AP Psych Memory Encoding and Intelligence

memory

archive of accumulated learning

3 steps of memory

encoding, storage and retrieval

three stage model of memory

encoding long term memories pathways (2)

Automatic and Effortful Processing

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding that does not require our awareness

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Implicit Memories (automatic pro.)

Learned skills or “classically conditioned associations”

Explicit Memories (effortful pro.)

Facts and experiences that we can consciously know and “declare”

4 branches off of implicit memories

space, time, frequency, procedural

Space

Memory of where things are

• Where a certain diagram is in a slide deck 

• Driving a familiar route home

Time

Memory of when things happened

• When you have psych class

• What you did during your day

Frequency

Memory of how often things happen

• Running into someone several times

• The number of red lights you get on the way to school

Procedural

Memory of Skills you have learned

• Riding a bike

• Using scissors

• Driving a car

4 branches off of explicit memories

Episodic, semantic, flashbulb, prospective

Episodic

Personally experienced events

• A family vacation

• What you had for dinner last night

Semantic

Facts and general knowledge

• Psych definitions

• How to solve a quadratic

• Lines in a play

Flashbulb

A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

• Prom 

• Death of a relative

Prospective

Memory to perform a planned action at some future point in time. 

• I need to buy sriracha sauce on the way home

• I need to submit my college application this weekend

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating of information to memorize it. 

This type of rehearsal is also called rote rehearsal - thinking about and repeating the information in your mind

Strategies for Encoding Info —> Long Term Memory

Mnemonic devices, chunking, categories, hierarchies, spacing effect

Elaborative Rehearsal

A technique to help the short-term memory store thoughts or ideas and pass them into the long-term memory.

Mnemonic devices

Memory aids that use patterns of letters, ideas or associations.

Acronymns

Acronyms: A word made from the first letters of a series of words

Rhyming

Auditory stimuli and acoustic encoding to help with memory.

Imagery

Creating a mental picture of what you're trying to remember.

Story method

Involves organizing items into an original story.

Loci method

Also known as the “memory palace” method, this strategy involves placing objects or digits on a familiar route or place.

Peg method

Involves pre-memorizing a list of words that can be associated with numbers by making visual associations:

Kinesthetic

Uses movement or touch to help with memory.

Chunking

Organizing items into manageable pieces.

Categories

Organizing items into manageable pieces through their associations

Hierarchies

A type of organizing information into logical levels of association.

Spacing Effect

The impact of retention related to the frequency of studying or practicing.

Massed Practice

Studying information or practicing a skill in a short time period.

Distributed Practice

Repeatedly studying information or practicing a skill over a period of time.

Three Levels of Processing Theory

Shallow, Intermediate, and Deep

Shallow Level

Structural- When we focus on the surface level features of verbal information. 

• Font

• Color

• Spelling

Intermediate Level

Phonemic- When we pay attention to the sounds of the item we are processing. 

• Words that rhyme

• Sound of the word

• Song lyrics

Deep Level

Semantic- When we process information by giving in meaning to it by associating it with emotion, ideas or previous knowledge.

• Relating a word to another word you already know

• Relating a word to a specific memory

Memory Consolidation

The neural storage of long term memories / skills.

Explicit Memory Storage

We do not store information in single, precise locations. Instead the brain’s connectivity retains information through the interconnected structures and neurons (mostly in the cortex). Storage of explicit information is formed by a network.

Implicit Memory Storage

The encoding of implicit memories is conducted by the basal ganglia and the cerebellum, but the storage only occurs in the cerebellum.

Long Term Potentiation

After repeated stimulation of a neuron, the neuron will increase…

• the amount of neurotransmitter released

• the number of postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptor sites.

• This allows for a long-term increase of a neuron’s firing potential.

• This is the biological basis for memory

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM)

Their brains have slightly enlarged and highly active areas that have to do with memory. Literally remember everything of each day episodically.

Memory Retrieval

Getting memories from long-term memory into working memory.

Memory Retrieval 2 major branches

Recall (no cues needed) and Recognition (uses cues)

Context Dependent Memory Cue

The tendency to recall information or experiences when you are in the same physical space.

State Dependent Memory Cue

The tendency to recall information or experiences when you are in the same physical or mental state as when it was encoded.

Mood Congruent Memory Cue

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s mood.

Serial Position

The tendency to remember information depending on the order it is given.

Primary effect

You tend to remember the information that is given first

Recency Effect

You tend to remember the information that is given last.

Priming

The activation of, often unconsciously,

of particular associations in memory.

Metacognition

The process of thinking about one's own thinking, or the awareness and control of one's thought processes. “Thinking about your own thinking”.

Testing Effect

Enhanced memory strategy after retrieving information, rather than simply rereading or reviewing information. Repeated self-testing increases retrieval ability

Interleaving

Retrieval practice strategy that involves the mixing the study of different topics.  Regularly switching between topics means that you have to continually retrieve information from your memory and you don’t get overwhelmed with one topic.

Forgetting/Other Memory Challenges

Forgetting due to Encoding Failure

Proactive Interface

The forward acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of NEW information. Difficulty of encoding new information due to the interference of old information.

Retroactive Interface

The backward acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of OLD information. Difficulty remembering information due to the disruption of new information.

Amnesia

• Temporary or permanent memory loss. 

• Can be partial or total loss.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to learn new information (cannot store long-term memories)

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to remember events from the past

Infantile Amnesia

The inability to remember anything from the first few months  or years of life. Linked to the development and maturation of the hippocampus.

Constructive Memory

When we build inaccurate memories

Reconsolidation

Process in which previously stored memories are retrieved and altered and then re-encoded.

Imagination Inflation

Repeatedly imagining an event increases

a person's confidence that it actually

happened. Creating a false memory by

imagining an event can make someone

believe they actually experienced it.

Misinformation Effect

When a memory is corrupted by misleading

information.

When exposed to incorrect

information, our brains may encode that

information as part of our own (episodic) memory.

Source Amnesia

Faulty memory for how, when or where information is learned or imagined.

Intelligence

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

6 intelligence theories

General IT (g), Fluid IT (Gf), Crystallized IT (Gc), CHC Theory, Multiple IT, Emotional IT (EQ)

General IT (g)

Humans have a general intelligence, made up of specific factors, that underlies all mental abilities.

• Verbal ability

• Vocabulary

• Visual-spatial processing

• Quantitative reasoning

• Knowledge

• Working memory

• Comprehension 

Fluid IT (Gf)

Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly.

Ex. Ability to solve logic problems.

Crystallized IT (Gc)

Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills.

This increases throughout development.

CHC Theory

A combination of the previous theories: There is a general intelligence that is supported by fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence.

Multiple IT

Sternberg’s 3 ITs and Gardner’s MT

Sternberg’s 3 Is (Triarchic Theory)

• Analytic intelligence: Problem solving requiring convergent thinking

• Creative intelligence: Ability to adapt to new situations / generate novel ideas (divergent thinking)

• Practical intelligence: navigating everyday tasks / situations that are not easy or have multiple solutions. 

Ex. A salesperson assessing a customer's needs and tailoring their pitch accordingly to close a deal .

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

• Verbal-Linguistic

• Interpersonal

• Intrapersonal

• Logical-Mathematical

• Spatial

• Bodily - Kinesthetic

• Naturalistic

• Musical

Emotional IT

Social and self awareness

Social Awareness

Understanding and responding to social situations and the emotions of others.

Self Awareness

Being able to understand and manage your own emotions

Key Abilities in Emotional Intelligence

Perceiving, understanding, and managing emotions

Perceiving emotions

Recognizing emotions on faces, in music, in art, stories, identifying your own emotions

Understanding emotions

Being able to predict emotions and how they may change or even blend.

Managing emotions

Knowing how to express emotions in varied situations and how to handle others’ emotions

Standardized

the test has required procedures and testing environment.

Test Validity

The test actually measures what it is

designed to measure

Content Validity

to what extent the test is comprehensive in asking questions about the behavior or skill.

Construct Validity

to what extent the test asks the right questions to determine a specific concept or trait

Predictive Validity

to what extent the test predicts the behavior or trait it is intended to measure.

Test Reliability

the test yields similar results each time it is

 administered.

Test-retest reliability

 taking the test or alternates of the

test result in similar scores.

Split-half reliability

Scores on one-half the of the test

produce similar results as the other half.

anti-bias

the test is developed to prevent socio-cultural bias

Stereotype threat

a self-confirming concept that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

IQ

(mental age/ chronological age) x 100

Flynn Effect

IQ scores have increased over time due to societal factors including better access to healthcare, nutrition, and socioeconomic status. Scores can be negatively influenced by poverty, discrimination and educational inequities.

Acheivement test

 test that reflects what you have learned.

Aptitude test

test that demonstrates how you will perform in the future

attitude vs academic achievement

Academic achievement can be influenced by motivation and mindset.

Fixed mindset

The view that intelligence, abilities and talents and unchangeable, even with effort