Unit 5 AP Psychology Review

Memory

Memory

The ability to retain and retrieve information over time

Stages of Memory

Encoding: Process of learning new information.

Storage: Maintaining that information for future use.

Retrieval: Accessing that information when needed.

Recall

Retrieving information not in conscious memory but learned previously (e.g., fill-in-the-blank questions).

Recognition

Identifying something previously learned (e.g., multiple-choice questions).

Relearning

Learning something quickly because it's not the first time (e.g., studying for AP Psychology).

Short-Term Memory (STM):

Temporarily stores information before actual storage or forgetting.

Sensory Memory

Immediate, brief recording of sensory information

Iconic Memory

Momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli.

Echoic Memory:

Momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli

Automatic Processing

Encoding that happens without effort.

Working Memory:

Newer concept of STM, involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

Permanent storage of information in a limitless storehouse.

Implicit Memory (Non-Declarative)

Skills and conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.

Explicit Memory (Declarative):

Facts and experiences one can consciously know and declare

Semantic Memory

General knowledge/facts (e.g., knowing a password).

Episodic Memory

Personal experiences (e.g., recalling a party scene).

Flashbulb Memory

Vivid, long-term recollection of emotionally significant events.

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units

Mnemonics

Memory aids using vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Peg Word System

Associating words with numbers.

Hierarchies

Dividing information into broad concepts and then subdividing.

Serial Position Effect

Primacy Effect: Better recall of first items in a list.

Recency Effect: Better recall of last items in a list.

Hippocampus

Loading dock where explicit memories are temporarily stored before migrating to other locations for consolidation.

Cerebellum

Involved in processing sensory input, movement coordination, and non-verbal learning/memory.

Important in forming and storing implicit memories via classical conditioning.

Basal Ganglia

Deep brain structure involved in forming procedural memories for skills.

Amygdala

Associated with emotion and stress hormones that enhance memory formation.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories.

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to recall past information.

Reasons for Forgetting

Encoding Failure: Information not encoded goes unremembered.

Storage Decay: Memory for new information fades quickly and then levels out.

Retrieval Failure: Significant events may defy retrieval despite being stored.

Proactive Interference

Old information interferes with new information.

Retroactive Interference

New information interferes with old information.

Elizabeth Loftus's Research

• Experiment: Two groups watched a video of a traffic accident.

  • Group 1 (Collided): Lower speed estimates.

  • Group 2 (Smashed): Higher speed estimates.

  • Those asked about "smashed" were more likely to report broken glass, even though there was none.

Cognition

Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing solutions to find the best one (e.g., SAT test).

Divergent Thinking

Expanding the range of solutions and using creative thinking

Algorithm

Logical step-by-step procedure guaranteeing a solution.

Heuristic

Simple thinking strategy that allows quick decision-making.

Availability Heuristic

Decisions based on emotional cues, familiar facts, and imagery.

Representativeness Heuristic

Likelihood of an event determined by comparing to an existing prototype (e.g., stereotyping).

Insight

Sudden realization (Aha moment).

Intuition

Knowledge already possessed.

General Intelligence (g Factor):

Predicts abilities in varied areas.

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory

Analytical, creative, and practical intelligence

Alfred Binet

Mental Age: Level of performance typically associated with a chronological age.

David Wechsler

WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale): Most widely used intelligence test.

Crystallized Intelligence

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills, increases with age

Fluid Intelligence

Ability to reason quickly and abstractly, declines with age.