Cognition Notes Organizer
AP Psychology
Name:
College Board Learning Objectives (8-10%)
 Compare and contrast various cognitive processes:
o Effortful versus automatic processing
o Deep versus shallow processing
o Focused versus divided attention
 Describe and differentiate psychological and physiological systems of memory (ie. Short-term memory,
procedural memory)
 Outline the principles that underlie effective encoding, storage, and construction of memories
 Describe strategies for memory improvement
 Synthesize how biological, cognitive, and cultural factors converge to facilitate acquisition of language
 Describe strategies for memory improvement
 Synthesize how biological, cognitive, and cultural factors converge to facilitate acquisition, development,
and use of language
 Identify problem-solving strategies as well as factors that influence their effectiveness
 List the characteristics of creative thought and creative thinkers
 Identify key contributors in cognitive psychology (e.g., Noam Chomsky, Hermann Ebbinghaus, Wolfgang
Kohler, Elizabeth Loftus, George A Miller)
MODULE 31: STUDYING AND BUILDING MEMORY
STUDING MEMORY

Memory 

Information Processing Model

o
Encoding
o
Storage
o
Retrieval
Atkinson Shiffrin Model
o
Sensory Memory

Echoic Memory

Iconic Memory
o
Short Term Memory
o
Long-term Memory
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
Complete Memory Model:

Working Memory (class demonstration)
 Alan Baddeley
ENCODING
(brain structures and a more detailed discussion of effortful and automatic processing is found in module 32)
 Explicit Memories


Aka declarative memories
Effortful Processing

Brain Structures Involved:
 Left Frontal Lobe


Right Frontal Lobe

Hippocampus
Examples:
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
Implicit Memories
 Aka nondeclaritive memories
 Automatic Processing


Brain Structures Involved:
 Cerebellum

Basal ganglia

Amygdala

Evolutionarily advantageous

Examples:
 Flashbulb memories
Strategies for Effortful Processing

Visualizing

Chunking

Mnemonics

Hierarchies

Distributed Practice
 Spacing Effect


Levels of Processing
 Shallow Processing


Testing Effect
Deep Processing
Making Material Meaningful
 Personal reference effect
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MODULE 32: MEMORY STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
MEMORY STORAGE
 Long Term Potentiation
MEASURING RETENTION & RETRIEVAL
 Recall

Recognition

Relearning
RETRIEVAL CUES
 Priming

Context-Dependent Memory 

Mood-Congruent Memory

Serial Position Effect (class demonstration)
 Primacy effect


Recentcy effect

Novel information effect
Other Retrieval Cues
 Outlining, color coding, pictures, personal references
MODULE 33: FORGETTING, MEMORY CONSTRUCTION, AND MEMORY IMPROVEMENT
FORGETTING

Damage to Brain Structures
 Anterograde amnesia

Retrograde amnesia

Encoding Failure
 Selective attention

Storage Decay

Retrieval Failure
 Tip of the Tongue phenomenon

Proactive Interference

Retroactive Interference
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MEMORY CONSTRUCT ERRORS
 Misinformation Effect

Elizabeth Loftus

Source Amnesia
IMPROVING MEMORY
 Rehearse repeatedly
 Make the material meaningful
 Activate retrieval cues
 Use mnemonics
 Minimize interference
 Sleep more
 Test yourself
MODULE 34: THINKING, CONCEPTS, AND CREATIVITY
COGNITION

Cognition

Concepts

Prototype
CREATIVITY
 Creativity

Convergent Thinking

Divergent Thinking

Five Components of Creativity
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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MODULE 35: SOLVING PROBLEMS AND MAKING DECISIONS
PROBLEM SOLVING
 Algorithm

Heuristics

Insight

Confirmation Bias

Mental Set

Fixation (functional fixedness)
DECISIONS & JUDGEMENTS

Intuition
o
o

Representative heuristic

Availability heuristic

Overconfidence

Belief perseverance

Framing
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MODULE 36: THINKING & LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE STRUCTURE
 Language

Phoneme

Morpheme

Grammar
o Syntax
o
Semantics
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
 Receptive Language


Productive language
o
Babbling stage
o
One-word stage
o
Two-word stage
Noam Chomsky
o
o

Critical Period
THE BRAIN AND LANGUAGE
 Aphasia

Broca’s Area

Broca’s Aphasia

Wenicke’s Area
LANGUAGE AND THINKING
 Linguistic Determinism

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