Cognitive+Key+Terms+Wiki

For each term below, contribute a unique idea (a definition, an example, an image, a video, a link to a relevant article or other web source, or other media) that helps us understand the term/concept. Be sure your contribution relates to the psychological connotation of the term if it has multiple connotations.

Put 4 ~ next to your contribution so we know who added it. 1260337790 toc

Amygdala
Part of the limbic systen that is responsible for our feelings of fear. 1271174718

Plays a role in the storage of emotional memories. 1265630510

Bottom-up Processing
bottom-up processing is the idea that we form perceptions that are an exact replication of some objective outside world. for instance, in theories of vision, a bottom-up approach would claim that in order to form a percept of a cat for instance we basically have an internal "Polaroid picture" of a cat in our head. these theories then have to go to on explain how the percepts in our head are formed to match this objective outside world; Perceptions or interpretations that are developed and determined through our senses rather than our expectations; The idea that information input to the mind come from the sensory system (Textbook). 1271249224

Bottom-up processing, also known as "small chunk" processing, suggests that we perceive elements by starting with the smaller, more fine details of that element and then building upward until we have a solid representation of it in our minds. 1271287292

Chunking
Combining bits of similar information into a larger unit that can be remembered as a single chunk of information. 1271174718

Cognition
Cognition is based on one's mental representations of the worlds, such as images, words, and concepts. 1265630510

The psychological result of perception, learning and reasoning. 1265633755

Distortions
(in context of memory) Mistakes in memory, or false memories. Can result from the brain filling in black spaces in schemas. 1265630510

Emotional Memory
Part of implicit memory; not well understood, but it may be formed via the limbic system and that even they may persist even when brain damage has destroyed other memories. 1265630510

Emotion-focused Coping
Aims to control the emotional response of a stressful situaion rather than changing a problematic situation. 1271174718

Episodic Memory
Part of explicit memory; deals with personal experiences. 1265630510

Explicit Memory
(also known as declarative memory) Long-term Memory that deals of fact based information. We are consciously aware of this information. 1265630510

False Memories
False memories are distorted memories, caused because it is hard to distinguish between what has been experienced and whas been after an event/experience. Memory is reconstructive and is subject to distortions. 1271251140

Fight or Flight
The coordinated physical changes we experience in face of threat. The physical changes prepare us for action, either to escape the threat or to fight it. It is usually a subconscious process by which the decision of what to do is made based on previous experiences. 1271174718

Primes the body to either flee or fight in a threating situation, it is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system 1271287538

Flashbulb Memory
A vivid and detailed memory of a momentous event that sparked a highly emotional response in the individual. Suggested by Brown and Kulik (1977) 1271174718

Hippocampus
Area of the brain that forms explicit memories. 1265630510

Implicit Memory
(part of long-term memory) Deals with memories that we are not consciously aware of. 1265630510

A mental representation is what we interpret from what we already know, which also forms our schemas. 1271251368
 * Mental Representations**

Multi-store Model of Memory
A basic structure of memory suggested by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1986) and it is assumed that 1) memory consists of a number of separate stores and that 2) memory processes are sequential. 1271251140

1271174718 One has to be paying attention to the information in order to remember it. Some sort of form given to the information so that one can remember it. Keeping the material memorized active by repeating it until it can be stored. The form of memory when one first comes in contact with the experience. Information is taken in via the five senses and stays in this storage for only a few seconds. Only a small part of this memory will be stored as a part of the STM. 1265630510 Memory that only lasts 6-12 seconds and information must be rehearsed in order for it to be stored as part of LTM. 1265630510 Unlimited capacity of memory storage which stores information for a lifetime. In most cases, details are not remembered, but rather, the brain remembers a basic outline. Memories in this storage are easily distorted.
 * ====Attention====
 * ====Coding====
 * ====Rehearsal====
 * ====Sensory Memory====
 * ====Short-term Memory: Memory that only lasts a short time.====
 * ====Long-term Memory: Memory that lasts a long time.====

Perception
The cognitive process that interprets and organizes information from the senses to produce some meaningful experience of the world. 1265630510

Problem-focused Coping
One strategy used in stressful situations which is aimed to change the problematic situation that causes emotional stress. 1271251140

Procedural Memory
Part of implicit memory; the non-conscious memory for skills, habits, and actions. 1265630510

Reconstructive Memory
Memory is said to have a reconstructive nature, which refers to the brain's active processing of information to make sense of the world. Memories can be influenced by many factors to cause it to be unreliable, because it is reconstructive. 1271251140

Repression
Conflicts, dangerous memories become repressed (pushed out of consciousness) when they become too overwhelming, intense, or anxiety-provoking. (refer to p81) Sigmund Freud suggested that forgetting events was caused by repression. 1271174718

Schema/Schema Theory
Schema: A mental representation of knowledge. 1265630510 Schema Theory: A cognitive theory about information processing (we process information with schemas) 1265630510

1265630510 1265630510 1265630510
 * ====Encoding: transforming sensory information into a meaningful memory====
 * ====Storage: creating a biological trace of the encoded information in memory, which is either consolidated or lost.====
 * ====Retrieval: using the stored information.====

Semantic Memory
Part of explicit memory; deals with general knowledge. 1265630510

Social Comparison Theory
Based on the idea that people learn about and asses themselves by comparison with others. 1271251140

Stereotyping
Fixed ideas about people (ethnicities, genders, etc). People who stereotype may be more prone to discriminate. Stereotyping is an example of how people think about themselves affect how they behave. 1271251140

In many situations, your knowledge or expectations will influence perception. This is called //schema-driven// or //top-down// processing; Top-down processing theories stress the role of interpretation and prior experience in the formation of perceptions. For instance, a top-down approach would say that your internal representation of a cat would be different depending on your prior experience with animals. This approach also does not necessitate a belief in an objective outside world the same way a bottom-up approach does; Perceptions or interpretations that are developed and determined through our expectations/schemas rather than our senses. 1271251140
 * Top-down Processing**

Working Memory Model
Based on the multi-store model, but states that STM is a single store that includes several components, whereas the multi-store model only include one. 1271251140