recall
measure of memory where person must retrieve info learned earlier with no retrieval cue (ex. president list, fill in the blank quiz)
recognition
measure of memory where person only needs to identify items previously learned with retrieval cues (ex. snow white dwarfs with list)
relearning
measure of memory that assesses amount of time saved when learning material again (ex. studying for final exam)
encoding
processing info into memory system, get info (ex. extracting meaning)
storage
process of retaining encoded info overtime
retrieval
process of getting info out of memory storage
Info-processing model/Multi store model
made by Atkinson and Shiffrin, believes brain is like a computer, process of encoding, storage, and retrieval
parallel processing
processing many aspects of problem simultaneously
connectionism/levels of processing model
info processing model by Alan Baddely, views memory as products of interconnected neural networks, specific memories arise from particular activation pattern in network, focus on parallel processing, memories based on how important info is
sensory memory
immediate very brief recording of sensory info in memory system (MSM)
short term memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly (MSM) (ex. phone number)
long term memory
relatively permanent and limitless store-house of memory system, includes knowledge, skills, experiences (MSM and LOP)
working memory
newer understanding of short term memory focus on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory/visual spacial info and info retrieved from long term memory (LOP)
central executive
responsible for focused processing/attention (LOP)
effortful processing
encoding requires attention and conscious effort, explicit memories
explicit memories (declarative processing)
memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare, follows bottom track through short term memory to long term, in hippocampus (MSM) (ex. “what’s your favorite color”)
automatic processing
unconscious encoding of incidental info directly into storage, top track (MSM) (ex. space, time, frequency, word meanings)
implicit memories (non-declarative memories)
retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection, can be automatic or bottom track, in cerebellum (MSM) (ex. how to drive a car)
procedural memory
automatic skills, implicit memory (ex. how to drive a car)
association
classical conditioning, implicit memory
iconic memory
momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, photographic memory lasting no more than few-tenths of a sec, George Spirling, sensory memory
echoic memory
momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can be recalled within 3/4 secs, sensory memory (ex. ask “what” then respond to question)
George Miller
store about 7 +/-2 bits of info in short term memory
chunking
organize items into familiar, manageable units often automatically (ex. memorizing 43 letters as 7 words)
mnemonics
memory aids using imagery and organizational devices (ex. acronyms, PEMDAS)
peg-word system
mnemonic using jingle (ex. one is a bun, two is a shoe, three is a tree, etc)
hierarchies
process info in ordering a few broad concepts divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts, used to gain expertise (ex. chapters in textbook divided into subchapters)
spacing effect
tendency for distributed study or practice to build better long term retention than achieved through mass study or practice (ex. studying over long time)
massed practice
cramming, produce speedy short term learning and confidence, forget faster
distributed practice
spread review time to remember better
Hermann Ebbinghaus
spacing effect, retention curve for relearning and memory retention
testing effect (retrievable practice effect/test enhanced learning)
enhanced memory after retrieving rather than rereading info, testing improves learning, Roediger and Jefferly Karpiche
shallow processing
encoding on basic level based on structure or appearance of words (LOP)
structural processing
recognize structure of word (ex. recognizing name) (LOP)
phonemic processing
recognizing the sound of a word (ex. knowing someone's name rhymes with something) (LOP)
semantic processing
recognize a word and know the meaning (ex. knowing name of person) (LOP)
deep processing
encoding semantically based on meaning of words, yields best retention (LOP)
William Brener
minds fill in the image like screen director filling in script (ex. threw rock through window vs threw rock at window)
frontal lobe
working memory processing
hippocampus
“save button” for explicit memory (ex. names, images, events)
memory consolidation
neural storage of long term memory, hippocampus acts as “loading dock”, registers and temporarily holds element of remembered episode (smell, feel, sound, location), memory shifts to storage
cerebellum
forming and storing implicit memories from classical conditioning
basal ganglia
formation of procedural skill memories
infantile amnesia
conscious memory of first three years is blank, index explicit using words children haven’t learned, hippocampus is the last structure to mature
amygdala
stress hormones focus memory, strong emotional events cause strong vivid memory (ex. shooting, rape, etc)
flashbulb memory
clear memory of emotionally significant moment/event
long-term potentiation
increase in cell firing potential after brief rapid stimulation, neural basis for learning and memory, rapid stimulating certain memory circuit connections increased sensitivity for hours/weeks, less prompting to release neurotransmitter
retrieval cue
encode info memory target piece of info, associate with other bits of info, retrieving memory like storage by web of associations, interconnected, more retrieval cues, better chance of finding memory (ex. name of person, sights, smells)
priming
unconscious activation of particular associations in memory (ex. “rabbit” predisposes you to thing “hare”)
encoding specificity principle
cues and contexts specific to particular memory must be effective in helping recall it, memory depends on context (ex. remember an event in a specific location)
state-dependent memory
what is learned in one state (drunk or sober) is recalled when back in that state
mood congruent
tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with ones current good/bad mood, emotions associate with good/bad events become retrieval cues
serial position effect
tendency to recall best the first + last items in a list (ex. remember first and last couple presidents)
recency effect
recall last items, still in working memory
primacy effect
recall first items, rehearse first items more than last
anterograde amnesia
inability to form new memories, can remember past
retrograde amnesia
inability to retrieve info from past
encoding failure
don’t notice and fail to encode don’t make it to long term memory and forget, slower encoding when older, forget easier
storage decay
forget even if encoded well, forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off with time (ex. people taking high school spanish forget a lot after, but what they remember they remember after
retrieval failure
forget from not being able to retrieve from long term (ex. “on the tip of my tongue")
proactive interference
forward acting disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new info, (ex. using an old combination on a new lock with a different combo)
retroactive interference
backward acting disruptive effect of new learning on recall of old info (ex. sing new lyrics to old song, forget old lyrics)
repression
psychoanalytic theory basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, memories, can be brought back through retrieval cue/therapy, today psychologists believe repression doesn’t happen often (Sigmund Freud)
reconsolidation
process in which previously stored memories when retrieved are potentially altered before stored again
misinformation effect
misleading info corrupts memory of event, feel confident and misremember
source amnesia (source misattribution)
attributing to the wrong source an event that was experienced, heard about, read, imagined (ex. Piaget thought nursemaid thwarted kidnapping from story)
déjà vu
sense of “I’ve experienced this before”, cues from current situation unconsciously trigger retrieval of earlier experience
cognition
mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, communicating
concept
mental grouping similar objects, events, ideas, people, simplifying thinking (ex. concept “chair” means high chair, recliner chair, dentist chair, etc)
prototypes
mental image or best example of category, match new items to prototype provide quick easy method for sorting items into categories (ex. a robin is more like a bird than a penguin because it fits better into bird prototype)
algorithm
methodical, logical rule/procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem, always arrives at answer, slower (ex. guess and check)
heuristic
simple thinking strategy that allows the making of judgement and solve problems efficiently, faster but more accident prone (ex. solve word scramble by grouping common letters together)
insight
sudden realization of problems solution, no method, “aha moment”
confirmation bias
tendency to search for info that supports preconceptions and ignore/distort contradictory evidence, rather be right than correct (ex. believing vaccines cause autism)
mental set
tendency to approach problem in one particular way often one successful in the past, predisposing how we think (ex. pushing pull door because you are used to pushing doors open)
fixation
mental set preventing one from taking a fresh perspective (ex. writers block)
intuition
effortless, immediate feeling or thought, contrasted with explicit conscious reasoning
availability heuristic
estimating likelihood of events based on their availability in memory, if instance comes to mind vividly, more likely to presume common (ex. saw on social media, believed it was real) (Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman)
overconfidence
tendency to be more confident than correct, overestimate accuracy of beliefs and judgements
belief perseverance
clinging to ones initial conceptions after basis on which they were formed has been discredited
framing
the way as issue is posed, can significantly affect decisions and judgments (ex. 10% people die vs 90% people survive)
creativity
ability to produce new and valuable ideas (ex. solution to Fermats last theorem)
aptitude
ability to learn
convergent thinking
narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution, intelligence tests tests this ability
divergent thinking
expanding the number of possible problem solutions, creative thinking that diverges in different directions, creativity tests tests this
imaginative thinking skills
provide ability to see things in novel ways, recognize patterns, make connections, after mastering problems basic elements, explore in new ways (ex. Copernicus mastered solar system and planets, then discovered planets went around the sun)
Wolfgang Kohler
believed humans aren’t the only creatures to display insight, a chimp stopped, surveyed scene, then figured out a way to solve its issue
language
spoken, written, signed words and ways we combine them to communicate meaning, info moving from one brain to another, comprehend what never saw or what distant ancestors never knew
phonemes
in language, smallest distinctive sound unit (ex. that=th + a + t)
morphemes
in language, smallest unit carrying meaning, may be part of a word (ex. bat, pre-, -ed)
grammar
system of rules that enables communication with understanding others
semantics
set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds
syntax
set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences
receptive language
ability to understand what is said, infants develop language comprehension faster than language production, recognize sounds and words, can lip read
productive language
ability to produce words, recognize noun-verb differences
babbling stage
beginning at about 4 months, stage of speech development where infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to household language, consonant-vowel pair, 10 months they start to imitate, lose ability to hear/produce sound outside native language if don’t hear (ex. da-da, ma-ma)
one-word stage
age 1-2, stage in speech development child mostly speaks in single words (ex. “doggy” means look at dog
two-word stage
about age 2, stage in speech development child speaks in mostly two-word sentences (ex “want juice”)
telegraphic speech
early speech stage in which child speaks like telegram, mostly nouns and verbs, follow syntax, adjectives before words (ex. “go car”)
universal grammar
all languages share basic elements, all have nouns, verbs, adjectives, humans predisposed to learn grammar rules (Noam Chomsky)