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