Cognitive Psych 2

Primacy effect

Better memory for early items because they are rehearsed more and encoded into long-term memory

Recency effect

Better memory for last items because they are still in short-term memory (only if recall is immediate)

Episodic memory

Memory involving mental time travel and reliving personal events

Semantic memory

Memory for facts and knowledge without mental time travel

Procedural memory

Implicit memory for skills and actions developed through practice (e.g., tying shoes)

Semanticization of memory

Episodic memories lose context over time and become general semantic facts

HM vs KF double dissociation

HM had impaired long-term but intact short-term memory; KF had impaired short-term but intact long-term memory

Explicit memory

Conscious, effortful memory (episodic and semantic)

Implicit memory

Unconscious memory (procedural, priming, conditioning)

Priming

Exposure to one stimulus influences response to another

Conditioning

Learning associations (classical and operant)

Habituation

Decreased response to repeated stimulus

Sensitization

Increased response to repeated stimulus

KC vs LP double dissociation

KC had impaired episodic but intact semantic; LP had impaired semantic but intact episodic

Shallow processing

Encoding based on surface features (e.g., letter case, word length)

Deep processing

Encoding based on meaning and connections (e.g., relevance, survival value)

Encoding strategies

Deep processing, survival relevance, dual coding, personal relevance, retrieval practice, spacing effect, generation, organization

Illusion of learning

Feeling of learning due to familiarity from rereading, not actual understanding

Spacing effect

Studying over spaced intervals improves memory more than cramming

Retrieval cues

Stimuli that help access stored memories

Context-dependent learning

Better recall when encoding and retrieval environments match

State-dependent learning

Better recall when internal states (mood, etc.) match

Transfer-appropriate processing

Memory improves when encoding and retrieval involve similar cognitive processes

Ways to facilitate retrieval

Use retrieval cues; match encoding and retrieval conditions; match cognitive processes (transfer-appropriate processing)

Retrograde amnesia

Loss of memories before trauma

Anterograde amnesia

Inability to form new memories after trauma

Memory fragility

Memories are fragile during initial encoding and when retrieved (before reconsolidation)

Constructed memory

Memories are actively reconstructed using experience, knowledge, and expectations

Reminiscence bump

People recall more memories from adolescence and early adulthood (~ages 10–30), likely due to identity formation and novel experiences

Flashbulb memory

Vivid memory of how you learned about an emotional event

Flashbulb vs everyday memory

Both decline in accuracy similarly, but flashbulb memories feel more vivid and confident

False memory tasks

Semantically related word lists can cause recall of non-presented related words

Schemas

Organized knowledge structures about the world based on experience.

Object schema

(tiger) Orange fur, black stripes, sharp teeth, claws, carnivorous, strong, fast, jungle habitat

Scene schema

(post office) Mailboxes, counters, workers, stamps, packages, lines, shipping supplies

Event schema

(restaurant) Get seated, receive menu, order food, eat, pay bill, leave

Social event schema

(elevator) Stand quietly, face forward, minimal talking, respect personal space

Role schema

(doctor) Knowledgeable, professional, wears coat, diagnoses illness, prescribes treatment, helps patients

Scripts

Schemas for typical sequences of events (e.g., going to a restaurant)

⚠️ Types of schemas

Mandela effect causes

Schemas, pragmatic inference, and source misattribution

Eyewitness error

Suggestive questioning and feedback can distort memory and increase confidence

Cryptomnesia

Unconscious plagiarism due to source memory failure

Concept hierarchy levels

Global (general), basic (common), subordinate (specific)

Basic-level category

Most natural and commonly used category (e.g., “chair”)

Definitional approach problem

Categories don’t have strict defining features shared by all members

Family resemblance

Category members share overlapping similarities but no single defining feature

Exemplar

Memory of specific examples of a category

Prototype

Ideal or average representation of a category

Prototypicality effect

How quickly you recognize something as belonging to a category.