Cognitive Psychology Exam 2 Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, theories, and key studies from Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the Cognitive Psychology Exam 2 Study Guide.

Sensory Memory

The initial memory stage in the modal model that holds all incoming information for seconds or fractions of a second, retaining the effects of sensory stimulation before information decays very quickly.

Persistence of Vision

The continued retention of the perception of light, demonstrated by the trail of light from a moving sparkler or the continuous motion seen in film frames.

Iconic Memory

Brief sensory memory of visual stimuli (the things that we see).

Echoic Memory

Brief sensory memory of auditory stimuli (the things that we hear).

Short-Term Memory (STM)

A memory system that holds five to seven items for approximately 15 to 20 seconds.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

A memory system capable of holding a large amount of information for years or even decades, with unlimited capacity and duration as far as we know.

Control Processes

Active processes in the modal model that can be consciously controlled by a person, such as rehearsal, strategies to make a stimulus more memorable, and attentional strategies to focus on specific stimuli.

Working Memory

An active multi-component memory system (consisting of the central executive, visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, and episodic buffer), contrasting with the passive storage nature of modal short-term memory.

Central Executive

A major component of Baddeley's revised working memory model that coordinates and oversees the activities of the other working memory components.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

A component of Baddeley's revised working memory model that handles and stores visual and spatial information.

Phonological Loop

A component of Baddeley's revised working memory model that handles verbal and auditory information.

Episodic Buffer

A component added to Baddeley's revised working memory model that integrates information from the visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, and long-term memory.

Sperling (1960)

An experiment that investigated the capacity and duration of sensory memory using whole report, partial report, and delayed partial report procedures.

Peterson and Peterson (1959)

A study demonstrating that the duration of short-term memory is approximately 15 to 20 seconds when rehearsal is prevented.

Miller (1956)

A study establishing the capacity of short-term memory as the magic number $7 \times 10^0 \text{ plus or minus } 2$.

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to create new explicit long-term memories.

Retrograde Amnesia

The inability to access old, previously established explicit long-term memories.

Primacy Effect

Superior memory performance for items presented at the beginning of a list, which is supported by long-term memory.

Recency Effect

Superior memory performance for items presented at the end of a list, which is supported by short-term memory.

Explicit Memory

Conscious long-term memory that is subdivided into episodic memory and semantic memory.

Implicit Memory

Non-conscious long-term memory that includes procedural memory, conditioning, and priming.

Levels of Processing

Craik and Tulving's framework showing that deeper processing, which involves paying more attention to meaning, results in superior memory encoding.

Self-Reference Effect

An encoding factor where memory retention is enhanced by relating newly learned information to oneself.

Generation Effect

An encoding factor where generating information actively, rather than passively receiving it, produces better memory.

Bransford and Johnson (1972)

An experiment demonstrating the essential role of having an organizational context prior to reading or learning to aid comprehension and memory.

Encoding Specificity

The principle that information is learned together with its context, demonstrated by Baddeley's (1975) diving study.

State-Dependent Learning

The principle that matching internal physical or mental conditions between learning and test produces optimal memory retrieval.

Transfer-Appropriate Processing

The principle that matching the specific type of task performed during learning and test yields the best memory performance.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

Hebb's neural mechanism for learning and memory summarized by the concept that 'cells that fire together, wire together.'

Consolidation Models (Standard vs. Multiple Trace)

Two models of memory consolidation that differ regarding whether the hippocampus remains actively involved over time in the retrieval of remote memories.

Reconsolidation

The process by which retrieved memories become fragile and must be consolidated again, investigated in studies involving rats and PTSD patients.

Autobiographical Memory

Memory for personal life experiences, uniquely distinguished by mental time travel, spatial, sensory, and self-image characteristics.

Cabeza et al. (2004)

A neuroimaging study demonstrating distinct patterns of brain activation when participants viewed their own photos compared to laboratory photos.

Reminiscence Bump

Enhanced memory for life events occurring during adolescence and early adulthood (between ages 10 and 30), explained by self-image, cognitive, and cultural life script hypotheses.

Narrative Rehearsal Hypothesis

An explanation for flashbulb memories proposing that repeated retelling or rehearsal after an emotional event shapes and maintains the memory.

War of the Ghosts Demonstration

A repeated recall experiment showing that over time, recalled stories lose specific information, gain additions, and are modified to align with the teller's own cultural background.

Source Monitoring Errors

Mistakes regarding the origin of a memory, as demonstrated by Jacoby et al. (1989) in the 'Becoming Famous Overnight' experiment after a 24-hour delay.

Misinformation Effect

The phenomenon where post-event misleading information distorts an eyewitness's original memory, as demonstrated by Loftus and Palmer (1974) and Loftus et al. (1978).