Cognitive Words

Cross-sectional design

Comparing two or more groups on a particular variable at a specific time.

Longitudinal study

Research over a period of time using observations, interviews or psychometric testing.

Prospective research

A study that attempts to find a correlation between two variables by collecting data early in life and then continuing to test over time.

Retrospective research

A study of an individual after an important change or development, requiring the reconstruction of their life prior to the event.

Verbal protocols

A type of interview where the researcher has the participant 'think aloud' while solving a problem.

Declarative memory

Memory of facts and events that can be consciously recalled.

Episodic memory

Memory of specific events that have occurred at a given time and in a given place.

Procedural memory

Unconscious memory of skills and how to do things.

Semantic memory

General knowledge of facts and people, not linked to time and place.

Transactive memory

A mechanism through which groups collectively encode, store, and retrieve knowledge.

Anchoring bias

The tendency to rely too heavily on an initial piece of information when making decisions.

Availability heuristic

A mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to mind when making a decision.

Central Executive

The part of Baddeley & Hitch's Working Memory Model responsible for the control and regulation of cognitive processes.

Cognitive bias

A systematic error in thinking that impacts one's choices and judgments.

Cognitive misers

The tendency to solve problems in simpler and less effortful ways.

Confabulation

A memory error producing fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories.

Displacement

What happens to information in short-term memory when it is not rehearsed.

Encoding

The initial learning of information by placing it into memory storage.

Episodic buffer

The component of Baddeley & Hitch's Working Memory Model that links information across domains.

Framing effect

When people react to a choice differently depending on how it is presented.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly.

Misinformation effect

When misleading information is incorporated into one's memory after an event.

Peak-end Rule

The principle that people judge experiences based on their peak and end feelings rather than the total experience.

Phonological loop

The component of Baddeley & Hitch's Working Memory Model responsible for processing auditory information.

Primacy effect/recency effect

The tendency to recall information presented earlier or later better than information presented in the middle.

Retrieval

The ability to access information from memory when needed.

Schema

Mental representations used to organize knowledge and assist recall.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

The component of Baddeley & Hitch's Working Memory Model that holds visual and spatial information.

Working memory

The system that actively holds multiple pieces of transitory information in the mind.

Dual Process Model

The theory that decision making is divided into two systems: System 1 (intuitive) and System 2 (rational).

Flashbulb memory

A highly detailed and vivid memory formed under emotional circumstances.

Multi Store Model

The theory that memory consists of three stores: sensory register, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Prospect theory

Describes how people choose between alternatives involving risk, evaluating losses and gains using heuristics.

Reconstructive memory

The theory that memories are not retrieved as whole but reconstructed from independent memories.

Somatic marker hypothesis

The theory suggesting good decision making depends on access to relevant emotional information.

Working memory model

The theory that short-term memory consists of multiple stores rather than a single store.