Unit 5 - Key Concepts and Terms

Deep Processing

Encoding based on semantic meaning, aiding in long-term retention.

Shallow Processing

Encoding based on surface features, such as visual or auditory characteristics, leading to poor retention.

Selective Attention

Focusing on relevant stimuli while ignoring irrelevant ones in the environment.

Divided Attention

Mental focus on multiple tasks or ideas simultaneously, also known as multitasking.

Metacognition

The awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes, enabling control over cognitive phenomena.

Sensory Memory includes?

echoic and iconic memory

Echoic Memory

a type of sensory memory that briefly stores auditory information, allowing us to recall sounds we have just heard.

Iconic Memory

Refers to a brief visual sensory memory that lasts for a fraction of a second after a stimulus is removed. It helps to retain a visual image long enough for the brain to process it further.

Short-Term Memory (STM) / Working Memory

Activated memory holding a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten, located in the frontal lobe.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

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

Implicit Memory

Unconscious, automatic memory that is independent of conscious recollection, such as procedural memory.

Explicit Memory

Conscious, intentional memory of facts and experiences that can be consciously recalled and declared, such as declarative memory.

Semantic Memory

Memory for general knowledge and facts, like knowing the capital of a country.

Episodic Memory

Memory for personal experiences and events, such as remembering a specific birthday party.

Eidetic Memory

Photographic or precise memory, very rare in adults.

Prospective Memory

Remembering to perform a specific action in the future, like making a phone call.

Noam Chomsky

A linguist who proposed the language acquisition device (LAD) and the theory of universal grammar.

Elizabeth Loftus

An expert on human memory, known for her work on the misinformation effect and false memories.

Misinformation effect

When misleading information alters a person's memory of an event, often leading to inaccurate recollections.

False Memories

Inaccurate recollections that feel real but did not occur; can be inadvertently created through suggestion or misinformation.

George A. Miller

A pioneer in cognitive psychology, known for his work on short-term memory and the 'magical number seven, plus or minus two'.

Retrieval Cues

Anchor points used to access information in memory, such as priming and context-dependent memory.

Problem Solving Methods

Various strategies for solving problems, including trial and error, means-end analysis, algorithms, and heuristics.

Phonemes

The smallest distinctive sound units in a language. ex. ''chair'' is also composed of three phonemes, or sounds: /ch/, /a/, /r/.

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning in a language. ex. it can be a whole word (run), a word part (-ing) or a single letter (-s).

Grammar

The system of rules in a language, including syntax and semantics.

Language Acquisition

The process of learning a language, involving receptive and productive language, babbling, and the critical period for fluency.

Benjamin Lee Whorf

Proposed the linguistic determinism hypothesis, suggesting that language influences thought.

Performance Tests

Tests that minimize language use, often used for young children or individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Culture-Fair Tests

Tests designed to reduce cultural bias, minimizing skills and values that vary across cultures.

Intellectual Disability

A condition of limited mental ability, often with an IQ below 70 and difficulty in adapting to life demands.