Memory Systems
This is the term for the limited capacity memory system that can hold about 4-7 items for roughly 20-30 seconds.
What is short-term memory?
This is the term for the inability to retrieve information that is "on the tip of your tongue."
What is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon?
This is a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution to a problem if followed correctly.
What is an algorithm?
This is the process of getting information into the memory system.
What is encoding?
This formula, IQ = (mental age / chronological age) × 100, was used in early intelligence testing but has largely been replaced.
What is the intelligence quotient (or IQ formula)?
This type of memory lasts only a fraction of a second and includes iconic and echoic memory.
What is sensory memory?
Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered this pattern showing that forgetting is rapid at first, then levels off over time.
What is the forgetting curve?
These are mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that help us make quick decisions but can lead to errors.
What are heuristics?
These memory aids, such as acronyms or rhymes, help organize information for easier recall.
What are mnemonic devices?
Robert Sternberg proposed this theory suggesting intelligence has three components: analytical, creative, and practical.
What is the triarchic theory of intelligence?
This component of working memory is responsible for visual and spatial information processing.
What is the visuospatial sketchpad?
This occurs when new information interferes with the ability to recall old information.
What is retroactive interference?
This heuristic leads people to judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.
What is the availability heuristic?
This principle states that memory is best when the context at retrieval matches the context at encoding.
What is context-dependent memory?
Howard Gardner proposed this theory arguing that there are multiple independent types of intelligence, including linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, and musical.
What is the theory of multiple intelligences?
These are the two main types of long-term memory, one storing facts and events, the other storing skills and procedures.
What are explicit (declarative) and implicit (procedural) memory?
Elizabeth Loftus's research demonstrated that leading questions can create these altered recollections of past events.
What are false memories (or the misinformation effect)?
This bias causes people to seek out information that confirms their existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.
What is confirmation bias?
This type of retrieval involves accessing information without any cues, making it the most difficult form of memory recall.
What is recall?
This type of intelligence involves the ability to reason abstractly, solve novel problems, and think logically, independent of prior knowledge.
What is fluid intelligence?
This is the term for the phenomenon where distributed practice leads to better long-term retention than massed practice.
What is the spacing effect?
This memory bias causes people to remember the first and last items in a list better than the middle items, combining primacy and recency effects.
What is the serial position effect?
This bias occurs when people overestimate their ability to have predicted an event after it has already occurred, often saying "I knew it all along."
What is hindsight bias?
This levels-of-processing approach involves analyzing the meaning of information, leading to better memory than shallow processing of physical features.
What is deep processing (or semantic processing)?
This refers to accumulated knowledge and verbal skills that tend to increase with age and experience.
What is crystallized intelligence?