COGNITION Def the mental process of acquiring knowledge

COGNITION Def: the mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses

MEMORY

MEMORY • Def: Learning that has continued over time • Information processing model: Encoding— receive info in a usable way; Rehearsal— for storage; Retrieval—recalling memories

MULTI-STORE MODEL • 3 stages of memory • 1) Sensory memory—process everything we sense (iconic and echoic) • 2) Short-term memory (working memory) —small amounts of info stored for up to 30 seconds • 3) Long-term memory—can store info indefinitely; often based on relative importance; requires encoding

3 TYPES OF LTM • Episodic memory: stories of our lives and experiences • Semantic memory: common kinds of knowledge • Procedural memory: how to do things

EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT MEMORIES

AUTOMATIC PROCESSING • Info processing of much repeated or welllearned activities that occurs w/o our being aware of it • This uses implicit memories— unconsciously retrieved (AKA: nondeclarative memory) • Priming: using cues to activate hidden memories

EFFORTFUL PROCESSING • Requires attention and conscious effort • Explicit memory: past knowledge that is consciously brought to mind (AKA: declarative memory)

SHORTTERM MEMORY

CHARACTERISTICS OF STM • Limited space; limited time • Memory span: # of items a person can remember and repeat • George Miller wrote “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two”—says STM can hold onto 7 +/- 2 items

HELP WITH STM • Chunking: combining/grouping bits of related info • Maintenance rehearsal: repeating info to prolong presence in STM

LONGTERM MEMORY

CHARACTERISTICS OF LTM • Unlimited • Shallow processing: memorizing (during maintenance rehearsal) • Elaborative rehearsal: link new info w/existing memories and knowledge in LTM • Deep processing: elaborative rehearsal along w/meaningful analysis

MEMORY PROCESSING, STATES, AND EFFECTS

RECOGNITION • The correct identification of previously learned material • Multiple choice test

RECALL • Direct retrieval of facts or info

MEMORY RECONSTRUCTION • An approach to understanding memory as a cognitive process and the errors that occur within it • Pseudo memories: false memories that a person believes to be true

STATE DEPENDENT MEMORY • Memory retrieval that is most efficient when individuals are in the same state of consciousness

MOOD-DEPENDENT MEMORY • Recall of info that can be retrieved while in a mood similar to when it was acquired

CONTEXT DEPENDENT MEMORY • Recall of info while in the same environment as when acquired

TIP-OF-THE-TONGUE STATE • Feeling that a memory is available but not quite retrievable

SERIAL POSITION EFFECT • When you recall the first (primacy effect) and the last (recency effect) items in a list more easily than items in the middle

RELEARNING • Easier to relearn something • Savings score: amount of time saved when relearning something

EIDETIC MEMORY • Photographic memory • Rare in adulthood

EXCEPTIONAL MEMORIES • Savant syndrome • Highly Superior Autographical Memory (hyperthymesia)

MEMORY AND BIOLOGY

LONG-TERM POTENTIATION (LTP) • Lasting strengthening of synapses that increases neurotransmissions • Believed to be the basis of learning

PARTS OF THE BRAIN • Hippocampus: transfers info from STM to LTM explicit memory • Frontal lobe: declarative and episodic memory • Amygdala: smell; emotional reactions • Cerebellum: procedural memories • Basal ganglia: memory retrieval and procedural memory; creating and maintaining habits

BRAIN TRAUMA AND MEMORY • Retrograde amnesia: forgetting events that occurred before an injury or trauma; usually episodic memories are lost • Anterograde amnesia: hippocampus gets damaged, resulting in the inability to create long term memories and forcing a person to always live in the present

FORGETTING

EBBINGHAUS FORGETTING CURVE • Hermann Ebbinghaus • Curve is the exponential loss of info shortly after learning it • Found forgetting usually occurs due to encoding failure (memory never formed in the first place) • Improved with memory cues: a stimulus associated with a memory

TRACE DECAY THEORY • Addresses memory traces: physical changes in nerve cells or brain activity that occur when memories are stored • The more you rehearse, the stronger the memory trace

INTERFERENCE THEORY • 2 ways to interfere with creation of new memories • 1) Retroactive interference: new memories impair retrieval of older memories • 2) Proactive interference: prior learning inhibits or interferes with the recall of later learning

REPRESSION AND SUPPRESSION • Repression: pushing of painful, embarrassing, or threatening memories out of awareness or consciousness • Suppression: conscious process of deliberately trying to forget something that causes distress

UNRELIABLE AND FALSE MEMORIES

FLASHBULB MEMORIES • Vivid and detailed memories created during times of personal tragedy, accident, or emotionally significant world events • Could be inaccurate for various reasons

EYEWITNESS MEMORIES • Questioning eyewitnesses could create misinformation effect: new info alters the way previous info is held in memory • Source amnesia: the inability to remember the source of a memory while retaining its substance

WAYS TO IMPROVE MEMORY AND LEARNING

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TRANSFER • Positive transfer: when mastery of one task aids learning or performing another • Negative transfer: mastery of one task conflicts with learning or performing another task

USEFUL TIPS • Distributed practice: spacing out your practice (better than massed practice) • Priming • Recite out loud • Minimize distraction • Get enough sleep • Overlearn • Use mnemonics: memory tricks or aids