Cognition Vocab

Flashbulb Memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant memory or event

Sensory Memory

recording sensory information (smells, sounds, sights, etc.)

Hippocampus

Short Term Memory

(working memory) activated memory that holds a few items briefly

Long Term Memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

7+-2 (Miller)

short term memory is limited to 5-9 bits of information (not encoded)

Working Memory

short term memory must be continually repeated

Episodic Memory

life experiences; autobiographical memories

Eidetic Memory

photographic memory

State Dependent/Mood Congruent Memory

memory recall of events increases when in the same mood as the memory was stored in

Prospective Memory

a form of memory that involves remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point in time

Retrospective Memory

memory of people, words, and events encountered or experienced in the past

Encoding

making sense of information

Automatically Processing

unconscious encoding of information, effortless

Effortful Processing

processing information from short term to long term that takes effort

Shallow Processing (ST)

processing information so it stays in short term memory

Maintenance

conscious repetition of information

Deep Processing (LT)

semantic meaning of information (making sense of information)

Elaborative Rehearsal

actively encoding information to be remembered, using a creative way to understand meaning

Spacing Effect (Ebbinghaus)

distributed practice yields better long-term retention than massed practice

Serial Position Effect (Ebbinghaus)

first and last bits of information is most often recalled

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Primary Effect - information presented first is most often recalled

Recency Effect - information presented last is most often recalled

Visual Encoding

encoding imagery

Acoustic Encoding

encoding sounds (especially sound of words)

Semantic Encoding

encoding meaning (including meaning of words)

Forgetting Curve (Ebbinghaus)

forgetting information declines rapidly then levels off

Imagery

visualizing information to be stored or recall

Mnemonic

memory aids; especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units

Hierarchies

organizing information into broad concepts and then smaller subdivisions

Method of Loci

“attaching” information to be recalled to rooms/locations of a familiar setting

Storage

the retention of encoded information over time

Iconic Memory

visual memory

Echoic Memory

auditory memories

Decay

decreased ability to recall information over time

Long Term Potentiation (LTP)

strengthening of the action potential of neural firing

(remembering strengthens memories)

Amnesia

inability to recall previously stored information

Infantile Amnesia

memories stored as infants are unable to be verbalized later in life

Retrograde Amnesia

after an accident- inability to remember old memories

Antegrade Amnesia

after an accident- inability to remember new memories

Implicit Memory

stored by the cerebellum; well-learned procedural memories

Explicit Memory

stored by the hippocampus; memories you can declare/explain

Hippocampus

coordinates and processes sensory information to memories; explicit

Patient H.M.

severed hippocampus; could not remember anything new from that point on

Cerebellum

responsible for implicit memories (i.e. classical conditioning); memories that are procedural

Temporal Lobe

major area for memory storage (however not the sole area)

Amygdala / Stress

attaches emotions with memory (fear conditioning)

Neurotransmitters

lack of ACH = Alzheimer’s

dopamine = learned behaviors

norepinephrine = focus and attention

Dopamine

helps leaning through conditioned responses

Retrieval/Recall

ability to bring a memory into consciousness

Recognition

to pick out information previously learned

Relearning

ability to relearn something that has been “forgotten”;

often faster

Retrieval Cues

helps recall information from storage

Priming

activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory;

subconsciously elicits recall of stored info

Context Effects

visualizing the context in which the info was encoded will help recall

(ex. “Remember when we were in your kitchen?”)

Déjà Vu

current experiences might have similar contexts to past experiences

Mood Congruent

the same mood the memory was stored in acts as a cue to recall the memory

Proactive Interference

old information gets in the way of recalling new information

Retroactive Interference

new information gets in the way of recalling old information

Repression

defense mechanism; banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Misinformation Effect

incorporating/recalling false information into one’s memory of an event

Source Amnesia

attributing to the wrong source where the memory was encoded

False Memory

memory that is not accurate

Implanting

information from a source that is accepted as an actual or part of a memory

Elizabeth Loftus

Memory Expert on misinformation (Mall Study, Bugs Bunny Study)

Schema

initial idea or concept of something

Assimilate

comparing something new to something already known

Accommodate

changing your schema with new information

Concepts

mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people (vague)

Prototypes

mental image or best example of a category

Hierarchies

ranking or arranging of prototypes

Algorithm

methodical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

Heuristic

simple thinking strategy to solve problems quickly

Insight

sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

Wolfgang Kohler

Chimpanzees

Discovered Insight

Intuition

expertise developed through experience without the ability to explain how it is so

Divergent Thinking

method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions

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ex. using a raft for something other than its intended purpose

Convergent Thinking

follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at one solution (experiments)

Deep Processing

(effortful) semantic meaning or thinking

Shallow Processing

involves maintenance rehearsal

repeating information to maintain memory of it

Meta Cognition

understanding and planning the steps involved in thinking and problem solving

Confirmation Bias

tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions, and ignore info that doesn’t

Focused Attention

singular processing

Divided Attention

multi-tasking

performance often weakens

Fixation

inability to see a problem from a new perspective

Functional Fixation

inability to see an alternate use for an object other than its intended purpose

Mental Set

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

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may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem

Representativeness Heuristic

judging by the likelihood of things in terms of how well they represent, or match existing prototypes

Availability Heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if they come to mind quickly

Overconfidence

tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments

Framing

the way a question is posed influences thinking

Belief Bias

the tendency for one’s existing beliefs to distort logical reasoning

Belief Perservance

clinging to one’s beliefs even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger

we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when our thoughts (cognitions) and actions are inconsistent

Approach-Approach conflict

making a decision between two positive outcomes

Approach-Avoid Conflict

making a decision that has a positive outcome as well as a negative outcome

Intelligence

ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

General Intelligence (g)

factor that Spearman and others believed underlies specific mental abilities

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ex. anyone who has “intelligence” should perform well on an IQ test

6ix9ine would perform well

Gardner’s Multiple Intel

8 independent intelligence (MI); some are beyond academic intel

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Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Spatial, Body-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalist

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ex. Athletes have kinesthetic intelligence

Kurt Cobain has musical intelligence

Emotional

ability to regulate emotions

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ex. a special forces operator can control stress and fear and compartmentalize feelings

Crystallized Intelligence

increases with age; factual and verbal knowledge

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ex. facts, dates, event recall, vocabulary

Fluid Intelligence

decreases with age; ability to speedily and abstract process

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ex. problem solve, deduct, reason