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AP Psychology: Memory, Cognition and Language Flashcards

Memory, Cognition, and Language

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9118598267Information Processing System of Memory-encoding -storage -retrieval -computer analogy0
9118598268encodingforming a memory code1
9118598269storagemaintaining encoded memories over time2
9118598270retrievalrecovering info from memory stores3
9118598271computer analogyInformation Processing System of Memory - human information processing may be similar to the sequence of steps of and operations in a computer program - similar to the flow of information from input to output when a computer processes information4
9118598272Three-Stage Model/Theory of Memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin)1. sensory memory -iconic -echoic 2. short term/working memory (maintenance rehearsal) 3. long term memory5
9118598273sensory memorya split second holding tank for incoming sensory information (all the information your senses are processing right now is held in sensory memory for a very short period of time - less than a second)6
9118598274iconic memorya split second perfect photograph of a scene (1/4 to 1/2 second)7
9118598275echoic memoryan equally perfect brief (2-4 second) memory for sounds8
9118598276short-term memory (working memory)-around 20 seconds -capacity: 7 (+ or - 2) (chunking improves capacity) -encoded memory -we encode what we think is important to us (selective attention)9
9118598277long-term memory-permanent storage (duration) -no limit (capacity) -potential lifetime -Episodic Memory -Semantic Memory -Procedural Memory -Classical Conditioned Responses10
9118598278Automatic Processing-space -place -time of day11
9118598279Effortful Processing (elaborative rehearsal)-rehearsal -spacing -context, connections, and meaning -self-reference -mnemonics -chunking -visual imagery12
9118598280rehearsal-a way to retain information (repeat it) -e.g. when you look up a phone number and repeat it to yourself on the way to the phone, you are rehearsing the information13
9118598281spacingthe tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through cramming -daily reading and review14
9118598282context, connections, and meaningthinking about the context, connections, and meaning of something you are trying to remember can help you to retain that information15
9118598283self-referencethe tendency to better remember information relevant to ourselves; makes new information personally relevant by relating it to existing information16
9118598284mnemonics-mnemonic devices -e.g. "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos" to remember the planets or "RICE" for injuries17
9118598285chunkinga way to expand short term memory capacity -e.g. remember grocery list items into groups18
9118598286visual imageryprocess of forming mental pictures of objects or ideas; can be used to help retain information -class example: the half of the class that thought about the image of the sentence remembered the information better -method of Loci19
9118598287Levels of Processing Theoryan alternate way to think about memory that states memories are not short term or long term, but rather deeply processed (elaborately) or shallowly processed (maintenance) -visual encoding -acoustic encoding -semantic encoding20
9118598288visual encodingencoding of picture images21
9118598289acoustic encodingencoding of sound, especially the sound of words22
9118598290semantic encodingencoding of meaning, including the meaning of words23
9118598291Types of long term memoriesexplicit memories (declarative) - hippocampus -semantic -episodic implicit memories (non-declarative) - cerebellum -procedural -classically conditioned or emotional responses24
9118598292Semantic memory-general knowledge of the world -stored as facts, meanings, or categories rather than sequentially -e.g. "what is the difference between the terms effect and affect?" -"I know that..."25
9118598293Episodic memory-memories of specific events, stored in sequential series of events -e.g. remembering the last time you went on vacation -"I remember when..."26
9118598294Procedural memory-memories of skills and how to perform them -memories are sequential but might be very complicated to describe in words -e.g. how to throw a curveball27
9118598295Alzheimer'sloses explicit memories (semantic and episodic) and can't form new ones either28
9118598296Clive Wearingman with anterograde amnesia and retrograde amnesia-has short term memory, but not able to process it to long term memory. Memory problem caused by infection of the brain which created alot of damage, completely destroyed his hypocampus, uses diary to remind him of what he did/thought, can still play piano perfectly though(procedural memory good, cerebellum unaffected)29
9118598297Memory construction-associative model/semantic network model of memory --memory consists of mental clusters of interconnected information -spreading activation30
9118598298spreading activationactivating one memory triggers the activation of related memories31
9118598299misinformation effectincorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event32
9118598300imagination inflationcompletely false memories may be confabulated through imagination alone33
9118598301flashbulb memoriesa clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event, may be distorted -class example: when Mrs. Mathers met her future husband for the first time34
9118598302eidetic imagerya form of memory, often called photographic memory, which consists of especially vivid visual recollections of material35
9118598303Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curveretention quickly drops after time, then levels out36
9118598304Retrieval and Recognition-the last step in any memory model -getting information out of memory so we can use it37
9118598305retrieval failureStored information cannot be accessed, which leads to forgetting.38
9118598306motivated forgettingunknowingly revising history39
9118598307recognitionthe process of matching a current event or fact with one already in memory -"have i smelled this before?"40
9118598308Repressionthe basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness, anxiety- arousing thoughts, feelings and memories. Failure in retrieval.41
9118598309Source AmnesiaAttributing to the wrong source and even we have experienced, heard about, or imagined42
9118598310recallretrieving a memory with an external cue -"what does my perfume smell like?"43
9118598311Serial Position Effect-seen when recall of a list is affected by the order of items in a list -items in the middle are most often forgotten -made up of: primary effect and recency effect44
9118598312primary effectpredicts that we are more likely to recall items presented at the beginning of a list45
9118598313recency effectour ability to recall the items at the end of a list46
9118598314retroactive interference-backward acting -when new information makes it harder to recall something you learned earlier -"if you study your psychology at 3:00 and your sociology at 6:00, you might have trouble recalling the psychology information on a test the next day47
9118598315proactive interference-forward acting -when something you learned earlier disrupts your recall of something you experience later -"if a researcher reads you a list of items in a certain order, then rereads them differently and asks you to list them the new order, the old list proactively interferes with recall of the new list"48
9118598316Encoding Specificity Principlethe idea that a retrieval cue can serve as an effective reminder when it helps re-create the specific way in which information was initially encoded -state dependent memory -mood congruent memory -context effects49
9118598317state dependent memoryrefers to the phenomenon of recalling events encoded while in particular states of consciousness -if you suddenly remember an appointment while you are drowsy and about to go to sleep, you will need to write it down. very possible will you not remember it again until you are drowsy and in that same state of consciousness50
9118598318mood congruent memorythe greater likelihood of recalling an item when our mood matched the mood we were in when the event happened -we are likely to recall happy events when we are happy and recall negative events when we are feeling pessimistic51
9118598319context effectsmemory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place52
9118598320tip of the tongue experienceyou know that you know it but you can't access the memory53
9118598321Long-term potentiation and consolidation-strengthening of a neural pathway as a result of repeated simulation - leads to consolidation -changes in the number of synapses as dendrites branch out as memories become fixed and stable54
9118598322brain structures-hippocampus: consolidation of new memories (explicit) -amygdala: emotional memories -cerebellum: procedural memories, classical conditioned -cerebral cortex: semantic, episodic, and procedural55
9118598323memory trace - engrama change in the brain that stores a memory56
9118598324concepts-similar to the schemata -we each have cognitive rules we apply to stimuli from our environment that allow us to categorize and think about the objects, people, and ideas we encounter -our concept of mom is different than our concept of dad, which is different from our concept of a soccer game -base concepts on prototypes57
9118598325prototypeswhat we think is the most typical example of a particular concept58
9118598326divergent thinkingthinking that searches for multiple possible answers to a question -more closely associated with creativity59
9118598327convergent thinkingthinking pointed toward one solution60
9118598328problem solving methods-algorithms -heuristics61
9118598329trial and errorthe process of experimenting with various methods of doing something until one finds the most successful62
9118598330algorithmsa rule that guarantees the right solution by using a formula or other fool proof method -if you are trying to guess a computer password and you know it is a combination of only two letters, you could use an algorithm and guess pairs of letters combination until you hit the right one (if the combination is 5 letters, it gets harder and possibly impractical)63
9118598331heuristics in problem solving-"rule of thumb" - a rule that is generally, but not always, true that we can use to make a judgement in a situation -if you are trying to guess that same password, you might begin by guessing actual 5 letter words rather than random combinations of letters - the password might be a meaningless combination of letters but you know that passwords are most often actual words64
9118598332incubation and insightsudden awareness after period of incubation65
9118598333fixationthe inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set66
9118598334mental setthe tendency to fall into established thought patterns67
9118598335functional fixednessthe inability to see a new use for an object68
9118598336making decisions and forming judgements-confirmation bias -belief perseverance -overconfidence -framing -representative heuristic -availability heuristic69
9118598337confirmation biaswe tend to look for evidence that confirms our beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts what we think is true70
9118598338belief perseverancerefers to our tendency to maintain a belief even after the evidence we used to form the belief is contradicted71
9118598339overconfidenceour tendency to overestimate how accurate our judgements are72
9118598340framingthe way a problem is presented -presentation can drastically change the way we view a problem or an issue73
9118598341representative heuristicjudging a situation based on how similar the aspects are to prototypes the person holds in his or her mind -e.g. a person might judge a young person more likely to commit suicide because of a prototype of the depressed adolescent when, in fact, suicide rates are not higher in younger populations74
9118598342availability heuristicjudging a situation based on examples of similar situations that come to mind initially -this heuristic might lead to incorrect conclusions due to variability in personal experience -e.g. a person may judge his or her neighborhood to be more dangerous that others in the city simply because that person is more familiar with violence in his or her neighborhood than in other neighborhoods75
9118598343Storage DecayEven after encoding something well, we may forget it later.76
9118598344Encoding FailureWhen we cannot remember the info we processed77
9118598345properties of languageSymbolic representation of things, concepts, and ideas, can be words or gestures. Words are arbitary pairings between sounds, symbols and meaning.78
9118598346phonemesSmallest speech unit that can be perceived - 100 sounds in human language79
9118598347morphemesSmallest units of meaning includes root words, prefixes, suffixes ex: un friend ly Each part changes the menaing of the word80
9118598348syntaxSystem of rules that specify arrangement of words in sentences (noun and verb phrases)81
9118598349semanticsSet of rules used to derive meaning from morphemes, words and sentences (adding 'ed' to laugh makes it past tense).82
9118598350language development-Babbling -One-word -Two-word -Telegraphic speech83
9118598351babblingBegins at about 4 months . The infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language84
9118598352one-wordAge 1-2 a child speaks mostly in single words85
9118598353two-wordAge 2 < a child speaks mostly two word sentences86
9118598354telegraphic speechA child speaks like a telegram using mostly nouns and verbs ex: go car, give doll87
9118598355overgeneralizationovergeneralizing the 'ed' at the end of a word88
9118598356Lenenbergs' Critical Age Theory-Critical period for language acquisition is approx. 2 to puberty -Post adolescent language is difficult because of lateralization (2 sides of brain develop specialized functions)89
9118598357Whorf-Sapir Linguistic Relativity Theory (linguistic determinism)Language determines the way we think90
9118598358Nativist TheoryHumans have inborn or "native" propensity for language (Noam Chomsky)91
9118598359Language Acquisition Device (LAD)Innate mechanism or process that facilitates the learning of language (just like to sit or walk- if allowed to develop normally)92
9118598360Behaviorist Theory of language development - Skinner: Operant LearningWe can explain language development with similar learning principles such as association, imitation and reinforcement93

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