Memory and Cognition

Question 1

The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage and retrieval of information

Answer 1

Memory

Question 2

the processing of information into the memory systems – for example, by extracting meaning.

Answer 2

Encoding

Question 3

the process of retaining encoded information over time.

Answer 3

storage

Question 4

the process of getting information out of memory storage.

Answer 4

retrieval

Question 5

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

Answer 5

parallel processing

Question 6

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Answer 6

sensory memory

Question 7

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing before the information is stored or forgotten.

Answer 7

short-term memory

Question 8

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Answer 8

long-term memory

Question 9

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Answer 9

working memory

Question 10

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare.” (Also called declarative memory)

Answer 10

explicit memory

Question 11

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Answer 11

effortful processing

Question 12

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

Answer 12

automatic processing

Question 13

retention independent of conscious recollection. (Also called nondeclarative memory)

Answer 13

implicit memory

Question 14

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

Answer 14

iconic memory

Question 15

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

Answer 15

echoic memory

Question 16

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Answer 16

chunking

Question 17

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Answer 17

mnemonics

Question 18

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

Answer 18

spacing effect

Question 19

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information. Also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.

Answer 19

testing effect

Question 20

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words.

Answer 20

shallow processing

Question 21

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.

Answer 21

deep processing

Question 22

a neural center that is located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage.

Answer 22

hippocampus

Question 23

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Answer 23

flashbulb memory

Question 24

an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

Answer 24

long-term potential (LTP)

Question 25

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learning earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

Answer 25

recall

Question 26

a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

Answer 26

recognition

Question 27

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.

Answer 27

relearning

Question 28

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

Answer 28

priming

Question 29

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.

Answer 29

mood congruent memory

Question 30

our tendency to recall best the last (a recency effect) and first items (a primacy effect) in a list.

Answer 30

serial position effect

Question 31

an inability to form new memories.

Answer 31

anterograde amnesia

Question 32

an inability to retrieve information from one’s past.

Answer 32

retrograde amnesia

Question 33

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.

Answer 33

proactive interference

Question 34

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.

Answer 34

retroactive interference

Question 35

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

Answer 35

repression

Question 36

incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.

Answer 36

misinformation effect

Question 37

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. (Also called source misattribution.) ..., along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.

Answer 37

source amnesia

Question 38

that eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Answer 38

deja vu

Question 39

the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Answer 39

cognition

Question 40

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

Answer 40

concept

Question 41

a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a ... provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin).

Answer 41

prototype

Question 42

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

Answer 42

creativity

Question 43

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.

Answer 43

convergent thinking

Question 44

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creativity thinking that diverges in different directions).

Answer 44

divergent thinking

Question 45

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier – but also more error-prone – use of heuristics.

Answer 45

algorithm

Question 46

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms.

Answer 46

heuristics

Question 47

a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions.

Answer 47

insight

Question 48

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

Answer 48

confirmation bias

Question 49

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.

Answer 49

mental set

Question 50

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.

Answer 50

intuition

Question 51

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information.

Answer 51

Representativeness Heuristic

Question 52

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Answer 52

Availability Heuristic

Question 53

the tendency to be more confident than correct – to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Answer 53

overconfidence

Question 54

clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they are formed has been discredited.

Answer 54

Belief Perseverence

Question 55

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements.

Answer 55

framing

Question 56

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.

Answer 56

language

Question 57

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

Answer 57

Phoneme

Question 58

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix).

Answer 58

morpheme

Question 59

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. In a given language, semantics is the set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.

Answer 59

grammar

Question 60

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.

Answer 60

babbling stage

Question 61

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.

Answer 61

one-word stage

Question 62

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements.

Answer 62

two-word stage

Question 63

early speech state in which a child speaks like a telegram – “go car” – using mostly nouns and verbs.

Answer 63

telegraphic speech

Question 64

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding).

Answer 64

aphasia

Question 65

controls language expression – an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Answer 65

broca's area

Question 66

controls language reception – a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.

Answer 66

Wernicke's area

Question 67

Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think.

Answer 67

Linguistic Determinism

Question 68

get information in, retain information, take information out

Answer 68

encoding, storage, and retrieval

Question 69

rejected behaviorist explanations of all behavior (language) He believed language users followed rules. Key to understanding language was mental processes and cognitive structures

Answer 69

Noam Chomsky (Cognitive Revolution (1960s-70s))

Question 70

sensory, short, and long-term memory

Answer 70

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Standard Theory Model - 3 levels of memory

Question 71

explicit and implicit processes

Answer 71

Dual-track memory

Question 72

in addition to chunking and mnemonics individuals also process information into...

Answer 72

hierarchies

Question 73

plays a key role in forming and storing memories created by classical conditioning.

Answer 73

cerebellum

Question 74

deep brain structures involved in motor movement that facilitate formation of procedural memories for skills (implicit memories)

Answer 74

basal ganglia

Question 75

two limbic-system, emotion-processing clusters. Emotions can determine how a memory is stored -Stressful situations -Serotonin inducing situations (emotions)

Answer 75

amygdala

Question 76

first identified by German neurologist first described by senile plaque (build of protein which causes neurons to die). Type of dementia where patients lack acetylcholine. Definitive diagnosis is during the autopsy

Answer 76

alzheimers

Question 77

related to alcohol consumption and a lack of thiamine Confabulation - patients make up info to fill memory gaps. Smaller hippocampi than most. Affects the cardiovascular and central nervous system

Answer 77

korsakofs

Question 78

Relearning task - rationale was that he wanted to study the properties of memory and forgetting, the fundamentals

Answer 78

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Question 79

a useful prompt or reminder for the information to be retrieved

Answer 79

retrieval cue

Question 80

influence of surrounding information and your own knowledge (ducking don’t like you)

Answer 80

context dependent memory

Question 81

the level of collect recall on the final items of the originally presented list

Answer 81

recency effect

Question 82

when the information in a list is unique or strange

Answer 82

von restorff effect

Question 83

loss from memory. Simply refer to situations in which there is a difficulty remembering due to various reasons. Not complete loss of memory

Answer 83

forgetting

Question 84

loss of memory or memory abilities caused by brain damage or disease. Sometimes temporary due to a strong blow to the head or acute emotional or physical distress. Some are relatively permanent

Answer 84

amnesia

Question 85

when individuals momentarily unable to recall some shred of information, often a person’s name, that they know is stored in long term memory

Answer 85

tip of tongue phenomenon (TOT)

Question 86

how to improve memory

Answer 86

Rehearse repeatedly Make the material meaningful Activate retrieval cues Use mnemonic devices Minimize interference Sleep more Test your knowledge, both to rehearse it and to find out what you do not know

Question 87

the scientific study of thought, language, the brain-in short, the scientific study of the mind

Answer 87

cognitive science

Question 88

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Answer 88

cognition

Question 89

Robert Sternberg’s 5 components of creativity

Answer 89

Expertise - well-developed base of knowledge Imaginative thinking skills - provide the ability to see things in novel ways Venturesome personality - seeks new experiences Intrinsic motivation - is being driven more by interest, satisfaction, and challenge A creative environment - sparks, supports, and refines creative ideas

Question 90

is the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences (the arrangement of words).

Answer 90

syntax

Question 91

language development (four stages)

Answer 91

Babbling stage - abt 4 months - utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language One-word stage - age 1-2 Two-word stage - age 2 Telegraphic speech - early speech stage mostly nouns and verbs

Question 92

a form of aphasia in which the person knows what they want to say but is unable to produce the words or sentence

Answer 92

Broca's Aphasia

Question 93

word salad - a language disorder that makes it hard for you to understand words and communicate

Answer 93

Wernicke's Aphasia

Question 94

An organizing issue in studies of cultural influences on language and thought is how one’s language affects one’s thinking.

Answer 94

Whorfian hypothesis/linguistic relativity hypothesis

Question 95

In the strongest version, the hypothesis claims that language controls both thought and perception to large degree, that is, you cannot think about ideas or concepts that your language does not name

Answer 95

strongest version of whorf

Question 96

In its weaker version, the hypothesis claims that your language influences and shapes your thought, for instance making it merely more difficult rather than impossible to think about ideas without having a name for them

Answer 96

weaker version of whorf