Chapter 4: Comprehension, Memory, and Cognitive Learning
dostats
Russian word that can be roughly translated as "acquiring things with great difficulty"
framing
a phenomenon in which the meaning of something influenced (perceived differently) by the information environment
golden section
a preferred ratio of objects equal to 1.62 to 1.00
nostalgia
a yearning to relive the past that can produce lingering emotions
information intensity
amount of information available for a consumer to process within a given environment
expertise
amount of knowledge that a source is perceived to have about a subject
social stereotype
another word for social schema
sensory memory
area in memory where a consumer stores things exposed to one of the five senses
ground
background in a message
expectations
beliefs about what will happen in some future situation
meaningful encoding
coding that occurs when information from long-term memory is placed on the workbench and attached to the information on the workbench in a way that the information can be recalled and used later
dual coding
coding that occurs when two different sensory traces are available to remember something
declarative knowledge
cognitive components that represent facts
priming
cognitive process in which context or environment activates concepts and frames thoughts and therefore affects both value and meaning
social schema
cognitive representation that gives a specific type of person meaning
signal theory
explains ways in which communications convey meaning beyond the explicit or obvious interpretation
elaboration
extent to which a consumer continues processing a message even after an initial understanding is achieved
message congruity
extent to which a message is internally consistent and fits surrounding information
credibility
extent to which a source is considered to be both an expert in a given area and trustworthy
trustworthiness
how honest and unbiased the sources isperceived to be
metaphor
in a consumer context, an ad claim that is not literally rue but figuratively communicates a message
haptic perception
interpretations created by the way some object feels
adaptation level
leave of a stimulus to which a consumer has become accustomed
episodic memory
memory for past events in one's past life
memory trace
mental path by which some thought becomes active
associative network
network of mental pathways linking knowledge within memory; sometimes referred to as a semantic network
figure-ground distinction
notion that each message can be separated into the focal point (figure) and the background (ground)
cognitive interference
notion that everything else that the consumer is exposed to while trying to remember something is also vying for processing capacity and thus interfering with memory and comprehension
figure
object that is intended to capture a person's attention, the focal part of any message
PMG
price matching gurantee
habituation
process by which continuous exposure to a stimulus affects the comprehension of, and response to, the stimulus
retrieval
process by which information is transferred back into workbench memory for additional processing when needed
encoding
process by which information is transferred from workbench memory to long term memory for permanent storage
personal elaboration
process by which people imagine themselves somehow associating with a stimulus that is being processed
chunking
process of grouping stimuli by meaning so that multiple stimuli can become one memory unit1
memory
psychological process by which knowledge is recorded
response generation
reconstruction of memory traces into a formed recollection of information
brain dominance
refers to the phenomenon of hemispheric lateralization. Some people tend to be either right-brain or left-brain dominant
long-term memory
repository for all information that a person has encountered
script
schema representing an event
repetition
simple mechanism in which a thought is kept alive in short-term memory by mentally repeating the thought
chuck
single memory unit
tag
small piece of coded information that helps with the retrieval of knowledge
workbench memory
storage area in the memory system where information is stored while being processed and encoded for later recall
echoic storage
storage of auditory information in sensory memory
iconic storage
storage of visual information in sensory memory and the idea that things are stored with a one-to-one representation with reality
physical characteristics
tangible elements or the parts of a message that can be sensed
social identity
the idea that one's individual identity is defined in part by the social groups to which one belongs
comprehension
the way people cognitively assign meaning to (i.e. understand) things they encounter factors affecting: 1) characteristics of the message 2) characteristics of the message receiver 3) characteristics of the environment (information processing situation)
multiple store theory of memory
theory that explains memory as utilizing three different storage areas within the human brain: sensory, workbench, and long-term
prospect theory
theory that suggests that a decision or argument can be framed in different ways and that the framing affects risk assessments consumers make
counterarguments
thoughts that contradict a message
support arguments
thoughts that further support a message
semantic coding
type of coding wherein stimuli are converted to meaning that can be expressed verbally
rumination
unintentional but recurrent memory of long-ago events that are spontaneously (not evoked by the environment) triggered
figurative language
use of expressions that send a non literal meaning
spreading activation
way cognitive activation spreads from one concept (or node) to another
construtal level
whether or not we are thinking about something using a concrete or an abstract mindset