Memory and Cognition 2023-24

Information processing model

Information processing model

compares our mind to a computer.

Encoding

when our sensory receptors send impulses that are registered by neurons in our brain, similar to getting electronic information into our computer’s CPU (central processing unit) by keyboarding.

Attention

is the mechanism by which we restrict information.

Shallow processing

we use structural encoding of superficial sensory information that emphasizes the physical characteristics, such as lines and curves, of the stimulus as it first comes in.

Deep processing

occurs when we attach meaning to information and create associations between the new memory and existing memories (elaboration).

Semantic encoding

associated with deep processing, emphasizes the meaning of verbal input.

Atkinson–Shiffrin three-stage model of memory

describes three different memory systems characterized by time frames (Sensory, Short Term, Long Term)

Sensory memory

visual or iconic memory that completely represents a visual stimulus lasts for less than a second, just long enough to ensure that we don’t see gaps between frames in a motion picture.

Auditory or echoic memory

lasts for about 4 seconds, just long enough for us to hear a flow of information.

Selective attention

focusing of awareness on a specific stimulus in sensory memory, determines which very small fraction of information perceived in sensory memory is encoded into short-term memory.

Automatic processing

is unconscious encoding of information about space, time, and frequency that occurs without interfering with our thinking about other things.

Parallel processing

a natural mode of information processing that involves several information streams simultaneously.

Effortful processing

is encoding that requires our focused attention and conscious effort.

Short-term memory (STM)

can hold a limited amount of information for about 30 seconds unless it is processed further.

Chunk

can be a word rather than individual letters or a date rather than individual numbers.

Working memory model

is an active three-part memory system that temporarily holds information and consists of a incoming sensory information, retrieved information from long term storage and the central executive (conscious thought processing)

Explicit memory

also called declarative memory, is our LTM of facts and experiences we consciously know and can verbalize.

Procedural memories

are tasks that we perform automatically without thinking, such as tying our shoelaces or swimming.

Long-term memory (LTM)

is the relatively permanent and practically unlimited capacity memory system into which information from short-term memory may pass.

Implicit memory

also called non-declarative memory, is our LTM for skills and procedures to do things affected by previous experience without that experience being consciously recalled.

Concepts

Abstract idea to categorize and organzie undertanding of the world

Prototypes

which are the most typical examples of the concept.

Semantic networks

Systems of connecting meaning with multiple links from one concept to others.

Schemas

are preexisting mental frameworks that start as basic operations and then get more and more complex as we gain additional information.

Script

is a schema (mental framework) for an event.

Long-term potentiation (or LTP)

involves an increase in the efficiency with which signals are sent across the synapses within neural networks of long-term memories.

Flashbulb memory

a vivid memory of an emotionally arousing event, is associated with an increase of adrenal hormones triggering release of energy for neural processes and activation of the amygdala and the hippocampus involved in emotional memories.

Anterograde amnesia

the inability to put new information into explicit memory; no new semantic memories are formed.

Retrograde amnesia

involves memory loss for a segment of the past, usually around the time of an accident, such as a blow to the head.

Hermann Ebbinghaus

experimentally investigated the properties of human memory using lists of meaningless syllables.

Overlearning effect

Ebbinghaus also found that if he continued to practice a list after memorizing it well, the information was more resistant to forgetting.

Serial position effect

When we try to retrieve a long list of words, we usually recall the last words and the first words best, forgetting the words in the middle.

Primacy effect

refers to better recall of the first items, thought to result from greater rehearsal Recency effect

Retrieval cues

can be other words or phrases in a specific hierarchy or semantic network, context, and mood or emotions.

Priming

is activating specific associations in memory either consciously or unconsciously.

Distributed practice

spreading out the memorization of information or the learning of skills over several sessions, facilitates remembering.

Massed practice

cramming the memorization of information or the learning of skills into one session.

Mnemonic devices

or memory tricks when encoding information, these devices will help us retrieve concepts.

Method of loci

uses association of words on a list with visualization of places on a familiar path.

Peg word mnemonic

requires us to first memorize a scheme.

Context-dependent memory

Our recall is often better when we try to recall information in the same physical setting in which we encoded it, possibly because along with the information, the environment is part of the memory trace

State-dependent (mood congruent)

things we learn in one internal state are more easily recalled when in the same state again.

Forgetting

may result from failure to encode information, decay of stored memories, or an inability to access information from LTM.

Relearning

is a measure of retention of memory that assesses the time saved compared to learning the first time when learning information again.

tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Sometimes we know that we know something but can’t pull it out of memory.

Interference

Learning some items may prevent retrieving others, especially when the items are similar.

Proactive interference

occurs when something we learned earlier disrupts recall of something we experience later.

Retroactive interference

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

Sigmund Freud

believed that repression (unconscious forgetting) of painful memories occurs as a defense mechanism to protect our self-concepts and minimize anxiety.

Misinformation effect

occurs when we incorporate misleading information into our memory of an event.

Misattribution error

Forgetting what really happened, or distortion of information at retrieval, can result when we confuse the source of information—putting words in someone else’s mouth—or remember something we see in the movies or on the Internet as actually having happened.

Language

is a flexible system of spoken, written, or signed symbols that enables us to communicate our thoughts and feelings.

Morphemes

are the smallest meaningful units of speech, such as simple words, prefixes, and suffixes

grammar

Each language has a system of rules that determines how sounds and words can be combined and used to communicate

syntax

The set of rules that regulate the order in which words can be combined into grammatically sensible sentences in a language

semantics

The set of rules that enables us to derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences

Babbling

is the production of phonemes, not limited to the phonemes to which the baby is exposed.

Telegraphic speech

they begin to put together two-word sentences.

Linguistic Determinism

cognitive processes are influenced by the differences that are found in languages

Metacognition

thinking about how you think

Algorithm

is a problem-solving strategy that involves a slow, step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution to many types of problems.

Insight

is a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem.

Trial-and-error approach

This approach involves trying possible solutions and discarding those that do not work.

Inductive reasoning (bottom up)

involves reasoning from the specific to the general, forming concepts about all members of a category based on some members, which is often correct but may be wrong if the members we have chosen do not fairly represent all of the members.

Deductive reasoning (top down)

involves reasoning from the general to the specific.

Functional fixedness

a failure to use an object in an unusual way.

Availability heuristic

estimating the probability of certain events in terms of how readily they come to mind.

Representative heuristic

a mental shortcut by which a new situation is judged by how well it matches a stereotypical model or a particular prototype.

Framing

refers to the way a problem is posed or viewed

Anchoring effect

is this tendency to be influenced by a suggested reference point, pulling our response toward that point.

Confirmation bias

is a tendency to search for and use information that supports our preconceptions and ignore information that refutes our ideas.

Belief perseverance

is a tendency to hold onto a belief after the basis for the belief is discredited.

Hindsight bias

is a tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly predicted the outcome of the event.

Overconfidence bias

is a tendency to underestimate the extent to which our judgments are erroneous.

Creativity

is the ability to think about a problem or idea in new and unusual ways, to come up with unconventional solutions.

Convergent thinking

use problem-solving strategies directed toward one correct solution to a problem

Divergent thinking

produce many answers to the same question, characteristic of creativity.

Standardization

is a two-part test development procedure that first establishes test norms from the test results of the large representative sample that initially took the test and then ensures that the test is both administered and scored uniformly for all test takers.

Norms in test construction

are scores established from the test results of the representative sample, which are then used as a standard for assessing the performances of subsequent test takers; more simply, norms are standards used to compare scores of test takers.

Test-retest method

the same exam is administered to the same group on two different occasions, and the scores compared.

Split-half method

the score on one half of the test questions is correlated with the score on the other half of the questions to see if they are consistent.

Validity

is the extent to which an instrument accurately measures or predicts what it is supposed to measure or predict.

Personality

involves consistency in behavior over a wide range of situations.

Aptitude tests

are designed to predict a person’s future performance or to assess the person’s capacity to learn, and achievement tests are designed to assess what a person has already learned.

Alfred Binet

was hired by the French government to identify children who would not benefit from a traditional school setting and those who would benefit from special education.

Lewis Terman

developed the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale reporting results as an IQ, intelligence quotient, which is the child’s mental age divided by his or her chronological age, multiplied by 100; or MA/CA × 100.

David Wechsler

developed another set of age-based intelligence tests

Intellectual disability

Test takers who fall two deviations below the mean have a score of 70

John Horn and Raymond Cattell

determined that Spearman’s g should be divided into two factors of intelligences fluid intelligence, those cognitive abilities requiring speed or rapid learning that tend to diminish with adult aging, and crystallized intelligence, learned knowledge and skills such as vocabulary that tend to increase with age.

Howard Gardner

is one of the many critics of the g or single factor intelligence theory. Developed idea of multiple intelligences

Savants

individuals otherwise considered mentally disabled but who have a specific exceptional skill, typically in calculating, music, or art.

Analytical thinking

is what is tested by traditional IQ test and what we are asked to do in school—compare, contrast, analyze, and figure out cause and effect relationships.

Creative intelligence

is evidenced by adaptive reactions to novel situations, showing insight, and being able to see more than one way to solve a problem.

Practical intelligence

is what some people consider “street smarts.”

Creativity

the ability to generate ideas and solutions that are original, novel, and useful, is not usually measured by intelligence tests.

Flynn effect

The general rising of IQ across humans

Heritability

is the proportion of variation among individuals in a population that results from genetic causes.