psych quiz 2.2a, 2.2b, 2.7

anterograde amnesia

memory of past, inability to form new mems

retrograde amnesia

no mem of past, can still form new mems

displacement

info not encoded for long-term storage overwritten by new info entering short term memory

proactive interference

old gets in way of new

retroactive interference

new gets in way of old

reconsolidation

memories reconstructed from other stored info

misinformation effect

how fast were the cars going when they SMASHED into each other vs HIT each other

source amnesia

can’t remember source of information ppl have

deja vu

familiarity w a stimulus combined w uncertainty about where we’ve encountered it before

leveling

shortening/simplifying story details

sharpening

changing details in a story based on prev. knowledge (i.e. stereotypes)

cognition

all smart brain activity

metacognition

thinking smartly about the concept of thinking

concepts

mental groupings of similar objects

mental prototype

mental image or best example of a category (i.e. crow for bird instead of penguin)

schemas

cognitive structure that organizes knowledge + helps to interpret info (i.e. a mental script for how to act in a particular situation

assimilating

interpreting new experiences according to our schemas

accommodation

adapting current schemas to incorporate new info

creativity

ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

aptitude

ability to learn

convergent thinking

ability to prod. a single correct answer

divergent thinking

ability to prod. as many solutions as possible

functional fixedness

when prior experiences inhibit ability to find creative solutions

executive functions

advanced cognitive abilities that can problem solve and make decisions

algorithms

step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution

heuristics

mental shortcuts/simpler thinking strategies

insight

sudden realization of a problem’s solution

confirmation bias

tendency to seek evidence that supports our beliefs and reject those that go against it

fixation

in too deep - difficulty approaching a prob. from a diff. angle after fully committing to a sol. that doesn’t work

mental set

tendency to approach prob.s with a mindset that has already worked before

perceptual set

visually predisposes us to how we think

intuition

gut feeling

representativeness heuristic

arab guy committing terrorism b/c he looks arab

availability heuristic

scared to go on a plane after 9/11 b/c ppl think terrorists are everywhere

belief perseverence

tendency to cling to beliefs when faced with contrary evidence

motivated reasoning

using neutral evidence to support your reason vs going against it

framing

the way we present information (20% fat vs 80% lean)

nudging

framing choices in a way that encourages ppl to make beneficial decisions