AP Psych Unit 3 - Problem Solving and Memory

Memory

Persistence of learning overtime though encoding storage & retrieval of info

ex.) Recalling the answer to your test question

Explicit Memory (Declarative Memory)

Retention of learned facts and experiences from long-term memory that one can consciously know and “declare”

ex.) Remembering what you ate for breakfast

Implicit Memory (Non Declarative Memory)

Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations in long-term memory independent of conscious recollection

ex.) Riding a bike without having to think about how to do it

Semantic Memory

Recalling a password and holding it in working memory → activates left frontal lobe

ex.) Knowing Paris is the capital of France

Episodic Memory

Calling up a visual party scene would activate the right frontal lobe

ex.) Remembering your first day of high school

Procedural Memory

Type (long-term) responsible for skills and actions like riding a bike, tying shoes, and cooking

• IMPLICIT

ex.) Typing on a keyboard

Prospective Memory

Type involves remembering to do something in the future

• EXPLICIT

ex.) Remembering to take your homework to school (To do list)

Long-Term Potentiation

Increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity

• Neural basis for learning & memory

ex.) Practicing guitar daily makes playing chords easier

Central Executive

Coordinates focused processing, without this, info often fades

ex.) Multitasking

Phonological Loop

Component briefly holds auditory info

ex.) Repeating a phone number to yourself until you dial it

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Component briefly holds info about an object’s appearance and location in space

ex.) Mentally picturing a map of your school

Multi-Store Model of Memory

3 types of memory involve…

1. Sensory, Iconic & Echoic Memory

2. Short-term Memory

3. Long-term Memory

ex.) Information moves from notes you see (sensory) to Rehearsal (short-term) to remembering for a test (long-term)

Sensory Memory

Immediate, very brief recording of sensory info in the memory system

ex.) Quickly recalling an image you just saw

Iconic Memory

Fleeting sensory memory of visual stimuli

ex.) Briefly seeing a world flash on a screen

Echoic Memory

A brief fleeting sensory memory for auditory stimuli

ex.) Remembering what someone just said even if you weren’t listening very closely

Short-term Memory

Holds a few items before stored or forgotten

ex.) Remembering an address long enough to write it down

Long-term Memory

Relatively permanent and limitless storage

ex.) Remembering your best friend’s name

Automatic Processing

Info (such as space, time, or frequency, or well known info) slips into long-term via a “backdoor” without us consciously attending to it

ex.) Remembering what you had for lunch yesterday

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort (encodes explicit memories)

ex.) Studying for a vocabulary test

Memory Encoding

Process of putting info into memory

ex.) Learning a new friend’s name

Storage

Process of maintaining info in memory over time

ex.) Keeping a fact in your memory for years

Retrieval

Accessing stored info

ex.) Recalling an answer during a quiz

Shallow Processing

Encoding based on structure, sound, or appearance of words

ex.) Remembering a word because it’s in all CAPS

Deep Processing

Learning something beyond surface level

ex.) Remembering a word because you used it in a sentence

Structural Processing

Encoding based on letters in the word

ex.) Remembering that “DOG” was written in bold letters

Phonemic Processing

Encoding based on the word’s sound

ex.) Remembering that “cat” rhymes with “hat”

Semantic Processing

Based on meaning of words; tends to yield the best retention

• Connecting to the word

ex.) Remembering “freedom” because you connect it to personal values

Encoding

Process of getting info into memory

ex.) Listening to a lecture and taking notes

Mnemonics

Effortful processing strategy that uses memory aids

• Especially vivid imagery and organizational devices, like acronyms or acrostics

ex.) Using “HOMES” to remember the great lakes

Method of Loci

Helps remember info by visualizing it

ex.) Imagining each grocery item placed in a different room of your house

Chunking (Memory)

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units

ex.) Remembering a phone number as 111-222-333 instead of 111222333

Categories (Encoding)

Organizing info into groups to improve memory

ex.) Grouping fruits together when learning a grocery list

Hierarchies (Memory)

Organizing info into levels from broad to specific

ex.) Outlining a textbook chapter into main ideas, subtopics, and details

Spacing Effect

Tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed or practice

ex.) Reviewing notes for 15 mins every night instead of studying for hours the night before the test

Massed Practice

(Cramming) Can produce speedy short-term learning and a feeling of confidence

• Easier to forget

ex.) Studying for six hours the night before the test

Distributed Practice

(Practicing over several days) produces better long-term recall

ex.) Studying vocab for 10 mins each day for two weeks

Serial Position Effect

Tendency to recall most the first and last items in a list

ex.) Remembering the first and last items on your grocery list and forgetting the middle ones

Primacy Effect

First item on a list is usually remembered

ex.) Remembering apples and bananas on your grocery list

Recency Effect

Last items in a list are usually remembered

ex.) Remembering milk and bread on your grocery list

Forgetting the Middle of a List

Items in the middle of a List are least likely to be remembered

ex.) Forgetting cheese and pasta in the middle of your grocery list

Sensory Memory

Immediate, very brief recording of sensory info before it’s processed

ex.) Seeing a flash of lightning and remembering it for a split second

Short-Term Memory

Holds a few items briefly before it’s stored or forgotten

ex.) Remembering a phone number just long enough to dial it

Working Memory

Systems for temporarily storing and manipulating info for tasks

ex.) Holding numbers in mind while solving a math problem

Maintenance Rehearsal

Use to commit info to short-term, repetition without contextualization, often leads to forgetting in a short period of time

ex.) Repeating a locker combination over and over to remember it

Elaborative Rehearsal

Helps commit info to long-term, contextualizes info for better storage and retrieval

• Chunking, rhymes, puns, mnemonics

ex.) SIX TIMES SIX IS THIRTY SIX

Autobiographical Memory

Memory for one’s personal history

ex.) Remembering your first day of high school

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to retrieve info from the past due to injury or illness

ex.) Being unable to remember events before a car accident

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memory due to injury or illness

ex.) Not being able to remember new people you meet after a brain injury (50 first dates)

Alzheimer’s Disease

Progressive neurodegeneration (a fatal condition)

• Most common cause of dementia

ex.) A grandparent gradually forgetting family members’ names

Infantile Amnesia

Inability of adults to recollect early episodic memories

• Childhood tendency to forget early

ex.) Not remembering your second birthday party

Retrieval

Getting info out of memory so you can use it

ex.) Remembering the answer to a test question after studying

Recall

Retrieving info not currently in conscious awareness, but learned at an earlier time

ex.) Answering an essay question from memory

Recognition

Identifying items previously learned

ex.) Recognizing the correct answer on a multiple-choice test

Context-Dependent Memory

Theory that suggests that info is optimally remembered when it is recalled in the same place in which it was initially learned

• Mood Congruent Memory

• State-Dependent Memory

ex.) Remembering material better when taking a test in the same classroom

Mood-Congruent Memory

Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current emotional state (good or bad)

ex.) When you feel sad, you start remembering other sad experiences

State-Dependent Memory

Memory for a past event is improved when the person is in the same biological or psychological state was when the memory was initially learned

ex.) If you study while chewing gum, you remember more when chewing gum again

Testing Effect

Testing does more than assess learning and memory, it improves it

ex.) Using flashcards to quiz yourself helps you remember more for the test

Metacognition

Awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes

• “Thinking about thinking”

ex.) Realizing you don’t understand a chapter and deciding to reread it

Forgetting Curve

Retention drops, then levels off

ex.) Forgetting most vocab words after a week if you don’t study it again

Encoding Failure

When info doesn’t get stored properly in the memory

• When not transferred between short-term and long-term memory

• Not processed properly in encoding

ex.) Not remembering what a penny looks like even though you’ve seen many

Proactive Interference

Forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new info

ex.) Calling your new pet by the name of your old pet

Retroactive Interference

Backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old-info

ex.) Forgetting your old locker combo after learning your new one

Inadequate Retrieval

You know something, but are failing to retrieve it

ex.) Struggling to remember an actor’s name but being sure you know it

Tip-of-the-Tongue

Temporary inability to retrieve a well-known word to the speaker

• Result of inadequate retrieval

Repression

Basic defense mechanism that banished anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories from consciousness

ex.) Forgetting a traumatic childhood experience

Misinformation Effect

Occurs when misleading info has distorted one’s memory of an event

• Elizabeth Loftus

ex.) Believing a car was blue because someone later said it was

Source Amnesia

Faulty memory for how, when, or where info was learned or imagined, also known as Source Misattribution

• Affects explicit memory, contributes to false memories

ex.) Remembering a fun fact but not knowing if you read it or heard it

Constructive Memory

Memories are created and can be altered by new info, beliefs, and perceptions

• Memories not an exact record

ex.) Mixing details from two different events into one memory

Memory Consolidation

Previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

• Type of Constructive Memory

ex.) Remembering new material better after a good night’s sleep

Imagination Inflation

Increased tendency to falsely remember that an item has been seen, or an action has been performed, when it has only been imagined

• Type of Constructive Memory

ex.) Believing you went on a trip as a kid because you imagined if often