Psychology Unit 5

• memory:

  • information that persists over time
  • information acquired through different experiences and can be stores and retrieved
• metacognition:

  • awareness of one's own cognitive process
• semantic memory:

  • knowledge, facts, general information
• episodic memory:

  • experiences or events
• three different retention measures:

  • can you recall the information
  • can you recognize the information
  • can you quickly relearn the information
• explicit memories:

  • memories that are consciously made
  • ex. learning information for a psychology test
• implicit memories:

  • information or skills that are learned without an individual's awareness
  • ex. remembering the different smells in the room while you are studying
• Parallel processing:

  • when the brain processes a variety of things simultaneously
  • this is the brain's normal mode of information processing wen dealing with multiple bits of information
• Effortful processing:

  • intentional
  • memories we have to consciously work to make--explicit memories
• automatic processing:

  • happens constantly without a individual trying--implicit memories
• Explain how an individual uses shallow processing to learn information.

  • when an individual encodes information on a basic level, the focus is on the appearance of words or basic structures of the information
  • there is little to no focus on the meaning
• Explain how an individual uses deep processing.

  • when an individual encodes information based on the meaning of the information
  • tends to be better for retention of the information
  • here the individual will also work on taking new information and making connections to old information
• three stage model that was proposed by Richard Atikson and Richard Shiffrin

  
• iconic memory:

  • sensory memories (memories that are very brief)
  • are involved with visual information
• Echoic memories:

  • sensory memories (memories that are very brief)
  • involved with auditory information
• maintenance rehearsal:

  • when you continuously go over information to try to keep it in your working memory (shallow processing)
• Elaborative rehearsal:

  • when you make associations between information you already know and information you are trying to learn (deep processing)
• Noam Chomsky

  • Believed that individuals were born with universal grammar and that individuals naturally learned to speak.
  • He called the process of learning the language acquisition device
• Hermann Ebbinghaus:

  • conducted an experiment where he took random syllables and spent time trying to memorize them
  • he expanded our understanding of memory and relearning work
• Wolfgang Kohler:

  • helped create Gestalt psychology
  • was one of the first individuals to explore insight learning
• Elizabeth Loftus:

  • focused on understanding memory
  • researched the idea that memories where not always accurate and looked into how our brain could create fake memories
• George A. Miller:

  • proposed that people can store about 1 to 7 pieces of information in their short-term memory
• Encoding:

  • initial learning of information
  • when information is being moved from your working memory to your long term memory
• Visual:

  • visual information that is observed
  • when you read a book, you notice the different fonts
• Acoustic:

  • different sound elements
  • remembering information by using rhymes
• Tactile:

  • the feeling of touch
  • connecting information with different textures
• organizational:

  • information is learned in terms of specific sequence
  • learning information on a list or order in which it happened
• elaborative:

  • pairing new information with prior information
  • remembering a person's birthday by connecting it with other life events on that date
• semantic:

  • focus on the meaning or context of the information
  • type of deep processing and is one of the most effective encoding methods
• mass practice:

  • encode information all at once
• distributed practice (spacing effect):

  • encoding is distributed over period of time
• testing effect:

  • when an individual takes an assessment-- it helps improve their memory and show they understand the material
• rote rehearsal:

  • when an individual continuously repeats information to remember the information
• chunking:

  • organizing information into meaningful groups
  • ex. acronyms
• Mnemonic devices:

  • Individuals use a technique to link the information they are trying to learn with the information they know already so it is more easily retrieved
• What memories make up the explicit memory system?

  semantic and episodic memories
• which part of the brain processes explicit memories?

  hippocampus
• what memories make up the unconscious memory or automatic memory?

  implicit memories
• Which part of the brain forms unconscious memories?

  the cerebellum and basal ganglia
• how does a individuals emotion impact their memory?

  when a person is excited or stressed, hormones are released to promote memory formation

  • events that are extremely stressful, traumatic, or emotional can form flashbulbs memories which are memories that are very specific and clear