AP Psych Unit 5

Memory

the persistence of learning over time through the 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.

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Field: memory; Contributions: 1st to conduct studies on forgetting: first, a rapid loss followed by a gradual declining rate of loss; Studies: memory-series of meaningless syllables/words

Relearning

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

Encoding

the processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

Storage

the process of retaining encoded information over time

Retrival

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Atkinson and Shiffrin

Multi-store model of memory, proposed that memory consisted of three stores: a sensory register, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM)

parallel processing

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

George A Miller

psychologist; found that short term memory has the capacity of about 7 (plus or minus 2) items

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 involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

explicit memory

retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare." (Also called declarative memory.)

effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

automatic processing

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

Implicit memory

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection. (Also called nondeclarative memory.)

iconic memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or 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 or practice

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information (also known as retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning)

shallow processing

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

deep processing

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

sematic encoding

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems

episodic memory

explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems

Hippocampus

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage

memory consolidation

the neural storage of a long-term memory

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

long-term potentiation

an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.

Eric Kandel

Studied the sea slug Aplysia and posited that learning and memory are evidenced by changes in synapses and neural pathways.

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

encoding specificity principle

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

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 (a recency effect) and first items (a primacy effect) in a list

anterograde amnesia

an inability to form new memories

reterograde amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past

proactive interference

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

retroactive interference

the backward-acting disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old 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

Elizabeth Loftus

Her research on memory construction and the misinformation effect created doubts about the accuracy of eye-witness testimony

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

deja vu

the eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

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. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin).

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

divergent thinking

expands 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.

Heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

Insight

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Wolfgang Kohler

Gestalt psychologist that first demonstrated insight through his chimpanzee experiments. He noticed the solution process wasn't slow, but sudden and reflective.

confirmation bias

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

Fixation

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. (gut feeling)

Amos Tversky

Worked with Daniel Kahneman to identify representative heuristics and availability heuristics

Daniel Kahneman

an Israeli psychologist and Nobel laureate, who is notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, behavioral economics and hedonistic psychology.

representativeness 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 instances come readily 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 judgments.

belief perseverance

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

Framing

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

Steven Pinker

Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, linguist, and popular science author. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind.

language

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Phoneme

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Morpheme

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

grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Noam Chomsky

Linguistic and theorist who believed that humans have an inborn or "native" propensity to develop language

babbling stage

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

one-word stage

the stage in speech development, from about age 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 two-word statements

telegraphic speech

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

Broca's area

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

Wernicke's area

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

lingustic determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think and interpret the world around us

Benjamin Whorf

American linguist and fire prevention engineer; idea that differences between the structures of different languages shape how their speakers perceive and conceptualize the world.

Linguistic interference

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

Intelligence

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

general intelligence (g factor)

according to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.

Charles Spearman

creator of "g-factor", or general intelligence, concept

L.L. Thurstone

psychologist; proposed that intelligence consisted of 7 different primary mental abilities

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score.

savant syndrome

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

Grit

passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

emotional intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

Francis Galton

interested in link between heredity and intelligence; founder of the eugenics movement

Alfred Binet

pioneer in intelligence (IQ) tests, designed a test to identify slow learners in need of help-not applicable in the U.S. because it was too culture-bound (French)

Intelligent 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; it is the capacity to learn

mental age

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance

Stanfort-Binet

the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet's original intelligence test.

Lewis Terman

revised Binet's IQ test and established norms for American children; tested group of young geniuses and followed in a longitudinal study that lasted beyond his own lifetime to show that high IQ does not necessarily lead to wonderful things in life

Howard Gardner

devised theory of multiple intelligences: logical-mathematic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, linguistic, musical, interpersonal, naturalistic