Unit 7: Cognition

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

Question 2

Information processing

Answer 2

we must first get information into our brain (encoding), then we must retain information (storage), and then later, get it back out (retrieval).

Question 3

Atkinson and Shiffrin

Answer 3

proposed that we form memory in three stages

Question 4

Sensory memory

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Short term memory

Answer 5

activated memory that holds a few items briefly

Question 6

Long term memory

Answer 6

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

Question 7

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 of information retrieved from long term memory

Question 8

Parallel processing

Answer 8

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously

Question 9

Automatic processing

Answer 9

unconscious encoding of incidental information such as space, time, and frequency of events

Question 10

Effortful processing

Answer 10

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Question 11

Rehearsal

Answer 11

the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage

Question 12

Spacing effect

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Serial position effect

Answer 13

our tendency to recall best, the last and first items in a list

Question 14

Visual encoding

Answer 14

the encoding of picture images

Question 15

Acoustic encoding

Answer 15

the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words

Question 16

Semantic encoding

Answer 16

the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words

Question 17

Imaging

Answer 17

(imagery). : mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.

Question 18

Mnemonics

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Groupings

Answer 19

information being encoded is organized into chunks

Question 20

Hierarchies

Answer 20

At advanced levels, information being encoded is organized into hierarchies – where concepts are divided and subdivided

Question 21

Iconic memory

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Echoic memory

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Long-term potentiation

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Stress hormones

Answer 24

add a biological factor to the brain and memories

Question 25

Amnesia

Answer 25

the loss of memory

Question 26

Implicit memory

Answer 26

(like riding a bike) retention independent of conscious recollection. Also called nondeclarative or procedural memory

Question 27

Explicit memory

Answer 27

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare." Also called declarative memory

Question 28

Hippocampus

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Cerebellum

Answer 29

plays a big role in forming and storing implicit memories

Question 30

Flashbulb memory

Answer 30

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Question 31

Recall

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Recognition

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Relearning

Answer 33

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time

Question 34

Priming

Answer 34

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Question 35

Deja vu

Answer 35

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

Question 36

Mood-congruent memory

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Absent-mindedness

Answer 37

inattention to detail leads to encoding failure. Much of what we sense, we never notice or encode. Age can also affect encoding.

Question 38

Transcience

Answer 38

storage decays over time, quickly at first, then it levels off

Question 39

Proactive interference

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Retroactive interference

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Motivated forgetting/repression

Answer 41

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

Question 42

Distortion

Answer 42

- misattribution - suggestibility - bias

Question 43

Intrusion

Answer 43

it is easy to forget neutral events, but not emotional ones. Thus we may have intrusive memories of the ones we most want to forget.

Question 44

Misinformation effect

Answer 44

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Question 45

Source amnesia

Answer 45

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced

Question 46

Cognition

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Concepts

Answer 47

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

Question 48

Prototypes

Answer 48

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 49

Algorithms

Answer 49

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

Question 50

Heuristic

Answer 50

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently. speedy but error-prone

Question 51

Insight

Answer 51

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Question 52

Creativity

Answer 52

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Question 53

Confirmation Bias

Answer 53

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

Question 54

Fixation

Answer 54

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set

Question 55

Mental set

Answer 55

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

Question 56

Funcntional fixedness

Answer 56

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving

Question 57

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 57

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 58

Availability heuristic

Answer 58

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

Question 59

Overconfidence

Answer 59

the tendency to be more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements

Question 60

Belief perseverance

Answer 60

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

Question 61

Language

Answer 61

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

Question 62

Phoneme

Answer 62

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Question 63

Morpheme

Answer 63

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

Question 64

Semantics

Answer 64

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning

Question 65

Syntax

Answer 65

the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

Question 66

Babbling stage

Answer 66

begins about 4 months and is the start of speech development

Question 67

Productive language

Answer 67

the ability to produce words

Question 68

One-word stage

Answer 68

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

Question 69

Two-word stage

Answer 69

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

Question 70

Telegraphic speech

Answer 70

early speech stage in which a child speaks using mostly nouns and verbs

Question 71

Linguistic determinism

Answer 71

Benjamin Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think