Memory and Cognition

Recall

retrieving information learned earlier

Recognition

identifying items previously learned

Relearning

learning something more quickly the second time you learn

Long-Term Potentiation

an increase in a cell’s firing potential after a brief rapid stimulation

Priming

the unconscious activation of particular associations of memory

State-dependent memory

what you learn in one state , may be more easily recalled in the same state again

Mood congruent

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood

Serial position effect

our tendency to recall the first and last items in a list the best

Memory

learning that has persisted overtime

Steps of memory

Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

Encoding

getting information into the brain

Storage

retaining the information

Retrieval

getting the information back out later

Steps of forming memory

Sensory, Short-term, Long-term

Sensory

immediate, very brief recording of sensory information

Short-term

active memory that holds a few items briefly at a time

Long-term memory

permanent and limitless storage house of memories

Working memory (short-term memory)

conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information and information retrieved from long term memory

Explicit memory (declarative)

memory of facts of experiences that one can consciously

Effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Implicit memory

retention independent of conscious recollection

Automatic processing

encoding that doesn’t require attention and is unconscious

Iconic memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli (mental image)

Echoic memory

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli

Chunking

organizing items into familiar and manageable units

Mnemonics

memory aides

Hierarchies

broad topics divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts m

Spacing effect

distributed study over time

Testing effect

enhanced memory after retriving

Levels of Processing

Shallow and Deep

Shallow processing

encoding on a basic level

Deep processing

encoding semantically based on the meaning of words (attaching meaning to information)

Long term memory capacity

limitless

Hippocampus

part of the brain that lays down new explicit memories

Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia

form implicit memories

Flashbulb memories

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Schemes

preexisting mental framework that starts as basic operations then get more complex as you gain information

Anterograde amnesia

when you can’t form new memories

retrograde amnesia

can’t retrieve information from your past

45-60 minutes

how long it takes to forget something

Proactive interference

prior learning disrupts your new learning

Retroactive interference

old information is disrupted by new information

Repression

the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from your conscious

Reconsolidation

replaying a memory that is replaced with a slightly modified version

Misinformation effect

incorporating misinformation into one’s memory of an event

Source amnesia

attributing the wrong source of an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined, creating false memories

Deja vu

cues from current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

Cognition

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

Concepts

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

Prototypes

a mental image or best example of a category

Creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the best single solution

Divergent thinking

finding multiple creative solutions

5 components of creativity

Expertise, Imaginative thinking skills, Venturesome personality, Intrinsic motivation, and a creative environment

Algorithms

step by step procedures that guarantee a solution

Heuristics

simpler thinking strategies

Insight

a sudden realization of a problems solution

Confirmation bias

we more eagerly seek out and favor evidence verifying our ideas than evidence refuting them

Mental set

our tendency to approach a problem with a mindset of what has previously worked

Intuition

our fast automatic unreasoned feelings and thoughts

Representative heuristic

judge the likelihood of things in terms of how well they represent particular prototypes

Availability heuristic

when we estimate the likelihood of events based on how mentally available they are

Overconfidence

overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge and judgements

Belief Perseverance

clinging to our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence

Framing

the way we present an issue, sways our decisions and judgements

Language

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

Phonemes

smallest distinctive sound unit in a language

Morphemes

smallest uint that carry meaning in a given language

Grammar

system of rules that enables us to communicate with one another

Receptive language

ability to understand what is said to and about them

Productive language

ability to produce words

Babbling stage

infants spontaneously utter various sounds unrelated to the household language

One-Word stage

child age 1-2 years old speaks mostly in single words

Two-Word stage

child age 2 speaks in mostly two-word statements

Telegraphic speech

child speaks like a telegram, using mostly nouns and verbs

Aphasia

impairment of language

Broca’s Area

controls language expression

Wernicke’s Area

controls language reception

Linguistic determination

language determines the way we think