Myers' AP Psychology Unit 7

Vocab and Psychologists

memory

The persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and retrieval

storage

process of retaining encoded information over time

retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

encoding

The processing of information into the memory system.

parallel processing

The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously

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 before the information is stored or forgotten

long term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

\-knowledge, skills, experiences

Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin

Proposed a model to explain our memory forming process

Sensory=>Short Term=>Long Term

working memory

\-newer understanding of short term memory

\-focus on consciousness, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information

\-processing of retrieved long term memory

explicit memory

"declarative memory"

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"

effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information and of well-learned information

implicit memory

"non declarative memory"

retention independent of conscious recollection

iconic memory

\-a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli

\-a photographic or 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

George A. Miller

proposed short term memory is limited to seven items

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

distributed study or practice yields better long-term retention

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving information

shallow processing

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

Hermann Ebbinghaus

"those who learn quickly forget quickly"

Deep processing

\-encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words

\-tends to yield the best retention

serial position effect

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

mood congruent memory

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

priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations

relearning

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

recognition

a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned

recall

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier

long term potentiation

\-an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation

\-believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Eric kandel

observed synaptic changes during learning in the sending neurons of California sea slugs

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

hippocampus

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

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories

retrograde amnesia

An inability to retrieve information from one's past

proactive interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

repression

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

misinformation effect

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Elizabeth Loftus

experimented and showed how eyewitnesses reconstruct their memories after a crime or accident

source amnesia

\-attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined

\-this, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories

deja vu

cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

Robert Sternberg

identified 5 components of creativity

divergent thinking

a type of creative thinking in which one generates new solutions to problems

convergent thinking

a type of critical thinking in which one evaluates existing possible solutions to a problem to choose the best one

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

prototype

a mental image or best example of a category

concept

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

cognition

thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

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 and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

confirmation bias

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

Wolfgang Kohler

conducted experiments on monkeys that showed humans are not the only ones that display insight

mental set

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

intuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman

\-worked on representativeness and availability heuristics

\-showed how generally helpful shortcuts may lead even smart people into making dumb decisions

representativeness heuristic

\-judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes

\-may lead one 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 one's beliefs and judgments

belief perserverance

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

framing

\-the way an issue is posed

\-how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Benjamin Lee Whorf

contended that language determines the way we think

linguistic determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Wernicke's area

\-controls language reception

\-a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression

\-usually in left temporal lobe

Carl Wernicke

discovered that damage in the left temporal lobe causes people to speak meaningless words

Broca's area

\-controls language expression

\-area of the frontal lobe in left hemisphere that directs muscle movements invloved in speech

Paul Broca

reported that damage to an area in the left frontal lobe caused speaking problems but did not affect singing familiar songs or speech comprehension

aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

Noam Chomsky

"universal grammar"

argued that all languages share basic elements

telegraphic speech

"go car"

early speech, like telegram using mostly nouns and verbs

two word stage

beginning at age 2, child speaks mostly in two word statements

one word stage

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

babbling stage

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant makes incoherent sounds

grammar

\-in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

\-semantics=rules for deriving meaning

\-syntax=rules for combining words to form sentences

morpheme

\-in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning

\-may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

phoneme

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Steven Pinker

"We sometimes listen to others make noises as they exhale for hours, because those hisses and squeaks contain information."

language

spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combined to communicate meaning