5.1 Memory

Definition

• Memory: The ability to retain and retrieve information over time.

Stages of Memory

1. Encoding: Process of learning new information.

2. Storage: Maintaining that information for future use.

3. Retrieval: Accessing that information when needed.

Types of Retrieval

• Recall: Retrieving information not in conscious memory but learned previously (e.g., fill-in-the-blank questions).

• Recognition: Identifying something previously learned (e.g., multiple-choice questions).

• Relearning: Learning something quickly because it's not the first time (e.g., studying for AP Psychology).

Types of Memory

• Short-Term Memory (STM): Temporarily stores information before actual storage or forgetting.

• Sensory Memory: Immediate, brief recording of sensory information.

  • Iconic Memory: Momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli.

  • Echoic Memory: Momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli.

• Automatic Processing: Encoding that happens without effort.

• Working Memory: Newer concept of STM, involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information.

• Long-Term Memory (LTM): Permanent storage of information in a limitless storehouse.

Types of Long-Term Memory

• Implicit Memory (Non-Declarative): Skills and conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.

• Explicit Memory (Declarative): Facts and experiences one can consciously know and declare.

  • Semantic Memory: General knowledge/facts (e.g., knowing a password).

  • Episodic Memory: Personal experiences (e.g., recalling a party scene).

  • Flashbulb Memory: Vivid, long-term recollection of emotionally significant events.

Memory Strategies

• Chunking: Organizing items into familiar, manageable units.

• Mnemonics: Memory aids using vivid imagery and organizational devices.

• Peg Word System: Associating words with numbers.

• Hierarchies: Dividing information into broad concepts and then subdividing.

Serial Position Effect

• Primacy Effect: Better recall of first items in a list.

• Recency Effect: Better recall of last items in a list.

Key Brain Parts

• Hippocampus:

  • Loading dock where explicit memories are temporarily stored before migrating to other locations for consolidation.

• Cerebellum:

  • Involved in processing sensory input, movement coordination, and non-verbal learning/memory.

  • Important in forming and storing implicit memories via classical conditioning.

• Basal Ganglia:

  • Deep brain structure involved in forming procedural memories for skills.

• Amygdala:

  • Associated with emotion and stress hormones that enhance memory formation.

Types of Forgetting

• Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new memories.

• Retrograde Amnesia: Inability to recall past information.

Reasons for Forgetting

1. Encoding Failure: Information not encoded goes unremembered.

2. Storage Decay: Memory for new information fades quickly and then levels out.

3. Retrieval Failure: Significant events may defy retrieval despite being stored.

Interference

• Proactive Interference: Old information interferes with new information.

• Retroactive Interference: New information interferes with old information.

Other Memory Errors

• Misinformation Effect: False information distorts memory.

• Source Amnesia (Source Misattribution): Faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined.

Elizabeth Loftus's Research

• Experiment: Two groups watched a video of a traffic accident.

  • Group 1 (Collided): Lower speed estimates.

  • Group 2 (Smashed): Higher speed estimates.

  • Those asked about "smashed" were more likely to report broken glass, even though there was none.

5.2 Thinking and Language

Thinking

• Cognition: Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

• Convergent Thinking: Narrowing solutions to find the best one (e.g., SAT test).

• Divergent Thinking: Expanding the range of solutions and using creative thinking.

Problem-Solving Strategies

• Algorithm: Logical step-by-step procedure guaranteeing a solution.

• Heuristic: Simple thinking strategy that allows quick decision-making.

  • Availability Heuristic: Decisions based on emotional cues, familiar facts, and imagery.

  • Representativeness Heuristic: Likelihood of an event determined by comparing to an existing prototype (e.g., stereotyping).

• Insight: Sudden realization (Aha moment).

• Intuition: Knowledge already possessed.

Cognitive Biases

• Confirmation Bias: Seeking information that confirms preconceived ideas while ignoring contradictory evidence.

• Overconfidence: Overestimating the accuracy of beliefs/judgments.

• Belief Perseverance: Clinging to initial conceptions despite disproof.

Framing

• Definition: The way an issue is presented affects decisions and judgments.

Language

• Phonemes: Smallest distinctive sound units.

• Morphemes: Smallest meaningful units (e.g., prefixes).

• Grammar: Set of rules for communication and understanding.

  • Semantics: Selecting the correct word to convey meaning.

  • Syntax: Arranging words according to grammatical standards.

Language and Brain Areas

• Broca's Area: Controls language expression.

• Wernicke's Area: Involved in language comprehension.

5.3 Intelligence

Theories of Intelligence

• General Intelligence (g Factor): Predicts abilities in varied areas.

• Sternberg's Triarchic Theory: Analytical, creative, and practical intelligence.

• Emotional Intelligence: Using emotions to achieve success.

Types of Intelligence Tests

• Achievement Test: Exams covering learned information (e.g., AP Exam).

• Aptitude Test: Predicts ability to perform future tasks (e.g., college entrance exam).

Key Figures and Tests

• Alfred Binet:

  • Mental Age: Level of performance typically associated with a chronological age.

• David Wechsler:

  • WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale): Most widely used intelligence test.

Principles of Test Construction

• Standardization: Comparing scores to a pre-tested sample population.

• Reliability: Consistent scores across different testers or times.

• Validity: Test measures what it's supposed to.

  • Content Validity: Test samples behavior of interest (e.g., driving test).

  • Predictive Validity: Test predicts the behavior it’s designed to (e.g., aptitude test predicting academic success).

Types of Intelligence

• Crystallized Intelligence: Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills, increases with age.

• Fluid Intelligence: Ability to reason quickly and abstractly, declines with age.

Heritability and Intelligence

• Heritability: Intelligence is 50% genetic (nature vs. nurture = 50/50).