism