PSYCH UNIT 2: LEARNING, MEMORY, INTELLIGENCE

Achievement test

Measures what you already learned

Alfred Binet

Created first IQ test; introduced mental age

Aptitude test

Predicts future ability or potential

Carol Dweck

Psychologist of mindset theory (growth vs fixed)

Construct validity

Extent a test measures the concept it claims

Content validity

Extent a test covers all parts of the material

Cross sectional study

Compares different age groups at one time

Crystallized intelligence

Knowledge from experience and education

David Wechsler / WAIS

Adult IQ test measuring multiple abilities

Emotional intelligence

Ability to understand and manage emotions

Factor analysis

Statistical method that groups related abilities

Fixed mindset

Belief intelligence is fixed and unchangeable

Fluid intelligence

Ability to solve new problems and think quickly

Flynn effect

IQ scores rise across generations

General intelligence (g factor)

One underlying intelligence for all abilities

Grit

Perseverance and passion for long-term goals

Growth mindset

Belief intelligence can improve with effort

Howard Gardner

Theory of multiple intelligences

Intelligence

Ability to learn, reason, and solve problems

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Numerical score comparing intelligence to age norms

Intelligence test

Test measuring mental abilities

Longitudinal study

Follows same people over time

Mental age

Intellectual level compared to age group

Normal curve

Bell-shaped distribution of IQ scores

Predictive validity

How well a test predicts future performance

Psychometrics

Study of psychological measurement (IQ testing)

Validity

Overall accuracy of a test (does it measure what it should?)

Savant syndrome

Exceptional ability in one area despite limitations

Standardization

Giving a test to a large group to create norms

Stanford-Binet

Early standardized IQ test based on Binet's work

Stereotype threat

Anxiety about confirming a stereotype hurts performance

Steven Pinker

Cognitive scientist known for language and mind research

Anterograde amnesia

Inability to form new long-term memories after brain injury or trauma

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding of simple info (like time, space, frequency)

Brain and memory

Memory involves hippocampus (formation), amygdala (emotion), cortex (storage)

Central executive

Controls attention and coordinates working memory system

Chunking

Grouping information into meaningful units to improve memory

Deep processing

Encoding meaning of information for better memory retention

Déjà vu

Feeling that a current situation has already been experienced

Ebbinghaus

Psychologist who studied memory and forgetting curve

Echoic memory

Brief auditory sensory memory (hearing)

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and effort

Encoding

Getting information into memory system

Episodic memory

Memory of personal experiences/events

Explicit memory

Conscious memories (facts and experiences)

Flashbulb memory

Vivid memory of an emotionally significant event

Iconic memory

Brief visual sensory memory

Implicit memory

Unconscious memory (skills, habits)

Interleaving

Mixing different topics or skills while studying

Long-term memory

Relatively permanent storage of information

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Strengthening of neural connections with repeated use

Memory consolidation

Process of stabilizing memories after encoding

Memory/models

Different theories explaining how memory works (ex: working memory model)

Misinformation effect

Misleading information after an event alters memory

Mnemonics

Memory aids like acronyms or visual images

Mood-congruent memory

Tendency to recall memories consistent with current mood

Neurogenesis

Creation of new neurons, linked to learning and memory

Parallel processing

Brain processes multiple types of info at once

Phonological loop

Part of working memory for auditory information

Priming

Exposure to a stimulus influences later responses

Proactive interference

Old information interferes with new learning

Recall

Retrieving information without cues

Recognition

Identifying correct information from options

Relearning

Learning information again faster than first time

Repression

Unconscious blocking of painful memories

Retrieval

Getting stored information back into awareness

Retroactive interference

New info interferes with old memories

Retrograde amnesia

Loss of memories before injury

Semantic memory

Memory of facts and general knowledge

Sensory memory

Very brief storage of sensory input

Serial position effect

Better memory for first and last items in a list

Shallow processing

Encoding based on appearance, not meaning

Short-term memory

Limited storage for a short time (seconds)

Source amnesia

Forgetting where or how a memory was learned

Spacing effect

Better memory when studying is spaced over time

Storage

Maintaining information over time in memory system

Testing effect

Better memory from retrieving information (practice tests)

Visuospatial sketchpad

Working memory component for visual/spatial info

Working memory

Active processing system for short-term information handling

Acquisition

Initial stage of learning when a response is first formed

Associative learning

Learning by linking two stimuli or a behavior and consequence

Behaviorism

School of psychology focusing on observable behavior and learning

Classical conditioning

Learning by associating two stimuli (Pavlov; UCS, UCR, CS, CR)

UCS

Stimulus that naturally triggers a response

UCR

Natural response to UCS

CS

Previously neutral stimulus that triggers response after learning

CR

Learned response to CS

Generalization

Responding similarly to similar stimuli

Discrimination

Learning difference between similar stimuli

Spontaneous recovery

Reappearance of a learned response after extinction

Cognitive learning

Learning through mental processes like thinking and observation (Tolman; insight, expectation, vicarious learning)

Cognitive map

Mental representation of environment or relationships

Classical vs operant conditioning

Classical = stimulus association; operant = behavior + consequences

Continuous reinforcement

Reinforcement every time behavior occurs

Coping / self-control

Managing behavior and stress; includes internal vs external locus of control

Discrimination (stimulus)

Responding only to specific stimuli, not others

Edward Tolman

Studied cognitive maps and latent learning

Habituation

Decreased response to repeated stimulus

Higher-order conditioning

CS becomes UCS for another stimulus

Instrumental conditioning

Learning through consequences (Thorndike; law of effect)