semantic memory: explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is episodic memory).
episodic memory: explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is semantic memory).
hippocampus: a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit (conscious) memories — of facts and events — for storage.
memory consolidation: the neural storage of a long-term memory.
flashbulb memory: a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.
priming: the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.
encoding specificity principle: the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.
mood-congruent memory: tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.
serial position effect: our tendency to recall best the last items in a list initially (a recency effect), and the first items in a list after a delay (a primacy effect).
interleaving: a retrieval practice strategy that involves mixing the study of different topics.
anterograde amnesia: an inability to form new memories.
retrograde amnesia: an inability to remember information from one’s past.
proactive interference: the forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information.
retroactive interference: the backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information.
repression: in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
reconsolidation: a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again.
misinformation effect: occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information.
source amnesia: faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined (as when misattributing information to a wrong source). Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.
déjà vu: that eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.
intelligence: the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.
general intelligence (g): according to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.
factor analysis: a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score.
fluid intelligence (Gf): our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood.
crystallized intelligence (Gc): our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.
Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory: the theory that our intelligence is based on g as well as specific abilities, bridged by Gf and Gc.
savant syndrome: a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing.
grit: in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.
emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.
intelligence test: a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores.
achievement test: a test designed to assess what a person has learned.
aptitude test: a test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.
mental age: a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age. Thus, a child who does as well as an average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.
Stanford-Binet: the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test.
intelligence quotient (IQ): defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ = ma/ca × 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): the WAIS and its companion versions for children are the most widely used intelligence tests; they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests.
psychometrics: the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.
standardization: defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group.
normal curve: the bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes.
Flynn effect: the rise in intelligence test performance over time and across cultures.
reliability: the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting.
validity: the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to. (See also predictive validity.)
content validity: the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest.
construct validity: how much a test measures a concept or trait.
predictive validity: the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior. (Also called criterion-related validity.)
cross-sectional study: research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time.
longitudinal study: research that follows and retests the same people over time.
cohort: a group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as being from a given time period.
growth mindset: a focus on learning and growing rather than viewing abilities as fixed.
fixed mindset: the view that intelligence, abilities, and talents are unchange- able, even with effort.
stereotype threat: a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.