Textbook for PSY 108 Midterm 2

Podcast

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

Questions and Answers

What is the primary function of sensory memory?

To rehearse and retain information in short-term memory

To process and analyze sensory information (correct)

To coordinate ongoing mental activities

To store information in long-term memory

What is the main limitation of short-term memory?

It is fragile and information is lost within 30 seconds (correct)

It is a permanent storage system

It is not involved in the processing of sensory information

It has a large capacity for storing information

What is the primary characteristic of long-term memory?

It is a temporary storage system

It is fragile and information is lost within 30 seconds

It contains relatively permanent information (correct)

It has a limited capacity for storing information

What is the function of control processes in memory?

To intentionally rehearse and retain information Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of the phonological loop?

To process language and other sounds Signup and view all the answers

What is the function of the central executive?

To integrate information from different systems Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary characteristic of the episodic buffer?

It is a temporary storehouse that combines information from different sources Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary difference between working memory and short-term memory?

Working memory includes active processing and transformation of information Signup and view all the answers

What is a key aspect of working memory capacity?

It is limited and can only store a small amount of information Signup and view all the answers

What is the relationship between working memory and long-term memory?

There is controversy over whether they are separate systems Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of short-term memory?

To hold a small amount of information actively being used Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the tendency to recall items at the beginning of a list better than items in the middle?

Primacy effect Signup and view all the answers

What is the main difference between short-term and long-term memory?

Long-term memory has a larger capacity than short-term memory Signup and view all the answers

What is the technique used to study the limits of short-term memory?

Brown/Peterson & Peterson technique Signup and view all the answers

What is the definition of proactive interference?

The difficulty learning or recalling new material due to previously learned material Signup and view all the answers

What is the Atkinson-Shiffrin model of information processing?

A proposal that memory involves a sequence of separate steps Signup and view all the answers

What is the serial position effect?

A U-shaped relationship between a word's position in a list and its probability of recall Signup and view all the answers

What is the recency effect?

A tendency to recall items at the end of a list better than items in the middle Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used to describe the memory for the circumstances in which you first learned about a very surprising and emotionally arousing event?

Flashbulb memory Signup and view all the answers

What is the main difference between recognition and recall tasks?

Recognition tasks involve judging whether an item was seen before, while recall tasks involve reproducing the items Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used to describe the process of trying to identify the origin of a particular memory?

Source monitoring Signup and view all the answers

Which type of amnesia is characterized by the inability to form new memories after brain damage?

Anterograde amnesia Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used to describe the process of creating memories that fit existing schemas?

Schema-consistent memories Signup and view all the answers

What is the main factor that influences eyewitness testimony accuracy?

All of the above Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used to describe the phenomenon where exposure to misleading information after an event can distort an eyewitness's memory?

Post-event misinformation effect Signup and view all the answers

According to experts, what is the key to improving memory?

Practicing and using specific strategies in specific contexts Signup and view all the answers

How do experts differ from novices in terms of memory?

Experts have a well-organized knowledge structure that aids in encoding and retrieval Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used to describe the attempt to identify whether an event really occurred or was imagined?

Reality monitoring Signup and view all the answers

What is the correlation between scores on working memory tasks and overall intelligence and grades in school?

Positive correlation Signup and view all the answers

What type of memory describes people's memories for events that happened to them personally?

Episodic memory Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary difference between recall and recognition tasks?

The type of processing required Signup and view all the answers

What is the result of deeper processing of information during encoding?

More accurate recall Signup and view all the answers

What is the self-reference effect in memory?

The tendency to remember information better if it is related to oneself Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of the central executive in working memory?

To coordinate and control other working memory systems Signup and view all the answers

What is the definition of encoding in memory?

The initial acquisition of information Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary difference between explicit and implicit memory tasks?

The level of intention to remember Signup and view all the answers

What is the result of the encoding specificity principle?

Better recall in the same context as encoding Signup and view all the answers

What is the type of long-term memory that involves knowing how to do something?

Procedural memory Signup and view all the answers

What is the term that refers to the tendency for individuals to more accurately recognize faces of their own ethnic group compared to faces of other ethnic groups?

Own-ethnicity bias Signup and view all the answers

What is the concept that the amount of information you learn depends on the total time devoted to learning?

Total-time hypothesis Signup and view all the answers

What is the term that refers to the observation that memory is better when the learning trials are spread over time?

Distributed-practice effect Signup and view all the answers

What is the term that refers to the act of taking a test is actually an excellent way to boost long-term recall for academic material?

Testing effect Signup and view all the answers

What is the term that refers to remembering things that happened in the past?

Retrospective memory Signup and view all the answers

What is the term that refers to remembering that one needs to do something in the future?

Prospective memory Signup and view all the answers

What is the term that refers to the tendency for people to rate unpleasant past events more positively with the passage of time?

Pollyanna Principle Signup and view all the answers

What is the term that refers to the process of creating a word or a sentence from the first letters of each word on the list to be remembered?

First-letter technique Signup and view all the answers

What is the term that refers to the process of making up stories that link a series of words together to enhance memory?

Narrative technique Signup and view all the answers

What is the term that refers to the process of combining several small units to create larger units to improve memory?

Chunking Signup and view all the answers

What is the finding of Segal and Fusella's (1970) study on imagery and visual perception?

Imagining a visual image interferes with visual detection. Signup and view all the answers

What is the characteristic of cognitive maps related to spatial cognition?

The mental representation of geographic information. Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the tendency to provide shorter distance estimates when traveling to a landmark?

Landmark effect. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary difference between gender differences in spatial ability compared to verbal and mathematical abilities?

Gender differences are larger in spatial ability. Signup and view all the answers

What is the definition of auditory imagery?

The mental representation of sounds when they are not physically present. Signup and view all the answers

According to Research on cognitive maps, what is the tendency to estimate the distance between two locations on different sides of a geographic border as larger than two locations the same distance apart but on the same side of a geographic border?

Border bias. Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the tendency to represent angles in a mental map as being closer to 90 degrees than they really are?

90-degree-angle-heuristic. Signup and view all the answers

What is the finding of Mast et al.'s (1999) study on imagery and visual perception?

Imagining a visual image interferes with visual perception. Signup and view all the answers

What is the characteristic of mental rotation in terms of gender differences?

Larger gender differences. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT an aspect of spatial cognition?

Recalling historical dates. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of retrospective memory?

Remembering information and ideas Signup and view all the answers

What is an external memory aid?

A device, external to yourself, that facilitates memory Signup and view all the answers

What is metacognition?

Your knowledge and control of your cognitive processes Signup and view all the answers

What is the feeling-of-knowing effect?

The subjective experience of knowing some information, but being unable to recall it Signup and view all the answers

What is metacomprehension?

A type of metacognition that focuses on language comprehension Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary way to improve metacomprehension?

Employing active reading strategies, such as explaining a passage without looking back Signup and view all the answers

What is mental imagery?

The mental representation of stimuli when they are not physically present Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of the spatial framework model in cognitive maps?

To emphasize the importance of the above–below spatial dimension Signup and view all the answers

What is the main characteristic of rotation heuristic in cognitive maps?

People tend to remember a figure as being more vertical or more horizontal than it really is Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary finding of mental rotation tasks?

Reaction time increases linearly with the angle of rotation Signup and view all the answers

What is the main proposal of the situated cognition approach?

That a person's knowledge is dependent on the immediate environment or situation Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary brain region involved in mental rotation tasks?

Parietal lobe Signup and view all the answers

What is the 'imagery debate'?

A debate about the neural basis of mental imagery Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of the alignment heuristic in cognitive maps?

To remember a series of separate geographic structures as being more lined up than they really are Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary characteristic of cognitive maps?

A representation of spatial structures that is influenced by heuristics and context Signup and view all the answers

What is the main characteristic of an analog code in mental imagery?

It closely resembles the physical object Signup and view all the answers

What is the finding of mental rotation studies that supports the analog code?

Reaction times increase with the degree of rotation Signup and view all the answers

What is the explanation of the propositional code for the difficulty in creating visual imagery for faces in people with prosopagnosia?

A lack of detailed propositional descriptions in memory Signup and view all the answers

What is the characteristic of ambiguous images that supports the analog code?

They are often resolved in the same way during mental imagery as they are during actual perception Signup and view all the answers

What is the performance difference between visualizers and verbalizers?

Visualizers perform better on tasks involving spatial manipulation and visual imagery Signup and view all the answers

What is the finding of the study by Kosslyn et al. (1978) that supports the analog code?

People took longer to scan the distance between two widely separated points on a mental image of a map Signup and view all the answers

What is the characteristic of the propositional code that distinguishes it from the analog code?

It is an abstract representation that does not physically resemble the original stimulus Signup and view all the answers

What is the shape effect observed in the study by Allan Paivio (1978)?

Participants made decisions faster when the angles were very different Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between visualizers and verbalizers in terms of cognitive style?

Visualizers think in pictures and verbalizers think in words Signup and view all the answers

What is the implication of the brain regions activated during visual imagery tasks?

Visual imagery tasks activate the same brain regions as visual perception Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Chapter 4 - Working Memory

Definition of working memory: a brief, immediate memory for limited material that a person is currently processing
Characteristics:
- Processes a limited number of sounds and words
- Holds visual and spatial information
- Integrates information from phonological loop, visuospatial working memory, episodic buffer, and long-term memory
Three important points related to limited working memory capacity:
- Active process of working memory: manipulating and transforming information
- Shared properties with short-term memory: limited capacity and time constraints
- Connection with long-term memory: controversy over whether working memory and long-term memory are separate systems

Applications of Working Memory

Academic performance: positively correlated with overall intelligence and grades in school
Clinical populations:
- Depression: difficulty with some working memory tasks
- ADHD: lower performance on visual and verbal working memory tasks
- Anxiety: issues with working memory

Chapter 5 - Long-Term Memory

Definition of long-term memory: a high-capacity storage system containing memories for experiences and information accumulated throughout a lifetime
Types of long-term memory:
- Episodic memory: personal experiences
- Semantic memory: knowledge about the world, including factual information
- Procedural memory: knowledge about how to perform tasks
Encoding: the initial acquisition of information
Level of processing: deeper, meaningful processing leads to more accurate recall
Elaboration: relating new information to prior knowledge and interconnected concepts
Self-reference effect: remembering more information by relating it to oneself
Encoding specificity principle: recall is often better when the context at the time of encoding matches the context at the time of retrieval
Retrieval: the processes that allow access to information stored in long-term memory

Explicit and Implicit Memory Tasks

Explicit memory tasks: intentional recall of previously learned information
Implicit memory tasks: indirect measures of memory, where previous experience facilitates performance on a later task

Amnesia

Retrograde amnesia: loss of memory for events prior to brain damage
Anterograde amnesia: inability to form new memories after brain damage

Memory Biases and Errors

Flashbulb memory: vivid memory for surprising and emotionally arousing events
Eyewitness testimony: factors influencing accuracy, such as schema-consistent memories, source monitoring errors, post-event misinformation, and social pressure
Post-misinformation effect: exposure to misleading information after an event can distort an eyewitness's memory

Special Topics in Long-Term Memory

Experts' memories: organized, meaningful chunks of information, with a focus on distinctiveness
Own-ethnicity bias: recognizing faces of one's own ethnic group more accurately
Emotion and memory: the positivity effect, where unpleasant events are rated more positively with time
Recovered memory/false memory controversy: debate over the accuracy of recovered memories of traumatic events

Chapter 6 - Memory Strategies and Metacognition

Memory strategies: intentional, goal-oriented mental activities to improve encoding and retrieval
Practice strategies:
- Total-time hypothesis: the amount of information learned depends on the total time devoted to learning
- Distributed-practice effect: spaced learning is more effective than massed learning
- Desirable difficulties: learning is enhanced when the material is slightly challenging
Mnemonics: mental strategies to improve memory, such as visualization, the keyword method, and organization techniques
Prospective memory: remembering to do something in the future
Metacognition: knowledge and control of cognitive processes, including metamemory and metacomprehension
Foresight bias: overestimating performance on a future exam
Immediate metamemory compared to metamemory after a delay: delayed judgments are more accurate

Chapter 7 - Mental Imagery and Cognitive Maps

Definition of mental imagery: the mental representation of stimuli when they are not physically present
Examples of mental imagery uses:
- Visual and auditory imagery
- Most research focuses on visual and auditory imagery
How mental imagery differs from perception:
- Perception: immediate processing of sensory input from the environment
- Mental imagery: internally generated mental representations of sensory experiences without direct sensory input### Mental Rotation Tasks
Shepard and Metzler (1971): Mental rotation tasks show that reaction time increases linearly with the angle of rotation.
Replication: Similar results found with various stimuli, confirming the angle-reaction time relationship.
Handedness (Takeda et al., 2010): Right-handers recognize right hands faster; left-handers recognize both equally quickly.
Upright images recognized faster than upside-down images.

Age Differences: Elderly perform slower on mental rotation tasks (Beni et al., 2006).
Deaf Individuals: Skilled in mental rotation due to ASL experience (Emmorey et al., 1998).

Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Rotation

Brain Activation: Mental rotation tasks engage the parietal lobe, especially the right parietal cortex.
Implications: Provides insights into spatial reasoning and visual-motor integration.

The Imagery Debate

Analog code: Mental images resemble perception, using a spatial representation.
Propositional code: Mental images resemble language, using an abstract representation.
Research supporting each side of the debate:
- Analog code:
  - Mental imagery closely resembles physical objects and maintains spatial relationships (Kosslyn et al., 2006).
  - Mental rotation studies (Shepard and Metzler, 1971) show that reaction times increase with the degree of rotation, similar to rotating a physical object.
  - Neuroimaging shows that visual imagery tasks activate the same brain regions as visual perception (Ganis et al., 2009).
- Propositional code:
  - Mental images are stored as abstract, language-like representations (Pylyshyn, 2003, 2006).
  - Propositional code does not vary with the amount of rotation, unlike the analog code which shows increased reaction times for larger rotations.

Prosopagnosia and the Imagery Debate

Analog Perspective: People with prosopagnosia, who cannot recognize faces visually, also have difficulty creating visual imagery for faces (Farah, 2004; Ganis et al., 2009).
Propositional Perspective: The difficulty in creating visual imagery for faces could also be explained by a lack of detailed propositional descriptions in memory, affecting both recognition and imagery.

Ambiguous Stimuli

Analog Code: Ambiguous images are often resolved in the same way during mental imagery as they are during actual perception.
Propositional Code: The interpretation of ambiguous stimuli could be guided by propositional knowledge, where abstract descriptions help in resolving the ambiguity.

Visualizers vs Verbalizers

Analog Code: Visualizers tend to think in pictures and have better performance on tasks involving spatial manipulation and visual imagery.
Propositional Code: Verbalizers think in words and perform better on tasks requiring verbal descriptions and language-based processing.

Factors that Influence Visual Imagery

Distance and shape effects:
- Distance Effects: People take longer to scan the distance between two widely separated points on a mental image of a map compared to two nearby points (Kosslyn et al., 1978).
- Shape Effects: Participants made decisions faster when the angles were very different and slower when the angles were similar, mimicking the pattern observed with real objects (Allan Paivio, 1978).

Interference with Physical Stimuli

Interference with Visual Perception: Mental images can interfere with processing actual physical images (Segal and Fusella, 1970; Mast et al., 1999).

Gender Differences in Spatial Ability

Spatial abilities show more substantial gender differences compared to verbal and mathematical abilities.
Gender similarities:
- Verbal Ability: Meta-analyses show extremely small gender differences, with d values close to zero.
- Mathematics Ability: Meta-analyses also show d values close to zero, indicating gender similarities.

Auditory Imagery

Definition: Auditory imagery is our mental representation of sounds when these sounds are not physically present.
Is auditory imagery as vivid as visual imagery? People reported higher imagery ratings for visual imagery than for auditory imagery (Rubin and Berentsen, 2009).
Auditory imagery and pitch: Pitch is a characteristic of a sound stimulus that can be arranged on a scale from low to high.
Auditory imagery and timbre: Timbre is the sound quality of a tone.

Cognitive Maps

Definition: The mental representation of geographic information, including a person's surrounding environment.
How are cognitive maps related to spatial cognition? Research on cognitive maps is part of a larger topic called spatial cognition.
Spatial cognition primarily refers to three cognitive activities:
- Our thoughts about cognitive maps
- How we remember the world we navigate
- How we keep track of objects in a spatial array
Distance and shape effects on cognitive maps:
- Border bias: People tend to estimate the distance between two locations on different sides of a geographic border as larger than two locations the same distance apart but on the same side of a geographic border.
- Landmark effect: People tend to provide shorter distance estimates when traveling to a landmark—an important geographical location—rather than a nonlandmark.
- 90-degree-angle-heuristic: People tend to remember a figure that is slightly tilted as being either more vertical or more horizontal than it really is.
Position effects on cognitive maps:
- Rotation heuristic: People tend to remember a series of separate geographic structures as being more lined up than they really are.
- Alignment heuristic: People tend to remember a figure that is slightly tilted as being either more vertical or more horizontal than it really is.
How are cognitive maps formed?
- The spatial framework model suggests that the above–below spatial dimension is especially important in spatial imagery, the front–back dimension is moderately important, and the right–left dimension is least important.
- The situated cognition approach suggests that a person makes use of information in the immediate environment or situation; thus knowledge typically depends on the context surrounding the person.

Branches of Psychology

Biological Psychology examines the biological basis of behavior, including the brain, nervous system, and genetics, to understand behavior and mental processes.
Behavioral Psychology focuses on observable behaviors and the environmental factors that influence them, such as learning and conditioning.
Cognitive Psychology delves into mental processes, including perception, attention, memory, language, and problem-solving, to understand how we process information.
Developmental Psychology explores human development across the lifespan, including cognitive, social, and emotional development, to understand human growth and change.
Social Psychology investigates how social interactions, relationships, and cultural norms influence behavior and attitudes, shaping our social identities.
Personality Psychology studies individual differences in personality, including traits, motivation, and emotions, to understand what makes us unique.

Key Concepts

The Nature vs. Nurture debate revolves around the relative influence of genetics (nature) and environment (nurture) on behavior and development, with implications for our understanding of human behavior.
Consciousness refers to the state of awareness, including perception, attention, and awareness of one's surroundings, which is essential for our interaction with the world.
Learning involves the process of acquiring new knowledge, skills, or behaviors through experience, practice, or instruction, which is crucial for adaptation and survival.
Motivation encompasses the driving forces behind behavior, including needs, desires, and goals, which influence our actions and decisions.
Emotion is a complex psychological and physiological state, including feelings, thoughts, and bodily responses, which plays a vital role in our emotional well-being.

Research Methods

Experiments involve controlled studies that manipulate variables to test hypotheses, allowing researchers to establish cause-and-effect relationships.
Surveys utilize self-report questionnaires to gather information about attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors, providing insights into people's thoughts and feelings.
Case Studies involve in-depth examinations of individual cases or small groups, offering rich, contextual information about specific phenomena.
Correlational Studies examine the relationships between variables without manipulation, identifying patterns and associations that inform our understanding of psychological phenomena.
Observational Studies involve systematic observations of behavior in naturalistic settings, providing insight into human behavior in real-world contexts.

Theories and Models

Psychoanalytic Theory, developed by Freud, proposes that unconscious motivations, defense mechanisms, and childhood experiences shape behavior and personality.
Behavioral Theory, developed by Skinner, emphasizes the role of operant conditioning, reinforcement, and punishment in shaping behavior.
Cognitive Theory, which encompasses information-processing models of perception, attention, and memory, explains how we process information and make decisions.
Humanistic Theory, which emphasizes personal growth, self-actualization, and human potential, focuses on promoting human well-being and flourishing.
The Biopsychosocial Model provides an integrated approach to understanding behavior, incorporating biological, psychological, and social factors to explain human behavior and mental processes.