ap psych unit 2 vocab

cognition

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating

memory

the persistance of learning over time through the storage and retreival of information

concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people

encoding

the processing of information into the memory system- for example, by extracting meaning

heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

storage

the retention of encoded information over time

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports out preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

fixation

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set

sensory memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

functional fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving 

representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind( perhaps because of their vividness) we presume such events are common

overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct- to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements

long term memory

the relatively permanent and timeless storehouse of the memory system. it includes knowledge, skills, and experiences

belief perseverance

clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which theywhere formed has been discredited

working memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual spatial information, and of information retrieved from long term memory. 

intuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning. 

framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements 

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

semantics memories

semantic memory is a type of long-term memory that stores general knowledge, concepts, facts, and meanings of words, allowing for the understanding and comprehension of language, as well as the retrieval of general knowledge about the world

spacing effect

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield between long term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

serial position effect

our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

semantic encoding

the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words

mnemonics

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units in STM because space is limited to 7 bits. This increasing the efficiency of STM.

iconic memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

echoic memory

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

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

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

implicit memory

retention independent of conscious recollection. (also called nondeclarative or procedural memory)

explicit memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and ‘declare’ (also known as declarative memory)

recall

a memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on fill-in-the-blank test

recognition

a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple choice test. 

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response

mood-congruent memory

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood. 

proactive interference

the disruptive effect prior learning on the recall of new information

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banished anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

misinformation effect

incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event

source amnesia/misattribution

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. (also called source misattribution.) Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories

episodic memory

explicit memories that have a time and a place

procedural memory

implicit memories (retrieved unconsciously) which involved motor skills; for example; riding a bike, typing, and tying a shoe

curve of forgetting

indicates LTM decay over time. rapid decay occurs within the first 20 minutes and then memory decay slows down to 20-30% over 30 days. 

elaborative rehearsal

connecting new information with memories already stored in LTM. 

deep processing

similar to elaborative rehearsal; connecting semantics of a new word to LTM which builds a strong memory trace that is resistant to memory decay

shallow processing

phonetic memory building which leads to a fragile memory trace that is susceptible to rapid decay. (focusing on how to say the word

state-dependent memory

long-term memory retrieval is best when a person’s physiological state at the time of encoding and retrieval of the information is the same.

context dependent memory

the theory that information learned in a particular situation or place is remembered when in that same situation or place

anterograde amnesia

inability to form new memories

retrograde amnesia

loss of memory from the point of some injury or trauma backwards, or loss of memory for the past

motivated forgetting

forgetting that occurs when something is so painful or anxiety-laden that remembering it is intolerable

retrieval failure

the inability to recall long term memories because of inadequate or missing retrieval cues

atkinson shiffrin model

model for describing memory in which there are three distinguishable kinds of memory (sensory, short term, long term) through which info passes in a sequential way as it is processed

semantic memory

a network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world (fact memories)

distributed practice

spacing the study of material t be remembered by including breaks between study periods

primacy effect

tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list especially well

recency effect

tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well

parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving

selective attention

the ability to focus on only one stimulus from among all sensory input

metacognition

awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes

prospective memory

remembering to do things in the future

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information

convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

divergent thinking

a type of creative thinking in which one generates new solutions to problems

gambler’s fallacy

believing that runs occur to statistically independent phenomena such as a roulette wheel spins

sunk cost fallacy

a framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation

auto kinetic effect

illusion, caused by very slight movements of the eye, that a stationary point of light in a dark room is moving