Intro to Psych - Exam 2

Intelligence

A mental quality allowing us to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations

Entity Theorists

Human traits (including intelligence) are fixed and cannot be changed

Incremental Theorists

Human traits (including intelligence) are malleable and can be changed

Genes Matter

Ex: Identical twins have more similar test scores

Ex: Adopted children have similar intelligence to their biological parents

Environment Matters

Ex: Fraternal twins have more similarities than non-twin siblings

Ex: School increases intelligence scores

Gardners Multiple Intelligences

Linguistic, musical, interpersonal, naturalistic, etc.

Stemberg Successful Intelligences

Classic intelligence measures only academic stress

Analytical Intelligence

Measured by ability to solve problems with one right answer

Creative Intelligence

Measured by ability to react to adaptively in new situations or generate new ideas

Practical Intelligence

Measured by ability to successfully complete everyday tasks

Intelligence Tests

Designed to measure mental ability and compare ability among individuals

Binet

Test for French children to enhance education

Terman

Asses “vocational fitness” (supported eugenics - white are smarter than black)

Aptitude

How well you can learn a new skill or do something specific (SAT and ACT)

Achievement

How well you know a specific set of material (exams in this class)

Test Construction - Standard

Measuring the scores on a test for a specific group of people (allows comparison to a normal curve)

Test Construction - Reliability

Scores on a test are generally consistent

Test Retest Reliability

Give the same test multiple times and compare scores

Test Construction - Validity

Making sure a test measures/predicts what it is supposed to measure/predict

Content Validity

Assessing a specific behavior or ability (driving test on your knowledge of driving)

Memory

The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieved information

Part of Memory - Encoding

Processing information into memory

Part of Memory - Storage

Retaining encoded information over time

Part of Memory - Retrieval

Getting information out of memory storage

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of information

Automatic Processing - Space

Location where information appears

Automatic Processing - Time

Sequence of events

Automatic Processing - Frequency

Number of times something happens

Effortful Processing

Encoding involving conscious effort

Effortful Processing - Rehearsal

Conscious repetition of information

Effortful Processing - Spacing Effect

Distributing practice leads to better retention

Visual Encoding

Encoding of information via pictures

Acoustic Encoding

Encoding of information via sounds

Semantic Encoding

Encoding of information via meaning (usually leads to the most recall and recognition)

Self Reference Effect

Recall better when information means something to the self

Mnemonic devices

Memory Aids - first letter acronyms (ex: PEMDAS)

Mnemonic Devices - Substitution

Changes numbers for letters (ex: 1-800-safeauto)

Mnemonic Devices - Chunking

Organization of information into meaningful parts

Sensory Memory Storage and Working Memory Storage

Limited storages

Sensory Memory Storage - Iconic

Very brief memory for things that we see (goes away quickly)

Sensory Memory Storage - Echoic

Very brief memory for things we hear

Working Memory Storage

Better able to recall numbers than letters

Magic Number Seven

The average amount of information a person can retain (+ / - 2)

Rajan Mahadevan

Number memory; in 1981 recited 31,811 digits of Pi in under 4 hours

Long Term Potentiation

Increased ability to engage after stimulation

Flashbulb Memories

Short term stress hormones or significant emotional events increase memory

Memory Retrieval - Cues

Often from priming, or the activation of pathways of memories

Memory Retrieval - Expertise

Experts recall information more quickly

Memory Retrieval - Serial Position Effect

Memory of first and last items in a list is superior

Memory Retrieval - Context

Better able to recall something in the same context (can lead to a sense of deja vu)

Memory Retrieval - Mood Effects

Memory is mood congruent (sad mood leads to sad memories and happy mood leads to happy memories)

Absent Mindedness

inattention to details means encoding failure

Transcience

Storage decay over time (we forget rapidly then we forget levels off)

Inference

Inability to access information (retrieval failure)

P in P0RN

Proactive interference - forward acting (remember old information)

O in P0RN

Old interference - something you learn first gets in the way of remembering something you learn later

R in P0RN

Retroactive interference - backwards acting

N in P0RN

New interference - something you learn later gets in the way if remembering something you learned first

Distortion - Misattribution

Confusing the source of information

Source Amnesia

Forgetting (or misremembering) the source of memory (dreams can become “real memories or Friend A said something that Friend B actually said)

Distortion - Suggestibility

Lingering effects of misinformation (we do not store exactly what we see/leading questions can affect us)

Distortion - Misinformation Affect

incorporating false information into our memories (imagining events can make them feel real)

Eyewitness Testimony

Can be affected by types of questioning

Bias

Memories are colored by our beliefs (people assume that their former selves are more similar to their current selves than they actually are)

Persistence

Unwanted memories (stronger emotional events lead to stronger memories)

Cognition

All mental activities associated with processing, remembering, understanding, and communicating

Problem Solving Strategies - Insight

A sudden realization

Problem Solving Strategies - Algorithm

A logical, methodological rule or procedure (slow but accurate)

Problem Solving Strategies - Heuristic

A simple thinking strategy to make judgements (fast but can be error prone)

Base Rate Information

Probability of a particular occurrence

Correct Assessment

Correctly inferring that a uniformed person is a police officer (This is an example of what?)

Concepts

Mental groups of similar objects

Correct Assessment

Assuming a building is a restaurant since people are sitting looking at menus (What is this an example of?)

Problem Solving Struggles - Confirmation Bias

Tendency to search for information that confirms our ideas

Problem Solving Struggles - Fixation

Inability to see a problem from a new perspective

Fixation - Mental Set

Approaching a problem from a way that has been successful in the past

Functional Fixedness

Thinking of things only in their usual functions