2006PSY Final Exam

incidental learning

any learning that is unplanned/unintended. Develops whilst engaging in tasks/activity or as a by product of planned learning

intentional learning

deliberate, conscious purposeful learning where the learner intends to retain information

explicit learning

achieved with full conscious awareness

implicit learning

learning in the absence of conscious awareness

5 differences between explicit and implicit learning

robustness, age, low variability, IQ independence, commonality of process

shallow processing

little attention to meaning, focuses on physical features, poor memory

deep processing

close attention to meaning, semantic analysis, better memory

craik and tulving (1975)

recall 3 times better with deep processing than with shallow processing

declarative memory

episodic, semantic, autobiographical memory

non-declarative memory

procedural memory and other forms of implicit memory

procedural memory

memory for motor skills

episodic memory

memory of past events, open to errors and illusions

semantic memory

facts, general knowledge, language

retrograde amnesia

impaired memory for events occurring BEFORE brain injury

anterograde amnesia

impaired learning of new information, AFTER injury

proactive interference

old learning interferes with new learning

retroactive interference

new learning interferes with old learning

consolidation

establishing recently acquired information as a set of long term memories

reconsolidation

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

what is a concept?

unit of symbolic knowledge, provides understanding of the world, mental representation of a category

what is a category?

a class of similar things that share core or similarities

types of categories

natural, artefact, nominal, adhoc

3 criteria for features/approaches

cognitive economy, informativeness, coherence

cognitive economy definition

The tendency for cognitive processes to minimize processing effort and resources

informativeness definition

details are lost at more general levels, need to balance cognitive economy with informativeness

ferge (1952) 2 aspects of features

intension (attributes that define) and extension (members)

the prototype approach

an idealised representation of the category

typicality effect

the more features a member possesses, the more (proto)typical it is

high prototypicality

category member closely resembles category prototype

low prototypicality

category member does not closely resemble category prototype

exemplar approach

concept is represented by multiple examples (category members)

3 levels of generality

superordinate (most general), basic (intermediate level) and subordinate (specific)

assessing semantic relatedness

word association task, feature overlay, distance ratings

why do we use schemas?

to form expectations, prevent cognitive overload, assist with missing information and visual scene perception

what is an everyday memory?

things in the distant past, often have social meaning to it

autobiographical memory?

memory for one's own life experiences

flashbulb memory

vivid and detailed memory associated with a dramatic, highly emotional event

childhood amnesia definition

inability as adults to recall autobiographical information from early childhood

full amnesia

first 2 years of life

partial amnesia

remaining preschool years

reminiscence bump

The tendency of older people to recall a disproportionate number of autobiographical memories from the years of adolescence and early adulthood.

self memory system model: components

lifetime periods (ongoing situations), general events, and event specific knowledge

post-event misinformation effect

the distorting effect on eyewitness memory of misleading information provided after the crime or other event

OCD causes

poor prospective memory functioning, or about one's own memory confidence = meta-memory

what rate do we speak per minute?

150-200 per minute

syntactic priming

sentences uttered by speakers to reproduce the structure of a sentence they previously heard or read

word exchange errors

where two words are changed place in an utterance (e.g. the damp in here smells air)

sound exchange errors

where two sounds exchange places (e.g. don't bold hack)

why do we make speech errors?

Dell (1986) = to do with spreading activation

2 categories of speech errors

anticipatory and preservatory

realistic learning conditions

energetic masking (bottom up) and informational masking (top-down)

3 factors contributing to reading speed

individual differences, some texts easier to read, purpose can dictate speed

word frequency effect

words that we are more familiar with are processed/recognised faster

sentence parsing

understanding how the words are combined in a sentence (the grammatical structure)

3 features for problem solving

initial state (outset of problem)
goal state (goal)
obstacles (barriers)

well-defined problems

all of the problems are clearly specified, including the initial state, the goal state and the range of possible actions to meet the goal.

ill-defined problems

the initial state, goal state, and actions problems are not well-defined and are unclear, problems are underspecified

knowledge-rich problems

lots of background knowledge required to solve problem

knowledge-lean problems

information to solve the problem is contained in the initial problem statement

algorithm definition

set of guidelines that describe how to perform a task

heuristics

Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that often lead to a solution (but not always).

means-end analysis

a heuristic for solving problems based on creating a subgoal designed to reduce the difference between the current state of a problem and the end or goal state

hill climbing

A heuristic, problem-solving strategy in which each step moves you progressively closer to the final goal.

availability heuristic

making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind

analogical problem solving

solving a problem by finding a similar problem with a known solution and applying that solution to the current problem

moments of insight

where we have experienced some problem where solution seems impossible until "aha moment"

Insight vs. Non-insight

insight: solution pops into mind vs. non-insight: deliberate process using WM

deliberate practice: 4 elements

appropriate difficulty, feedback, adequate chances to repeat task, chance to correct errors

mental set

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

base rate information

general expected probability of an event or outcome

representativeness heuristic

used to categorise information based on how representative (typical) of the category it is

conjunction rule

the probability of the conjunction of two events cannot be larger than the probability of either of its constituent events

conjunction fallacy

probability of the conjunction is judged to be greater than probability of a constituent event

Fast and Frugal Heuristics

making decisions when we have little information

recognition heuristic

a strategy in which decision making stops as soon as a factor that moves one toward a decision has been recognized

dual-process model

A description of decision making that involves two processes, one rapid and intuitive (system 1) the other slow and deliberative, and rule governed (system 2)

prospect theory

people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains

framing effect

decisions influenced by aspects of the situation which are actually irrelevant to good decision making

sunk cost effect

the willingness to do something because of money or effort already spent

deductive reasoning

involves drawing conclusions that are valid (or invalid) provided that the other statements are true (2 types - conditional and syllogistic reasoning)

inductive reasoning

drawing reasoning from detailed facts to general principles

deductive reasoning vs. inductive reasoning

deductive: general - specific
inductive: specific - general

syllogistic reasoning

A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

belief bias

the tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid

conditional reasoning

a form of deductive reasoning in which an "if...then" statement is followed by a conclusion that is logically valid or invalid

informal reasoning

the process of evaluating a conclusion, theory, or course of action on the basis of the believability of evidence

2 theories of reasoning

mental models and heuristic-analytic theory

Mental model definition

represents the possible state of affairs or events in the world

heuristic-analytic theory

only one model is considered at a time, most relevant model is considered, if the current model is adequate after evaluation it is accepted