General Psychology Module 5

Information Processing Theory:

In the mid 20th century, many psychologists likened the human mind to a computer. Just as a computer processes information, the human mind processes information in certain ways.

Concepts:

Mental representations, such as your concept of a good party, happiness or nice weather.

Schemas:

Clusters of related ideas that provide you with a framework for thinking. Your brain literally categorizes various related concepts.

Scripts:

Tell you the behaviors expected in a particular situation, much like the script that accompanies any play.

What important quality do psychologists believe good thinkers possess?

Problem-solving ability.

Heuristics:

Rules of thumb and are problem-solving shortcuts.

Functional fixedness:

The inability to think of a new use for an ordinary object.

Availability Bias:

Bias caused by the most available example that comes to mind.

Confirmation Bias:

Bias caused by a tendency to look for and only pay attention to evidence that confirms what has already been believed.

Hindsight Bias:

Bias that has to do with people overestimating their likelihood to have predicted an event.

Crystallized Intelligence:

Refers to one’s knowledge.

Fluid Intelligence:

Refers to the ability to see complex relationships and solve problems (essentially, it is the ability to apply knowledge).

Normal Distribution:

Normally distributed means that scores are spread throughout the general population so that most people score in middle part of the curve and fewer people score in the high or low extremes.

Creativity:

Thinking in new and imaginative ways, is also frequently linked to intelligence.

What is memory?

Is our ability to encode, store, and retrieve information. These terms come from information processing theory, which again likens the mind to a computer.

Encoding:

Involves actively processing information.

Example: If you type information into a database and let the computer compute the results, then encoding is occurring. Encoding involves changing and modifying the information in some way so that you can remember it later.

Chunking:

Involves breaking information down into smaller and more meaningful units.

Eidetic:

Photographic memory.

Storage:

Involves holding the information for a period of time. Similar to a computer saving information onto a disk.

Retrieval:

Involves recalling stored information. Similar to clicking onto a saved document onto your computer and calling it up to the screen.

Sensory Memory:

Identical to sensation; it is a brief sensory impression as an electric message is sent to the brain.

Short-term/working memory:

The brain stores information temporarily.

Long-Term Memory:

Stores material for a longer period of time.

Procedural Memory:

Example: How to ride a bike, or how to do a jumping jack.

Declarative Memory:

The facts and experiences you know.

Information in declarative memory, unlike procedural memory, needs to be rehearsed and practiced or it will be forgotten.

Episodic:

Personal information about your life, snapshots from your past.

Semantic:

The meanings of words and concepts.

Explicit memories:

Memories that you’ve actively spent time learning.

Implicit Memories:

Memories that you did not actively learn, but subtly effect you.