Mazurek Psych 1010 - Chapters 6 and 11

Memory

The ability to store and retrieve information over time

Serial positioning effect

The tendency to remember the first and last items in a series better than the items in the middle

Encoding

The process of transforming what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory

Storage

The process of maintaining information in memory over time

Retrieval

The process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored

Semantic encoding

The process of relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already stored in memory

Visual imagery encoding

The process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures

Organizational encoding

The process of categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items

Mnemonics

Encoding strategies that improve subsequent retrieval

Sensory memory

A type of storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or less

Iconic memory

A fast-decaying store of visual information

Echoic memory

A fast-decaying store of auditory information

Short-term memory

A type of storage that holds nonsensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute

Rehearsal

The process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it

Primary effect

Enhanced recall of the first few items in a list

Recency effect

Enhanced recall of the last few items in a list

Chunking

Involves combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short-term memory

Working memory

The active maintenance of information in short-term storage

Visuo-Spatial sketchpad

Stores and manipulates visual images

Phonological loop

Stores and manipulates verbal information

Central executive

Coordinates the episodic buffer and the subsystems

Episodic buffer

Integrates information from the visuo-spatial sketchpad and phonological loop

Long-term memory

A type of storage that holds information for hours, days, weeks, or years

Anterograde amnesia

The inability to transfer new information from short-term to long-term store

Retrograde amnesia

The inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date

Index

The hippocampus is the ___ that links together separate pieces from other parts of the brain so that we remember them as one memory

Consolidation

The process by which memories become stable in the brain

Reconsolidation

The process of consolidating memories again because they can become vulnerable to disruption when they are recalled

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

A process whereby repeated communication across the synapse between neurons strengthens the connection, making further communication easier

Engram

The enduring physical change in the brain that is produced by a particular experience

Retrieval cue

External information that is associated with stored information and helps bring it to mind

Encoding specificity principle

A principle that states that memory retrieval is most successful when the context or cues present at the time of encoding match the cues present at the time of remembering (retrieval)

State-dependent retrieval

The process whereby information tends to be better recalled when the person is in the same state during encoding and retrieval

Transfer-appropriate processing

The idea that memory is likely to transfer from one situation to another when the encoding and retrieval contexts of the situations match

Retrieval-induced forgetting

A process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory impairs subsequent recall of related items

Explicit memory

Occurs when people conciously or intentionally retrieve past experiences

Semantic memory

A network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

Episodic memory

The collection of past personal experiences that occured at a particular time and place

Divergent creative thinking

The process of generating creating ideas by combining different types of information in new ways

Implicit memory

Occurs when past experiences influce later behavior and performance, even without an effort to remember them or an awareness of the recollection

Procedural memory

The gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice, or “knowing how” to do things

Priming

The enhanced ability to think of a stimulus, like a word or object, as a result of recent exposure to the stimulus during an earlier study task

Collaborative memory

How people remember in groups

Collaborative inhibition

A group of people working together to recall information remembers fewer items overall than the combined total of the same number of individuals recalling separately

Transcience

Forgetting what occurs with the passage of time

Retroactive interference

Situations in which later learning impairs memory for information acquired earlier

Proactive interference

Situations in which earlier learning impairs memory for information acquired later

Childhood/infantile amnsesia

The fact that most people have few or no memories from the first few years of life

Absentmindedness

A lapse in attention that results in memory failure

Prospective memory

Remembering to do things in the future

Blocking

A failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even tho you are trying to produce it

Memory misattribution

Assigning a recollection or idea to the wrong source

Source memory

The recall of when, where, and how information was acquired, correct memories can be attributed to the wrong source

Suggestability

The tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections

Bias

The distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection of previous experiences

Persistance

The intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget

Flashbulb memories

Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events

Personality

An individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling

Self-reporting

A method in which people provide subjective information about their own thoughts, feelings, or behaviors, typically in a questionnaire or interview

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

A well-researched clinical questionnaire used to assess personality and psychological problems

Projective tests

Tests that are designed to reveal inner aspects of individuals’ personalities by analysis of their responses to a standard series of ambigious stimuli

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective technique in which respondents’ inner thoughts or feelings are believed to be revealed by analysis of their responses to a set of unstructured inkblots

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective technique in which respondents’ underlying motives, concerns, and the way they see the social world are believed to be revealed through analysis of the stories they make up about ambiguous pictures of people

Trait

A relatively stable tendency to behave in a particular and consistent way

Big Five

The five factors that best capture personality

Openness to experience

One of the Big Five. Measures imagination, insight, and a general willingness to try new things.

Conscienciousness

One of the Big Five. Measures thoughtfulness, organization, goal-directed behavior, and dependability.

Extraversion

One of the Big Five. Measures sociability, energy, and where a person draws their social stimulation.

Agreeableness

One of the Big Five. Measures trust, altruism, kindness, and affection.

Neuroticism

One of the Big Five. Measures emotional stability and the tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety or moodiness.

Behavorial activation system (BAS)

“Go” system, activates approach behavior in response to the anticipation of reward

Behavorial inhibition system (BIS)

“Stop” system, inhibits behavior in response to stimuli signaling punishment

Psychodynamic approach

An approach that regards personality as formed by needs, strivings, and desires largely operating outside of awareness

Id

The part of the mind containing the drives present at birth; it’s the source of bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly sexual and aggressive drives

Superego

The mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules. It acts as a conscience, punishing us (by producing guilt or other painful feelings) when it finds we are doing or thinking something wrong and rewarding us (with feelings of pride or self-congradulation) when living up to ideal standards

Ego

The component of personality, developed through contact with the external world, that enables us to deal with life’s practical demands. It is the regulating mechanism that enables us to delay gratifying immediate needs and function effectively in the real world

Defense mechanisms

Unconcious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety generated by threats from unacceptable impulses

Repression

Unconsciously blocking forbidden desires, painful memories, or traumatic thoughts from conscious awareness.

Rationalization

Creating logical, acceptable, or false explanations for behavior to avoid guilt or shame

Reaction formation

Activating or doing the exact opposite of an uncomfortable or forbidden true desire

Projection

Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or impulses onto someone else

Regression

Reverting to an earlier, more childish stage of development when faced with stress or anxiety.

Displacement

Redirecting an impulse, emotion, or reaction from a dangerous or threatening target to a safer substitute

Identification

Dealing with feelings of threat/anxiety by unconsciously taking on the characteristics of another person who seems more powerful or better able to cope

Sublimation

Channeling unacceptable or aggressive impulses into socially productive, positive activities like art, work, or exercise

Psychosexual stages

Sensitive periods during which a person’s basic personality is formed before age 6 as children begin to experience sexual pleasures from specific body areas and as caregivers interfere with or redirect those pleasures

Oral stage

Experience centers on pleasures and frustrations associated with the mouth, sucking, and being fed

Anal stage

Experience centers on pleasures and frustrations associated with the anus, retention and expulsion of feces and urine, and toilet training

Phallic stage

Experience centers on pleasures and frustrations associated with the phallic-genital region, as well as coping with powerful incestuous feelings of love, hate, jealousy, and conflict

Latency

The primary focus is on the further development of intellectual, creative, interpersonal, and athletic skills

Gential

The coming together of the mature of adult personality with a capacity to love, work, and related to others in a mutually satisfying and reciprical matter

Self-actualizing tendencies

The human motive toward realizing our inner potential

Hierarchy of needs

A model of essential human needs arranged according to their priority

Self-actualization

The need to be good, fully alive, and finding meaning in life

Flow

A mental state of energized focus created by engagement in tasks that exactly match one’s ability

Existential approach

Personality is governed by an individual’s ongoing choices and decisions in the context of the realities of life and death

Angst

Anxiety that comes with the difficulties in finding the meaning in life and in accepting responsibility and making free choices

Social-cognitive approach

The view of personality in terms of how a person thinks about the situations encountered in daily life and behaves in response to them

Person-situation controversy

Is behavior caused more by personality or by situational factors?

Personal constructs

Dimensions people use in making sense of their experiences