Unit 7
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Forgetting: caused by encoding failure, storage decay, retrieval failure, interference, motivated forgetting
Anterograde Amnesia: inability to form new memories
Retrograde Amnesia: inability to retrieve information from the past
Proactive Interference: disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new information
Retroactive interference: disruptive effect of new learning on recall of old information
Repression: basic defense mechanism to banish any anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories (Freudian psycho-analytic theory)
Ebbinghaus studied memory and forgetting
Forgetting Curve: course of forgetting is initially rapid then levels of with time
Memory has many errors. False memories are persistent.
Memory can be improved by rehearsing repeatedly, making the material meaningful, activating retrieval cues, using mnemonic devices, minimizing interference, and testing knowledge.
Reconsolidation: every time a memory is recalled we slightly modify the original version
Positive Transfer: previously learned information helps learning as we process new information
Misinformation Effect: incorporating misleading information into memory
Source Amnesia: attributing the wrong source to a memory
Deja Vu: sense that you've experienced something before even though you haven't because of familiarity cues
Cognition: mental activities associate with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
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Concept: mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people used to simplify our thinking
Creativity: ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
Divergent thinking: expands the number of possible problem solutions
Convergent thinking: narrows solutions to determine the single best solution
Creativity requires expertise, imaginative thinking skills, a venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and a creative environment
Prototype: mental image that best represents a concept
Memory types
Working Memory: Short-term memory that focuses on active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and long-term recall
Explicit Memory
Implicit Memory
Processing
Effortful Processing: Encoding that requires conscious effort
Automatic Processing: Unconscious encoding including space, time and frequency as well as well-learned information
Non-declarative: Retention separate from conscious recall
Declarative: Memories we can consciously know
Iconic Memory: A moment in memory lasting a few tenths of a second of visual stimuli
Echoic Memory: Momentary auditory memory; if attention is elsewhere, can recall the last 3-4 seconds of auditory input
Memory reinforcements
Chunking: Organizing terms into manageable units usually automatically
Mnemonics: Memory aids (usually visual or vivid) for organization
Spacing Effect: Spacing out of studying over long amount of time creates better long-term retention
Testing Effect (aka: Retrieval Practice Effect or Test-Enhanced Learning): Enhanced memory and retention after retrieving rather that relearning/rereading
Shallow Processing: Encoding on a basic level
Deep Processing: Encoding semantically, tends to yield best retention
Explicit Memory
Implicit Memory
Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia
Amygdala
Basal Ganglia: Motor movement and skills
Cerebellum: Stores information from classical conditioning
Infantile Amnesia: Forgetting of memories before 3 Is bypassed for implicit memory
Flashbulb Memory: A clear memory of a significant event (traumatic/emotional)
Long-Term Potentiation: Increase in a cell's firing potential after rapid stimulation. Considered to be neural basis for learning and memory
Retention
Recall: Retrieving information
Recognition: Identifying previously learned items
Relearning: Learning something another time
Retrieval Cues: Cues (something said, done, seen (etc.)) that help with memory and remembering
Priming: Activation, sometimes unconsciously, of particular associations in memories
State-Dependent Memory
Mood-Congruent Memory: The tendency to recall memories that are similar to one's mood
Serial Position Effect: Our tendency to remember the first (Primacy Effect) and last (Recency Effect) items of a list
Problem Solving
algorithm- a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem
heuristics- a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently
insight- a sudden realization of a problems solution
confirmation bias- a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
mental set- a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past
Good vs. Bad decisions
intuition- an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
Heuristics and overconfidence
representativeness heuristic- judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information
availability heuristic- estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common
overconfidence- the tendency to become more confident than correct- to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements
belief perseverance and framing
belief perseverance- clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
framing- the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements
Language
language- our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
phoneme- the smallest distinctive sound unit
morpheme- the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word
grammar- a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understanding others
productive language
babbling stage- beginning at 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first 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- beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words
telegraphic speech- early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram- "go car"- using mostly nouns and verbs
the brain and language
aphasia- impairment of language, usually caused by left-hem damage either to Broca's area or to Wernicke's area
Broca's area- controls language expression that directs the muscle movement involved in speech
Wernicke's area- controls language reception
Language and thought
linguistic determination- Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think