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control processes
control movement of info within and between stores
sensory memory
holds info long enough to be processed for basic characteristics. Large capacity but decays rapidly
iconic memory
type of sensory memory. stores visual info for about 0.3 seconds
echoic memory
type of sensory memory. stores auditory info for about 2 seconds
working memory
conscious processing of info- short term memory
phonological loop
stores auditory info in working memory. limited capacity (7 +/- 2 chunks of info) for 2 seconds. must be attended to and rehearsed. impaired by similar sounds or long words
visuo-spacial sketchpad
stores visual info in working memory. limited capacity, must be attended to periodically
central executive
attentional controller that selects and regulates info flow.
long term memory
unlimited capacity, may be stored permanently. emotion is powerful tool for encoding
flashbulb memories
"screen capture" that occurs after emotional event. not permanent, not complete, not immune to forgetting or distortion. people recall with great confidence.
amnesia
normal working memory but cannot form new conscious long term memories. caused by damage to hippocampus
explicit memory
conscious access to info from past, impaired in amnesics
implicit memory
past experiences influence perceptions, thoughts, and actions without awareness. spared in amnesics
procedural memory
type of implicit memory that involves learning new skills. amnesics can learn but don't remember learning
retroactive interference
new information interferes with old
proactive interference
old information interferes with new
retrieval cue
clue or prompt that can help retrieval. improper cue may cause false memory
tip of the tongue states
temporary failure to retrieve info that one is sure exists in long term memory- on verge of recovering
memory distortion
what we remember is not an exact replica of what happened. caused by prior knowledge or confusing suggestions. children are especially vulnerable.
recovered memory debate
is it possible to forget then recall something? Doubt: trauma is memorable and extended delay makes recall unlikely if something is forgotten Believe: there exists a functional reason to forget something traumatic
active forgetting
engaging in behaviors intended to diminish memory
motivation
internal condition which can change over time, orients individual to a specific set of goals. drive may be caused by upset in homeostasis
regulatory drives
primary biological drives. lack results in death (e.g oxygen, hunger, etc)
nonregulatory drives
satisfy needs that are non-lifethreatening. emotional or biological well-being (e.g sex)
Lateral hypothalamus
causes hunger. if destroyed, the person does not feel hunger and loses weight
ventromedial hypothalamus
causes fullness. if destroyed, the person does not feel full and becomes obese
sleep states
awake brain REM sleep - active brain but paralyzed body non-REM sleep - deeper sleep
alpha waves
brain activity pattern when drowsy, nonattentive, relaxed. present in first stage of sleep
stage 1 sleep
brief transition stage from awake to sleep
stage 2-4 sleep
successively deeper sleep, increased high amplitude delta waves. most effort to wake up when in stage 4
sleep stages cycle
sleep lightness and REM occurs toward stage 2. 4-5 cycles in typical night. spend progressively less time in deep sleep and more REM.
honest display theory
emotions facilitate ability to interact with others. They are a way of making honest exchanges with people
gut feeling theory
decisions are based on a gut feeling. use imagined emotional responses for guidance.
causes of happiness
high self esteem, optimism, good friendships, work, sleep. no correlation with age, kids, attractiveness, or gender.
impact bias
we are biased to overestimate the duration of the emotional consequences of an event. however, we are good at predicting the valence and intensity of emotion
adaptation level principle
you adapt to a current situation so that it becomes a normal or neutral emotional level
common sense theory
perception of stimulus elicits emotion which then causes bodily arousal
james' theory
perception causes arousal which causes emotion. emotion is the result of awareness of physiological changes
schachter's two factor theory
interaction of inference and arousal. Inferences influence kind of emotion, degree of arousal influences intensity.
misattribution of emotion
men who walked over unstable bridge showed more attraction to female researcher than those who walked over stable bridge. misattribute fear for attraction
elkman's facial feedback theory
believes expression has some feedback on emotion- e.g smiling improves mood.
fast pathway for emotion
amygdala- can process visual info before visual cortex, threat related. damage causes lack of fear
slow pathway for emotion
frontal lobe
right hemisphere
more sensitive to facial expression
phoneme
smallest distinctive sound unit, usually corresponding to each letter of alphabet (a, th, ee, ch, etc)
morpheme
smallest meaningful piece of language, usually a word or part of a word, such as a prefix
segmentation problem
one word runs into the next in normal speech- few discrete breaks. acoustic ambiguity (accents)
oronyms
strings of sounds that can be carved into words in 2 different ways (the stuffy nose vs the stuff he knows)
top down processing
need to know or guess word and meaning of a sentence to connect to phonemes.
language development
first learn phonetic structure. before 6 months, we can hear phonemic differences in all languages but later can only hear our own
imagery
mental picture, acts in some ways like perception. distorted in that tilted figures are remembered as more horizontal or vertical
availability bias
focus on what comes to mind more easily
functional fixedness / mental set
tendency to think of things only in terms of usual functions - can't think outside the box
confirmation bias
seek out confirmatory evidence
conjunction fallacy
believe that specific set of conditions is more probable than a general one
predictable world bias
gambler's fallacy. incorrect inference that sequence of independent events makes future events more or less likely.
framing effects
different but equivalent descriptions of options cause different decisions. risk averse when choice emphasizes gains risk seeking when choice emphasizes losses
intelligence
capacity for goal-directed and adaptive behavior. ability to profit from experience and problem solve
single trait intelligence
intelligence is a single entity that influences all aspects
multiple intelligences
there are 7 different aspects that factor into intelligence
savant syndrome
person limited in mental ability has amazing specific skill (ex. math, art). more common in males
crystallized intelligence
amount of learned knowledge. facts, tools, cultural practices, etc. peaks at 50
fluid intelligence
ability to process info independent of learned knowledge. identifying patterns, making inferences. peaks at 20-25
mental age
age that corresponds to given level of performance
intelligence quotient
mental age / chronological age * 100
wechsler tests
most widely used intelligence test today. verbal section and performance section
heritability
degree to which variation in a characteristic stems from genetic differences among individuals
h^2 heritability coefficient
estimates degree to which differences in a characteristic from one person to another are caused by genetic differences. = Vgenetic/Vgenetic+Venvironment
behavioral genetics
how differences in behavior are determined by genes vs environment
flynn effect
average IQ has risen over the last 100 years- fluid more than crystallized. possibly caused by culture change.
