Unit 2 - Cognition

Mnemonic Device

Method of improving memory by associating new information with previously learned information

Method of Loci

A mnemonic technique that involves associating items on a list with a sequence of familiar physical locations

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units

Categories

networks of associated memories that have features in common with each other

Hierarchies

Complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided into categories and subcategories

Spacing Effect

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

Massed Practice

a practice schedule in which studying continues for long periods, without interruption

Distributed Practice

Spacing the study of material to be remembered by including breaks between study periods

Serial Position Effect

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

Primacy Effect

tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list especially well.

Recency Effect

tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well

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 the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten

Maintenance Rehearsal

A system for remembering involving repeating information to oneself without attempting to find meaning in it

Elaborative Rehearsal

a method of transferring information from short term memory into long term memory by making that information meaningful in some way

Memory Retention

Ability to recall information

Autobiographical Memory

The memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of memory from the point of some injury or trauma backwards, or loss of memory for the past

Anterograde Amnesia

the inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store

Alzheimer's Disease

a progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning

Infantile Amnesia

The inability to remember events from early childhood

Recall

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

Recognition

the ability to match a piece of information or a stimulus to a stored image or fact

Retrieval Cues

Stimuli that are used to bring a memory to consciousness or into behavior

Context Dependent Memory

The theory that information learned in a particular situation or place is better remembered when in that same situation or place.

Mood Congruent Memory

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

State Dependent Memory

the phenomenon through which memory retrieval is most efficient when an individual is in the same state of consciousness as they were when the memory was formed

Testing Effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information

Metacognition

Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes.

Forgetting Curve

A graph showing retention and forgetting over time.

Encoding Failure

the inability to recall specific information because of insufficient encoding of the information for storage in long-term memory

Proactive Interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Retroactive Interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

the temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that it's just out of reach

Repression

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

Misinformation Effect

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Source Amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined

Constructive Memory

the act of remembering construed in terms of making inferences about the past, based on what is currently known and accessible

Memory Consolidation

the gradual, physical process of converting new long-term memories to stable, enduring memory codes

Imagination Inflation

a memory phenomenon in which vividly imagining an event markedly increases confidence that the event actually occurred

Intelligence

mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

General Intelligence (g)

a single intelligence factor that underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100; an early measure of intelligence

Mental Age

A measure equal to one's chronological age times the percentage score on an IQ test

Chronological Age

Age as measured in years from date of birth

Standardization

Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

Validity

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

Construct Validity

the extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure

Predictive Validity

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

Reliability

The extent to which a test yields consistent results.

Test-Retest Reliability

a method for determining the reliability of a test by comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate occasions

Split-Half Reliability

A measure of reliability in which a test is split into two parts and an individual's scores on both halves are compared.

Stereotype Threat

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

Stereotype Lift

awareness of positive expectations can actually improve performance on tasks

Flynn Effect

the worldwide phenomenon that shows intelligence test performance has been increasing over the years

Achievement Tests

tests designed to assess what a person has learned.

Aptitude Tests

tests designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

Fixed Mindset

the idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change

Growth Mindset

the idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change