Untitled Flashcards Set

Procedural Memory

the gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice, or "knowing how" to do things

Prospective Memory

remembering to do things in the future

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.

Short-Term Memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten

Concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Prototype

a mental image or best example of a category

Schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Accommodation

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Executive Functions

higher order thinking processes that include planning, organizing, inhibition, and decision-making

Algorithim

a step-by-step method of problem solving that guarantees a correct solution

Heuristic

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

Representative Heuristic

a mental shortcut whereby people classify something according to how similar it is to a typical case

Availability Heuristic

making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind

Mental Set

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

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Framing

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

Gambler's Fallacy

the belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation

Functional Fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving

Confirmation Bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Overconfidence

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

belief perserverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Divergent Thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions)

Convergent Thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Memory

the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

Explicit Memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"

Episodic Memory

the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

Semantic Memory

a network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

Implicit Memory

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection

Working Memory

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

Working Memory Model

An explanation of the memory used when working on a task. Each store is qualitatively different.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

A component of working memory where we create mental images to remember visual information

Long-Term Memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Multi-Store Model

Explanation of memory that sees information flowing through a series of storage systems

Sensory Memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Central Executive

the part of working memory that directs attention and processing

Phonological Loop

the part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information

Iconic Memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

Echoic Memory

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

Shallow Processing

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

Deep Processing

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

Automatic Processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

Effortful Processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Encoding

the processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

Storing

the marketing function of holding goods so they're available when they're needed

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Structural Processing

Words are learnt by remembering their physical features, such as whether they were in upper or lower case, started with a vowel or consonant, or were long or short.

Phonemic Processing

when we encode its sound

Semantic Processing

Thinking about the meaning of words to be learnt

Levels of Processing Model

model of memory that assumes information that is more "deeply processed," or processed according to its meaning rather than just the sound or physical characteristics of the word or words, will be remembered more efficiently and for a longer period of time

Encode

to put an idea into language or gesture

Mnemonic Devices

techniques for using associations to memorize and retrieve information

Method of Loci

A mnemonic technique that involves associating items on a list with a sequence of familiar physical locations

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Categories

networks of associated memories that have features in common with each other

Hierarchies

Complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided into categories and subcategories

The Spacing Effect

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice

Memory Consolidation

the gradual, physical process of converting new long-term memories to stable, enduring memory codes

Massed Practice

cramming

Distributed Practice

spacing the study of material to be remembered by including breaks between study periods

Serial Position Effect

our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Primacy Effect

tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list especially well

Recency Effect

tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well

Rehearsal

the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage

Maintenance Rehearsal

repeating stimuli in their original form to retain them in short-term memory

Autobiographical Memory

the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story

Superior Autobiographical Memory

this type of memory is a near-perfect ability to recall every episodic memory you've made

Retrograde Amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past

Alzheimer's Disease

a progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning

Infantile Amnesia

the inability to remember events from early childhood

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Recall

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

Recognition

the ability to match a piece of information or a stimulus to a stored image or fact

Retrieval Cues

Stimuli that are used to bring a memory to consciousness or into behavior

Context-Dependent Memory

The theory that information learned in a particular situation or place is better remembered when in that same situation or place.

Mood-Congruent Memory

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood

State-Dependent Memory

the phenomenon through which memory retrieval is most efficient when an individual is in the same state of consciousness as they were when the memory was formed

Testing Effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information

Meta Cognition

thinking about thinking

The Forgetting Curve

graphs retention and forgetting over time

Encoding Failure

failure to process information into memory

Proactive Interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Retroactive Interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

the temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that it's just out of reach

Repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Misinformation Effect

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Source Amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined

Constructive Memory

a process by which we first recall a generalized schema and then add in specific details

Memory Consolidation

the neural storage of a long-term memory

Imagination Inflation

a memory phenomenon in which vividly imagining an event markedly increases confidence that the event actually occurred