• the ability to store and use information
• computer model

≤ 0.5 seconds

the part of memory that holds information in its original sensory form for a very brief period of time, usually about half a second

.5-30 seconds

the part of memory that temporarily stores limited amounts of information before it is either transferred to long term memory or forgotten

30 seconds - lifetime

the part of memory that has the capacity to store a vast amount of information for as little as 30 seconds or as long as a lifetime

• iconic memory
• echoic memory

< 0.5 seconds

brief VISUAL record left on the retina of the eye; lasts for the briefest amount of time

up to 3 seconds

short-term retention of sounds, AUDITORY

the process of breaking down a list of items into smaller meaningful units

EX: "one-eight-zero-zero" --> "one-eight hundred"

• implicit memory
• explicit memory

• procedural memory
• priming

• Semantic Memory
• Episodic Memory

kind of memory made up of implicit knowledge for almost any behavior or skill we have learned

EX: "its hard to explain, let me just show you!"

a type of implicit memory that arises when recall is improved by earlier exposure to the same or similar stimuli

EX: Multiple choice test ---> recognition of an answer

form of memory that recalls facts and general knowledge

EX: What we learn in school

form of memory that recalls the experiences we have had

EX: trip to disneyland last year

• structural
• phonemic (rhyming)
• semantic (understanding)

• second stage of long term memory formation
• solidifying a memory
• resistant to distraction, interference, decay
• related to proteins in the brain
• sleep
• computer analogy: when word doc is saved

• hierarchies
• schemas
• networks

a way of organizing related pieces of information from the most specific feature the have in common to the most general

mental frameworks that develop from our experiences with particular people, objects, or events

EX: favorite child hood pet was chihuahua then your schema of chihuahuas would be pretty positive

associative network+neural network=PDP

• many nodes can fire simultaneously
• distributive activity may serve as a priming function

• sensory cortices

• prefrontal cortex-attention
• hippocampus-consolidation
• Wernicke's Area-phonological loop
• Parietal & Occipital Lobes-visuospatial sketchpad

Cortex-priming

Striatum (part of the basal ganglia)-procedural memories

amygdala-emotional responses

• neurons that fire together wire together
• use it or lose it

• repeated stimulation increases learning
• CREB (protein that turns on genes responsible for the creation of new synapses) production involved in memory

• emotional memories are easier to recall than factual ones
• emotions spark synaptogenesis
• emotions can also distort memories

• 2 extremes of memory
• PTSD-too much
• no memory

• transience
• absent
• blocking

• misattribution
• consistency bias
• persistence bias
• suggestibility

the repeated recall of pleasant or unpleasant experiences even when we actively try and forget them

EX: PTSD

• MOST COMMON
• cannot remember incidents after the injury

• automatically shift attention toward new stimuli
• slight changes in stimulus cause an orenting response
• not a type of learning

process by which two pieces of information from the environment are repeatedly linked so that we begin to connect them in our minds

(Hebb's Law)

EX: Chase getting excited when tennis shoes go on and leash comes out

a form of associative learning in which behaviors are triggered by associations with events in the environment

• a neutral stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus to which you have an innate response 

• originally studying saliva
• dogs given meat powder to induce salivation
• soon dogs started salivating without meat powder while assisstant prepared food
• dogs associated assistants with powder
• UCS-meat
• UCR- salivation
• neutral stimulus- bell ringing with meat
• conditioned stimulus- bell ringing
• conditioned response- salivation with sound of bell

• classical conditioning can be used to shape human behavior
• conditioned a fear response in little albert to white rats
• stimulus generalization led him to fear all furry things

• UCS: carsicknesses, heat
• UCR: nausea, vomiting
• CS: pie
• CR: nausea, vomiting

the consequences of behavior increase (or decrease) the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated

(cats in puzzle boxes)

the addition of a stimulus after a behavior occurs that increases how often that behavior occurs

EX: Sadie gets treat every time she does not bark at the mailman

the removal of a stimulus after a behavior to increase the frequency of that behavior

EX: Sadie gets to take off the bark collar when she doesnt bark at the mailman

the addition of a stimulus after a behavior to decrease the behavior

EX: Sadie gets yelled at every time she barks at the mailman

the removal of a stimulus to decrease a behavior

EX: Take away Sadie's favorite toy when she barks at the mailman

teaching a behavior in a series of succesive steps getting closer and closer to the desired behavior

EX: getting dolphin to jump through hoop at sea world

pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which reinforcement follows a set number of responses

EX: Chase gets a treat every two times he shakes

pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which the number of responses needed for reinforcement changes

EX: Chase gets a treat ever 2-6 times he shakes

pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which responses are always reinforced after a set period of time has passed

EX: for every minute that Chase performs tricks, he gets a treat

pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which responses are reinforced after time periods of different duration have passed

EX: Chase gets a treat after every 2-6 minutes of performing tricks

learned behavior that shifts towards instinctive, unlearned behavior tendencies

• view on learning that some behaviors are inherently more likely to be learned than others
• biological constraints on an organism that do not allow them to do a task

watching aggresion increased aggresive behavior in children

CRITICISM: selection bias- all from stanford day care

age of children: all under 6

previous aggresion not controlled for

• provide ample opportunity for play and activity
• impoverished environment: only the essentials
• longer exposure to an enriched environment leads to more neural growth in the hippocampus

• each individual sound
• U="uh" P="puh" SH="shhh"
• has NO MEANING

• smallest unit with meaning
• "Un-" , "-ing"
• HAVE MEANING

1. Cooing
2. Babbling
3. One-word utterances
4. two-word utterances
5. sentence phase

• vowel sounds
• up to 6 months
• no meaning

• experimentation with phenomes
• consonants and vowels
• 5-6 months
• "ba-ba-ba-ba", 'ma-ma-ma-ma"

• 1 year old (average)
• recency effect
• meaning
• "cookie!" "Momma"

• 18 months
• "Bad dog" "No bath"

• 2.5-3 years
• not always correct grammar
• "I throwed it!" "I ranned into the wall!"

• optimal time for learning language
• 0-12 years of age
• neglect leads to permanent problems in language development
• Case of genie: 
• never fully developed language

• social cultural theory
• conditioning/behaviorism
• Nativist theory

• speech imitation
• figure out meaning from context
• child-directed speech
• seems universal
• higher pitch
• simple sentences
• use of emotion

• reinforcement/shaping
• reinforce coos/babbles that sound closest to real words
• later reinforce correct grammar and syntax

• Naom Chomsky
• discover language-innate in all humans
• language acquisition device
• innate biologically based ability to acquire language
• principles: universal, certain things found in every language
• parameters: change culturally

• can carry out verbal commands
• comprehends 3,000 words

• chimpanzee taught child sign language
• talked to each other
• 88% was about social interaction, play and reassurance
• 12% was about feeding, grooming, discipline, self signing

• anatomical limitations
• adult apes have a vocab of 100-300 words
• average high school students has a vocab of 60,000 words
• lack of grammar

• language shapes our thoughts
• linguistic determinism hypothesis
• the proposition that our language determines our way of thinking and our perceptions of the world

• have no words for past/future tense
• do not imbed clauses
• EX: I say "When i am done eating, I want to talk to you" Piraha say "I finish eating. I speak to you."

• imagining visual images
• stimulus not present
• mental rotation

• concepts
• PDP and associative networks (parallel distributive processing)

• general to specific
• EX: "All cars have 4 wheels, therefore my car has 4 wheels"

• specific to general
• casual inferences
• EX: "one dentist is mean, there for all dentists are mean"

• analyze
• evaluate
• make inferences
• interpret
• explain
• self regulation

• related to critical thinking
• generate, test, and revise theories
• belief=reality

• thinking about thinking
• not a universal ability
• "Recognizing/Reflecting back on past thoughts and their impact"

• people use cost-benefit analysis
• EX: "should I stay in? or go to class?"
• Why do people go into debt?
• people dont actually make logical decisions
• decisions based on emotions

• trial and error
• algorithm
• step-by step procedure
• Eureka! Insight Solutions ---> "Just come to you!"
• Heuristics - mental shortcuts
• picking the longest answer on an exam
• choosing letter C when no knowing the answer

• mental shortcuts
• representativeness Heuristic
• how typical an event is
• availability heuristic
• vividness
• stays in your mind
• talked about more often

• barrier to problem solving
• effective problem solving --> figure out what info is relevant and what is not
• cotton and matches irrelevant info

• based on how an object is most commonly used
• rope problem required novel use of pliars
• less common in children

• using the same strategies to solve similar problems
• doors in CUB --> handles make you want to pull but you actually push

• assuming constraints exist, when in fact they do not
• people make assumptions that impose unecessary constraints on problem solving