AP Psych - Unit 5 Vocab

Memory

our basis for knowing everything (our friend's names, how to talk, the happy birthday song)

Encoding

The initial learning of information

Storage

Retaining information over time

Retrieval

Ability to access memory when needed

Parallel Processing

processing many aspects simultaneously

Sensory Memory

immediate recording of information

Short-term Memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly

Long-term Memory

relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

Working Memory

short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of information (7+-2)

Explicit Memory

A type of long term memory - intentional, requiring effort to learn facts and events

Effortful Processing

requires rehearsal or conscious repetition

Automatic Processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information

Implicit Memory

Long term memory acquired and used unconsciously

Iconic Memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli (0.5 sec)

Echoic Memory

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli (3-4 sec)

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units

Mnemonics

memory aids that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Spacing Effect

we retain information better when we rehearse over time

Testing Effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information

Shallow Processing

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

Deep Processing

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words

Hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage

Flashbulb Memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Long-term Potentiation

an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

Recall

Person must retrieve information using effort

Recognition

person must identify an item amongst other choices

Relearning

shows how much time is saved when learning material for the second time

Priming

to retrieve a specific memory from the web of associations, you must first activate one of the strands that leads to it

Mood-congruent Memory

recall experiences that are consistent with out current mood

Serial Positioning Effect

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

Anterograde Amnesia

can recall the past, but cannot form new memories

Broca's area

a region of the brain concerned with the production of speech, located in the cortex of the dominant frontal lobe

wernicke's area

a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

linguistic determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Intelligence

the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

intelligence test

a method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

general intelligence

the "G" factor that underlies the specific factors tested on an IQ test. The only type of intelligence according to Charles Spearman

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score.

savant syndrome

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing

grit

in psychology, this trait is passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

emotional intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

mental age

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance

Stanford-Binet

the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet's original intelligence test in what today is known as the IQ test

Intelligence quotient

defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100

achievement test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned

aptitude test

a test designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

this test is the most widely used intelligence test; measures overall intelligence and 11 other aspects related to intelligence

Standardization

defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

Normal Curve

the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes.

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results

Validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Content Validity

the extent to which a test covers all relevant parts of the construct it aims to measure

Predictive Validity

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict

Cohort

A population group unified by a specific common characteristic, such as age, and subsequently treated as a statistical unit.

Crystallized Intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Fluid Intelligence

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease exponentially during adulthood

Intellectual Disability

a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound

down syndrome

a condition of intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.

heritability

the ability of a trait to be passed down from one generation to the next

stereotype threat

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

retrograde amnesia

can't recall the past from the point of the incident, but can form new memories

proactive interference

the forward-acting disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information "old messes with new"

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information "new messes with old"

Reppression

unconscious blocking of unpleasant emotions, impulses, memories, and thoughts from your conscious mind

misinformation effect

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

source amnesia

inability to recall how, when, or where information was learned or imagined

deja vu

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

cognition

the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses

concept

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

prototype

a mental representation that serves as a cognitive reference point for the category

Creativity

the ability to produce or develop original work, theories, techniques, or thoughts

Convergent thinking

a type of critical thinking in which one evaluates existing possible solutions to a problem to choose the best one

divergent thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions)

algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.

heuristic

a mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently.

insight

a sudden realization. There is no gradual piecing together of the answers, but instead a realization of the solution

confirmation bias

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

mental set

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

intuition

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

represntativeness 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

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

tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

belief perseverance

clinging to an initial conception after the basis for the idea has been discredited

framing

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

Language

our spoken, written, or gestured work, is the way we communicate meaning to ourselves and others

Phonemes

a basic set of sounds

morpheme

the smallest unit that carries meaning (most are combinations of two or more phonemes)

Grammar

a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others; includes semantics and syntax

babbling stage

beginning at about 4 months, the infant spontaneously utters various sounds

one-word stage

the stage in speech development, from about age 1, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

two-word stage

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements

telegraphic speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs.

aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).