5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2010-2011 Edition (40 page)

13. E—
Arnold made a faulty decision based on his prototypes that elementary school teachers are women and engineers are men.

14. E—
The one-year-old communicates that she wants a drink using a holophrase, one word.

15. B—
In retroactive interference we can’t recall previously learned information, because newer information (Italian) disrupts the older information (Spanish) and makes it more difficult to retrieve.

Memory
—human capacity to register, retain, and remember information. Three models of memory:

1. Information Processing Model
of memory—encoding, storage, and retrieval.

•
Encoding
—the process of putting information into the memory system.

•
Storage
—the retention of encoded information over time.

•
Retrieval
—the process of getting information out of memory storage.

We have difficulty attending to two complex tasks—divided attention.

2. Levels of Processing Theory
or
Semantic Network Theory
—the ability to form memories depends upon the depth of the processing.

•
Shallow processing
—structural encoding emphasizes structure of incoming sensory information.

Deep processing
—semantic encoding involves forming an association or attaching meaning to a sensory impression and results in longer-lasting memories.

Self-reference effect or self-referent encoding
—processing information deemed important or relevant more deeply, making it easier to recall.

3.
Atkinson-Shiffrin model: Three memory systems—sensory, short-term, and long-term.

Sensory memory
—memory system that holds external events from the senses for up to a few seconds.

•
Visual encoding
—the encoding of picture images.

•
Iconic memory
—a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli.

•
Acoustic encoding
—the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.

•
Echoic memory
—a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli.

•
Selective attention
—the focusing of awareness on stimuli in sensory memory that facilitates its encoding into STM.

•
Automatic processing
—unconscious encoding of information about space, time, and frequency that occurs without interfering with our thinking about other things.

•
Parallel processing
—a natural mode of information processing that involves several information streams simultaneously.

•
Effortful processing
—encoding that requires our attention and conscious effort.

•
Feature extraction (pattern recognition)
—finding a match for new raw information in sensory storage by actively searching through long-term memory.

Short-term memory
—working memory, 20 seconds before forgotten; capacity of seven plus or minus two items.

•
Rehearsal
—conscious repetition of information to either maintain information in STM or to encode it for storage.

•
Maintenance rehearsal
—repetition that keeps information in STM about 20 seconds.

•
Elaborative rehearsal
—repetition that creates associations between the new memory and existing memories stored in LTM.

•
Chunking
—grouping information into meaningful units increasing the capacity of STM.

•
Mnemonic devices
—memory tricks or strategies to make information easier to remember.

•
Method of loci
—uses visualization with familiar objects on a path to recall information in a list.

•
Peg word system
—uses association of terms to be remembered with a memorized scheme (“One is a bun, two is...”).

Baddeley’s working memory model
—a more complex model than just passive STM; includes a phonological loop, visuospatial working memory, and the central executive.

Long-term memory
—relatively permanent storage with unlimited capacity, LTM is subdivided into explicit (declarative) memory and implicit memory.

•
Explicit memory (declarative)
—memory of facts and experiences that one consciously knows and can verbalize. Explicit memory is subdivided into semantic memory and episodic memory.

Semantic memory
—memory of general knowledge or objective facts.

Episodic memory
—memory of personally experienced events.

•
Implicit memory (nondeclarative)
—retention without conscious recollection of learning the skills and dispositions.

Procedural memory
—memories of perceptual, motor, and cognitive skills.

Four major models account for organization of information in LTM:

•
Hierarchies
—systems in which concepts are arranged from more general to more specific classes.

•
Concepts
—mental representations of related things.

Prototypes
—the most typical examples of a concept.

•
Semantic networks
—more irregular and distorted systems than strict hierarchies, with multiple links from one concept to others.

•
Schemas
—frameworks of basic ideas and preconceptions about people, objects, and events based on past experience.

Script
—a schema for an event.

Flashbulb memory
—vivid memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Connectionism
—theory that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections between neurons, many of which can work together to process a single memory.

Artificial intelligence (AI)
—a field of study in which computer programs are designed to simulate human cognitive abilities such as reasoning, learning, and understanding language.

Neural network or Parallel processing model
—clusters of neurons that are interconnected (and computer models based on neuronlike systems) process information simultaneously, automatically, and without our awareness.

Long-term potentiation or LTP
—an increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation and possibly the neural basis for learning and memory, involving an increase in the efficiency with which signals are sent across the synapses within neural networks.

The
thalamus
is involved in encoding sensory memory into STM.

The
hippocampus
is involved in putting information from STM into LTM.

The
amygdala
is involved in the storage of emotional memories.

The
cerebellum
processes implicit memories and seems to store procedural memory and classically conditioned memories.

Retrieval
—the process of getting information out of memory storage.

•
Retrieval cue
—a stimulus that provides a trigger to get an item out of memory.

•
Priming
—activating specific associations in memory either consciously or unconsciously.

•
Recognition
—identification of something as familiar such as multiple choice and matching questions on a test.

•
Recall
—retrieval of information from LTM in the absence of any other information or cues such as for an essay question or fill-in on a test.

•
Reconstruction
—retrieval that can be distorted by adding, dropping, or changing details to complete a picture from incomplete stored information.

•
Confabulation
—process of combining and substituting memories from events other than the one you’re trying to remember.

•
Misinformation effect
—incorporation of misleading information into memories of a given event.

•
Serial position effect
—better recall for information that comes at the beginning
(primacy effect)
and at the end of a list of words
(recency effect)
.

•
Encoding specificity principle
—retrieval depends upon the match between the way information is encoded and the way it is retrieved.

•
Context-dependent memory
—physical setting in which a person learns information is encoded along with the information and becomes part of the memory trace.

•
Mood congruence (mood-dependent memory)
—tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.

•
State-dependent memory effect
—tendency to recall information better when in the same internal state as when the information was encoded.

•
Distributed practice
—spreading out the memorization of information or the learning of skills over several sessions typically produces better retrieval than massed practice.

•
Massed practice
—cramming the memorization of information or the learning of skills into one session.

Forgetting
—the inability to retrieve previously stored information. Forgetting results from failure to encode, decay of stored memories, or inability to access stored information.

•
Interference
—learning some items prevents retrieving others, especially when the items are similar.

•
Proactive interference
—the process by which old memories prevent the retrieval of newer memories.

•
Retroactive inference
—the process by which new memories prevent the retrieval of older memories.

•
Repression
—the tendency to forget unpleasant or traumatic memories hidden in the unconscious mind according to Freud.

•
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
—the often temporary inability to access information accompanied by a feeling that the information is in LTM.

•
Anterograde amnesia
—inability to put new information into explicit memory resulting from damage to hippocampus; no new semantic memories are formed.

•
Retrograde amnesia
—memory loss for a segment of the past, usually around the time of an accident.

Overlearning
—continuing to practice after memorizing information makes it more resistant to forgetting.

Problem solving and creativity:

Cognition
—all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering.

Metacognition
—thinking about how you think.

Problem-solving steps typically involve identifying a problem, generating problem-solving strategies, trying a strategy, and evaluating the results.

Trial and error
—trying possible solutions and discarding those that fail to solve the problem.

Algorithm
—problem-solving strategy that involves a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution to certain types of problems.

Heuristic
—a problem-solving strategy used as a mental shortcut to quickly simplify and solve a problem, but that does not guarantee a correct solution.

Insight learning
—the sudden appearance (often creative) or awareness of a solution to a problem.

Deductive reasoning
—reasoning from the general to the specific.

Inductive reasoning
—reasoning from the specific to the general.

Hindrances to problem solving may include:

Mental sets
—barriers to problem solving that occur when we apply only methods that have worked in the past rather than trying new or different strategies.

Functional fixedness
—when we are not able to recognize novel uses for an object because we are so familiar with its common use.

Cognitive illusion
—systematic way of thinking that is responsible for an error in judgment.

Availability heuristic
—a tendency to estimate the probability of certain events in terms of how readily they come to mind.

Representativeness heuristic
—tendency to judge the likelihood of things according to how they relate to a prototype.

Framing
—the way an issue is stated. How an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

Anchoring effect
—tendency to be influenced by a suggested reference point, pulling our response toward that point.

Confirmation bias
—tendency to notice or seek information that already supports our preconceptions and ignore information that refutes our ideas.

Belief perseverance
—the tendency to hold onto a belief after the basis for the belief is discredited.

Belief bias
—the tendency for our preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, making illogical conclusions seem valid or logical conclusions seem invalid.

Hindsight bias
—the tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly predicted the outcome of the event.

Overconfidence bias
—the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Overcoming obstacles to problem solving can include:

Creativity
—the ability to think about a problem or idea in new and unusual ways to come up with unconventional solutions.

Incubation
—putting aside a problem temporarily; allows the problem solver to look at the problem from a different perspective.