Unit 4 AP Psych Cognition

cognition

mental activities → thinking, knowing, remembering

metacognition

thinking about thinking

trying to understand how you think and plan

concepts

mental grouping of similar objects, events, or ideas

simplify our thinking 

prototype 

mental representation/image of our best example of a category

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas 

convergent thinking

requires the ability to produce a single correct answer to a problem

divergent thinking

thinking outside the box, requires creativity

expanding the number of possible problem solutions

schema 

concept/framework that organizes and interprets information

based on past experiences 

assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

accommodation

adapting our current schemas to incorporate new information

algorithms 

step by step procedure that guarantees a solution

heuristics

simple thinking strategy/mental shortcut that allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently

insight

sudden realization of a problem’s solution

mental set 

we tend to approach a problem in a particular way… one that has worked in the past 

representative heuristic

to judge the likelihood of something we compare it to our prototype

mental representation of a category

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of an event based on their availability in memory if an instance comes to mind

whatever comes to our mind first, we think is common

framing 

the way a question or statement is worded 

memory

the ability to store and retrieve information

retention and use of prior learning

learning that persists over time

recall

retrieve information learned earlier

ex: fill in the blank

recognition 

identifying an item previously learned

ex: multiple choice 

Atkinson and Shiffrin 3 Stage Model

gathering of information and organizing it into mental schema to send to memory

1. sensory memory

2. short term memory

3. long term memory

Kandel and Schwartz

studied synaptic changes during learning and memory formation

researched on sea slugs → when slugs learning they released serotonin

long term potentiation (LTP)

when learning/forming memories, we have an increase in the efficiency of nerve firing

biological basis for learning something 

encoding

first step of memory

getting information into our brain

effortful processing

requires attention and conscious effort

EXPLICIT MEMORIES

automatic processing

incidental info you record for no real reason, happens without our awareness 

IMPLICIT MEMORIES 

Ebbinghaus

study of memory

said that learning meaningful material is easier than nonsense

amount remembered depends on time spent learning

sensory memory

information coming in through our senses

the more senses you use, better to remember

semantic encoding

attaching a meaning 

acoustic encoding

echoic memory

hearing it

visual encoding

iconic memory

seeing it

selective attention 

what we zoom in on 

what we choose to focus on 

short term memory

your conscious memory (15 sec - 1 hour)

sensory sends here as “of possible interest”

must be rehearsed to get to long term memory

chunking

organizing material into familiar, meaningful units can help short term memory

mnemonics 

memory aids, techniques to help organize info

long term memory

relatively permanent memory that is practically unlimited in capacity

short term may pass to long term

Tulving

Canadian psychologist stated there are 3 types of long term memory (now there is five)

aka memory lanes

procedural long term memory

how to information

semantic long term memory

general knowledge of the world

episodic long term memory

personal life experiences

automatic long term memory

implicit memories you don’t have to think about 

emotional long tern memory

flashbulb memories

spacing effect

tendency for distributed study/practice to yield better long term retention

testing effect 

self testing is better than simply re-reading material 

explicit memory center

frontal lobe and hippocampus

hippocampus

the “save” button for memories

damage can disrupt recall of explicit memories

memories are not permanently stored here, loading dock then moved elsewhere

implicit memory system

cerebellum and basal ganglia