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| Algorithm | Problem-solving strategy that involves a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution to certain types of problems ● May require a huge number of steps to solve the problem and take more time than can be allotted to the task |
| Anchoring Effect | Tendency to be influenced by a suggested reference point, pulling your response toward that point ● Ex: Charities often have check boxes with dollar amounts for contributions; so people often give more than they might have, even if it is less than suggested |
| Anterograde Amnesia | Inability to put new information into explicit memory resulting from damage to hippocampus; no new semantic memories are formed ● People with anterograde amnesia studied in depth include Clive Wearing and H. M.(Henry Molaison) |
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) | Field of study in which computer programs are designed to simulate human cognitive abilities such as reasoning, learning, and understanding |
| Atkinson-Shiffrin 3 Stage Model of Memory | Describes 3 different memory systems characterized by time frames: 1. Sensory memory 2. Short-term memory (STM) 3. Long-term memory (LTM) |
| Availability Heuristic | Tendency to estimate the probability of certain events in terms of how readily they come to mind ● People greatly overestimate how many people die each year in airplane accidents |
| Babbling | An infant's spontaneous production of speech sounds ● Generally begins around 4 months old |
| Behavioral Perspective of Language Development | Language is developed by imitating sounds we hear to create words ● Producing language is positively reinforced by parents and caregivers |
| Belief Bias | Tendency for our preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, making illogical conclusions seem valid or logical conclusions seem invalid |
| Belief Perseverance | Tendency to hold onto a belief after the basis for the belief is discredited ● Example: After a wrongly convicted prisoner is freed because the real criminal confessed to the theft and DNA evidence showed who was guilty, the freed man cannot resume his career as an accountant |
| Brainstorming | Generating lots of possible solutions to a problem without making prior evaluative judgments ● After collecting as many ideas as possible, solutions are reviewed and evaluated |
| Cognition | All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering information ● Cognitive psychologists study how we make memories, remember and forget them, solve problems, and use thinking in our use of language |
| Confirmation Bias | Tendency to notice or seek information that already supports our preconceptions and ignore information that refutes (disconfirms) our ideas ● To lessen this bias, we can consider the opposite |
| Connectionist Networks (in LTM) | Memory is stored throughout the brain in connections between neurons, many of which can work together to process a single memory ● Changes in the strength of synaptic connections are the basis of memory |
| Context-Dependent Memory | The physical setting in which you learn information is encoded along with the information and becomes part of your memory trace ● Example: You may have difficulty remembering a teacher when you meet in a store |
| Convergent Thinking | Conventional thinking directed toward a single correct solution to a problem |
| Creativity | The ability to think about a problem or idea in new and unusual ways to come up with unconventional solutions |
| Deductive Reasoning | Reasoning from the general to the specific to draw a conclusion ● Deductions are logically correct and lead to good answers when the initial rules or assumptions are true |
| Distributed Practice | Spreading out the memorization of information or the learning of skills over several sessions typically produces better retrieval than massed practice ● More of the information and skills are typically remembered better and longer |
| Divergent Thinking | Thinking that produces many alternatives or ideas |
| Encoding Specificity Principle | Retrieval depends upon the match between the way information is encoded and the way it is retrieved ● Example: Say the months of the year in alphabetical order |
| Explicit Memory in LTM | Facts and experiences we consciously know and can verbalize, also called declarative memory. Subdivided into: - Semantic memory--explicit memory of facts and general knowledge - Episodic memory--explicit memory of personally experienced events |
| Feature Extraction (Pattern Recognition) | Finding a match for new raw information in sensory storage by actively searching through long-term memory |
| Flashbulb Memory | Vivid memory of an emotionally significant moment or event ● Ex: Destruction of the World Trade Towers in New York City on 9/11 |
| Forgetting | The inability to retrieve previously stored information ● Results from failure to encode, decay of stored memories, or inability to access stored information |
| Framing Effect | The way an issue is stated or how a question is asked can significantly affect decisions and judgments ● People are more likely to buy food that is 90% fat free than food that is 10% fat |
| Grammar | A system of rules of a language that enables us to communicate with and understand others |
| Heuristic | Problem-solving strategy used as a mental shortcut to quickly simplify and solve a problem, but that does not guarantee a correct solution ● Example: Using "i after e except after c," to help you spell a word |
| Hierarchies (in LTM) | Systems in which concepts are arranged from more general to more specific classes ● Concepts are mental representations of related things; Example: bird ● Prototypes are the most typical examples of the concept; Example: robin |
| Hindsight Bias | Tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly predicted the outcome of the event |
| Holophrase | One-word utterances that convey meaning ● Characteristic of 12-month-old babies |
| Implicit Memory in LTM | Memory for skills and procedures to do things affected by previous experience without that experience being consciously recalled, also called nondeclarative ● Procedural memory is of motor and cognitive skills that we perform automatically; Example: swimming |
| Incubation | Putting aside a problem temporarily; allows the problem solver to look at the problem from a different perspective |
| Inductive Reasoning | Reasoning from the specific to the general, forming concepts about all members of a category based on some members to form a conclusion ● Conclusion may be incorrect if the members we have chosen do not fairly represent all of the members |
| Information Processing Model of Memory | 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 ● Compares to how a computer operates |
| Interference | Learning some items prevents retrieving others, especially when the items are similar ● Proactive interference--old memories prevent the retrieval of newer memories ● Retroactive interference--new memories prevent the retrieval of older ones |
| Language | Communication system based on words and grammar; spoken, written, or gestured words and the way they are combined to communicate meaning from person to person and to transmit civilization's accumulated knowledge |
| Levels of Processing (Semantic Network Theory) | How long and well we remember depends on how deeply we process the information when it is encoded, according to Craik and Lockhart ● Shallow processing--structural encoding ● Deep processing--semantic encoding (for meaning) results in lasting memories |
| Long-Term Memory (LTM) | Relatively permanent storage with unlimited capacity, divided into implicit and explicit (declarative) memory ● Most information transferred into LTM seems to be semantically encoded |
| Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) | An increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation, and possibly the neural basis for learning and memory ● Involves an increase in the efficiency with which signals are sent across the synapses within neural networks |
| Massed Practice | Cramming the memorization of information or the learning of skills into one session ● Typically does not produce as successful retrieval as distributed practice |
| Memory | Capacity to register, retain, and remember information ● 4 models of memory are the Information Processing Model, the Levels of Processing Theory or Semantic Network Theory, the Atkinson-Shiffrin Model, and Baddeley's Working Memory Model |
| Memory in the Brain | Although all parts of the brain are involved in memory, specific regions are more actively involved in STM and LTM ● Thalamus--encoding sensory into STM ● Hippocampus--info from STM into LTM ● Amygdala--storage of emotional memory ● Cerebellum--processes implicit memory |
| Mental Sets | Applying only methods that have worked in the past rather than trying new or different strategies can be barriers to problem solving |
| Metacognition | Thinking about how you think ● Can facilitate problem solving |
| Misinformation Effect | Incorporation of misleading information into memories of a given event |
| Mnemonic Devices | Memory strategies to make information easier to remember (Example: ROYGBIV) ● Method of loci--visualization with familiar objects on a path to recall information in a list ● Peg word system--new terms are associated with memorized scheme |
| Mood Congruence | Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood ● Also called mood-dependent memory |
| Morpheme | The smallest unit of language that has meaning ● Generally, a prefix, suffix, or root can be a morpheme |
| Nativist Perspective of Language Development | The human brain has an innate capacity for acquiring language (LAD or language acquisition device) possibly during a critical period of time after birth, and that children are born with a universal sense of grammar--according to Noam Chomsky |
| Neural Network Model | Clusters of neurons that are interconnected (and computer models based on neuronlike systems) simultaneously process information automatically and without our awareness ● Also called parallel processing model |
| Organization of Information in LTM | 4 major models account for organization of information in LTM: 1. Hierarchies 2. Semantic networks 3. Schemas 4. Connectionist networks |
| Overconfidence Bias | Tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments |
| Overgeneralization or Overregularization | Application of grammatical rules without making appropriate exceptions ● Example: "I goed to the store." |
| Overlearning | Continuing to practice after memorizing information makes it more resistant to forgetting |
| Phoneme | The smallest unit of sound in a spoken language |
| Processing into Short-Term Memory (Atkinson-Shiffrin Model) | Automatic processing--unconscious encoding of information about space, time, and frequency without thinking that allows parallel processing: processing several information streams simultaneously ● Effortful processing--conscious encoding that requires focused attention and effort |
| Recall | Retrieval of information from LTM in the absence of any other information or cues as a measure of retention ● Example: Answers to a fill-in or essay on a test ● Relearning--how much less time it takes to learn information again is a measure of retention |
| Recognition | Identification of something as familiar as a measure of memory retention ● Example: Answers to multiple-choice or matching questions 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 |
| Representativeness Heuristic | Tendency to judge a new situation by how well it matches a stereotypical model or a particular prototype ● Someone who is 6' 11" is more likely to be a teacher than a professional basketball player because there are so many more teachers than players |
| Repression | The tendency to forget unpleasant or traumatic memories hidden in the unconscious mind, according to Freud ● Most commonly used and powerful defense mechanism |
| Retrieval | The process of getting information out of memory storage ● Retrieval cue--a stimulus that provides a trigger to get an item out of LTM ● Priming--activating specific associations in memory consciously or unconsciously |
| Retrograde Amnesia | Memory loss for a segment of the past, usually around the time of an accident |
| Schemas (in LTM) | Preexisting mental frameworks that start as basic operations, then become more and more complex as we gain additional information, enabling us to organize and interpret new information ● A script is a schema for an event |
| Self-Referent Encoding | Also called self-reference effect ● Relating new information to ourselves facilitates later recall of the information |
| Semantic Networks (in LTM) | More irregular and distorted systems than strict hierarchies, with multiple links from one concept to others ● Example: Bird can be linked to fly, feathers, wings, animals, robin, canary; and they can be linked to many other concepts |
| Semantics | A set of rules we use to derive meaning from the morphemes, words, and sentences of our language(s) |
| Sensory Memory (Atkinson-Shiffrin Model) | Holds external events from our senses just long enough to be perceived ● Iconic memory--completely represents a visual stimulus for less than a second ● Echoic memory--auditory stimulus lasts for about 4 seconds |
| Serial Position Effect | Better recall for information that comes at the beginning and at the end of a list of words than in the middle ● Primacy effect--better recall for the items at the beginning of the list that may result from rehearsal ● Recency effect--better recall for items at the end, which may still be in STM |
| Short-Term Memory (Atkinson-Shiffrin Model) | Holds information for about 30 seconds ● Miller showed capacity of STM is about 7 bits of information, plus or minus 2 ● Rehearsal--consciously repeating the information keeps it in STM ● Chunking--grouping information into meaningful units increases capacity of STM |
| Social Interactivist Perspective of Language Development | Babies are biologically equipped for learning language, which may be activated or constrained by experience ● Both heredity and environment contribute to use of language by children |
| State-Dependent Memory Effect | Tendency to recall information better when in the same internal state as when the information was encoded ● Accounts for why people who are sleepy or drunk sometimes remember things they cannot recall when alert and sober |
| Syntax | Rules that are used to order words of a language into grammatically sensible sentences |
| Telegraphic Speech | Meaningful two-word sentences, usually a noun and a verb, and usually in the correct order ● Characteristic of 2-year-olds |
| Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon | The often temporary inability to access information accompanied by a feeling that the information is in LTM ● Providing retrieval cues we associate with the blocked information can facilitate recall |
| Trial and Error | Problem-solving strategy that involves trying possible solutions and discarding those that fail to solve the problem |
| Whorf's Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis | Our language guides and determines our thinking, according to Whorf ● It is more accurate to say that language influences thought |
| Working Memory Model (Baddeley's Model) | Baddeley substitutes 3 parts for STM ● Phonological loop briefly stores language sounds with an acoustic code from the sensory memory, visuospatial working memory briefly stores visual and spatial information, and central executive that integrates this information with information from the LTM |
| Functional Fixedness | Inability to recognize novel uses for a familiar object because we're fixated or stuck on its common use; a hindrance to problem solving ● Example: Failure to use a plastic tablecloth as a ground cover when the grass is too wet to sit on |
