AP Psychology Unit 7 and 11 Vocab

Memory: The persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Encoding: The process of getting information into the memory system, such as by extracting meaning.

Storage: The retention of encoded information over time.

Retrieval: The process of getting information out of memory storage.

Parallel Processing: The ability to process multiple aspects of a problem simultaneously; contrasts with step-by-step (serial) processing.

Sensory Memory: The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Short-Term Memory: Memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten.

Long-Term Memory: Relatively permanent and limitless storage of information, including knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Working Memory: A newer understanding of short-term memory focusing on conscious, active processing of auditory and visual information.

Explicit Memory: Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare.

Effortful Processing: Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Automatic Processing: Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency.

Implicit Memory: Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations without conscious awareness.

Iconic Memory: A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli lasting only a fraction of a second.

Echoic Memory: A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, lasting about 3-4 seconds.

Chunking: Organizing items into familiar, manageable units, often automatically.

Mnemonics: Memory aids, especially those using vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Spacing Effect: The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than cramming.

Testing Effect: Enhanced memory after retrieving information, rather than rereading or reviewing it.

Shallow Processing: Encoding on a basic level, such as a word’s letters or sounds.

Deep Processing: Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words, leading to better retention.

Hippocampus: A neural center located in the limbic system that processes explicit memories for storage.

Flashbulb Memory: A vivid memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Long-Term Potentiation: An increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation, believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

Recall: Retrieving information learned earlier, as in a fill-in-the-blank test.

Recognition: Identifying items previously learned, as in a multiple-choice test.

Relearning: Learning something more quickly the second time.

Priming: The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

Mood-Congruent Memory: The tendency to recall experiences consistent with one’s current mood.

Serial Position Effect: Tendency to recall the first and last items in a list best.

Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new memories after brain injury.

Retrograde Amnesia: Inability to retrieve information from the past.

Proactive Interference: Disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.

Retroactive Interference: Disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.

Repression: Defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts and feelings.

Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading information into memory of an event.

Source Amnesia: Attributing an event or piece of information to the wrong source.

Déjà Vu: The eerie sense of experiencing something previously.

Cognition: All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Concept: A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

Prototype: A mental image or best example of a category.

Creativity: The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

Convergent Thinking: Narrowing down possible solutions to determine the single best solution.

Divergent Thinking: Expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking.

Algorithm: A methodical, logical rule or procedure guaranteeing a solution to a problem.

Heuristic: A simple thinking strategy that often allows efficient problem-solving but is more error-prone than algorithms.

Insight: A sudden realization of a problem's solution.

Confirmation Bias: The tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Mental Set: A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often one that has been successful before.

Intuition: An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, contrasting with explicit reasoning.

Representative Heuristic: Judging the likelihood of things based on how well they match prototypes.

Availability Heuristic: Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory.

Overconfidence: The tendency to be more confident than correct; overestimating the accuracy of our beliefs.

Belief Perseverance: Clinging to one’s initial beliefs even after they have been discredited.

Framing: The way an issue is posed; framing can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

Language: Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.

Phoneme: The smallest distinctive sound unit in a language.

Morpheme: The smallest unit of meaning in a language.

Grammar: A system of rules that enables communication, including syntax and semantics.

Babbling Stage: Beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development where infants utter sounds 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: Starting around age 2, the stage in speech development where children speak in two-word statements.

Telegraphic Speech: Early speech stage where a child speaks using mostly nouns and verbs, like a telegram (e.g., "want cookie").

Aphasia: An impairment of language, typically caused by damage to the left hemisphere.

Broca’s Area: Region in the left frontal lobe controlling speech production.

Wernicke’s Area: Region in the left temporal lobe responsible for language comprehension.

Linguistic Determination: Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines how we think.

Intelligence: The ability to learn, solve problems, and adapt to new situations.

Intelligence Test: A method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them numerically.

General Intelligence: The idea that a single general factor (g) underlies specific mental abilities.

Factor Analysis: A statistical procedure used to identify clusters of related items.

Savant Syndrome: A condition where a person with significant mental disabilities demonstrates extraordinary abilities in specific areas.

Grit: Passion and perseverance in achieving long-term goals.

Emotional Intelligence: The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions effectively.

Mental Age: A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet, based on the average abilities of children at a certain age.

Stanford-Binet: The American revision of Binet’s intelligence test, developed by Lewis Terman.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ): A numerical representation of intelligence, calculated as mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100.

Achievement Test: A test that assesses what a person has learned.

Aptitude Test: A test designed to predict a person’s future performance.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): A widely used intelligence test measuring verbal and performance abilities.

Standardization: Defining meaningful scores by comparison to a pretested group.

Normal Curve: The symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of scores.

Reliability: The extent to which a test yields consistent results.

Validity: The extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure.

Content Validity: The degree to which a test samples the behavior it is supposed to measure.

Predictive Validity: The extent to which a test predicts future performance.

Cohort: A group of people sharing a common characteristic, often used in longitudinal studies.

Crystallized Intelligence: Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills, which increase with age.

Fluid Intelligence: The ability to reason speedily and abstractly, which tends to decline with age.

Intellectual Disability: A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an IQ below 70 and difficulty in adapting to everyday life.

Down Syndrome: A genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra 21st chromosome, associated with physical growth delays and intellectual disabilities.

Heritability: The proportion of variation among individuals attributable to genetic factors.

Stereotype Threat: A self-confirming concern that one will be judged based on a negative stereotype.

Richard Atkinson & Richard Shiffrin: Developed the multi-store model of memory (sensory, short-term, and long-term memory).

George A. Miller: Known for his work on short-term memory, especially the "7 ± 2" capacity rule.

Hermann Ebbinghaus: Pioneered memory research, including the forgetting curve and spacing effect.

Eric Kandel: Studied the neural basis of learning and memory using sea slugs.

Elizabeth Loftus: Conducted research on the misinformation effect and the creation of false memories.

Robert Sternberg: Developed the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence and studied creativity.

Wolfgang Köhler: Demonstrated insight learning through experiments with chimpanzees.

Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman: Pioneers in research on heuristics, biases, and decision-making.

Steven Pinker: Explored language development and its relationship with cognition.

Noam Chomsky: Proposed the theory of an innate language acquisition device (LAD).

Paul Broca: Identified Broca’s area, crucial for speech production.

Carl Wernicke: Identified Wernicke’s area, crucial for language comprehension.

Benjamin Lee Whorf: Known for the linguistic relativity hypothesis.

Charles Spearman: Proposed the concept of general intelligence (g).

L.L. Thurstone: Identified seven clusters of primary mental abilities.

Howard Gardner: Proposed the theory of multiple intelligences, highlighting diverse abilities.

Francis Galton: Studied hereditary intelligence and developed the first intelligence tests.

Alfred Binet: Created the first practical intelligence test to identify children needing special education.

Louis Terman: Revised Binet’s test into the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.

David Wechsler: Created the WAIS and WISC, intelligence tests that emphasize nonverbal skills.

Carol Dweck: Known for research on mindset, emphasizing the impact of belief systems on learning and intelligence.