Chapter 5: Cognition

Information processing model

Information processing model

compares our mind to a computer.

Encoded

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.

Donald Broadbent

modeled human memory and thought processes using a flowchart that showed competing information filtered out early, as it is received by the senses and analyzed in the stages of memory.

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 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.

Alan Baddeley’s

working memory model involves much more than chunking, rehearsal, and passive storage of information.

Working memory model

is an active three-part memory system that temporarily holds information and consists of a phonological loop, visuospatial working memory, and the central executive.

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.

Prospective memory

is our memory to perform a planned action or remembering to perform that planned action.

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.

Hierarchies

are systems in which concepts are arranged from more general to more specific classes.

Concepts

can be simple or complex.

Prototypes

which are the most typical examples of the concept.

Semantic networks

are more irregular and distorted systems than strict hierarchies, with multiple links from one concept to others.

Dr. Steve Kosslyn

showed that we seem to scan a visual image of a picture (mental map) in our mind when asked questions.

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 for an event.

Connectionism

theory states that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections between neurons, many of which work together to process a single memory.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

have designed the neural network or parallel processing model that emphasizes the simultaneous processing of information, which occurs automatically and without our awareness.

Neural network

computer models are based on neuronlike systems, which are biological rather than artificially contrived computer codes; they can learn, adapt to new situations, and deal with imprecise and incomplete information.

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.

Savings method

the amount of repetitions required to relearn the list compared to the amount of repetitions it took to learn the list originally.

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

Mood congruence

aids retrieval.

State-dependent

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.

Holophrase

one word—to convey meaning.

Telegraphic speech

they begin to put together two-word sentences.

Overgeneralization

or overregularization in which children apply grammatical rules without making appropriate exceptions.

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

has largely been discredited by empirical research.

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

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

involves reasoning from the general to the specific.

Fixation

is an inability to look at a problem from a fresh perspective, using a prior strategy that may not lead to success.

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.

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.

Belief bias

the tendency for our preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, making illogical conclusions seem valid or logical conclusions seem invalid.

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 thinkers

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

Divergent thinkers

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

Brainstorm

generating lots of ideas without evaluating them.

Psychometricians

are involved in test development in order to measure some construct or behavior that distinguishes people.

Constructs

are ideas that help summarize a group of related phenomena or objects; they are hypothetical abstractions related to behavior and defined by groups of objects or events.

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

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.

Interrater reliability

the extent to which two or more scorers evaluate the responses in the same way.

Validity

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