ap psych - cognitive psychology

memory

memory

the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

recall

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test

recognition

a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test

relearning

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

encoding

the process of getting information into the memory system— for example, by extracting meaning

storage

the process of retaining encoded information over time

retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

parallel processing

processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions

sensory memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly (ex. digits of a phone number while calling, before the information is stored or forgotten)

long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences

working memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory

explicit memory/declarative memory

retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"

effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

implicit memory/nondeclarative memory

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection

iconic memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

echoic memory

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

mnemonics

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

spacing effect

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

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information (sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning)

shallow processing

encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words

deep processing

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

semantic memory

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems

episodic memory

explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems

hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process for storage explicit (conscious) memories of facts and events

memory consolidation

the neural storage of a long-term memory

flashbulb memory

a clear, sustained memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

long-term potentiation (LTP)

an increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

encoding specificity principle

the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.

mood-congruent memory

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood

serial position effect

our tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and first (primacy effect) items in a list

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories

retrograde amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past

proactive interference

disruption of older learning on the recall of new information

retroactive interference

disruption of newer learning on the recall of old information

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

reconsolidation

a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

misinformation effect

occurs when misleading information has distorted one's memory of an event

source amnesia

faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned

déjà vu

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before."; cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

prototype

a mental image or best example of a category; matching new items provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories

creativity

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

convergent thinking

narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

divergent thinking

expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions

algorithm

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem (usually less error-prone + takes longer)

heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently (usually speedier but also more error-prone)

insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

fixation

(1) in cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving. (2) in personality theory, according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

mental set

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

intuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

representativeness heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

belief perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is worded can significantly affect decisions and judgments

language

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

phoneme

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (ex. a prefix)

grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

babbling stage

beginning around 4 months, the stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

one-word stage

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

two-word stage

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements

telegraphic speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs

aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding)

Broca's area

helps control language expression—an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

Wernicke's area

a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

linguistic determinism

the strong form of Whorf's hypothesis—that language controls the way we think and interpret the world around us

linguistic influence

the weaker form of "linguistic relativity"—the idea that language affects thought (thus our thinking and world view is "relative to" our cultural language)

amygdala

a limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression (emotionally significant events)

basal ganglia

structures in the forebrain that help to control movement (motor skills)

frontal lobe (prefrontal cortex)

part of brain associated with explicit memory

intelligence

the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

general intelligence (g)

according to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score

savant syndrome

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing

emotional intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

intelligence test

a method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

achievement test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned

aptitude test

a test designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

mental age

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age

Stanford-Binet test

the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet's original intelligence test

intelligence quotient (IQ)

defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ = ma/ca × 100)

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

the WAIS and its companion versions for children are the most widely used intelligence tests; they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests

standardization

defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

normal curve (normal distribution)

a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (about 68 percent fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes

reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting

validity

the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to

content validity

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

predictive validity

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior

cohort

a group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as from a given time period

crystallized intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

fluid intelligence

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood

cross-sectional study

research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time

longitudinal study

research that follows and retests the same people over time