psych test memory and cognitive processes
Heuristics
Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that help us make decisions faster. This is speedier than using an algorithm but less accurate! Solve problem quickly.
Long term memory (LTM) Encoded
Final stage of memory holds an unlimited amount of information for an unlimited amount of time. To make it here, stimuli must be —.
Anterograde amnesia Hippocampus
Forgetting events that occurred after the injury; impairment in learning When the —- is damaged, resulting in the inability to "create" long term memories. We can't create any new memories
Retrograde amnesia
Forgetting events that occurred before an injury or trauma. Usually involves damage to a structure that is NOT the hippocampus. Only know what's happen in your present, can't remember your past.
Encoding
Getting information in. Paying attention long and hard enough for information to stick
Retrieval (When we take a test)
Getting the information out, recognizing and recalling it
False: we forget half of what we learn right away
True or false : we remember half of the things we learn right away
True
True or false: we process everything we sense
True
True/ False: we are more confident in memories than we should be
True
True/False: memory is a type of learning that also helps us to learn
Trial and Error
Trying different solutions until we find one that works (more random).
Priming
Using cues to activate hidden messages - students use — by quizzing each other verbally right before an exam - used in business to buy certain products or behave in a certain way
Expertise
A strong base of knowledge
Yes
Can false memories have life altering and even fatal consequences?
An adventurous personality
Comfortable with change and risk
Confirmation Bias
- The tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore contradictory evidence. - "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest" - When we are in love, we often ignore "red flags" - Can lead to errors! - Relies on a preconceived notion
Anchoring effect
- A cognitive bias favoring the first information offered. - Every person has a frame of reference with different "anchor" points. Ex. $200 jeans vs. $50 jeans
Availability Heuristic
- A mental shortcut; When we estimate the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory. If instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common. -Have crime rates increased just because we hear about them on the news all the time?
Representative Heurisitc
- A mental shortcut; When we make judgments about people that are based on how well people fit into our preconceived notions. - Ex. Mary wears glasses and loves to read. Mary must be a librarian; People who wear glasses are nerds. Blondes are dumb.
Mental set ( related to perceptual set)
- A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past. ● Ex. If we studied for a test one way and did well, we will study
Parallel processing (dual processing)
- Is a factor in learning and memory. - The brain interprets different events and stimuli at the same time.
Cognition
- Mental activity associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating. - Deeply complex set of activities! - Allows us to process new information, solve problems, create new ways of seeing things, and even think about thinking.
Long term potentiation (LTP) Neurons Neurons Synaptic plasticity Hippocampus Drugs LTP Memory
- Our brain is composed of billions of —- that communicate through —-. —- —— is the ability of a synapse to strengthen over time (how we learn new skills and remember them.) - Occurs in the ——, where memories are created and stored from STM to LTM. - Many —- (including alcohol) block LTP & interfere with learning and memories. Certain conditions like stress, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease affect —— (and therefore —).
Cognition Concepts Concepts Concept hierarchies
- Part of —- involves organizing —-. - —- are mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas or people. - We can organize concepts into —- —- (subdivide them).
Divergent thinking
- Questions can have several or many possible responses - On the weekends, when we are bored, we many think this way. - Want to be more like this because they are more creative, they are problem solvers, and don't take no for an answer
Convergent thinking
- Questions have only one correct answer - This limits creativity - Linear and limited (only one solution)
Functional Fixedness
- Related to fixation - To think of things only in terms of their usual functions. - A lack of creativity that can be an impediment to problem solving.
Creativity
- The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas within ANY discipline including art, music, architecture, mathematics, science and engineering. - Any profession that involves solving problems or creating new ideas orproducts relies on creativity. - involves thinking outside of the box and not taking no for an answer
Fixation
- The inability to see or define a problem from a fresh point of view. - If we become fixed on one way of looking at a problem, we may be unable to solve it (or move beyond it). - We becomes obsessed with one thing and it is all we think about. We are set in our ways. - Can be mental or behavioral
Framing
- The process of presenting or posing an issue or question. - How a question or statement is "—-" makes a difference, affects decisions, and causes people to make judgments.
Self- serving bias
- The tendency to evaluate ourselves in an overly favorable manner. - If we do well on an exam and make only a few mistakes, we tell ourselves: "I did well on this test because I am smart." - If we do poorly, we say " That test was unfair. The teacher didn't prepare us properly. - Kinder to ourselves when we mess up but when it's someone else who messes up we are much more critical.
Overconfidence
- The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of your beliefs and judgments. - We assume we will make few mistakes when attempting to solve new problems, but we actually make many more than we believed we would.
Belief perseverance
- The tendency to reject evidence that doesn't support our core beliefs. - Leads to extreme discomfort. - We may flat out deny the evidence. - Similar to fixation.
Cognitive Dissonance
- The uncomfortable feeling we get when the evidence doesn't fit out core values. - To avoid the discomfort, we rationalize, deny and even ignore the evidence.
Prototypes Prototypes Expectations They are different for everyone
- The —— we hold in our minds are influenced by our social background, culture and language. - —- create for us a set of —- that we can apply to understand our world.
Intuition Emotional
- When we use —-, we are using the automatic processing of our implicit memories to reach conclusions. - Psychologists use —- as a starting point. - —- can offer many ideas and hypotheses to study. - Our unconscious mind (and our experience with the world) assist us in the decision-making process. - "—- learning" leads to —-. - READING BETWEEN THE LINES
Eyewitness memories
- often related to crimes - emotional, stressful, and arousal inducing - reconstructive - high suggestibility - fragile in nature
Savant syndrome Hyperthymesia (Highly superior autobiographical memory)
2 examples of exceptional memories
episodic memories Semantic memories Procedural memories
3 types of LTM
LIMBIC SYSTEM Hippocampus - explicit/episodic Amygdala - sensory Cerebellum - procedural Basal ganglia - procedural
4 body parts involved with memory
Savant syndrome
A condition in which extraordinary skills and memory ("islands of genius") are attributed to someone with mental disabilities. They have some type of disorder, but then have exceptional memories for other things
Prototypes
A mental image of the best example of a specific concept or category.
Serial position effect
A phenomenon that occurs when people recall the first and last items in a list more easily than those in the middle. Therefore, we need to study the middle part most.
Zero transfer
A situation where prior learning has no effect on new learning
Insight
A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; a sudden revelation. (Dr. Kohler & Sultan the gorilla)
False dichotomy
A type of "framing". - "Either you're with us or you're not." - You are either part of the solution or you're part of the problem."
Information Processing Model 1. Encoding 2. Storage 3. Retrieval
According to the — —- —— , memory generally involves a 3-step process:
Concepts
Allow us to make sense of our environment and experiences.
Basal ganglia
Also encodes procedural memories. Is a set of structures in the back of the frontal lobe, near the thalamus. These structures also help us remember patterns and maintain habits. Own personal habits. (Order we do things in the day)
No
Are eyewitness memories reliable?
Retrieval failure
Can't pull our memory from our head
Shallow processing Deep processing
Characteristics of LTM
Hyperthymesia (highly superior autobiographical memory)
Condition that allows people to recall vast a,our society of information about their own lives. It is a mental condition that allows the person to remember almost every detail of their lives with near-perfect accuracy. Exceptional memory but it's personal memory.
Encoding
Converting stimuli into a form the brain can understand and use
intrinsic motivation
Driven by internal, not external awards
Hippocampus
Encodes and retrieves explicit memories and episodic details Most associated with transfer of information from STM to LTM
Amygdala
Encodes emotional aspects of memory Encodes social and sexual behavior Also encodes some sensory memory Remembers all emotional stuff (anger, aggression)
Cerebellum
Encodes procedural memories such as how to tie a shoelace, play the guitar, cutting a straight line, or drive a car. Fine motors skills.
Semantic memories
Everyday, common types of knowledge (names of colors, names of states etc)
False memories
Fabricated or distorted recollection of events; Incorrect memories that someone believes to be true. You believe something happen and it didn't happen at all
Pseudo memories
False memories are also called
Priming
How do we rewrite implicit memories for our long term memory?
14-15 years
How long does information stay in long term memory
High intelligence
Imaginative thinking skills and the ability to look at subjects from different perspectives
Rehearsal Repetition
Information is an,w to remain longer in short term memory if — is practiced. —- is the —- or organization of information that has entered the short term memory. It also allows us to transfer information from short term memories into long term memories
Sensory memory Visual (iconic) memory Auditory (echoic) memory Tactile (haptic) memory
Initial, momentary storage. Lasts only an instant. Less than a second to several seconds. This information will leave our brains unless we attend to if. If we really attend to it, it will be stored in the short term memory Includes:
Amnesia
Injury or trauma can create problems with various brain functions
Critical thinking
Involves asking questions, analyzing assumptions, considering other interpretations
Memory
Learning that has continued over time. It allows us to draw on our past to use information in the present.
Algorithms
Logical, step by step procedure that guarantees a solution to a problem. An equation is an algorithm. (Time-consuming sometimes!)
Deep processing
Meaningful and symbolic characteristics are used; involves association; when we relate something to something else; when we think of meaning; involves elaborative rehearsal
Trace Decay Theory
Memories are lost over time. If we don't keep poor brain active, then out memory will break down. "If you don't use, you lose it). Related to forgetting curve.
Procedural memories
Memories of how to do something (ride a bike, bake a cake, tie your shoes, play baseball)
Explicit (aka declarative) Episodic Semantic
Memories that are consciously brought to mind; info that you had to make an effort to learn; involve effortful processing; involve recognition and recall. —— and —- memories are explicit.
Explicit memory (declarative)
Memory with conscious recall -episodic - semantic
Implicit memory (nondeclarative)
Memory without conscious recall -procedural
Multi store memory model by Atkinson and Shiffirin
Most accepted model in psychology
Risk or loss aversion (glass half full or half empty) we prefer half full
People prefer avoiding losses.
Shallow processing
Physical and perceptual features are analyzed; processing how it looks or appears; lines and angles that make up an object; focuses on meaningless aspects (looking on surface (superficial))
Memory traces
Physical changes in nerve cells (or brain activity) that occur when memories are stored.
Trial and error Algorithms Heuristics Insight Intuition
Problem solving methods (5)
State-dependent memory
Recall of information is best when we are in the same state of consciousness. ie. If you learn while slightly caffeinated, you theoretically should be able to recall that information while in a similarly caffeinated state. We learn and recall information best when we work with it in the same state of consciousness is most effective. You would do better when you are in the same condition as when you study.
Mood-dependent memory
Recall of information is best while in a mood similar to when it was recovered. (Moods must be genuine and authentic)
Context dependent memory
Recall of information is best while in the same context (or environment) in which it was acquired. (ACT at Lourdes) time of day is also important
Repetition
Repeating this over and over again keeps them stores in the short term memory
Storage
Retaining the information, involves attention, manipulation, and rehearsal
Retro
Something old of the past
Memory (Retrieval) Cues Cues Memory cues Mnemonic devices Memory cues
Stimuli associated with a memory. - —- help us recall information and enhance retrieval of a memory. - —- —- help explain why priming is a great activity before an exam. In the process of priming, you are creating cues for yourself to help recall needed information. - —- —- are — —-.
Episodic memories
The "stories" of our lives; experiences we can recall, who, what, where memories; a collection of personal memories. It is only mine.
Cognition
The act of thinking
Short term memory (stm) Selective attention 20-30 seconds / 5-9 items Interruption Interference Sequential Sounds Images Words
The capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind, in an active, readily-available state for a short period of time. — —- determines what actually makes it to our short term memory. Average duration: This memory is vulnerable to —- or —-! This memory is usually —-. Stores —, —-, and —- After this, information is either committed to long term memory or lost all together
Suppression
The conscious process of deliberately trying to forget something that causes distress. Ex. Distracting ourselves by keeping busy with anything not related to the emotional pain.
Recognition
The correct identification of previously learned material. —— is the process that helps you identify the correct answer on a multiple choice test. Don't have to pull from memories, it is easier.
Recall
The direct retrieval of facts or information. You use —- on fill in the blank tests without word banks. It is harder because we have to go back to what you know and have to come up with therms from our memory.
Source amnesia Source misattribution
The inability to remember the source of a memory while retaining its substance; the inability to remember how, where, when information (or memory) was acquired. - Also called —- —- This is the cause for many false memories Ie. Most of us don't remember learning to walk.
Digit span
The longest list of numbers that can be remembered and repeated back
Forgetting curve
The loss of information shortly after learning it.
Memory trace Memory decay Impressions Learning Manipulated
The more we practice or rehearse a bit of information, the stronger the — — becomes (even until it becomes habit). If we do not strengthen the trace, we may experience — —- - when memory traces become weaker. —— created in the brain during —- can fade away over time if they are not "—-".
Memory span
The number of times a persons can remember and repeat back using attention and short term memory
Misinformation effect Elizabeth Loftus
The process in which new information alters the way previous information is held in memory. (related to retroactive interference). — —- ' motivation to study false memories and the misinformation effect came from her own life. When she was 14, her mother drowned in a swimming pool. Thirty years later, her uncle told her that she was the one that had found the body. Soon after, he called again to tell her he was mistaken - that it was actually her aunt who had found her mother. She realized that that misinformation had planted a false memory.
Critical thinking
The propensity and skills to engage in activity with reflective skepticism. It involves remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.
Learning curve
The relationship between the increase of learning and experience.
Tip of the tongue state Metacognition Retrieval failure
The strong feeling that a particular word can be recalled, but despite making a great effort, we are temporarily unable to recall it. Is an example of —— (thinking about our own thinking). Is an example of —- ——. Other examples of retrieval failure include interference and transfer (on later slides).
Primacy effect
The tendency of the first items to be remembered net
Recency effect
The tendency to remember the most recent (last) items best
Skepticism
The unwillingness to blindly believe a claim. You question everything
Interference theory Retroactive interference Proactive interference
There are two ways to interfere with the creation of new memories :
Mnemonics
These are formal techniques for organizing information in a way that makes it more likely to be remembered
Metacognition
Thinking about our own thinking
Creativity Expertise High intelligence Adventurous personality Intrinsic motivation
Thinking that goes beyond just the acquisition of information. What does it rely on?
elaborative rehearsal
This is when information is organized in some way: for example, when you link it to another memory
Multi-Store memory model 1. Sensory memory 2. Short- term memory 3. Long- term memory
This model of memory, like he information processing model, also includes three states that address storage of memories
Flashbulb memories Ex: day you get married, bad accident
Vivid, detailed (intense) memories that people create during times of personal tragedy, accident or emotionally significant world events. These memories can develop in response to big events in our own lives, but they are more often connected with national and international events. We remember exactly where we were when we found out, our emotional state before and after the event, and the consequences of the events in our own lives.
Convergent thinking Divergent thinking (better means we are more creative)
What are 2 types of thinking?
Cognitive biases - confirmation bias - fixation - functional fixedness - mental set - representative heuristic - availability heuristic - overconfidence - self serving bias - belief perseverance - cognitive dissonance
What are the 10 problems in problem solving known as — —-
Thinking
What can influence creativity?
Skepticism
What does critical thinking involve?
Working memory
What is short term memory also known as
Intuition
What we know without knowing how we know it; our 6th sense. (—- is implicit, not explicit.)
Eidetic memory Photographic Total recall
When a person, usually a child, has visual images clear enough to be retained for at least 30 seconds (in many cases longer) and realistic in their vividness, that person is experiencing an eidetic memory. They see an exact replica of a visual image that persists and is not distorted in any way. Aka ——- memory or —— —- memory
Positive transfer
When mastery of one task aids (has a — impact) on learning or performing another Ex: skills developed in math class help support skills learned in side class
Negative transfer
When mastery of one task conflicts (has a — impact) on learning or performing another. Ex: learning French might interfere with your knowledge of Spanish and cause some errors
Memory decay
When memory traces become weaker
Retroactive interference
When new memories or information interferes with retrieval of older memories or information. Can't recall something of the past because new memories get in the way.
Proactive interference
When prior learning interferes with later learning. Trying to remember the present but old information gets in the way.
Relearning
When we learn something we previously learned. It measures the memory of prior learning. Even after an extended layoff from a skill or idea, the amount of time it takes to —- that concept or skill is much reduced. (savings score)
Spacing Massed practice Spacing Retention Spacing
When you set out to learn/study information a little bit at a time; the opposite of crammed study (aka —- —- ). —— can improve learning and maximize ——. —- helps you learn how to learn!
Growth (we challenges ourselves to the next level). Fixed mindset we don't link to be challenged and five up.
Which is better growth or fixed/closed mindset? Why?
Elizabeth Loftus
Who talked about eyewitness memories?
Inaccurate perception
Why do these false memories form?
Chunking
combining or grouping bits of related information, like our phone numbers. Turning content into smaller bits makes it easier to remember.
Implicit (aka nondeclarative) Cerebellum Procedural
memories we retain without conscious effort, without our awareness; are processed by ——; are unconsciously retrieved; involve automatic processing. —— memories are implicit.
Long term potentiation (LTP)
the biological explanation for learning and memory, especially long term memory.
Repression
the pushing of painful, embarrassing, or threatening memories out of awareness or consciousness.
Sit under Freud Repression Ego Is NOT
— —- had a theory of —-: the pushing of painful, embarrassing, or threatening memories out of awareness or consciousness. In his theory, the —- does this to reduce anxiety and emotional pain, and it does this without the person being aware of it. This theory —- well-respected.
Critical thinking
— —- is essential to cognition.
elaborative rehearsal
— —- leads to more enduring memories. It is a form of deep processing. Keys to it: -relating information to personal experiences - present information in different modalities - present information in different formats -encourage deeper processing through interactive exercises, self-assessment exercises, classroom projects, etc.
chunking Rehearsal
—- and ——- help improve STM
Priming Invisible memory
—- has been called "— —" because it affects us unconsciously We may have biases and associations stored in memory that also influence our choices
Memory Essential
—- is —- to all of us.
Memory Reconstruction Update Alter
—- is —— of the past. We ——- (construct) memories with logical processes, new reasoning, new information, imagination, beliefs, cultural naunces. We even —- our memories to fit our interpretation of events. What we recall is not a replica but a reconstruction of the event.
Long Implicit Explicit
—- term memories can also be — or —-
Herman Ebbinghaus
—— —— was the first to conduct experimental studies on memory to help answer the question of why we forget