ap psych cognition

memory

the persistence of learning over time through storage and retrieval of information.

encoding

the processing of information into the memory system.

storage

the retention of encoded information over time.

retrieval

the process of getting formation out of memory.

parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously.

sensory memory

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

short-term memory/working memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as seven digits of a phone number while dialing.

long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system that includes knowledge, skills, and experience.

working memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information.

explicit memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare."; brought up in effortful processing

effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort; pulling declarative memory from long term.

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of the incidental information from long term memory, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information.

implicit memory

retention independent of conscious recollection; brought up in automatic processing

iconic memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more that 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 for about 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.

massed practice

craming info

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply reading, information. Also 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.

hippocampus

a neural center that is located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage.

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

long-term potentiation

an increase in a synapses' firing efficiency after repeated stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

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 need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple choice test.

relearning

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when leaning material for a second time.

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception; the reason why retrieval cues work

mood-congruent memory

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

state congruent memory

being able to retrieve memories you had in one state by being in that same state again

serial position effect

our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

recency effect

remembering last items in a list in the short term

primacy effect

remembering first items in a list in the long term

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories.

retrograde amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past.

proactive interference

the disruptive effect of old information on new information.

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new information on old information.

repression

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

misinformation effect

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.

source amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined.

deja vu

the eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from current situation may subconsciously 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 to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories.

exemplar

like a prototype experience

artificial intelligence

a rare, almost unattainable prototype comes from this

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.

divergent thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions).

top down processing

type of informal reasoning; already having the gist of a situation before having all of the details

bottom up processing

type of formal reasoning; gathering as many bits of data as possible before coming up with a solution

algorithm

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

heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently.

insight

a sudden and novel realization of the solution to a problem.

confirmation bias

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

anchoring bias

a powerful or emotional thought weighs down the rest of the mind (ie. moms don’t like tiktok)

sunk cost fallacy

feeling that abandoning a task will have greater consequences than not because you have already put so much time into it

mental set

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

mental model

a typical way of thinking about how things will interact

intuition

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

representative heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes.

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory.

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 framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

language

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

phoneme

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

morpheme

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

grammar

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

babbling stage

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

one-word stage

the stage in speech development, from about, 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 two-word statements.

telegraphic speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram 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

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

Wernicke's area

controls language reception—a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.

linguistic determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language predetermines the way we think

emotional memory

affected by limbic system, hippocampus, and amygdala

fluid intelligence

ability for the brain to process new information; gets worse as we get older

crystallized intelligence

ability for the brain to apply already learned info to new situations; gets better as we age

stereotype threat

members of a community thought to be less than will perform as less than members of a different group

Francis Galton

eugenicist; was the first one to quantify intelligence

Alfred Binet

came up with a test to classify mental abilities; helped the french school children oui oui baguette and developed mental age

Louis Terman

took Binet test and made it applicable to Americans, became known as the Stanford Binet test

which tests fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory

was also a eugenicist

Weshler Tests

Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale: tests young adults based on their verbal comprehension, working memory, perceptual organization, and processing speed

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Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children: tests verbal comprehension, block design, visual puzzles, digit and picture span, and processing speed

David Weschler

didn’t use an aged based system; realized intelligence was more than verbal skills that other tests measured

Howard Gardner

believed in multiple intelligences

proprioception

kinesthetic intelligence; ability to know how your body is moving

Charles Spearman

believed in one general intelligence and used factor analysis to group intelligence into one thing

Robert Sternberg

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence; intelligence exists in how a person interacts with the environment around them

practical: how well a person can function

experiental: how well a person handles a new situation

analytical: how well a person can find the answer

test reliability:

consistency of a test as a means of measurement

split half reliability

randomly dividing a test into two different sections and then correlating people’s performances on the two halves.

equivalent form reliability

the correlation between performance on several equivalent forms of the test

test-retest reliability

the correlation between a person’s score on one administration of the test with the same person’s score on the next administration

validity

the accuracy of the test

face validity

superficial measure of accuracy; type of content validity

content validity

how well a measure reflects the entire range of material it is supposed to be testing

criterion-related validity

concurrent validity: measures how much of a characteristic a person has now

predictive validity: the measure of future performance

construct validity

the ability to be able to compare the performance of people on this test with their performance on any other measure