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PSYC Ch.7/8
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| memory | The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information. |
| encoding | The process of getting information into the memory system. |
| storage | The process of retaining encoded information over time. |
| retrieval | The process of getting information out of memory storage. |
| sensory memory | The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system. |
| short-term memory | Briefly activated memory of a few items (such as digits of a phone number while calling) that is later stored or forgotten. |
| long-term memory | The relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences. |
| working memory | A newer understanding of short-term memory; conscious, active processing of both (1) incoming sensory information and (2) information retrieved from long-term memory. |
| implicit memory | Retention of learned skills, or classically conditioned associations, without conscious awareness. (Also called nondeclarative memory.) |
| automatic processing | Unconscious encoding of everyday information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of familiar or well-learned information, such as sounds, smells, and word meanings. |
| explicit memory | Retention of facts and personal events we can consciously retrieve. (Also called declarative memory.) |
| effortful processing | Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort. |
| parallel processing | Processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem at the same time. |
| chunking | Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically. |
| mnemonics [nih-MON-iks] | Memory aids, especially techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices. |
| spacing effect | The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice. |
| testing effect | Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning. |
| semantic memory | Explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is episodic memory). |
| episodic memory | Explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is semantic memory). |
| hippocampus | A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process for storage explicit (conscious) memories of facts and events. |
| memory consolidation | The neural storage of a long-term memory. |
| flashbulb memory | A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event |
| long-term potentiation (LTP) | An increase in a nerve cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. LTP is a neural basis for learning and memory. |
| recall | Memory demonstrated by retrieving information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test. |
| recognition | Memory demonstrated by identifying items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test. |
| relearning | Memory demonstrated by time saved when learning material again. |
| retrieval cue | Any stimulus (event, feeling, place, and so on) linked to a specific memory. |
| priming | The activation, often unconsciously, of associations in our mind, thus setting us up to perceive, remember, or respond to objects or events in certain ways. |
| mood-congruent memory | The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with your current good or bad mood. |
| serial position effect | Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list. |
| anterograde amnesia | An inability to form new memories. |
| retrograde amnesia | An inability to remember information from our past. |
| memory trace | Lasting physical change in the brain as a memory forms. |
| proactive interference | The forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information. |
| retroactive interference | The backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information. |
| reconsolidation | A process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again. |
| misinformation effect | Occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information. |
| source amnesia | Faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined. |
| déjà vu | The eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience. |
| cognition | All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating |
| metacognition | Cognition about our cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes. |
| concept | A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. |
| prototype | 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 (as when you compare a feathered creature to a prototypical bird, such as a crow). |
| algorithm | A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees you will solve a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier—but also more error-prone—use of heuristics. |
| heuristic | A simple thinking strategy—a mental shortcut—that often allows you to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than an algorithm. |
| insight | A sudden realization of the solution to a problem; contrasts with strategy-based solutions. |
| confirmation bias | A tendency to search for information that supports your preconceptions and to ignore or distort evidence that contradicts them. |
| fixation | In cognition, the inability to consider a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving. |
| intuition | An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning. |
| representative heuristic | Judging the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information. |
| availability heuristic | Judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if an event comes readily to mind (perhaps because it was vivid), we assume it must be common. |
| overconfidence | The tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments. |
| belief perseverance | Clinging to beliefs even after evidence has proven them wrong. |
| framing | The way an issue is posed; framing can significantly affect decisions and judgments. |
| nudge | Framing choices in a way that encourages people to make beneficial decisions. |
| creativity | The ability to produce new and valuable ideas. |
| convergent thinking | Narrowing the available solutions to determine the single best solution to a problem. |
| divergent thinking | Expanding the number of possible solutions to a problem; creative thinking that branches out in different directions. |
| language | Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning. |
| syntax | The correct way to string words together to form sentences for a given language. |
| grammar | In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. |
| babbling stage | The stage in speech development, beginning around 4 months, during which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds that are not all related to the household language. |
| one-word stage | The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words. |
| two-word stage | The stage in speech development, beginning about age 2, during which a child speaks mostly in two-word sentences. |
| telegraphic speech | The early speech stage in which a child speaks in compressed sentences, like a telegram—“want milk” or “Daddy go store”—using mostly nouns and verbs. |
| Broca's area | A frontal lobe brain area, usually in the left hemisphere, that helps control language expression by directing the muscle movements involved in speech. |
| Wernicke's area | A brain area, usually in the left temporal lobe, involved in language comprehension and expression. |
| large language model | An artificial intelligence program that uses statistical probabilities to perform basic language processes, such as producing, translating, and categorizing text. |
| intelligence | The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. |
| general intelligence (g) | According to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test. |
| fluid intelligence (Gf) | Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood. |
| crystallized intelligence (Gc) | Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age. |
| Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory | The theory that our intelligence is based on general intelligence (g) as well as specific abilities, bridged by fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc). |
| savant syndrome | A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing. |
| emotional intelligence | The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions. |
| intelligence test | A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores. |
| achievement test | A test designed to assess what a person has learned. |
| aptitude test | A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn. |
| mental age | A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age. Thus, a child who does as well as an average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8 |
| Stanford-Binet | The widely used U.S. revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test. |
| intelligence quotient (IQ) | Defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ = ma/ca × 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100. |
| Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) | The WAIS and its companion versions for children are the most widely used intelligence tests; they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests. |
| standardization | Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group. |
| normal curve | The bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes. |
| reliability | The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting. |
| validity | The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to. (See also predictive validity.) |
| predictive validity | The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict. |
| heritability | The proportion of variation among people in a group that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the population and the environment. |
| growth mindset | A belief that abilities are not fixed, but can grow with persistent effort. |
| cross-sectional study | Research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time. |
| longitudinal study | Research that follows and retests the same people over time. |
| stereotype threat | A self-confirming concern that you will be judged based on a negative stereotype. |
Created by:
PSYC