Cognition (AP Pysch)

Three-box/information-processing model

A theory that memory has three stages: sensory, short-term, and long-term memory

Levels of processing model

Says we remember things better when we think deeply about them

Sensory memory

A quick memory that holds what we see or hear for a second or less

Iconic memory

Sensory memory for what we see (lasts about a second)

Selective attention

Focusing on one thing while ignoring other things.

Echoic memory

Sensory memory for what we hear (lasts 3–4 seconds).

Short-term memory (working memory)

Memory we are using now; holds about 7 things for 20–30 seconds.

Chunking

Grouping things together to remember them easier (like phone numbers).

Mnemonic devices

Tricks or tools to help you remember (like acronyms or rhymes).

Rehearsal

Repeating something over and over to remember it.

Long-term memory

Memory that stores things for a long time, possibly forever.

Episodic memory

Memory of personal events or experiences (like a birthday party).

Semantic memory

Memory of facts and general knowledge (like the capital of France).

Procedural memory

Memory of how to do things (like riding a bike).

Explicit (declarative) memories

Memories you can clearly explain, like facts or events.

Implicit (non-declarative) memories

Memories you can’t explain but still affect you, like habits.

Eidetic (photographic) memory

Very rare memory where someone can see images in great detail after seeing them once.

Retrieval

Bringing a memory out of storage.

Recognition

Identifying something you’ve seen before (like on a multiple-choice test).

Recall

Bringing a memory from scratch (like on a short answer test).

Primacy effect

Remembering the first items on a list best.

Recency effect

Remembering the last items on a list best.

Serial position effect

Tendency to remember the first and last items in a list more than the middle.

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Knowing you know something but can’t quite say it.

Semantic network theory

The idea that memories are connected like a web; one idea leads to another.

Flashbulb memories

Very clear memories of emotional or important events.

State-dependent memory

You remember things better when you’re in the same state (like mood or location) as when you learned it.

Mood-congruent memory

You remember memories that match your current mood (happy mood = happy memories).

Constructed (or reconstructed) memory

A memory that may be false or changed based on new info or suggestions.

Relearning effect

It’s easier to learn something again than it was the first time.

Retroactive interference

New info makes it harder to remember old info.

Proactive interference

Old info makes it harder to remember new info.

Anterograde amnesia

Can’t form new memories after an accident or injury.

Retrograde amnesia

Can’t remember old memories from before an accident or injury.

Long-term potentiation

The more you use a memory, the stronger the connection in your brain.

Phonemes

The smallest sounds in a language (like “b” or “th”).

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning in language (like “un-” or “-ed”).

Syntax

The rules for how we put words together in sentences.

Language acquisition

How people learn language.

Overgeneralization (overregularization)

When kids apply grammar rules too much (like “I goed” instead of “I went”).

Language acquisition device

Noam Chomsky’s idea that we are born with the ability to learn language.

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

The idea that language shapes the way we think.

Prototypes

The best example of a category (like a robin for “bird”).

Images

Mental pictures we create in our minds.

Algorithm

A step-by-step method that always works to solve a problem.

Heuristic

A shortcut or rule of thumb that usually works but not always.

Representativeness heuristic

Judging something by how much it matches a typical example.

Belief bias / belief perseverance

Holding onto your beliefs even when evidence says they’re wrong.

Functional fixedness

Not seeing new uses for an object (thinking a brick is just for building).

Confirmation bias

Looking only for info that supports your beliefs.

Convergent thinking

Narrowing down options to find one right answer.

Divergent thinking

Thinking of many different solutions or ideas.

Availability heuristic

Judging things based on how easily you can think of examples.

George Sperling

Studied sensory (iconic) memory using flashing letters.

George Miller

Found that short-term memory holds about 7 items.

Alexander Luria

Studied memory and brain damage in people.

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Researched forgetting and the spacing effect (how we remember better over time).

Noam Chomsky

Said we are born with a language-learning ability (language acquisition device).

Elizabeth Loftus

Studied false memories and how they can be changed by suggestion.

Benjamin Whorf

Came up with the linguistic relativity hypothesis (language affects thought).

Wolfgang Köhler

Studied insight learning with chimps (like sudden '

Belief bias or belief perseverance

Holding onto beliefs even when there’s evidence against them.