AP Psychology Whole Course VOCAB

Unit 7: Memory

Unit 7: Memory

the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage and retrieval of information

Recall

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill in the blank test

Recognition

a measure of the memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple choice test

Relearning

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

Encoding

the process of getting information into the memory system - for example, by extracting meaning

Storage

the process of retaining encoded information over time

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Parallel Processing

processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions

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, such as digits of a phone number while calling, before the information is stored or forgotten

Long-term Memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills and experiences

Working Memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious active processing of incoming auditory and visual information and of information retrieved from long-term memory

Explicit Memory

retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare (aka declarative memory)

Effortful Processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Automatic Processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency of well-learned information such as word meanings

Implicit Memory

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection (also called non-declarative memory)

Iconic Memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, a 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

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

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study (cramming) or practice

Testing Effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information. Also referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning

Shallow Processing

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

Deep Processing

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

Semantic Memory

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is episodic memory)

Episodic Memory

explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is semantic memory)

Hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit (conscious) memories - of facts and events - for storage

Memory Consolidation

the neural storage of long-term memory

Flashbulb Memory

a clear, sustained memory of an emotionally significant moment or event. Example - the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, 9/11

Long-term Potentiation

an increase of a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Encoding Specificity Principle

the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it

State-dependent Memory

what we learn in one state - be it drunk or sober - may be more easily recalled when we are again in that state

Mood-congruent Memory

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

Serial Position Effect

our tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and the first (primacy effect) items in a list

Anterograde Amnesia

an inability to form new memories

Retrograde Amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past

Encoding Failure

Much of what we sense we never notice, and what we fail to encode, we will never remember

Storage Decay

Even after encoding something well, we sometimes later forget it. The course of forgetting is initially rapid then levels off with time (Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve)

Retrieval Failure

Proactive Interference

the forward acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information

Retroactive Interference

the backward acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of new information

Repression

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

Reconsolidation

a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

Misinformation Effect

occurs when misleading information has distorted one's memory of an event

Source Amnesia

faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined

Cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Concept

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

Prototype

a mental image or best example of a category

Convergent Thinking

narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Divergent Thinking

expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions

Algorithm

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier - but also more error prone - use of heuristics

Heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error prone than an algorithm

Insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Confirmation

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

Fixation

in cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving

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

Representative Heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Availability Heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instance comes 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 our beliefs and judgements

Belief Perseverance Phenomenon

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

Framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is worded can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Language

our spoken, written, or signed words and the way we combine them to create meaning

Phoneme

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound

Morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or part of a word (such as a prefix)

Grammar, Semantics, Syntax

Grammar: in a language, a system of rules that enable us to communicate with and understand others
Semantics: the language's set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds
Syntax: its set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences

Receptive Language

the ability to understand what is said to them and about them

Babbling Stage

beginning around 4 months, the stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

One-word Stage

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

Two-word Stage

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two word statement

Telegraphic Speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a - telegram - go car - using mostly nouns and verbs

Aphasia

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

Broca's Area

helps control language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

Wernicke's Area

a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

Linguistic Determinism

the strong form of Whorf's hypothesis - that language controls the way we think and interpret the world around us

Linguistic Influence

the weaker form of linguistic relatively - the idea that language affects thought (thus our thinking and world view is relative to our cultural language)

Unit 11: Intelligence

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

General Intelligence

Charles Spearman (1863-1945) believed we have one general intelligence (g). He thought that a common skill set, the g factor, underlies all intelligent behavior For example, people who do well on vocabulary examinations do well on paragraph comprehension examinations, a cluster that helps define verbal intelligence

Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) supports the idea that intelligence comes in multiple forms. Gardner notes that brain damage may diminish one type of ability but not others. People with savant syndrome excel in abilities unrelated to general intelligence

Savant Syndrome

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as computation or drawing

Sternberg's Three Intelligences

1. Analytical Intelligence: Intelligence that is assessed by intelligence tests (academic problem-solving).
2. Creative Intelligence: Intelligence that makes us adapt to novel situations, generating novel ideas.
3. Practical Intelligence: Intelligence that is required for everyday tasks (e.g. street smarts).

L. L. Thurstone (7 Factors)

1. Verbal Comprehension
2. Word fluency
3. Number
4. Space
5. Associative Memory
6. Perceptual Speed
7. Reasoning

Grit

Those who become highly successful tend also to be conscientious, well-connected and doggedly

Emotional Intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions

Intelligence Test

a method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

Achievement Test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned

Aptitude Test

a test designed to predict a person's future performance.

Standardization

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pre-tested group. The group member's scores typically are distributed in a bell-shaped pattern that that forms the normal curve

Normal Curve

(or bell curve) the bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, or on retesting

Validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Content Validity

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

Predictive Validity

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by comparing computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior

The Flynn Effect

James Flynn (1981). Thinking is conceptual/hypothetical /abstract v. concrete. 1900 3% of Americans were lawyers, doctors, teachers. Today up to 35%. More professions need cognitive thinking

Crystalized Intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills, increases up to old age

Fluid Intelligence

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly, tends to decrease during adulthood

Cohort

a group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as from a given time period

Cross-sectional Study

research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time

Longitudinal Study

Research that follows and retests the same people over time