Final Exam Notes

Memory is the process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information so that past experiences can inform the present.

Encoding: In order to remember, first need to learn the thing we are remembering
Storage: memory traces are held in enduring form in parts of the brain for later use
Retrieval: process of pulling out a particular memory from storage for use in the present

Sensory- couple seconds, large capacity but cant hold it for long
Short term- 30 seconds to 3 minutes, 7+- 2 (number of items that can be remembered, as in a grocery list etc.)
Long term- anything longer than 30 minutes

Sensory memory (iconic memory):
-Visual system memory trace = icon
-Auditory system memory trace = echo

Short term (working memory): Rehearsal
-Essential for maintaining information in memory and passing it to long term memory storage.
primary effect (first couple pieces of info), recency effects (last couple pieces of info), chunking (meaningful grouping that can be stored as a unit in short term)

Long term memory: unlimited capacity, for a long time
Diff kinds of LTM:
-Generic memory-memory for items of knowledge independent of the circumstances in which they were learned
-Episodic memory- memory for the personal events in ones life

Declarative knowledge- knowing something about things; memory for factual information
Procedural knowledge- knowing and remembering how to do something

-semantic encoding: gist recall, general knowledge of work meanings and facts about words; memory for rules of logic that allow us to deduce other facts
-encoding specificity principle: the closer the environment that you are in is to the environment that you learned in, the more likely you are to recall something.

Decay theory: memories lost due to non-use
Interference theory: some information in memory interfere with or block recall of other information in memory
-retroactive interference: information learned later disrupts memory for things learned previously
-proactive interference: information learned earlier disrupts the recall of information learned later, old infor keeps us from remembering new info.

Verbal = Vocab, info, comprehension, digit span, arithmetic
Performance = block design, matrix reasoning, picture completion, picture arrangement, digit symbol

fluid - basic info, processing, learning, and memory
crystallized - specifics, facts, skills, and strategies that we learn through experience

Phonemes - speech sounds, smallest units of language that don't have meaning. By age 1 we are experts of the phonemes of our language.
Morphemes- smallest meaningful parts of speech, prefixes and suffixes.

1. Verbal
2. Logical/Mathematical
3. Spatial
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic- awarness of ones body in space.
5. Musical - 2 year olds that play the piano
6.Interpersonal - reading what other people are thinking, feeling and reacting to it.
7. Intrapersonal - ability to understand own emotions
8. Naturalistic - the ability to understand that natural world, to be able to understand animals and weather.

mentally retarded = below a 70
gifted = 130 or above

IQ is 50% affected by genetics and a 30 point swing in either direction depending on the environment.

age related changes that are systematic, sequential, and long-lasting.