• subjectively compelling, but false belief
• (thinking sweet was a part of a list of words because it fits in with the category, but it was not)

• retention of information over time
• works pretty well, can still fail us

• a memory in which we see ourselves as an outside observer would
• use this to reconstruct memories through cues and information available to us

• a memory in which we see the world as we would through our visual field

• brief storage of perceptual information before it is passed to short-term memory
• STM buffer
• fills in the blanks with our perception

• visual sensory memory
• eidetic memory: photographic memory

• auditory system memory 
• (taking notes and listening to teacher, only lasts 5-10 secs.)

• can memorize shorter lengths of lists, etc.
• from Sperling's study: in box of 12 letters, most only remembered 4-5 but claimed all 12, when asked to memorize a row could remember them all

• system that can hold a memory for short durations
• related to working memory: no longer than 20 secs.
• span: magin # = 7 +/-2

• fading of information from memory over time

• loss of information from memory due to competition of incoming information coming in

• acquisition of new information interferes with retention of old information (knew Spanish, now learning Italian)
• previous learning of information interferes with new information coming in (going from PC to Mac computer)

• repeating of information, extend the duration of STM
• maintenance rehearsal: repeating sequence--phone number
• elaborative rehearsal: linking stimuli to each other in meaningful ways (visualizing, understanding the relationship)

• memory that's too good

• depth of transforming information, influences how easily we remember it--more deeply we process, better we tend to remember it
• visual: most shallow
• phonological (sound related)
• semantic: deepest (meaning-related)

• relatively enduring retention of information
• facts, experiences, years
• span can last minutes to years and even be permanent (permastore)

• memories in which we recall intentionally and have conscious awareness

• knowledge of facts about the world

• memory of events of our lives

• memory we don't deliberately remember or reflect on constantly
• procedural: how to do things--motor skills and habbits
• priming: ability to identify a stimulus after we've encountered a similar one

1. encoding
2. storage
3. retrieval

• process of getting information into our memory banks
• next-in-line effect: too much anticipation hampers encoding process
• mnemonic: strategy that enhances recall

• process of keeping information in memory
• relies on schemas: organized knowledge structures or mental nodes can lead to memory mistakes--memory illusions, make us think of memories that never happened, frames of reference for interpreting new situations

• reactivation or reconstruction of experiences our memory stores
• retrieval cues: hints that make it easier to recall a memory
• recall: generating previously remembered information
• recognition: selection previously remembered information from an array of options
• relearning: reacquiring knowledge we've previously learned but largely forgotten over time

• relies on imagery of places, locations

• when we can't remember the name of something, but it is right there and we know what it is
• shows that the information was never stored so we have a hard time retrieving it

• superior retrieval when the external context of the original memories matches the retrieval context 
• --> learning on land and remembering on land vs. remembering in water

• superior retrieval of memories when the organism is in the same physiological or psychological stte as it was during encoding
• mood-dependent learning: people find it easier to recall unpleasant memories when they'resad, easier to recall pleasant memories when happy

• emotional memories that seem so vivid that people seem able to recount them in remarkable, even photographic detail 
• phantom faslbulb memory: many flashbulb memories are false --> these are much like other memories, just more intense

• the physical trace of each memory in the brain
• Lashley learned memory is all over the brain, not one  specific site
• Hebb suggested engram is located in assemblies of neurons in the brain

• gradual strengthening of the connections among neurons by repetitive stimulation over time --> strengthening connections of neurons
• the hippocampus and amygdala and parts of the association cortex exhibit LTP-like activity (LTP-like response in amygdala following fear memory) -->
• LTP enhances the release of glutamate into the synaptic cleft, resulting in enhanced learning, reacts with NMDA

• we lose some memories of our past
• extremely rare to lose all memories of previous life, memory recovery from amnesia occurs gradually

• we lose the capacity to form new memories
• far more common than retrograde amnesia

• lack of clarity about the origin of a memory

• "hidden memory"
• we mistakenly forget that one of our ideas originated with someone else

• procedures that strongly encourage people to recall memories --> often create recollections that were never present to begin with

• type of associative learning
• process by which a stimulus comes to elicit a response
• Phases: 1. Acquisition: gradually learn the CR 2. Exctinction: the CR decreases in magnitude and eventually disappears when the CS is repeatedly presented alone without the UCS 3. Spontaneous Recovery: extinct CR reappears if the CS is presented again 
• target behavior is automatic, reward is provided unconditionally, behavior depends on autonomic nervous system

• stimulus that elicits an automatic response, something we respond to without training
• dog food to a dog

• automatic response to a non-neutral stimulus that does not need to be learned
• dog drooling to food --> response to the UCS

• initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response after pairing with an UCS
• bell ring to a dog at first means nothing, but when paired with food, bell comes to mean food

• learned response to a previously neutral stimulus 
• dog drooling to the bell

• process by which CSs that are similar, but not identical to the original CS elicit a CR
• dogs salivate to sound like a bell, but not the same bell

• argues that it is not just a stimulus-response link, but the organism plays a role
• our view and interpretation of the response plays a huge role in learning

• learning that is not always observable
• reinforcement isn't always necessary
• latent ihibition: refers to the fact that when we experience a CS alone many times, it's difficult to clasically condition it to another stimulus 

• learning by watching others
• mirror neuron: neuron that fires when an animal watches an action and performs that action at the same time --> may play a role in empathy

• sudden understanding of the solution to a problem
• "Aha" moment

• very specific, little generalization
• no equipotentiality, some conditioning pairs stronger than others (food that has made us throw up)

• evolutionary predisposition to fear certain stimuli more than others
• most phobias do not have any negative experience--height, snakes, etc.

• exhibition of a less pronounced CR to CSs that differ from the original CS
• discriminating between a horror movie and real-life events of the horror movie (not as scared in the movie)

• process by which organisms develop classically conditioned responses to CSs that later become associated with the original CS
• the tone that is conditioned with the food is now conditioned with a circle, the dog eventually salivates to the circle as well as the tone
• occassion setters: people who don't normally smoke may crave a cigarette at a party because they have smoked with friends in that setting before

• learning controlled by the consequences of the organism's behavior --> behavior is shaped by what comes after it (reward)
• The Office reference with the phone call and mints
• target behavior is voluntary, the reward is contingent on behavior, behavior depends on skeletal muscles

• if a response in the presence of a stimulus, is followed by a satisfying state of affairs, the bond between the stimulus and response will be strengthened

• any outcome that strengtens the probability of a response, increases target behavior
• positive: administer a stimulus
• negative: take away a stimulus (not to confuse with punishment) --> cutting down time in "time-out" if behaving

• outcome which weakens the probability of a response, decreases target behavior
• positive: involves administering a stimulus in which the organism wishes to avoid --> yelling, laughing at them, etc.
• negative: removal of a stimulus that the organism wishes to experience --> favorite toy, etc.

• humans experience a small number of distinct emotions that are rooted in biology --> serve a purpose
• ex.: evolutionary purpose --> fear to stay away from poisonous foods, danger

• pattern of delivering renforcement
• contuous reinforcement: reinforcing behavior every time it occurs, resulting in faster learning but faster extinction than only occasional reinforcement
• partial reinforcement: only occasional reinforcement of a behavior, resulting in slower extinction 

• reinforcement after a regular number of responses
• give a rat a pellet after it presses the lever 15x

• reinforcement for producing the response at least once after a specified amount of time has passed
• getting paid every Friday if the work is done

• reinforcement after a specific number of responses on average, precise number of responses required during any given period varies randomly
• if the average ration is 10, a pigeon would receive bird feed after 6 pecks, then 12 pecks, then after 21 pecks

• reinforcement for producing the response after an average time interval, actual interval varying randomly
• give a dog a treat for performing a trick on a variable interval schedule with an average interval of 8 mins, dog performs the trick during 7 min interval, then one min, then 20 min

• reinforce behaviors that arent exactly the target behavior but are progressively closer versions of it 

• perhaps cross-culturally universal with the facial expressions 
• happiness sadness, surprise, anger, disgust, fear, contempt

• cross-cultural guidelines for how and when to express emotions

• theories proposing that emotions are products of thinking--what we feel is determined by how we interpret it
• if we see an upcoming job intervew as a potential catastrophe we will feel stressed 

• emotions result from our interpretations of our bodily reactions to a stimuli
• when we see a bear we run away --> theory says we're scared because we run
• observing behavior and physiological reactions to a stimulus then conclude our emotion

• proposes that we use our "gut reactions" to help us determine how we should act 
• when we feel our heart pounding during a first date, we use that as a marker to decide what to do next

• an emotion-provoking event leads simultaneously to an emotion and to bodily reactions
• seeing a bear in the forest triggers both fear and running at the same time

• proposing that emotions are produced by and undifferentiated state of arousal along with an explanation of that arousal 

• phenomenon in which repeated exposure to a stimulus makes us more likely to feel faborably toward it
• "familiarity breeds comfort"

• theory that blood vessels in the face feed back temperature information in the brain, altering our experience of emotions --> purely biochemical and noncognitive
• likely to feel emotions that correspond to your facial features

• discipline that has sought to emphasize human strengths

• strategy of anticpating failure and then compensating for this expectation by mentally overpreparing for negative outcomes
• helps certain people imprive their performance because it encourages them to work harder 
• theory against positive psychology --> robbing pessimists of their pessimism  could make them perform worse

• proposing that happiness predisposes us to think more openly --> allowing us to see the big picture

• the prime determinant of happiness is what happens to us 

• money makes us happy

• happiness declines in old age 

1. marriage 
2. friendships
3. college
4. religion
5. political affiliation--republicans happier than democrats
6. exercise
7. gratitude
8. giving
9. flow--completely immersed in what we're doing 

• predicting our own and others' happiness

• we believe that both our good and bad moods will last longer than they do 

• certain drives, like hunger, sexual frustration, motivate us to minimize aversive states 
• all the drives are unpleasant, but the satisfaction of them result in pleasure

• arousal in one factor that affects the strength of our drives
• an inverted U-shaped relation between arousal, and mood and performance on the other, with optimal point of arousal being towards the middle of the curve

• propose that we're often motivated by positive goals
• intrinsic motivation: internal, wanting to master the material
• extrinsic motivation: external, wanting an A
• undermining effect: rendering us less likely to perform behaviors we once enjoyed
• contrast effect: once we receive reinforcememnt for performing a behavior, we anticipate that reinforcement again, if withdrawn we're less likely to perform the behavior

• proposing that we must satisfy physiological needs (primary) of food, water, etc, before progression to more complex needs (secondary), or psychological desires 

• theory that when our blood glucose levels drop, huner creates a drive to eat to resore the proper level of glucose
• leptin: hormone that signals the hypothalamus and brain stem to reduce appetitie and increase the amount of energy used --> obese people have less of this or seem to resist the effect of it

• value that establishes a range of body and muscle mass we tend to maintain
• obese people tend to keep their weight below their set point, in turn eat more to suffice their hunger

• statng that obese people are motivated to eat more by external cues than internal cues

• genetic influences
• environmental influences

• the effects of genes depends on the environment they are expressed 
• --> low levels of MAO are associated with violent behavior, but both low levels of MAO and maltreatment resulted in violent behavior

• individuals with certain genetic predispositions often seek out environments in which these genes can be expressed
• a genetically impulsive kid is going to see out other impulsive kids which results in more impulsivity

• turning a gene on or off due to environmental experiences
• Ex.: life stress, events

• study of how children acquire the ability to learn, think, reason, communicate, and remember
• occur in stages or continuous?
• domain-general or domain-specific (cognitive skills develop independently--reasoning, language, etc)?
• physical experiences, social interactions, or biological maturation?

• said kids aren't miniature adults
• stage theorist 
• domain-general
• exploration of the world

• process of absorbing new experience into current knowledge structures --> filing new information into a current folder 
• Ex.: child assimilating a horse as a zebra

• process of altering a belief to make it more compatible with experience --> when new info doesn't fit with old beliefs, creates brand new folder
• Ex.: when child learns the name is "Zebra", files this into brand new folder

Stages of cognitive development: 

Sensorimotor Stage, mental representation, object permanence, deferred immitation

• all knowlege acquired through interactions with the world
• ability to think about things that are not in immediate surroundings
• lack this, knowledge that objects exist when not in view
• lack as well, ability to perform observed actions

• ability to construct mental images of experience
• egocentric
• ages 2-7

• theory that parents provide initial structure for children but gradually remove structure as become older and more independent
• best time for learning to occur

• contemporary theory
• emphasizes general cognitive abilities and acquired knowledge--rather than innate
• gradual learning, not stage-like

• emphasizes social interactions as critical for thinking and learning and understanding of the world

• emphasizes domain-specific learning--separate spheres of knowledge in different domains

• understanding how physical objects behave
• infants have basic understanding--naiive physics

• ability to reason what other people know or believe

• basic emotional style--> early in development, largely genetic
• easy, difficult, slow-to-warm-up, behaviorally inhibited infants

• strong emotional connection we have to those we feel closest
• different styles are shown through cultural differences, can predict long-term outcomes
• secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-anxious

• animal form of attachment
• critical period/sensitive period: 

• how infants development attachments
• permissive, authoritarian, authoritive, uninvolved

• communication system involving symbols in rule-based ways to create meaning
• transmit meaning, express feelings/thoughts, social function
• largely automatic, adapt to new concepts--text messages, etc.

Levels of language analysis

Phonemes

• sound of language, somewhat related to letters but not 1:1 match
• core phonemes differ between languages/cultures
• phonemic distinction (accent?): ability to detect meaningful differences between phonemes--> based on childhood experience, hard to master later in life

• smallest units of speech that have meaning
• created by stringing together phonemes
• can be whole words and word-like chunks
• (re)(play)(ed)

• grammatical rules of language related to word ordering
• el gato negro vs. the black cat

• systematic variations in pronunciation and syntax
• shared geographically and ethnically --> "park the car" vs. "pahk the cah"

• beyond words--gestures, posture, tone of voice, etc.
• lack in text messages, etc.

• comprehension precedes production
• production constraints
• errors in word meaning
• holophrases
• start speaking by 1 year, several hundred words by 2, extralinguistic info takes longer

• learn language by imitating what hear people speak
• does not explain generativity