Unit 5 of AP Psychology delves into the fascinating world of cognitive psychology, exploring how we perceive, process, and remember information. Mastering the vocabulary is crucial for success on the exam. This comprehensive guide breaks down key terms, providing definitions, examples, and connections to help you solidify your understanding.
Core Concepts and Key Terms:
Memory
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Encoding: The initial process of getting information into the memory system. Think of it like saving a file on your computer. Example: Repeating a phone number to yourself to remember it before dialing.
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Storage: The retention of encoded information over time. This is where the "saved file" resides. Example: Remembering your childhood birthday parties.
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Retrieval: The process of accessing and bringing stored information into conscious awareness. Think of it like opening and viewing a saved file. Example: Recalling the answer to a question on an exam.
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Sensory Memory: The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system. This is fleeting; it lasts only a fraction of a second. Example: The brief afterimage you see after a flash of lightning.
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Short-Term Memory (STM): Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten. Also known as working memory. Example: Mentally rehearsing a shopping list.
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Long-Term Memory (LTM): The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences. Example: Remembering your high school graduation.
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Explicit Memory (Declarative Memory): Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare." This is further divided into episodic and semantic memory. Example: Remembering your last vacation (episodic) or knowing the capital of France (semantic).
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Episodic Memory: A type of explicit memory; personal experiences and events. Example: Remembering your first day of school.
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Semantic Memory: A type of explicit memory; general knowledge and facts. Example: Knowing that the earth revolves around the sun.
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Implicit Memory (Nondeclarative Memory): Retention independent of conscious recollection. This involves skills and conditioned responses. Example: Riding a bicycle, tying your shoelaces.
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Procedural Memory: A type of implicit memory; motor skills and habits. Example: Knowing how to play the piano.
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Priming: The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory. Example: Hearing a song from your childhood might trigger other memories from that time period.
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Mnemonic Devices: Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices. Example: Using acronyms or rhymes to remember information.
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Chunking: Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically. Example: Remembering a phone number as three chunks (area code, prefix, line number) rather than ten individual digits.
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Spacing Effect: The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice. Example: Studying for an hour each day for a week is more effective than cramming for seven hours the night before.
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Serial Position Effect: Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list. Example: Remembering the beginning and end of a grocery list but forgetting the items in the middle.
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Recall: A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test. Example: Writing an essay based on a lecture.
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Recognition: A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test. Example: Choosing the correct answer on a multiple-choice quiz.
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Relearning: A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again. Example: Learning a language again after many years and finding it easier the second time.
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Encoding Specificity Principle: The idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it. Example: Returning to the location where an event occurred might help you remember details of that event.
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State-Dependent Memory: The phenomenon of recalling events encoded while in a particular state (e.g., drunk or sober) more easily when in that same state. Example: Remembering something you learned when you were drunk is easier when you are drunk again.
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Mood-Congruent Memory: The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood. Example: When you're happy, you're more likely to recall other happy memories.
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Forgetting Curve: A graph that shows the decline of memory retention over time. Example: Ebbinghaus's research showed that forgetting is initially rapid and then slows down.
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Proactive Interference: The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. Example: Your old phone number interfering with your ability to remember your new one.
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Retroactive Interference: The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information. Example: Learning a new language might make it harder to remember a previously learned language.
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Repression: In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness. Example: Forgetting a traumatic event.
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Amnesia: Memory loss. Example: Anterograde amnesia (inability to form new memories) or retrograde amnesia (inability to retrieve past memories).
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Source Amnesia: Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. Example: Confusing a dream with a real event.
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Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event. Example: The effect of leading questions on eyewitness testimony.
Problem-Solving and Decision Making
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Algorithms: A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Example: A step-by-step recipe.
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Heuristics: A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms. Example: Using a "rule of thumb".
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Insight: A sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions. Example: Suddenly understanding a complex math problem.
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Confirmation Bias: A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence. Example: Only reading news articles that confirm your existing political views.
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Mental Set: A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past. Example: Persisting in using the same problem-solving strategy even when it's not effective.
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Functional Fixedness: The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving. Example: Not realizing you can use a coin to tighten a screw if you don’t have a screwdriver.
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Representativeness Heuristic: Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information. Example: Assuming someone who is quiet and shy is a librarian rather than a salesperson.
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Availability Heuristic: Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common. Example: Overestimating the risk of plane crashes because they are widely reported in the media.
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Overconfidence: The tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments. Example: Being certain of your answer on an exam even though you are unsure.
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Framing: The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments. Example: Choosing a product because it's described as "90% fat-free" rather than "10% fat."
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Belief Perseverance: Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited. Example: Maintaining a belief despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Using This Guide for AP Success:
This vocabulary list provides a solid foundation for understanding Unit 5. Remember to:
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Use flashcards: Create flashcards for each term, including definitions, examples, and connections to other concepts.
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Practice application: Apply these terms to real-world scenarios to deepen your understanding.
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Review regularly: Consistent review is key to retaining this information.
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Utilize practice tests: Work through practice questions and tests to assess your comprehension.
By actively engaging with this material, you’ll significantly improve your understanding of cognitive psychology and increase your chances of success on the AP Psychology exam. Good luck!
