ap psychology unit 5

hippocampus - neural center located in limbic system - helps process explicit memories for storage

cerebellum and basal ganglia are parts of the brain network dedicated to implicit memory formation

cerebellum is important for storing classically conditioned memories

basal ganglia are involved in motor movement and help form procedural memories for skills

many reactions and skills learned during our first three years contribute into our adult lives but we cannot consciously remember learning these associations and skills, a phenomenon called infantile amnesia

emotional arousal causes an outpouring of stress hormones which leads to activity in brains memory forming areas. significantly stressful events trigger very clear flashbulb memories

long term potentiation appears to be the neural basis for learning and memory. in ltp, neurons become more efficient at releasing and sensing the presence of neurotransmitters and more connections develop between neurons

evidence of memory may be seen in an ability to recall info, recognize it, or relearn it more easily on a later attempt

external cues activate associations that help up retrieve memories: this process may occur without our awareness as it does in priming

returning to the same physical context or emotional state (mood congruecy) in which we formed a memory can help us retrieve it

the series position effect accounts fir our tendency to recall the last items (still in working memory) and the first items (which we’ve spent more times rehearsing) in a list

anterograde amnesia- inability to form new memories

retrograde amnesia- inability to retrieve old memories

normal forgetting happens because we never encoded info, because the physical trace has decayed or because we cannot retrieve what we have encoded and stored

retrieval problems may result from proactive (forward acting) interference as prior learning interferes with recall of new into, or from retroactive (backward acting) inference as new learning disrupts recall of old info

some believe that motivated forgetting occurs but researchers have found little evidence of repression

in experiments demonstrating the misinformation effect, people have formed false memories, by incorporating misleading details either after receiving wring info after an event or after repeatedly imagining and rehearsing something that never happened

when we reassemble a memory during retrieval we may attribute it to the wrong source, source amnesia may explain deja vu

false memories feel like real memories and can be persistent but are usually limited to the gist of the event

children are susceptible to the misinfo effect but if questioned in neutral words they understand they can accurately recall events and people involved in them

the debate (between memory research and well meaning therapists) focuses on whether most memories of early childhood abuse are repressed and can be recovered during therapy using “memory work” techniques using leading questions or hypnosis

psychologists now agree that 1) sexual abuse happens, 2) injustice happens, 3) forgetting happens, 4) texovered memories are commonplace, memories of things that happened before age 3 are unreliable, memories “recovered” under hypnosis or the influence if drugs are especially unreliable and memories, whether real or false, can be emotionally upsetting

memory research findings suggest the following strategies for improving memory : study repeatedly, make material meaningful, activate retrieval cues. use mnemonic devices, minimize interference, sleep more, and test urself to be sure u can retrieve, as well as recognize materials

cognition refers to all mental activities associated with thinking knowing, remembering, and communicating

we use concepts, mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people, to simplify and order the world around us

we form the most concepts around prototypes or best examples of a category

creativity us the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas, correlates somewhat with intelligence but beyond an intelligence score of 120, that correlation dwindles

sternberg has proposed that creativity has 5 components; expertise, imaginative thinking skills, a venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and a creative environment that sparks supports and refines creative ideas

an algorithm is a methodical logical rule or procedure (for example: a step by step description for evacuating a building during a fire) that guarantees a solution to a problem

a heuristic is a simpler strategy (such as running for an exit if u smell smoke) that is usually speedier than an algorithm but is also more error prone

insight is not a strategy based solution but rather a sudden flash of inspiration that solves a problem

obstacles to problem solving include confirmation bias, which predisposes us to verify rather than challenge our hypothesis, and fixation, such as mental set, which may prevent us from forming a fresh perspective that would lead to a solution

intuition is the effortless immediate automatic feeling or thoughts we often use instead of systematic reasoning

heuristics enable snap judgments. the representativeness heuristic leads us to judge the likelihood in things in terms if how they represent our prototype for a group of items. using the availability heuristic when judging the likelihood of things based on how readily they come to mind, which often lead us to fear the wrong things

overconfidence can lead us to overestimate the accuracy of our belief when a belief we have formed and explained has been discredited, belief perseverance may cause us to cling to that belief. a remedy for this is to consider how we might have explained an opposite result

framing is the way a question or statement is worded. subtle wording differences can dramatically alter our responses

smart thinkers welcome their intuitions (which r usually adaptive) but when making complex decisions they gather as much information as possible and then take time to let their two track mind process all available info

as people gain expertise they grow adept at making quick shrewd judgments

phonemes are a languages basic units of sound

morphemes are the elementary units of meaning

grammar the system of rules that enables us to communicate includes semantics (rules for deriving meaning and syntax (rules for ordering words into sentences )

language developments timing varies but all children follow the same sequence

receptive language (the ability to understand what is being said to or about u) develops before productive language (the ability to produce words)

at about four months of age, infants babble making sounds found in languages all over the world

by ten months their babbling contains only the sounds found in their household language

at around twelve months children begin to speak in single words. this 1 word stage evolves into two word (telegraphic) utterances before their second birthday, after which they begin in full sentences

linguist noam chomsky had proposed that all human languages share a universal grammar- basic building blocks of language- and that humans are born with a predisposition to learn language

we acquire specific language thru learning as our biology and experience interact

childhood is a critical period for learning to speak or sign fluently

two important language and speech processing areas are broca’s area, a region of the frontal lobe that controls language expression, and wernicke’s area, a region in the left temporal lobe that controls language reception and also assists with expression

language processing is spread across other brain areas as well, where different neutral networks handle specific linguistic subtasks

intelligence is a mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

an intelligence test aims to assess these qualities and compare them with those of others, using a numerical sore

charles spearman proposed that we have one general intelligence (g). he helped further develop factor analysis, a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related mental abilities

ll thurstone disagreed and identified seven different clusters of mental abilities. Yet a tendency remained for high scorers in one cluster to score high in other clusters.

Studies indicate that g scores are most predictive in novel situations and do not much correlate with skills in evolutionarily familiar situations.

Savant syndrome seems to support Howard Gardner's view that we have multiple intelligences. He proposed eight independent intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist.

Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory proposes three intelligence areas that predict real-world skills: analytical (academic problem solving), creative, and practical.

Emotional intelligence, which is an aspect of social intelligence, is the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.

Emotionally intelligent people achieve greater personal and professional success.

Some critics question whether calling these abilities "intelligence" stretches that concept too far.

In the late 1800s, Francis Galton, who believed that genius was inherited, attempted but failed to construct a simple intelligence test.

In France in 1904, Alfred Binet, who tended toward an environmental explanation of intelligence differences, started the modern intelligence-testing movement by developing questions to measure children's mental age and thus predict progress in the school system.

During the early twentieth century, Lewis Terman of Stanford University revised Binet's work for use in the United States.

Terman believed intelligence is inherited, and he thought his Stanford-Binet could help guide people toward appropriate opportunities.

During this period, intelligence tests were sometimes used to "document" scientists' assumptions about the innate inferiority of certain ethnic and immigrant groups.

Achievement tests are designed to assess what you have learned.

Aptitude tests are designed to predict what you can learn.

The WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale), an aptitude test, is the most widely used intelligence test for adults.

Standardization establishes a basis for meaningful score comparisons by giving a test to a representative sample of future test-takers.

The distribution of test scores often forms a normal (bell-shaped) curve around the central average score, with fewer and fewer scores at the extremes.

Reliability is the extent to which a test yields consistent results (on two halves of the test, or when people are retested).

Validity is the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

A test has content validity it it samples the pertinent: behavior (as a driving test measures driving ability.

It has predictive validity if it predicts a behavior it was designed to predict. (Aptitude tests have predictive ability if they can predict future achievements.)

Cross-sectional studies (comparing people of different ages) and longitudinal studies (retesting the same cohort over a period of years) have shown that fluid intelligence declines in older adults, in part because neural processing slows. Crystallized intelligence tends to increase.

The stability of intelligence test scores increases with age.

At age 4, scores fluctuate somewhat but begin to predict adolescent and adult scores.

By early adolescence, scores are very stable and predictive.

An intelligence test score of or below 70 is one diagnostic criterion for the diagnosis of intellectual disability (others are limited conceptual, social, and practical skills). People with this diagnosis vary from near-normal to requiring constant aid and supervision.

Down syndrome is a developmental disorder caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.

High-scoring people tend to be healthy and well-adjusted, as well as unusually successful academically.

Schools sometimes "track" such children, separating them from students with lower scores. Such programs can become self-fulfilling prophecies as both groups live up to—or down toothers perceptions and expectations.

Studies of twins, family members, and adoptees indicate a significant hereditary contribution to intelligence scores.

Intelligence seems to be polygenetic, and researchers are searching for genes that exert an influence.

Heritability is the proportion of variation among individuals that can be attributed to genes.

Studies of twins, family members, and adoptees also provide evidence of environmental influences.

Test scores of identical twins raised apart are slightly less similar (though still very highly correlated) than the scores of identical twins raised together.

Studies of children raised in extremely impoverished environments with minimal social interaction indicate that life experiences can significantly influence intelligence test performance.

No evidence supports the idea that normal, healthy children can be molded into geniuses by growing up in an exceptionally enriched environment.

Males and females tend to have the same average intelligence test scores. They differ in some specific abilities.

Girls are better spellers, more verbally fluent, better at locating objects, better at detecting emotions, and more sensitive to touch, taste, and color.

Boys outperform girls at spatial ability and related mathematics, though girls outperform boys in math computation. Boys also outnumber girls at the low and high extremes of mental abilities.

Psychologists debate evolutionary, brain-based, and cultural explanations of such gender differences.

Racial and ethnic groups differ in their average intelligence test scores.

The evidence suggests that environmental differences are largely, perhaps entirely, responsible for these group differences.

• Aptitude tests aim to predict how well a test-taker will perform in a given situation. So they are necessarily

"biased" in the sense that they are sensitive to performance differences caused by cultural experience.

By "inappropriately biased," psychologists mean that a test predicts less accurately for one group than for another.
In this sense, most experts consider the major aptitude tests unbiased.

Stereotype threat, a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype, affects performance on all kinds of tests.

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

spacing effect - tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long term retention than is achieved thru massed study or practice

reliability - the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on to halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting

validity - the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

overconfidence - the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

representative 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

retrograde amnesia - he inability to recall memories from before the onset of the amnesia. Patients can form new memories and store them properly but will not be able to remember experiences from before their amnesia event.

anterograde amnesia - cant form new memories

broca’s - controls language expression, creating language, directs muscle in speech production

ernickes - language reception and understanding

divergent thinking - obtaining one solution to a problem

convergent thinking - more often associated with creativity and creative thinking because it seeks to find several different solutions to the same problem

fluid intelligence - the ability to solve new problems, use logic in new situations, and identify patterns

infantile amnesia - the inability of adults to recollect early episodic memories, associated with the rapid forgetting that occurs in childhood, 0-3

recall - retrieving info that is not currently in your conscious awareness but was learned earlier; example is fill in the black test question

recognition - identifying items previously learning; example multiple choice questions tests your recognition

proactive interference - the disruptive effects of prior learning on the recall of new info

retroactive interference - the disruptive effect of new learning on old info

Ebbinghaus forgetting curve - this curve shows that you forget about 75% of the information you learn in one day (without relearning/rehearsing).

aptitude - test designed to predict a persons future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

achievement - test designed to assess what a person has learned

serial position effect - our tendency to recall best the last (a recovery effect) and first items (a primary effect) in a list

state dependent memory - what we learn in one state (drunk/sober); if learn something drunk, easier to remember it drunk. if we learn something sad, easier to remember again when sad.

mental set - a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

Flynn effect - worldwide phenomenon of test scores improving over time

Spearman’s “g” factor - a general intelligence factor that, according to spearman and others, underlines specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

priming - activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

fixation - an obsessive drive that may or may not be acted on involving an object, concept, or person; introduced by Freud’s psychosexual analytic perspective

or fixation - the inability to see things from another perspective, reluctance to let go of a belief even after it has been disproved

working memory - newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual spatial info, and of info retrieved from long-term memory

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

implicit memory - retention independent of conscious recollection (non-declarative memory)

linguistic determinism - the concept that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought, as well as thought processes such as categorization, memory, and perception.

critical period - early period during a childs life where it is easiest to learn languages; linguistically, children who learn new languages below the age of 8 tend to have a sharper learning curve and become more fluent in said languages later on

false memories - more prominent or easy to manipulate in children, can shape someone into believing that a false memory actually occurred by framing the question

emotional intelligence - the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and

Wechsler intelligence curve - 68% in the middle, 13.5% on the sides, 2%, then 0.1%

Howard Gardner - believed in multiple intelligences like computer coder, poet, basketball player, street smart adolescent turned executive

basal ganglia - motor movement and help from procedural memories for skills

amygdala - emotion-related memory formation; stress hormones will be released when something intensely emotional occurs, creating a snapshot memory in the brain and sharp recall of certain details surrounding the event, significant emotions lead to better retrieval of memories

cerebellum - important for storing classically conditioned memories

hippocampus - explicit memories for facts and episodes are processed in the hippocampus and fed to other brain regions for storage

short-term memory - memory that can hold only a small amount of info; can hold only a few items generally about seven

elaborative encoding - the process of actively relating new info or knowledge to something already in memory; when something new is associated with something meaningful or with an existing memory

hermann ebbinghaus studied memory by memorizing nonsense syllables and seeing how many he could remember

information that is personally relevant is more easily remembered than personally irrelevant info

maintenance rehearsal - simple thinking of words over and over again, involves the repitition of info in its original, unaltered form (not reliably maintained long term

association network representation predicts that activation of a concept will also activate related concepts

method of loci - a mnemonic device, a trick used to help and retrievr info; involves picturing objects within a familiar physical space or mental image and using this to recall info more easily

source monitoring refers to the ability to track the origin of a piece of information

consolidation is the process by which short term memories are transformed into long term memories

long term potentiation is the mechanism behind memory formation; the process by which synaptic connections between neurons become stronger with frequent activation

availability heuristic - reasoning based off fresh AVAILABLE memories;

predictable world bias - when people see patterns in things that are random; they make predictions based on past events rather than on actual probabilities of future events

being able to remember a long list of instructions is a measure of working memory capacity (related to executive function)

creative intelligence - using ones prior experiences to help solve new problems

retest reliability refers to when repeated administration of the same test yields consistent results

split half reliability refers to when two halves of a test yield consistent results

internal consistency reliability refers to whether or not the results are consistent across items within a test

inter rater reliability refers to having all people scoring the test in the same way