ap psych unit 7
shallow processing
encoding on a basic level on the structure or appearance of words
explicit memory
the memory of facts and experiences that one can declare; effortful
intuition
effortless, immediate, automatic feeling/thought
Austin can't remember Jack Smith's name because he wasn't paying attention when Jack was formally introduced. Austin's poor memory is best explained in terms of
encoding failure
deep processing
encoding semantically based on word meaning; best retention
effortful processing
encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
testing effect
enhanced memory after retrieving rather than rereading information; retrieval practice effect; test-enhanced learning
availability heuristic
estimating the likelihood of events based on their availabilty in memory
divergent thinking
expands the number of possible problem solutions
the Vietnamese language has the sound that goes the with the letters "NG" at the beginning of words, including names. Americans have difficulty hearing and speaking that sound. That sound is a kind of
phoneme
syntax
set of rules for combing words into grammatically sensible sentences
semantics
set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds
heuristic
simple thinking strategy that allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; error-prone
phoneme
smallest distinctive sound unit
language
spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
when confronted with the sequence "___ N _____" at the end of a word in a crossword puzzle, Tony inserts the letters "I" and "G" in the two blanks because that procedure has often led to the correct answer in previous puzzles. This example illustrates the use of
syllogism
telegraphic speech
the child speaks like a telegraph using mostly nouns and verbs; "go car"
memory
the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information
retrieval
the process of getting information out of memory storage
morpheme
the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (prefix)
spacing effect
the tendency for distributed study/practice to yield better long-term retention than massed study/practice
mental set
the tendency to approach a problem in one way; has been successful in the past
overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct; overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments
serial position effect
the tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list
mood congruent memory
the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good/bad mood
confirmation bias
the tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore/distort contradictory evidence
framing
the way an issue is posed; can significantly affect decisions and judgments
priming
unconscious activation of particular associations in memory
automatic processing
unconscious encoding of incidental information; space, time, and frequency; word meanings
flashbulb memory
clear memory of an emotionally significant moment/event; 9/11, OJ
belief perseverance
clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
anchoring effect
cognitive bias that describes the common human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered when making decisions
a teenager believes very strongly that a particular basketball player should not play on his favorite team. Over the course of the season, the teenager focuses on every mistake, turnover, and missed shot the player makes. However, the teen does not notice how well the player passes, helps the other teammates, and rebounds. This teenager's behavior illustrates
confirmation bias
walking into your bedroom, you think, "I need to get my backpack in the kitchen." When you reach the kitchen, you forget what you came there for. As you return to your bedroom, you suddenly remember, "Backpack!" This sudden recall is best explained by
context effects
anterograde amnesia
inability to form new memories
storage
process of retaining encoded information over time
deja vu
"I've experienced this before"; cues from current situations unconsciously trigger retrieval of earlier experiences
babbling stage
4 months; the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to household language
linguistic determinism
Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think
recall
a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier; fill-in-the-blanks test
recognition
a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned; multiple-choice test
relearning
a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again
prototype
a mental image or best example of a category; provides a quick/easy method for sorting items into categories
iconic memory
a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; picture-image lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
insight
a sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions
grammar
a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others
creativity
ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
short-term memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly; a phone number
one-word stage
age 1-2; speak mostly in single words
two-word stage
age 2; two-word statements
cognition
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
long-term potentiation
an increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; neural basis for learning and memory
source amnesia
attributing the wrong source for an event we experienced, heard about, or imagined; at the heart of false memories
retrograde amnesia
inability to retrieve information from one's past
misinformation effect
incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event
hippocampus
brain's equivalent of a "save" button; limbic system; process explicit memories for storage
a teenager was given a new phone as a gift and thought the old phone should be thrown away, not realizing that the old phone could be used as a music player to avoid taking up space on the new phone. This example illustrates
functional fixedness
metacognition
higher-order thinking that enables understanding, analysis, and control of one's cognitive process
sensory memory
immediate, brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
aphasia
impairment of language to the left hemisphere; Broca and Wernicke's area
representativeness heuristic
judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent/match particular prototypes; leads us to ignore other relevant information
Broca's area
language expression; muscle movements involved in speech
Wernicke's area
language reception
mnemonics
memory aids; techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
concept
mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people
algorithm
methodical, logical rule/procedure that guarantees to solve a particular problem
echoic memory
momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli
convergent thinking
narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution
retroactive interference
new information blocks out old information
working memory
newer understanding of short-term memory; focuses on conscious, active processing of auditory and visual-spatial information and from long-term memory
proactive interference
old information blocks out new information
chunking
organizing items into familiar, manageable units; automatically
two year-old Mica tells her grandmother that the new couch "costed" too much. The scenario illustrates that children
overgeneralize the use of grammatical rules
Noam Chomsky's view of language proposes that
people have an inherent language acquisition device
when Loftus and Palmer asked observers of a filmed accident how fast the vehicles were going when they "smashed" into each other rather than "hit" or "contacted" each other, the observers developed memories of the accident that
portrayed the event as more serious that it had actually been
encoding
processing of information into the memory system- extracting meaning
parallel processing
processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneosuly; natural mode of information processing
repression
psychoanalytic theory; basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
long-term memory
relatively permanent and limitless storehouse for memories; includes knowledge, skills, and experiences
implicit memory
retention independent of conscious recollection; nondeclarative