Unit 5: Cognition

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Storage, Encoding and Retrieval

Storage, Encoding and Retrieval

3 Steps in the Human memory System

Encoding

the processing of information into the memory system.

Storage

the process of retaining encoded information over time.

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage.

Parallel Processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously.

Sensory Memory

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

Short-term Memory

activated memory that holds few items briefly.

Long-term Memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

Atkinson and Shiffrin's Memory Model

model of memory proposed in 1968 by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin. The model asserts that human memory has three separate components: a sensory register, where sensory information enters memory, a short-term store, also called working memory or short-term memory, which receives and holds input from both the sensory register and the long-term store, and a long-term store, where information which has been rehearsed in the short-term store is held indefinitely.

Explicit Memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare.

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Automatic Processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency and of well-learned information such as word meaning.

Baddeley's Model of Working Memory

Iconic Memory

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, a picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

Echoic Memory

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

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units.

mnemonics

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

Spacing Effect

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

Massed Study

Cramming

Testing Effect

enhanced memory after retrieval rather than simply rereading.

Shallow Processing

encoding on a basic level based on word structure and appearance.

Deep Processing

encoding semantically based on the meaning of words - yields best retention.

Memory

learning that has persisted over time through the storage and retrieval of information.

Memory structures of the brain

Hippocampus

part of the brain that helps process explicit memories for storage

Cerebellum

part of the brain that plays an important part in forming and storing of implicit memories.

Amygdala

Part of the brain responsible for emotion-related memory formation.

Long-term potentiation

an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation

Flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

3 measures of retention

recall, recognition, and relearning

Recall

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier

Recognition

A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned

Relearning

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

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Mood Congruent

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

Serial Position Effect

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

Recency Effect

Our tendency to recall best the last items on a list

Primacy Effect

Our tendency to recall best the first items on a list

Anterograde Amnesia

an inability to form new memories

Retrograde Amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past.

Proactive Interference

occurs when prior learning disrupts your recall of new information

Retroactive Interference

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

Repression

Defense mechanism by which anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings are forced to the unconscious.

Misinformation Effect

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Source Amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined

Deja Vu

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before"

Cognition

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

Concept

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

Creativity

The ability to create novel and valuable ideas

Convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.

Divergent thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions

Algorithm

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

Heuristics

A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently

Insight

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

Confirmation Bias

A tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions

Mental Set

A tendency to repeat solutions that have yielded positive results at some time in the past.

Intuition

Knowing or sensing something without the use of reason; an insight

Representative Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent particular prototypes.

Availability Heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident than correct

Belief Perseverance

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

Framing

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

Language

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

Phoneme

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Morpheme

In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning

Grammar

A system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by Left Hemisphere damage to Brocas area or Wernickes.

Broca's Area

controls language expression

Wernicke's area

controls language reception

Linguistic determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think