PSYC Exam 3

encoding

process of transforming what we perceive, feel, think into an enduring memory

storing

process of maintaining information in memory over time

retrieving

process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded

neural code of STM

dynamic pattern of activity among a group of cells

neural code of LTM

structural pattern of connections within a group of cells

trace consolidation

making a short term memory into a long term memory-going from dynamic pattern to structural pattern, elaborative rehearsal helps with putting the info into structural pattern

increasing consolidation

sleep, recalling the info, speaking about the info, and practicing info

amnesia

trace consolidation is being interrupted

retrograde amnesia

forgetting information before the event

anterograde amnesia

forgetting information after the event

forgetting info in STM

displacement or decay

displacement

cannot hold a lot of info in STM, so something is bumped out

decay

information fades if it’s not rehearsed

forgetting info in LTM

misplacement of retrieval failure

misplacement

information is still in the brain, but not accessible

retrieval failure

not able to come up with the long term memory

proactive interference

old info gets in the way of remembering the new info

retroactive interference

new info gets in the way of remembering the old info

working memory

“Workbench” the info that you are working on in that moment and constantly constructing meaning and thinking on. Limits on processing info.

elaborative encoding

putting meaning and deeper connections to the info in order to remember it

elaborative rehearsal experiment

Subjects were shown a list of words.

Visual (looking at the words) led to shallow processing

Acoustic (thinking about how the words sound) led to intermediate processing

Semantic (thinking about the words’ meanings/synonyms) led to deep processing

Findings: deeper processing = remembering the list of words more, can recall the words better

explicit memory

refers to prior learning experience you are conscious of, what you think of when you think of memory. Recall and recognition

implicit

information you’re not conscious of remembering

priming

exposure to one stimulus influences the response to another stimulus, often without conscious guidance

declarative memory

explicit: knowing info consciously and being able to say it

generic/semantic memory

form of declarative memory in which you remember info in the form of facts and general knowledge

episodic memory

form of declarative memory in which you remember info about a certain event/episode

procedural memory

form of implicit memory in which you remember how to do something

Patient HM

a famous case study in psychology who suffered from anterograde amnesia after undergoing surgery to treat epilepsy that damaged his hippocampus, affecting his ability to form new declarative memories. Still able to make new implicit/procedural memories

encoding specificity principle

the idea that memory retrieval is most effective when the retrieval conditions match the encoding conditions

Loftus and Palmer experiment

Groups were shown an image of a car accident. One group was asked about how fast the cars were going when they “smashed” into each other, the other “hit.” The group that was asked about the “smash” falsely recalled there being broken glass in the images, while the other was less likely to.

Findings: memory can be reconstructed and may be distorted by other information

sensation

basic, primitive mental state corresponding to energies in the environment. Experience of the world through the senses, such as sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.

perception

mental state corresponding to properties of objects and events in environment. Knowledge of the world

doctrine of specific nerve energies

quality of sensation (visual, auditory, touch) depend on which nerve fibers are stimulated, any sensory experience has a corresponding set of nerve fibers

light

electromagnetic radiation

brightness

intensity of color

wavelenghs

we see wavelengths and our brains create the colors. Easily reflected, evolved to use them to see.

short wavelength

blue

medium wavelength

green

long wavelength

red

rods

photoreceptors that function in low light conditions (night); black and white

cones

photoreceptors that function in bright light conditions (day); color vision. 3 types corresponding to short, medium, long wavelengths

order of light entering the brain

retina-photoreceptors-bipolar cells-ganglion cells-opponent process cells in the visual system

opponent process theory

a theory that explains how we perceive color through opposing pairs of colors (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white), suggesting that the stimulation of one color inhibits the perception of the opposing color

afterimages

seeing the opposing color after staring at an image for too long

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

all colors will be a mixture of blue, green, red based on response of those cone types

retina

consists of photoreceptors, bipolar+ganglion cells. Rods in the periphery (120 million). Cones in the center/fovea (6 million).

optic nerve

nerve fibers that send visual info to brain. Creates a blind spot b/c there are no photoreceptor cells here.

Fovea

indentation at center of retina where cones are most prevalent, most visual acuity/clearest vision.

how signals travel in retina

rods/cones to bipolar cells to ganglion cells to ganglion cells’ axons/optic nerve to brain

lateral inhibition

neighboring receptor cells tend to inhibit each other, leading to an exaggeration of contrasts

neurons act as a feature detector

respond to specific lines/shapes/details in the cortex (experiment on a cat’s cortex)

distal stimulus

the object in the environment that we want to perceive

proximal stimulus

the retinal image made from reflected sunlight

poverty of the stimulus

retinal image (proximal) is inadequate for knowing about the object (distal)—perception happens in the brain, not the eye

inadequacies of retinal image

inverted (upside down and backwards), ambiguous, 2D

depth perception

need 2 eyes to uncover depth information, comes from binocular disparity (difference in the two retinal images)

empiricist view of depth perception

we learn to perceive depth—retinal image, cues, knowledge learned from experience

linear perspective

monocular depth cue in which we learn that lines converge at the far point

interposition

monocular depth cue in which one object obscures another, indicating that the obscured object is farther away.

relative size

monocular depth cue in which a nearer object will cast a larger retinal image than a farther away object (even if they’re the same size)

unconscious interference

theory suggesting that our perception of depth involves assumptions about distances based on past experiences.

Gestalt Psychology

nativist view that you’re born w/the ability to put together a percept. You see the object and it is put onto your retina, you add the retinal image + innate laws of organization.

grouping by proximity

principle of perceptual organization in which objects that are close together are perceived as belonging to a group or unit

grouping by similarity

principle of perceptual organization in which objects that are similar in appearance are perceived as belonging to the same group or unit

good continuation

principle of perceptual organization in which we perceive lines or patterns as following the smoothest path, rather than abruptly changing direction.

closure

principle of perceptual organization in which we perceive incomplete figures as complete by filling in gaps.

apparent motion

stimulus present in two locations within short time intervals is seen as one moving stimulus, despite there being no sensations of movement

Gestalt Program

1. perception is always in the direction of the simplest, most economical configuration

2. the WHOLE is different from the sum of the parts - perception of form is different from the collection of sensations that make it up