Unit 4 - Memory and Cognition

Algorithms

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

Alzheimer’s Disease

a progressive neurocognitive disorder that causes brain cells to degenerate and die; occurs in older people and causes them to forget

Anterograde Amnesia

the inability to learn or retain new information after an incident

Assimilation

individuals incorporate new information into existing cognitive schemas, perceptions, and understanding

Autobiographical Memory

the process of remembering personal experiences or events from our own lives

Automatic Processing

the unconscious encoding of information about space, time, frequency, and well-learned information

Availability Heuristic

a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method. etc

Categories (as they pertain to grouping)

groups or classes that share similar characteristics

Central Executive

responsible for controlling attention, coordinating resources between different components of working memory, and integrating new information with long-term memory

Cerebellum

where implicit memories are processed; damage to this harms conditioned reflexes

Chunking

the process of grouping information to be stored or processed as single concepts

Constructive Memory

the idea that our memories are not simply recordings of past events, but are actively constructed by the brain during retrieval

Context Effect

how the context (or environment) in which something is experienced can impact perception and recall of the event or information

Context-Dependent Memory

a theory that suggests that information is optimally remembered when it is recalled in the same place in which it was initially learned

Convergent Thinking

a problem-solving strategy that involves finding a single, correct answer to a problem

Creativity

the ability to produce new, diverse, and original ideas that are also valuable or solve a problem

Deep Encoding

thinking about a word’s meaning allows for deeper processing and best memory

Distributed Practice

a learning strategy that involves dividing study sessions over multiple, spaced-out time periods; spaced repetition

Divergent Thinking

a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions

Echoic Memory

auditory memory; lasts a few seconds

Effortful Processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort; rehearsal helps with this

Elaborative Rehearsal

any form of rehearsal in which the information is related to other information

Elizabeth Loftus

reported participants’ ability to recall correctly depending on how the question was asked (how fast were the cars going when they “hit” vs “smashed” into each other?)

Encoding

how information gets into the memory; forming a memory code

Encoding Failure

the inability to effectively store or retrieve information in long-term memory due to a failure in the initial encoding process

Episodic Memory

personally experienced events

Executive Functions

the higher cognitive functions that allow a person to plan, set goals, focus attention, and control impulsive behavior

Explicit Memory

conscious and effortful recall; declaratives; processed in hippocampus

Eyewitness Testimony

an account given by someone who observed an event, often used as evidence in legal proceedings

False Memories

imagining non-existent events can create these because imagining and perceiving activate similar areas of the brain; can be planted

Flashbulb Memories

personal memories of learning shocking or upsetting news which can be recalled with considerable clarity

Forgetting Curve

a graph that represents how memory decreases over time when there is no attempt to retain or retrieve the information

Framing

the way an issue is presented or "framed", which can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Functional Fixedness

a cognitive bias that limits a person's ability to use an object only in the way it is traditionally used

Gambler’s Fallacy

the mistaken belief that past independent events can influence the outcome of future independent events in random processes

Heuristics

mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that often involve focusing on one aspect of a complex problem and ignoring others

Hierarchies

systems where individuals or concepts are ranked one above another based on specific criteria

Hippocampus

where explicit memory is processed; feeds memories to other brain areas for storage

Iconic Memory

visual memory; lasts less than a second

Imagination Inflation

the phenomenon where imagining an event can make someone more likely to believe that event actually occurred

Implicit Memory

unconscious, automatic, procedural, skills created by classical conditioning; non-declarative; processed in cerebellum

Infantile Amnesia

the inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories before the age of 2–4 years, as well as the period before age 10

Intermediate Processing

attending to how the words sound result in shallow remembering

Levels of Processing Model

a theory that suggests how deeply information is processed during encoding significantly impacts how well it is remembered

Long-Term Memory

limited capacity, but not as accurate as sensory memory or short-term memories; organizes and stores info; duration thought to be permanent

Long-Term Potentiation

a persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity

Maintenance Rehearsal

the process of repeatedly thinking about or saying information to keep it in short-term memory

Massed Practice

intense memorization done within a short period without any significant breaks; cramming

Memory Consolidation

the process by which short-term memories are transformed into long-term memories during sleep or rest periods

Memory Retention

the ability to store and recall previously learned information or experiences

Mental Set

our tendency to approach situations in certain ways because that method worked in the past

Metacognition

involves thinking about how you think; it's awareness and understanding of your own thought processes

Method of Loci

a mnemonic technique where a person visualizes placing information they want to remember at specific locations within a familiar place to aid recall by mentally "walking through" those locations

Misinformation Effect

false memories we create due to misinformation we receive after an event has occurred

Mnemonic Devices

a technique used to enhance memory and recall involving creating associations between hard-to-remember information and easy-to-remember information

Mood-Congruent Memory

an individual's ability to recall memories that match their current mood more easily

Multi-Store Model

a cognitive model of memory that describes how information is processed and stored in the mind through our sensory, short-term, and long-term memories

Phonological Loop

briefly holds auditory info

Primacy Effect

a cognitive bias that results in better recall of information presented at the beginning of a list or sequence

Priming

exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention

Proactive Interference (Forward Acting)

disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information; old information blocking new information

Procedural Memory

motor and cognitive skills

Prospective Memory

the ability to remember to perform a task in the future

Prototypes

a mental image or best example of a category

Recall

bringing to mind something that was previously seen or experienced; ex: answering an SAQ

Recency Effect

a cognitive bias that results in better recall of information presented at the end of a list or sequence

Recognition

a type of memory retrieval in which one must identify present information as having been previously presented; ex: answering an MCQ

Rehearsal

the process of repeatedly practicing material so that it can be remembered

Relearning

the process of learning information that was previously learned

Representativeness Heuristic

a mental shortcut used when making judgments about the probability of an event under uncertainty

Repression

a psychological defense mechanism where an individual unconsciously pushes away thoughts, feelings, or memories that cause discomfort or distress

Retrieval

recovering information from memory stores

Retrieval Cues

stimuli that help you retrieve a certain memory or piece of information from your long-term memory

Retroactive Interference (Backward Acting)

disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information; new information blocking old information

Retrograde Amnesia

the inability to remember past information from before an incident

Schema

a mental framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information

Semantic Memory

facts and general knowledge

Sensory Memory

immediate recording of sensory information; fleeting memory

Serial Position Effect

the psychological tendency to remember the first and last items in a list or sequence better than those in the middle

Shallow Encoding

attending to how the word looks; yields the lowest remembering

Short-Term Memory (“Working Memory”)

short term memory; we can recall 5-9 things from it

Source Amnesia

an individual's inability to remember how, when, or where knowledge was acquired while retaining factual knowledge itself

Source Confusion

retaining the memory of the event, but not its context

Source Memory

knowing when, where, and how information was acquired

Spacing Effect

a psychological phenomenon that states that learning is greater when studying is spread out over time

State-Dependent Memory

the phenomenon where people recall information better when they are in the same physiological or psychological state

Storage

retaining memory over time

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

the tendency for people to continue investing time, money, or effort into something simply because they have already invested in it, even when continuing would not be beneficial; ex: gambling

Testing Effect

an enhancement in the long-term retention of information as a result of taking a practice test

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

memory is available but not quite retrievable; not a complete memory

Visuospatial Sketchpad

briefly holds info about appearance or location

Working Memory Model

a theoretical framework that explains how the working memory system functions and consists of the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the central executive