Unit 5

Question 1

Define encoding

Answer 1

Processing of information into the memory system

Question 2

Define storage

Answer 2

Process of retaining encoded information over time

Question 3

Define retrieval

Answer 3

Process of getting information out of memory storage

Question 4

Define sensory memory

Answer 4

Immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Question 5

Define short-term memory

Answer 5

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as 7 digits of a phone number before information is stored or forgotten

Question 6

Define long-term memory

Answer 6

Relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system like knowledge, skills, and experience

Question 7

Define working memory

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Define explicit memory

Answer 8

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare

Question 9

Define effortful processing

Answer 9

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Question 10

Define automatic processing

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Define implicit memory

Answer 11

Retention independent of conscious recollection

Question 12

Define iconic memory

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Define echoic memory

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Define chunking

Answer 14

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Question 15

Define mnemonics

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Define spacing effect

Answer 16

Tendency for distributed study to yield better long-term retention than massed study

Question 17

Define testing effect

Answer 17

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information

Question 18

Define shallow processing

Answer 18

Encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

Question 19

Define deep processing

Answer 19

Encoding semantically based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

Question 20

Define memory

Answer 20

Persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

Question 21

Define flashbulb memory

Answer 21

Clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Question 22

Define long-term potentiation

Answer 22

An increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation

Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Question 23

Define recall

Answer 23

Measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test

Question 24

Define recognition

Answer 24

Measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned as on a multiple choice test

Question 25

Define relearning

Answer 25

Measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

Question 26

Define priming

Answer 26

Activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Question 27

Define mood-congruent memory

Answer 27

Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood

Question 28

Define serial position effect

Answer 28

Tendency to recall best the first and last items of a list

Question 29

Define anterograde amnesia

Answer 29

An inability to form new memories

Question 30

Define retrograde amnesia

Answer 30

An inability to retrieve information from one’s past

Question 31

Define proactive interference

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Define retroactive interference

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Define repression

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Define misinformation effect

Answer 34

Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event

Question 35

Define source amnesia

Answer 35

Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined The heart of many false memories

Question 36

Define deja vu

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Define cognition

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Define concept

Answer 38

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Question 39

Define prototype

Answer 39

A mental image or best example of a category Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories

Question 40

Define creativity

Answer 40

Ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Question 41

Define convergent thinking

Answer 41

Narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Question 42

Define divergent thinking

Answer 42

Expands the number of possible problem solutions

Question 43

Define algorithm

Answer 43

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

Question 44

Define heuristic

Answer 44

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

Question 45

Define insight

Answer 45

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

Question 46

Define confirmation bias

Answer 46

Tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Question 47

Define mental set

Answer 47

Tendency to approach a problem in one particular way; often a way that has been successful in the past

Question 48

Define intuition

Answer 48

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

Question 49

Define representative heuristic

Answer 49

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

Question 50

Define availability heuristic

Answer 50

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common

Question 51

Define overconfidence

Answer 51

Tendency to be more confident than correct To overestimate the accuracy for our beliefs and judgments

Question 52

Define belief perseverance

Answer 52

Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Question 53

Define framing

Answer 53

The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Question 54

Define language

Answer 54

Our spoken, written, or signed words and the way we combine them to communicate meaning

Question 55

Define phoneme

Answer 55

In a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Question 56

Define morpheme

Answer 56

In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or part of a word

Question 57

Define grammar

Answer 57

In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Question 58

Define semantics

Answer 58

Set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds

Question 59

Define syntax

Answer 59

Set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences

Question 60

Define babbling stage

Answer 60

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

Question 61

Define one-word stage

Answer 61

Stage in speech development, from about 1-2 years, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Question 62

Define two-word stage

Answer 62

Beginning about age 2, stage of speech development during which a child speaks mostly in 2 word statements

Question 63

Define telegraphic speech

Answer 63

Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram using mostly nouns and verbs

Question 64

Define aphasia

Answer 64

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

Question 65

Define Broca’s area

Answer 65

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

Question 66

Define Wernicke’s area

Answer 66

Controls language reception, a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression usually in the left temporal lobe

Question 67

Define linguistic determinism

Answer 67

Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Question 68

Define intelligence

Answer 68

Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Question 69

Define intelligence test

Answer 69

A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

Question 70

Define general intelligence

Answer 70

A factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Question 71

Define factor analysis

Answer 71

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test; used to identity different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score

Question 72

Define savant syndrome

Answer 72

Condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill

Question 73

Define grit

Answer 73

Passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long term goals

Question 74

Define emotional intelligence

Answer 74

Ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

Question 75

Define mental age

Answer 75

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; chronological age that typically corresponds to a given level of performance

Question 76

Define Stanford-Binet

Answer 76

The widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test

Question 77

Define Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Answer 77

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age

Question 78

Define achievement test

Answer 78

Test designed to assess what a person has learned

Question 79

Define aptitude test

Answer 79

Test designed to predict a person’s future performance

Question 80

Define Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

Answer 80

Most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance subtests

Question 81

Define standardization

Answer 81

Defining uniform test procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pre tested group

Question 82

Define reliability

Answer 82

Extent to which a test yields consistent results as assessed by the consistency of scores on 2 halves of the test, 2 alternate forms of the test, or on retesting

Question 83

Define validity

Answer 83

Extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Question 84

Define content validity

Answer 84

Extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

Question 85

Define predictive validity

Answer 85

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior

Question 86

Define cohort

Answer 86

Group of people from a given time oeriod

Question 87

Define crystallized intelligence

Answer 87

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Question 88

Define fluid intelligence

Answer 88

Ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

Question 89

Define intellectual disability

Answer 89

Condition of limited mental ability; indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life

Question 90

Define Down Syndrome

Answer 90

Condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21

Question 91

Define heritability

Answer 91

Proportion of variation among individuals that we attribute to genes May vary depending on population and environment

Question 92

Define polygenetic

Answer 92

Intelligence appears to be polygenetic, each gene accounting for less than 1% of intelligence variation Involving many genes

Question 93

Define stereotype threat

Answer 93

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

Question 94

Define test bias

Answer 94

Whether a test predicts future behavior only for some groups of test-takers