Psych Study Guide
a. Hassles - minor daily annoyances i. Minor annoyances that strain our ability to cope. They may be minimally stressful, frustrating, or irritating 1. Inflation, too many things to do, not enough time, social obligations, household tasks ii. These can add up to being as taxing as the monumental events iii. The frequency and perceived intensity of hassles are better predictors of physical health, depression, and anxiety than are major life events
Be familiar with daily hassles and stress
a. Discrete emotion theory assumes that there are seven to ten core emotions and thousands of emotion related words in which are all synonyms of these core emotions b. Depending on the theory the most well known core emotions are happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, and fear c. This theory states that these specific core emotions are biologically determines emotional responses whose expression and recognition is fundamentally the same for all indivi regardless of ethnic or culture diff; biological and have evolutionary purpose - to communicate. d. Evolutionary basis of emotions i. This is supported by discrete emotions theory: humans experience a small number of distinct emotions, and they combine in complex ways. 1. Emotions are innate and adaptive. ii. Darwin pointed out that emotional expressions of humans and nonhuman animals are similar. e. Culture and emotion i. Primary emotions appear to be cross-culturally universal. ii. Presumably the biologically based emotions from which other emotions arise iii. Happiness, sadness, surprise, anger, disgust, fear, contempt iv. Maybe also pride, awe, shame, embarrassment, interest v. There are secondary emotions that the brain creates from the primary emotions, e.g., alarm (fear & surprise), hatred (anger & disgust) Accompaniments of emotional expression i. Emotions can differentiate their patterns of physiological arousal. ii. Brain imaging shows some evidence for distinct patterns for different emotions. iii. We can use certain characteristics of facial expressions to help us distinguish real from fake emotions (Duchenne smile). theory that humans experience a small number of distinct emotions that are rooted in their biology each emotion: - has its own biological roots - serves one or more distinctive evolutionary functions that are essentially the same in all of us - emotional reactions to situations come before thoughts (brains cortex evolved later than limbic system)
Be familiar with discrete emotions theory
a. Encoding storage retrieval b. Encoding i. Encoding refers to the process of getting information into our long-term memory. ii. No encoding = no memory iii. The role of attention (you can't encode what you don't attend to) iv. A mnemonic device is a learning aid, strategy, or device that enhances recall: 1. Pegword method (rhyming) 2. Method of loci (using locations) 3. Keyword method 4. Music c. Storage i. Storage refers to the process of keeping information in memory. ii. The value of schemas (organized knowledge structure or mental model that we've stored in memory, sometimes called a script; think of them as mental blueprints for ): 1. They equip us with frames of reference for new situations. iii. Schemas and memory mistakes: 1. Lead to enhanced memory in some cases but lead to memory errors in others. a. They simplify information, but can sometimes oversimplify and produce memory illusions 2. Can lead us to biases and overgeneralizations. a. Script for how we expect people to behave b. Heuristics (mental shortcuts) may also stem from our schemas d. Retrieval i. Retrieval (reactivation or reconstruction of experiences from our memory stores) is the third and final process of memory. ii. Retrieval cue is a hint that makes it easier to recall. iii. Measuring memory 1. Recall is generating previously remembered information on your own. 2. Recognition is selecting previously remembered information from an array of options. 3. Relearning is reacquiring knowledge that we'd previously learned but largely forgotten over time. 4. Distributed versus massed practice (cramming). a. Retrieval easier with distributed practice iv. Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is knowing we know it.
Be familiar with how memories are formed and recalled
a. Memory changes with age: i. Memory ability increases with age and then decreases again in the elderly. ii. Children's memories become increasingly sophisticated: 1. Maturation. (Childrens memories become increasingly sophisticated) a. Span of memory and ability to use strategies increase from infancy through elementary school years. 2. Conceptual understanding increases (i.e., CIA) 3. Children develop meta-memory skills (knowledge about their memory abilities and limitations
Be familiar with how memory abilities change as we age
a. Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or v demanding circumstances; the tension, discomfort or physical symptoms that arise when a situation called a stressor - type of stimulus- strains our ability to cope affectively b. Hormonal response to a perceived threat, danger, or other stimuli. Stressors are what trigger this reaction. •Major life events -View that stressors are stimuli -Holmes-Rahe Scale: Social Readjustment Rating Scale https://psychcentral.com/stress/top-10-life-stressors-that-can-trigger-anxiety - ▪1. Death of a spouse ▪2. Divorce ▪3. Marital separation ▪4. Being incarcerated ▪5. Death of a close family member ▪6. Major personal injury or illness ▪7. Marriage ▪8. Being fired or laid off from work ▪9. Marital reconciliation ▪10. Retirement •Hassles— (minor) daily annoyances -Minor annoyances that strain our ability to cope. They may be minimally stressful, frustrating, or irritating ▪e.g., inflation, too many things to do, not enough time, social obligations, household tasks (e.g., cleaning, shopping, cooking) -These can add up to being as taxing as the monumental events -The frequency and perceived intensity of hassles are better predictors of physical health, depression, and anxiety than are major life events •Interviews and ecological momentary assessment -Technique to measure responses to events in the natural environment on a real-time basis ▪Program smart phones or other tech devices to prompt people to report what they are thinking, feeling, and doing on a random or predetermined basis (e.g., every few hours) ▪People may also report when they experience an event that triggers distress and report their response c. Not an emotion - it is a whole body event involving emotional, physical, and mental components working together i. -"Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships, and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea."•"There's a fine line between stress and anxiety. Both are emotional responses, but stress is typically caused by an external trigger. The trigger can be short-term, such as a work deadline or a fight with a loved one or long-term, such as being unable to work, discrimination, or chronic illness. People under stress experience mental and physical symptoms, such as irritability, anger, fatigue, muscle pain, digestive troubles, and difficulty sleeping."•"Anxiety, on the other hand, is defined by persistent, excessive worries that don't go away even in the absence of a stressor. Anxiety leads to a nearly identical set of symptoms as stress: insomnia, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, muscle tension, and irritability." d. Stress Appraisal Theory i. Primary and secondary appraisal ii. Refers to the process by which indivi evaluate and cope w a stressful event. It is concerned w indiv evaluation of the event rather than the evnt per se. people differ in how they construe what is happening to them and their options for coping iii. Primary appraisal is the first stage in the transactional model of stress and coping. A person may judge that an impending event is going to be positive. Secondary: can I deal w this and how so e. •The tension, discomfort, or physical symptoms that arise when a situation, called a stressor—a type of stimulus—strains our ability to cope effectively i. •Most everyone experiences severe stress in their life: 70-90% of U.S. population report they've experienced at least one potentially traumatic event such as an assault or car accident •Stress as stimulus (stressor)-Identifies different types of stress events-Identifies people who are most susceptible to different events •Stress as a response-Identifies people's psychological and physical reactions to stressful events-Researchers expose subjects to stressful events or study who has been through stressful events-Measure physiological responses to stress like corticosteroids •Stress as a transaction-Varied reactions to the same event suggest it is a transaction between people and environment.-Lazarus investigated primary (is the event harmful?) and secondary appraisals (how well can we cope with it?).-Coping strategies investigated were problem-focused (likely when we are optimistic), emotion-focused (likely when we can't avoid or control the situation), meaning-focused (likely when stressors are overwhelming).
Be familiar with stress (e.g., what it is, what it isn't, and what causes it)
ptsd facts slide a. Post traumatic stress disorder develops in some people that experience a shocking scary or dangerous event i. Resiliency is the norm ii. a condition in which a person experiences enduring physical and psychological symptoms after an extremely stressful event- flashbacks- severity, duration, and nearness to stressor impact likelihood of developing b. It is natural to feel afraid during and after a traumatic situation. Fear triggers many split second changes in the body to help defend against a danger or avoid it. This fight or flight response is a typical reaction meant ot protect a person from harm. Nealt everyone will exprrience a range of reactions after trauma, yet most people recover from initial symptoms naturally. Those who continue to experience problems after PTSD... c. Symptoms for at least a month to be diagnosed: i. Flashbacks ii. Bad dreams iii. Frightening thoughts iv. Staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of the traumatic experience v. Avoiding thoughts or feelings related to traumatic event vi. Being easily startled vii. Feeling tense or on edge viii. Having difficulty sleeping ix. Having angry outbursts x. Trouble remembering key features of the traumatic event xi. Negative thoughts ab oneself or the world xii. Distorted feelings like guilt or blame xiii. Loss of interest in enjoyable activities
Be familiar with the causes and symptoms of PTSD
a. The mere exposure effect refers to a psychological phenomenon in which people prefer things that they are familiar with. the more frequently ppl are exposed to smth, the more they tend to prefer it b. Is a curvilinear relationship c. Occurs even if people do not consciously remember that they have seen the object before d. •Mere exposure effect-This is a phenomenon in which repeated exposure to a stimulus makes us more likely to feel favorably toward it. ▪Less than 10 seconds; > 1 minute ▪Repeat exposure reinforces the idea that the stimulus is "correct" or "how the world should be" which leads to a positive evaluation
Be familiar with the mere exposure effect
1. Check in with yourself •Looking inward and checking in with yourself daily by naming and noticing your thoughts and emotions is helpful •Pausing when you experience distressing thoughts or emotions can help deactivate your fight, flight, or freeze response and calm you down. •Doing this activates the part of your nervous system that signals the body to rest and digest, Peterson says. 2. Accept the stress •Stress is an inevitable part of life, and it's impossible to avoid or eliminate it. •Trying to accept the presence of your stress. But this doesn't mean giving up or resigning yourself to stress and problems •By accepting stress, you can stop fighting it. Battling stress and trying to shove it down doesn't get rid of the stressor. It may even make you feel more stressed. •Coming to terms with the fact that you can expect a certain amount of stress in your life may make it easier to cope when life throws you a curveball. 3. Meditate •Meditation is another valuable strategy for coping with stress. Mindfulness or meditation exercises can help you relax and allow you to approach your negative thoughts and emotions from another vantage point. •Meditation can be as simple as closing your eyes and creating a blank space in your mind. Or you can try guided sessions with the help of meditation apps or videos. •Ultimately, the goal is to relax and center yourself. 4. Distance yourself •Putt some distance between you and your stress. Remind yourself that you are experiencing a specific thought or feeling, but that doesn't necessarily represent your permanent reality. Ask yourself: "What else is happening in that moment?" •What else can you focus on? Is there something else you can think about aside from what's causing you stress? •Distancing yourself can also mean distracting yourself temporarily from what's stressing you out. That doesn't mean bottling it up and forgetting about it, though. This may involve setting aside small moments where you take a break from tasks, chores, and life's daily stressors. Or it may include removing yourself from the situation that's causing you to feel stressed. •For example, if the news gives you anxiety, take breaks from social media or limit your consumption to only a few times a day or week. •You don't need to ignore the news entirely, but it may not be healthy for your stress levels to review or absorb everything happening in the world. 5. Engage in healthy habits•Give your body the tools to cope with stress when it comes your way. Some of these healthy habits involve: Exercising, doing yoga, eating a balanced diet •The American Psychological Association (APA) recommends including a rainbow of fruits and veggies in your diet. It also recommends avoiding substances, such as alcohol, that can adversely impact your ability to handle and cope with stress. •A healthy habit also includes doing something you love. You don't have to completely alter your lifestyle to improve your ability to handle stress. Small changes can make a big difference. 6. Try deep breathing •Meditation can involve breathing exercises, but it's fine to focus solely on deep breathing if you find it difficult to clear your mind. •Deep breathing exercises can help slow your heart rate and calm you when the world feels like it's spinning too fast. 7. Talk about it •Share your worries and fears with the people you trust. •Talking about things that are stressing you out may help you unburden yourself and feel less overwhelmed. •According to the APA, having a solid support network can improve your ability to cope with stress. •Providing friends and family with support also has benefits. It's essential to make sure that you and those around you give and receive support. One-sided relationships can end up causing you more stress than relief. 8. Seek meaningful activities •Rather than just seeking to reduce stress, shift your attention •This doesn't mean getting rid of stress by distracting yourself. Instead, replacing your stress involves taking small steps to add more of what you want to your life. For example, do you wish you had a better work-life balance? It might be useful to make an action plan to schedule more family time. •Or maybe you want to have a more vibrant social life. Consider spending less time worrying and stressing over your limited social circle and finding ways to connect with others. 9. Progressive muscle relaxation •The progressive muscle relaxation technique aims to release tension throughout the body. •To do progressive muscle relaxation, use the following steps: 1.Sitting or lying in a comfortable position, take a few deep breaths. 2.Starting with your toes, tense each muscle in the body for 5 to 10 seconds, then release. 3.Work your way up your body to your face and head muscles, tensing and relaxing each set of muscles in turn. ch 11 slides 17-21?
Be familiar with the protective factors against stress
a. Misidentification is the most common cause of wrongful convictions. i. Gene Bibbons b. Eyewitness testimony can be far from accurate if optimal conditions aren't met (ample time with good lighting, lack of disguise, little elapsed time between witnessing and identifying). i. Also eyewitness testimony is less accurate when people observe those of races different than their own c. Sometimes eyewitnesses mistake someone they've seen shortly before the crime with the actual criminal. d. Accuracy may be impaired by weapon focus (figure ground). i. People don't focus on perpetrator's appearance, just weapon
Be familiar with the research regarding eyewitness testimony
a. -Theory of mind (children's ability to reason about what other people believe) ▪False-belief task b. ability to reason about what other people know or believe - other children may not know what I know - "Where's Daddy?" - test of this theory using false-belief task a. processing a functional theory of mind is considered crucial for success s in every day situations
Be familiar with theory of mind
a. Fluid intelligence involves the ability to reason and think flexibly, whereas crystallized intelligence refers to the accumulation of knowledge, facts, and skills that are acquired throughout life b. Fluid intelligence is more strongly correlated w IQ, though begins to decline at ~ 30 yrs of age Crystallized intelligence generally increases as we age
Fluid vs. Crystallized intelligence
-Lazarus investigated primary (is the event harmful?) and secondary appraisals (how well can we cope with it?). a. Stress Appraisal Theory i. Primary and secondary appraisal ii. Refers to the process by which indivi evaluate and cope w a stressful event. It is concerned w indiv evaluation of the event rather than the evnt per se. people differ in how they construe what is happening to them and their options for coping iii. Primary appraisal is the first stage in the transactional model of stress and coping. A person may judge that an impending event is going to be positive. Secondary: can I deal w this and how so
Know and understand the different appraisals that occur when encountering stressors
a. Visual Processing i. Most shallow ii. Focus on how the sentence looks - entirely capital letters, etc. b. Phonological (sound-related) Processing i. Less shallow ii. Focus on how the words in the sentence sound - repeat sentence until sounds boringly familiar c. Semantic (meaning-related) Processing i. Deepest ii. Emphasize the sentence meaning - elaborate on how you've tried to create your own meaning of life and how doing so has been helpful to you iii. Most helpful in producing enduring long-term memories
Know and understand the different levels of processing
a. A scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery test a hypothesis or demonstrate. A known fact i. Has at least 1 indep variable that is manipulated, at least one dep variable, and random assignment
Know and understand what an experiment is
a. a particular form of longitudinal study that samples a cohort (a group of people who share a Defining characteristic, typically those who experienced a common event in a selected period, such as birth or graduation) performing a cross-section at intervals through time. It is a type of panel study where the individuals in the panel share a common characteristic. a. a type of longitudinal study—an approach that follows research participants over a period of time (often many years). b. The cross-sectional study has an identical structure to the cohort study except that the exposures and outcomes are measured at the same time (i.e. cross-sectionally), whereas in a cohort study outcomes are typically measured after the exposure/s has been measured (i.e. longitudinally).
Know and understand what cohort studies are
a. Cross-sectional design is a design in which researchers examine people of different ages at a single point in time. (these don't control for cohort effects) i. Doesn't acct for cohort effects ii. Cohort effects are due to the fact that sets of people lived during one time period.
Know and understand what cross-sectional studies are
- The value of schemas (organized knowledge structure or mental model that we've stored in memory, sometimes called a script; think of them as mental blueprints for ): ▪They equip us with frames of reference for new situations.-Schemas and memory mistakes: ▪Lead to enhanced memory in some cases but lead to memory errors in others. -They simplify information, but can sometimes oversimplify and produce memory illusions ▪Can lead us to biases and overgeneralizations.-Script for how we expect people to behave b. Schema could be described as a mental structure that could help us organize and categorize info. It could be considered a cognitive shortcut that enables us to make sense of the world more efficiently. Schemas might be based on past experiences, knowledge and beliefs, and they could assist us in anticipating and understanding new situations and events i. For ex/ if you have a schema for a "restaurant", you might expect certain things to be present, such as tables, chairs, a menu, and a waitstaff. When entering a new restaurant schema could help understand what is expected of you and what to expect. •Heuristics (mental shortcuts) may also stem from our schemas b. Heuristics are mental shortcuts i. Availability ii. Representativeness
Know and understand what heuristics vs schemas are
•Longitudinal design is a design that examines development in the same group of people on multiple occasions over time. Drawbacks include cost and the amount of time it takes, and it is not a true experimental design (random assignment is not possible), so we cannot infer causation research design that examines development in the same group of people on multiple occasions over time- allows us to examine developmental effects
Know and understand what longitudinal studies are
100+/-15, 85-115
Know what the average IQ score is
a. Rehearsal: repeating info mentally or aloud extends duration •Maintenance rehearsal: repeating stimuli in their original form to retain them in short-term memory •*Elaborative rehearsal: linking stimuli to each other in a meaningful way to improve retention of information in short-term memory •Perhaps by visualizing them or trying to understand their interrelationship •Dog-shoe, tree-pipe, key-monkey, kite-president
Understand maintenance vs elaborative rehearsal
*availability heuristic* - heuristic that involves estimating the likelihood of an occurrence based on the ease with which it comes to our minds - which has more denser trees, ur college campus or downtown? didnt actually calculate, just summoned mental images of both. •Availability heuristic: estimating the likelihood of an occurrence based on the ease with which it comes to our minds -Example: When a plane crashes it gets a lot of media exposure. It will appear on nearly every news channel and there will be extensive coverage examining the possible causes of the crash. However, when a car accident happens, there may be no news coverage at all. There certainly will not be an animation. This is why most people think that travel by plane is far more dangerous than by car. Statistically speaking however, just the opposite is true. But because the news of a plane crash is so much more available in our memory, it has a tremendous impact on our judgement about risk. *representativeness heuristic* - Representative heuristic: like goes with like -We simplify and group things together to make them easier to remember. But this comes at a price (i.e., possible memory illusions). - heuristic that involves judging the probability of an event by its superficial similarity to a prototype/an event that happened in the past - can sometimes lead to incorrect conclusions and stereotypes - asian american --> asian american studies major or psychology major ex. •Representativeness heuristic: Judging probability of an event due to similarity to prototype -Base Rate: How common it is in the general population (we tend to overestimate this) -An explanation for stereotyping (in many ways, the representative heuristic is a mental shortcut for making decisions based on stereotypes) -Example: When we come across an old, wise, professor of English literature in a tweed jacket, we most likely will also ascribe several characteristics to their personality and treat them with reverence as a result. However, if we take a class on the classics and a guy with long hair, blue jeans, and a Metallica t-shirt walks in on the first day, most of us are not going to say "good morning, Dr. Williams."
Understand the difference between a representative heuristic and an availability heuristic
- stress is The tension, discomfort, or physical symptoms that arise when a situation, called a stressor—a type of stimulus—strains our ability to cope effectively b. Stressors are stimuli
Understand the difference between a stressor and stress
a. Will have a stronger recency effect with massed practice, but encoding is poor resulting in more difficulty w recall later on a. Distributed Practice i. Spread our learning over long intervals than when we pack it into short intervals i. "spaced practice" ii. When you take smaller sessions for longer periods of time iii. An ex. Would be to study for an exam in sections or days beforehand iv. It would be easier to study a chapter or a couple of vocab words per day instead of throwing it all in one night b. Massed Practice i. Cramming studying, packing everything into short intervals i. Having an intense and long session where all you are doing is trying to learn material ii. An ex of mass practice is when you cram before ana exam or do all studying in one day
Understand the difference between massed vs distributed practice
a. Piaget's assimilation and accommodation: these are the processes, proposed by Piaget, that children use to achieve equilibration i. -Assimilation is the process of absorbing new experiences into current knowledge structures. 1. ▪During this process, cognitive skills and worldviews remain unchanged. So when they learn new information that conflicts with their existing knowledge, they reinterpret new experiences to fit with what they already know Gradual process, whereas accommodation is a sudden change and asks an individual to create a whole new image or idea ab a particular thing; assimilation is the process of absorbing new experiences into current knowledge structures. ii. -Accommodation is altering of the child's beliefs to make them more compatible with experience. 1. When previously held schema or idea ggets outdated or remain of no worth, whereas in assimilation the new idea settles w previous knowledge; accommodation is altering of the childs belief oto make them more compatible w experienceStage changes are the result of accommodation because this process forces children to accept new way of looking at the world 1. ▪Stage changes are the result of accommodation because this process forces children to accept a new way of looking at the world 2. •Piaget's Stages a. -Sensorimotor—birth to 2 years i. ▪No thought beyond immediate physical experiences ii. ▪Lack object permanence b. -Preoperational—2 to 7 years i. ▪Able to think beyond the here and now, but egocentric (the view the world only from their point of view, literal and conceptual) and unable to perform mental transformations (i.e., operations) c. -Concrete Operations—7 to 11 years i. ▪Able to perform mental transformations but only on concrete physical objects ii. -Lack abstract logic and moral reasoning abilities d. -Formal Operations—11 years to adulthood i. ▪Able to perform hypothetical and abstract reasoning ▪No longer bound by egocentric thinking
Understand the differences between accommodation and assimilation
a. Eustress vs distress i. Eustress is positive stress—it feels exciting 1. It is short-term 2. It enhances functioning/performance, and focus a. Examples of eustress include: exercising, moving to a new location, going on a date, buying a home, starting a new job, receiving a promotion, getting married, holidays, taking a vacation, taking classes, learning a new hobby, etc. (though this largely depends on perception) ii. Distress is negative stress— it feels unpleasant (it causes anxiety or concern/worry) 1. Can be short- or long-term 2. Decreases performance 3. Can lead to mental and physical problems •Our body does not make the distinction between eustress and distress. Whichever the stressor is classified as is largely about our perception of the stressor -Eustress: perceived to be within our coping abilities (challenge state) -Distress: perceived to be outside of our coping abilities (threat state)
Understand the differences between eustress and distress
a. Interference (retroactive and proactive): the major contributor toward forgetting i. More likely to occur when stimuli are similar a. Retroactive interference i. Occurs when learning smth new hampers earlier learning ii. New interferes with the old 1. Learning Spanish and then learning Italian, start making mistakes in Spanish that never happened before b. Proactive interference i. Occurs when earlier learning gets in the way of new learning ii. Old interferes with the new 1. Trying to learn racquetball after knowing tennis, hard to adjust to smaller racquet
Understand the differences between proactive and retroactive interference
a. Problem focused: a stress management stategy in which a person directly confronts a stressor in an attempt to decrease or eliminate it. This may involve generating possible solutions to a problem, confronting others who are responsible for or otherwise associated with the stressor and other forms of instrumental action b. Emotion focused: type of stress management that attempts to reduce negative emotional resposnes that occur due to exposure to stressors c. Meaning-focused: appraisal-based coping in which the person draws on his or her beliefs and existential goals to motivate and sustain coping and well-being during a difficult time i. Benefit-finding, benefit reminding, reappraising goals in the light of changed circumstances, giving up goals that no longer work, substituting new goals that are valuable to the individual, reordering priorities infusing events with positive meaning d. Coping strategies investigated were problem-focused (likely when we are optimistic), emotion-focused (likely when we can't avoid or control the situation), meaning-focused (likely when stressors are overwhelming). e. Behavioral control: the ability to step up and do something to reduce the impact of a stressful situation or prevent its recurrence. (Problem-focused coping) f. Cognitive control: the ability to think differently about negative emotions that arise in response to stress-provoking events. (Emotion-focused coping)
Understand the differences between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping
a. Sensory Memory i. Brief storage of perceptual information before it is passed along to short-term ii. Sensory memory: the first factory worker in the assembly line of memory (think: raw materials) iii. Each sense uses its own form of sensory memory & holds perceptions for just a few seconds. iv. It buys our brain more time to process incoming sensations and fill in the blanks in our perceptions and see the world as an unbroken stream of events. v. Each sense has its own form of sensory memory. 1. Iconic memory is visual (1 second), while echoic memory is auditory (5-10 seconds). vi. Since most visual information doesn't immediately disappear, you can repeatedly view an image. Plus, when you look at something, you can process all the visual images together. vii. Echoic memory is longer, which is useful because sound waves are time sensitive. They can't be reviewed unless the actual sound is repeated. 1. Also, sound is processed by individual bits of information. Each bit gives meaning to the previous bit, which then gives meaning to the sound. 2. As a result, the brain needs more time to store audio information. 3. Talking to another person a. Spoken language is a common example. When someone talks, your echoic memory retains each individual syllable. Your brain recognizes words by connecting each syllable to the previous one. b. Each word is also stored in echoic memory, which allows your brain to understand a full sentence. 4. Listening to music a. Your brain uses echoic memory when you listen to music. It briefly recalls the previous note and connects it to the next one. As a result, your brain recognizes the notes as a song. 5. Asking someone to repeat themselves a. When someone talks to you while you're busy, you might not fully hear what they say. If they repeat what they said, it will sound familiar because your echoic memory heard them the first time. b. Short-Term/Working Memory i. Memory system that retains information for limited durations ii. Short-term memory: the second factory worker (think construction) 1. Also known as working memory (the updated term to reflect that this memory system is active rather than passive). iii. Refers to our ability to hold on to information we're currently thinking about, attending to, or processing actively iv. Duration is no longer than twenty seconds (may be less than 5 seconds) v. Memory loss from short-term memory: 1. Decay: birth of new neurons in the hippocampus leads to decay of memories 2. Interference (retroactive and proactive): the major contributor towards forgetting a. More likely to occur when the stimuli are similar vi. Capacity (five to nine digits; 7, +/- 2 is the magic number) 1. Applies to just about all information we encounter: numbers, letters, people, etc. 2. True number may be as low as 3-4 vii. Chunking improves short-term memory and is organizing information into meaningful units. 1. KACFJNABIASBCFUI vs. CIA, USA, FBI, NBC, JFK viii. Rehearsal (repeating the information mentally or aloud) extends duration: 1. Maintenance rehearsal: repeating stimuli in their original form to retain them in short-term memory 2. *Elaborative rehearsal: linking stimuli to each other in a meaningful way to improve retention of information in short-term memory a. Perhaps by visualizing them or trying to understand their interrelationship i. Dog-shoe, tree-pipe, key-monkey, kite-president ix. Depth of processing indicates that the more deeply we process information, the better we tend to remember it. 1. To remember complex information, it is almost always better to connect that information with things we already know rather than merely keep repeating it 2. Levels of processing: visual, phonological, and semantic 3. ALL PEOPLE CREATE THEIR OWN MEANING OF LIFE c. Long-Term Memory i. Relatively enduring (minutes to years) retention of info stored regarding our facts, experiences, and skills ii. Long-term memory is our relatively enduring store of information. 1. Differences between long-term and short-term memory: a. Long-term memory capacity is huge i. 500 1,500 page online encyclopedias b. Long-term memory may endure for years (sometimes decades, sometimes permanently). c. Long-term memory errors tend to be semantic, whereas short-term memory errors tend to be acoustic. iii. Primacy and recency effects and the serial position curve 1. Primacy effect stronger than recency effect a. Primacy effect also explains (in part) why first impressions are so difficult to overcome iv. Semantic memory is our knowledge of facts about the world (e.g., Abe Lincoln was the 16th president). v. Episodic memory is our recollection of events of our lives (e.g., your first kiss, first graduation, wedding, etc.). vi. Explicit memory is recalling information intentionally. 1. Also referred to as declarative memory vii. Implicit memory is recalling information we don't remember deliberately. 1. Procedural memory is memory for motor skills (e.g., tying your shoes, riding a bike, using chopsticks, typing, etc.). 2. Priming is our ability to identify a stimulus more easily or more quickly when we've previously encountered similar stimuli.
Understand the different types of memory (sensory, short-term/working, long-term)
a. Encoding - the process of getting information into our memory banks, long-term memory i. Role of attention 1. Next-in-line effect ii. Mnemonics - a learning aid, strategy, device that enhances recall 1. Rely on mental strategies that we use during encoding to help us retrieve useful information later (chunking, etc.) 2. Pegword method a. One is a bun, imagery w term 3. Method of loci a. Pathway to school, number of locations w number of terms, imagery 4. Keyword method a. Casa case + house imagery 5. Music a. Tune of a song a. Encoding refers to the process of getting information into our long-term memory b. Without proper encoding, our brains would not have the ability to store and retrieve memories c. Shallow vs. deep processing i. Shallow: semantic encoding: the process of encoding sensory input with a particular meaning or context, semantic encoding involves remembering facts, ideas, and concepts not drawn from personal experience, such as word definitions, the dates of specific events, or the location of places on a map. Research suggests that our semantic encoding is much more memorable when we attach importance and/or emotions to the info (mnemonics) ii. Deep: Elaborative encoding: the process of actively relating new info or knowledge to smth already in memory. Most memories are a combination of old and new info, and our interpretation of them depends on both. For ex, a novice pianist may remember her first recital as exciting and excellent. As she gets better and performs more, she may still see her first recital as exciting but come to think that her playing was sloppy and amateur.
Understand the term encoding and how this happens
a. Metamemory: knowledge ab ur own memory processes b. Metacognition: general and rather loosely used term describing knowledge of one's ownthinking process - knowing what one knows and how one learns Metacognition refers to people's self-monitoring and self-control of their own cognitive processes. Accordingly, metamemory refers to people's self-monitoring and self-control of their own memory processes.
Understand the terms meta-cognition and meta-memory
