memories, sensation, and perception

metacognition

active control and awareness of one's own thinking processes

concepts

mental groupings of similar objects, events, people, ideas, or people

schemas

mental representation of a set of connected ideas

prototype

the perfect mental image for a specific category

assimilation

making sense of new situations by relating them to prior experiences, adding to a schema

acomodation

changing a schema to take in new information, adjusting

executive functions

cognitive functions that help us manage and coordinate our thoughts/actions and goal directed behavior

algorithms

step by step instructions to solve a problem/perform a task

heuristics

rules of thumb, making judgments an solving problems efficiently

representative heuristic

a mental shortcut to classify something according to how similar it is to one's prototype

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory, the information that comes to mind

mental set

tendency to approach decision making a particular way because of past experiences

priming

exposition to certain stimuli that unconsciously influences behaviors and actions

framing/wording effect

bias that occurs when the way information is worded/presented influences how someone perceives it/make decisions on it

gambler's fallacy

belief that outcomes of random events are influenced by previous outcomes

sunk cost fallacy

continuing to invest resources because significant amount of resources were already invested, can prove to bean irrational decision

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas in math, art, design, music

divergent thinking

creative thinking that expands solutions in many directions

convergent thinking

logical thinking that determines only one possible solution, limits creativity

functional fixedness

inability to find alternative uses for an item, fixation on common use/function

memory

information that can be retrieved, stored, and recalled

automatic processing

processing of well learned activities without our awareness

effortful processing

encoding the requires attention and conscious effort

explicit memory

knowledge of personal experiences/facts consciously brought to mind

episodic memory

recalling personal stories and events of one's life

semantic memory

impersonal memories drawn from common, general knowledge

implicit memory

memories we retain without conscious effort

procedural memory

how to do something, learned skill based activities

prospective memory

'memory of the future' recalling to do something in the future

long term potentiation

strengthening of synapses that can be improved by practicce

short term memory

small amounts of information for temporary use, can be discarded or transferred to LTM

working memory

holds small amounts of information, used to manage, manipulate, and act on information

working memory model

explains how short term memory functions

central executive functions

coordinates cognitive processes of subsystems, doesn't store information

phonological loop

auditory and verbal information, temporarily 'holding on to' sounds

visuospatial sketchpad

spatial and visual information and mental imagery like navigation

episodic buffer

temporary storage system, combines all subsystem information into one single representation

sensory memory

the immediate and brief recording of sensory information

iconic memory

fleeting visual images

echoic memory

fleeting auditory signals

shallow processing

superficial processing, minimal attention and engagement, based on appearance

structural processing

focusing on physical structure of information

phonemic processing

focusing on the auditory aspects of information

semantic processing

focusing on the meaning of information

deep processing

focusing on the meaning and connections of information to existing knowledge

encoding

the way information is transformed and placed in memory

mnemonic devices

patterns, rhymes, acronyms

method of loci

relating information to locations/positions

chunking

organizing information into meaningful chunks

distributed practice

recalling and retaining over multiple spaced intervals

massed practice

'cramming' practicing intensively over a short period of time

serial position effect

tendency to recall information placed first and last

recency effect

tendency to recall most recent information (last)

primacy information

tendency to remember the first pieces of information

maintenance rehearsal

repeatedly reviewing information to keep in short term memory

elaborative rehearsal

deep processing of information by adding meaning and connections

autobiographical memory

the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life, combines semantic and episodic memory

amnesia

partial or complete loss of memory

retrograde

forgetting events that occurred before an injury or traumatic event

anterograde

damage to hippocampus causes inability to create long term memories, living in the present

infantile amnesia

inability to recall events from infancy and early childhood

Alzheimer's disease

degenerative disease where memory loss is progressive, generally after the age of 65

retrievel cues

stimuli that helps bring previously learned information to mind

recall

accessing information without the aid of cues

recognition

identifying information when it's presented, familiarity

state dependent memory

information learned in a particular state of mind is more easily recalled when in that same state of mind

mood congruent memory

recall of memories is efficient when in the same mood

context dependent memory

recall is better in the same environment where you learned the information

testing effect

long term memory is enhanced when learning period is devoted to retrieving information through testing techniques

forgetting curve

Hermann Ebbinghaus proposed the idea of exponential loss of information over time

encoding failure

memory was never formed in the first place from inadequate processing

proactive interference

older memories inhibit the recall of new information

retroactive interference

new memories impair the retrieval of older memories

tip of the tongue phenomenon

feeling that a memory is available but not retrievable when trying to recall a word

motivated forgetting/repression

pushing painful/traumatic memories out of alertness unconsciously

constructive memory

memories are constantly being modified, it is hard to recall a full detailed memory

reconsolidation

newly formed memories are integrated into LTM

imagination inflation

repeated imagination of an event can lead to increased confidence even if it never actually happened

source amnesia

not being able to recall the source of a information

intelligence

one's ability to solve novel problems or be nimble in the face of an obstacle

Multiple intelligence theory

Howard Gardner proposed many there are many intelligences that are independent but combine to make a person's mental abilities

triarchic theory of intelligence

robert sternberg proposes there are only 3 broad categories to intelligence

IQ (intelligence quotient)

measure of one's mental abilities (mental age/chronological age x 100)

standardization

all factors during test taking are equal for test takers

construct validity

assessment is based on a range of theoretical concepts underlying a subject

predictive validity

assessment forecasts future performance/success

test retest reliability

degree to which an assessment yields similar results individually when taken

split half reliability

degree to which two halves of a test are equal in difficulty

stereotype threat

phenomenon where a member of a negatively stereotyped group is likely to fulfill the expectation if believed

stereotype lift

phenomenon where a member of a positively stereotyped group is likely to fulfill the expectation if believed

flynn effect

James Flynn believes people are getting smarter quantitatively

fixed mindset

belief intelligence is fixed from birth like eye color

growth mindset

belief intelligence can grow and can be malleable from experience

sensation

process by which our brain and body recieve input from the five sense

transduction

converting stimuli into messages for the brain

absolute threshold

minimum intensity needed for a stimuli to be detected by our body

difference threshold/just noticeable difference (JND)

smallest amount difference of two stimuli to be detected

Weber's Law

amount of change needed to produce a constant JND is a constant proportion to the original stimuli

signal detection theory

way to measure how we detect a faint stimuli and separate it from background stimulation

sensory adaptation

receptors respond less to unchanging stimuli