Knowt
Note
Studied by 11 peopleNoteStudied by 52 peopleNoteStudied by 48 peopleNoteStudied by 7 peopleNoteStudied by 10 peopleNoteStudied by 153 people
AP Psychology: Language and Memory
Memory
Intro To Memory
What is memory?
The process that allows us to record, store, and later retrieve experiences and information
Key Steps:
1. Encoding:
Getting information into the system by translating it into a neural code that your brain processes
2. Storage:
Retaining information over time.
3. Retrieval:
Accessing Stored Information
Eat Shreaded Rats
Three Stage Model
Stage 1: Sensory Memory
Briefly holds incoming sensory information
Information is held in different sensory registers for different senses.
Vision = Iconic Store (fractions of second)
Hearing = Echoic Store (Several Seconds)
Vision is proceeded in a different place than smelling, smelling is processed in a different place than etc..
Through selective attention, some information moves to stage 2
The key is attention
Stage 2: Short Term/Working
There is a limit of time and space in short term memory (Quick Test)
Time = If I tell you to remember something, and you don’t think about it for a long time, it will vanish or move to long-term
Avg: 20 seconds
Space = How many things can live there
Avg: = 7 tings
Stage 3: Long Term
Our vast library of more durable stored memories
Storage capacity is essentially unlimited in terms of both time and space
Serial Position Effect
If you’re remembering a list of items, you are most likely to forget the items in the middle
Primacy Effect
You remember terms at the beginning of the list better
Recency Effect
You remember terms at the end of the list better
Encoding Memories
2 Basic “Umbrella” types of processing
Effortful Processing - Encoding that is initiated intentially
Things you need to try to remember and learn
Ex: Studying for a test
Automatic Processing - Encoding that occurs without trying
Things that you now or learn without trying
Forgetting and other Memory Problems
Why do we Forget
One simple answer is that we fail to encode data into long term memory
The memory doesn’t make it to long term memory.
Reasons:
Information not processed deeply enough
Attention shifts before encoding occurs
Attention is pivotal to remembering things. If your attention shifts to sometihng else during your interaction with that information, it will make it very hard for us to remember it.
Decay Theory:
Debated and discounted by many
They believed that actual neural memory trace will decay over time
Repression: Made by Sigmund Freud
If you have faced traumatic experiences, your brain will lock it up and forget.
We block conscious retrieval of anxiety arousing memories.
Highly Debated as Well
Interference Theory:
Sometimes there are questions and things that trigger memories.
We forget items as other long term memories impair retrieval
Other memories are getting in the way.
Interfearance can occur as new information disrupts the encoding of previous information
Proactive interference:
My previous learning blocks my new learning. (Pro = Old block new, you’re a pro at this.)
Retroactive interference
Retro = can’t go back (We can’t get to the retro, the old stuff = Retro)
Interference can occur as different memories are associated with similar retrieval cues.
Tip-of-the Tounge State
You know that you know the information, but you cannot recall
Fruedian Slip
Unintentional error revealing unconcious beliefs
Manage says :I’d love to take you on a date but meant to say I’d love to take you out for lunch
Amnesia
2 Main Types:
Retrograde:
Can’t Go Back
I can’t remember what happened before the onset of amnesia
Anterograde:
Forgetting of events that occur after the onset of amnesia
Can’t make new memories
Dementia
A general term that refers to memory impairment and loss of cognitive function that results from brain degeneration
Dementia is a category, not a specific diagnosis. There are many forms of dementia. When we use this term it refers to memory impairment. Specifically referring to brain degeneration.
Can result from a number of causes, and has many types - most of which result from aging
The most common form of dementia in the U.S. is Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease
Symptoms:
Forgetfullness, poor judgement, confusion, disorientation
Symptoms continually worsen over time until death
In the brain:
The disease occurs as “plaques” and “tangles” appear in the brain
The dendrites and the neurons start tangling.
Plaques
Clumps of protein that build up around neurons
Tangles
Fibers within neuron become tangled and twisted together
Causes
Early Onset AD seems to have a genetic component but is not fully understood
Scientists have isolated a gene called ApoE that is a major irsk factor for the mroe typical late-onset AD
Misinformaiton Effects
What is the misinformaiton effect?
Human memory is susceptible to alteration.
Hearing Others discuss memories of an event can distort our memory of the event.
People can lead and manipulated towards this
Source Confusion/ Source Amnesisa
When we have a memory of something, but don’t correctly remember some aspects of when, where, or how we encountered it.
Ex: If we’ve seen a guy at a park, and a thief stealing a bag, we might connect the guy as the thief evne though it is wrong.
Context, State, Mood
Retrival of memories can sometimes be enhanced by matchign internal and environment conditions with those in place during encoding
Encoding Specificity Principle:
Memory is enhanced when conditions present during retrieval match those that were present during encoding
Context Dependent Memory
It is easier to remember something in the same environment in which it was originally encoded
Visiting someplace from your past
Policce bringing a victim back to the scene of a crime
Tracing your steps
State-Dependent Memory
Retrieval abilities are enhanced when your internal states at the time of retrieval match our internal states during learning
Reading a book while on an exercise bike = Better recall when exercising
State = Inside, Context = Outside
Mood - Congruent Recall
We generally recall memories that are congruent with our current mood
Happy moods make us remember other positive memories, sad moods make us remember negative things
Language and Memory
Thinking
How we solve problems, analyze situations and information, and make sense of the world around us
Important Terms
Concept
A mental grouping of related items
Prototype
The most typical and familiar members of a category or class
Ex: If someone talks about a dog, and you have a dog, you probably think about that first. That’s your prototype.
Convergent Thinking:
Seeking a single correct answer
How to Remember
Converge = Close in on a single answer
We want to funnel our entire thinking on one answer
Ex: 2+2 = 4
There is only one answer
Divergent Thinking:
Seeking as many plausible answers as possible (Creative thinking)
Ex: You’re in charge of executing the party. They just need a creative desert.
There are many options: cupcakes, brownies, cake, etc.
Belief Bias
A tendancy to abandon logical rules in favor of our beliefs
This is conversational.
Confirmation Bias
Tendancy to look for evidence that confirms beliefs rather than evidence that disconfirms beliefs
Trying to research results that prove your belief.
Over-Confidence
A tendency to overestimate your correctness
Our brain sometimes creates something to fullfill that overconfidence
Functional Fixedness (Fixation)
Being so fixed in thought on the function or procedure of an object that you are blind to alternatives (other ways to use something)
We can’t find other way to use something or other solutions.
Ex: you can’t open a can, but you don’t have a can opener, so you just never open the can.
Solving Problems
Algorithms and Heuristics
Algorithms
Formulas or precise sequences of procedures that automatically generate solutions
Ex: Recipe, Precise steps, math steps, etc.
Every time you do what you are supposed to, you arrive at the exact same solution.
Ex: If you make the cake mix, put it in a pan and into the oven, you don’t get a roasted chicken in the oven.
Heuristics
General problem solving strategies, like rules of thumb, that we apply to certain classes of situations
They give us a an answer, most times a flawed or incorrect answer.
Representative Heuristsics
Using prototypes to make judgements about the probability of outcomes
Using past experiences to evaluate current situations and problems
Quck and easy, often flawed
They exist because your brain needs a very quick way to arrive at an answer. We’re trying to decide if we like or not like something.
Ex: Your wife finds out there’s a new beach and everybody is going there. You need to very quickly answer. You have a prototype beach picture in your head and you hate the sand, water, etc. Therefore, you answer no.
Ex: You are in a wild. You hear a creature and its a large cat with black and orange tiger. You’ve never experienced seeing a tiger before, but you know that it’s probs going to eat you and kill you. That’s why you run away.
Availability Heuristic
People base judgement sand decisions based on how easily information is available in memory
Ex: You are scared of planes because you remember seeing airplanes crash down on the news and movies of planes that burn.
How common/likely is an event?
Ex: People who drive red cars get pulled over more
You believe it instantly beecause your friend Jimm drives a red car and gets pulled over a lot)
Superstitions
Helps explain superstitions
Ex: you don’t wash your clothes before your games becaues the last time you washed your clothes before your game you lost.
Reasoning
An aspect of intelligent thinking that allows us acquire knowledge and sovle problems
2 types, deductive and inductive
Deductive Reasoning
Top Down - From general princples that are held to be true to a specific instance
Is Mr. Scott mortal?
IF all humans are mortal, and If mr Scott a human, then Mr. Scott MUST be mortal.
Inductive Reasoning
Specific facts working up to a general principle
Kind of like a detective gathering clues to solve a murder
Ex: If you mruder a racoon, and it dies, it must be mortal.
Ex: If the killer used left hand scissors, it must be left handed, and it left A type blood, meaning that the killer is A-type.
Language and Memory
Language
A system of symbols and rules for combining those symbols in ways that generate an infinite number of possible messages and meanings
Language Keys
Phonemes
The smallest unit of speech sound in a language that can signal a difference in meaning
Ex: The English Alphabet
A sound that can be made
Have no meaning themselves, but can alter meanings when combined
Morphemes
Smallest units of meaning in a language
Ex: Bag
All languages have differing numbers of used phonemes and morphemes
Syntax
The Rules that govern the order of words
Ex: Adjective before Noun
Semantics
The actual meaning of words and sentences
Other Terms
Parallel Processing
Processing many aspects of the problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information for many functions
What role does the hippocampus play in the creation of explicit memories?
It acts as a save button for the memories. Damage to the hippocampus can disrupt formation and recall of explicit memories
Memory Consolidation
The neural storage of a long term memory
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory
Priming
the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations
Ex: After hearing or seeing the word rabbit, we are more likely to spell the spoken word hair/hare as hare, even if we don’t recall hearing or seeing rabbit
Reconsolidation
a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again
Framing
how an issue is worded can significantly affect decisions and judgments
Babbling Stage
beginning around 4 months, the stage of speech development in which an 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 in two-word statements
Aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)
Broca’s Area
Speaking!
Wernicke’s Area
Understanding the Language
Linguistic Determinism
Our language CONTROLS the way we think
Linguistic Influence
Our language affects the way we think
Miller’s “magical number seven, plus or minus two” refers to
The capacity of our short term memory
Long-term potentiation (LTP) is best described as follows:
These synaptic changes allow for more efficient transfer of information.
Here are the flashcards based on your request:
The basketball players could remember the main points of their coach’s halftime talk, but not her exact words. This is because they encoded the information
Answer: Semantically
When someone provides his phone number to another person, he usually pauses after the area code and again after the next three numbers. This pattern underscores the importance of which memory principle?
Answer: Chunking
Research on the role of the amygdala in memory has found that
Answer: The amygdala helps make sure we remember events that trigger strong emotional responses.
Hermann Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve shows that
Answer: We forget more rapidly as time passes.
When asked to think of a “desk,” many students think of the desks in their classroom rather than a large desk used by an executive. This illustrates that their school desks have formed their ________ of a desk.
Answer: Prototype
People are more concerned about a medical procedure when told it has a 10 percent death rate than they are when told it has a 90 percent survival rate. Which psychological concept explains this difference in concern?
Answer: Framing
Memory aids that involve the use of vivid imagery and clever ways of organizing material are called
Answer: Mnemonic Devices
In the words “slightly,” “happily,” and “quickly,” the “ly” ending is a(n)
Answer: Morpheme
Your ability to immediately recognize the voice over the phone as your mother's illustrates the value of
Answer: Acoustic Encoding
Upon seeing the tear in my new pants, I shed a tear. The fact that you can recognize two different meanings for the word “tear” in the preceding sentence demonstrates the importance of
Answer: Semantics
The inability to remember how Lincoln's head appears on a penny is most likely due to a failure in
Answer: Encoding
The value of generating positive first impressions in your initial interactions with a new employer in order to create a lasting positive impression is best underscored by the research on
Answer: Belief Perseverance
The finding that people who sleep after learning a list of nonsense syllables forget less than people who stay awake provides evidence that forgetting may involve
Answer: Interference
Visually associating five items needed from the grocery store with mental images of a bun, a shoe, a tree, a door, and a hive best illustrates the use of
Answer: Peg-word system
Dr. Bright's patient was complaining of feeling worthless, lethargic, and uninterested in typically enjoyable activities. Dr. Bright's potential misdiagnosis is likely due to which of the following?
Answer: Representative Heuristic
When someone provides his phone number to another person, he usually pauses after the area code and again after the next three numbers. This pattern underscores the importance of which memory principle?
Chunking
Research on the role of the amygdala in memory has found that
the amygdala help make sure we remember events that trigger strong emotional responses.
Hermann Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve shows that
we forget more rapidly as time passes.
When asked to think of a “desk,” many students think of the desks in their classroom rather than a large desk used by an executive. This illustrates that their school desks have formed their ________ of a desk.
Prototype
People are more concerned about a medical procedure when told it has a 10 percent death rate than they are when told it has a 90 percent survival rate. Which psychological concept explains this difference in concern?
Framing
Memory aids that involve the use of vivid imagery and clever ways of organizing material are called
Mnenomic Devices
In the words “slightly,” “happily,” and “quickly,” the “ly” ending is a(n)
Morpheme
Your ability to immediately recognize the voice over the phone as your mother's illustrates the value of
Acoustic Encoding
Upon seeing the tear in my new pants, I shed a tear. The fact that you can recognize two different meanings for the word “tear” in the preceding sentence demonstrates the importance of
Semantics
The inability to remember how Lincoln's head appears on a penny is most likely due to a failure in
Encoding
The value of generating positive first impressions in your initial interactions with a new employer in order to create create a lasting positive impression is best underscored by the research on
Belief Perseverance
The finding that people who sleep after learning a list of nonsense syllables forget less than people who stay awake provides evidence that forgetting may involve
Interferance
Visually associating five items needed from the grocery store with mental images of a bun, a shoe, a tree, a door, and a hive best illustrates the use of
Peg-word system
Dr. Bright's patient was complaining of feeling worthless, lethargic, and uninterested in typically enjoyable activities. Dr. Bright simply matched those few symptoms with the textbook definition of depression and diagnosed the patient as depressed. However, her diagnosis may be incorrect as she may be ignoring other pertinent information. Dr. Bright's potential misdiagnosis is likely due to which of the following?
Representative Heuristic
NoteStudied by 11 peopleNoteStudied by 52 peopleNoteStudied by 48 peopleNoteStudied by 7 peopleNoteStudied by 10 peopleNoteStudied by 153 people