Unit 5: Psychology for the AP Course (Modules 31-41)

Memory

the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

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 identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test

Relearning

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

Encoding

the process of getting information into the memory system - for example, by extracting meaning.

Storage

the process of retaining encoded information over time

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions.

Sensory Memory

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

Short-Term Memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten

Long-Term Memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Working Memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory

Explicit Memory

retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare". Also known as declarative memory.

Effortful Processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Automatic Processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

Implicit Memory

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection. Also known as nondeclarative memory.

Iconic Memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a picture-image memory lasting no more than 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 within 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

Testing Effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also sometimes referred to as 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

Metacognition

thinking about thinking. An awareness of our thinking processes and an understanding of what we know. Students with greater amounts of this can change their behavior to improve their learning.

Prospective Memory

Enables a person to recall an intention to something. It is more future-oriented. It allows us to remember that we need to perform a task at a later time (example: take prescribed medication every night)

Procedural Memory

A type of long-term/implicit memory that stores information related to motor skills, habits and actions without conscious effort. It involves the learning & retention of procedures/routines. (example: riding a bike)

Multi-Store Modal

Explanation of memory which assumes there are 3 separate memory stores (sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory), and that information is transferred between these stores in a linear sequence.

Method of Loci

A mnemonic technique that involves associating items on a list with a sequence of familiar physical locations like a room in your house.

Distributed Practice

Strategy of memory/learning that makes use of smaller increments of student over a longer period of time. (opposite of massed practice)

massed practice

A learning/memory procedure in which practice trials occur close together in time, either in a single lengthy session or in sessions separated by short intervals (cramming). Less effective than distributed practice.

rehearsal

the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage

Memory Consolidation

the neural storage of a long-term memory

Semantic Memory

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems.

Episodic Memory

explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems

Hippocampus

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.

Flashbulb Memory

a clear, sustained memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

an increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Encoding Specificity Principle

the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it

Mood-Congruent Memory

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

Serial Position Effect

our tendency to recall best the last (a recency effect) and first items (a primacy effect) in a list

Misinformation Effect

occurs when misleading information has distorted one's memory of an event.

Maintenance Rehearsal

The repetition of information for the immediate and temporary recall of information. This process can keep it within working memory (example: repeating a phone # until the call is made)

Elaborative Rehearsal

a method of transferring information from STM into LTM by making that information meaningful in some way by creating associations and/or personal connections (example: mnemonic devices)

Memory Retention

The second stage of memory after encoding before retrieval. The ability to store information in memory for future use.

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM)

occurs when people can recall in considerable, vivid detail personal events from almost any day of their adolescent and adult life

Context Dependent Memory

The theory that information learned in a particular situation or place is better remembered when in that same situation or place.

State Dependent Memory

The theory that information learned in a particular state of mind (e.g., depressed, happy, somber) is more easily recalled when in that same state of mind.

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories

retrograde amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past

Proactive Interference

the forward-acting disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. (When old learning interferes with new learning. For example, When you can't remember this year's locker combination (new) - you can only remember last year's locker combination (old).)

Retroactive Interference

the backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information. (when new learning interferes with old learning. For example, You can't remember anything you learned in Biology last year. You can only remember what you've learned in Chemistry this year)

Repression

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

Reconsolidation

a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

Misinformation Effect

occurs when misleading information has distorted one's memory of an event.

Source Amnesia

faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined; along with the misinformation effect is at the heart of many false memories.

deja vu

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Amnesia

the partial or total loss of memories including facts, information and experiences.

Alzheimer's disease

a progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning

Infantile Amnesia

the inability to retrieve memories from much before age 3

Forgetting Curve

graphs retention and forgetting over time

Encoding Failure

the inability to recall specific information because of insufficient encoding of the information for storage in long-term memory

Inadequate Retrieval

The inability to recall long-term memories due to a breakdown in the process of remembering.

tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon (TOT)

experience of knowing that we know something but being unable to access it

Constructive Memory

Using general knowledge stored in one's memory to construct a more complete and detailed account of an event or experience by changing or filling in various features of the memory.

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 (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin).

Creativity

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

Convergent Thinking

narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Divergent Thinking

expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

concept

a mental grouping of similar, objects, events, ideas, or people

Executive Functions

cognitive processes that allow individuals to generate, organize, plan, and carry out goal-directed behaviors and experience critical thinking.

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier - but also more error-prone - use of heuristics.

Heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

Insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Confirmation Bias

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

Mental Set

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

Representativeness Heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Availability Heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

Belief Perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Functional Fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving

sunk cost fallacy

the cognitive bias where someone continues to invest time, money, or effort into a decision or project even when it is no longer beneficial, simply because they have already invested significantly in it. This hinders making good decisions

Gambler's Fallacy

the mistaken belief that the outcome of a random event, like a coin toss or roulette spin, is influenced by previous outcomes, leading people to think that a particular result is more likely to occur simply because it hasn't happened recently, even though each event is statistically independent. This hinders the ability to make a good decision.

Language

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

phoneme

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

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 age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Telegraphic Speech (Two-Word Stage)

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements. Like "go car" - 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

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

Wernicke's Area

a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

Morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

Grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. Semantics is the language's set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds. Syntax is its set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.

cooing stage

an early stage of infant language development where babies produce soft, vowel-like sounds like "oo" and "ah," typically occurring around the first few months of life

Syntax

the rules governing the arrangement of words within a sentence

Semantics

the study of meaning in language, focusing on how words and phrases acquire their meaning and how we interpret them within a given context; essentially, it's the branch of linguistics that deals with the meaning of words and sentences

productive language

the ability to use language to convey meaning, thoughts, and ideas through speaking, writing, and nonverbal cues