Decay
The loss of information in
memory through its nonuse.
Interference
The phenomenon by
which information in memory disrupts
the recall of other information.
Cue-dependent forgetting
Forgetting
that occurs when there are insufficient
retrieval cues to rekindle information
that is in memory.
Proactive interference
Interference in
which information learned earlier disrupts
the recall of newer material.
Retroactive interference
Interference
in which there is difficulty in the recall
of information learned earlier because
of later exposure to different material.
Alzheimer's disease
An illness
characterized in part by severe
memory problems.
Amnesia
Memory loss that occurs
without other mental difficulties.
Retrograde amnesia
Amnesia in
which memory is lost for occurrences
prior to a certain event.
Anterograde amnesia
Amnesia in
which memory is lost for events that
follow an injury.
Korsakoff's syndrome
A disease that
afflicts long-term alcoholics, leaving
some abilities intact but including
hallucinations and a tendency to
repeat the same story.
Thinking
The manipulation of mental
representations of information.
Mental images
Representations in the
mind that resemble the object or event
being represented.
Concepts
Categorizations of objects,
events, or people that share common
properties.
Prototypes
Typical, highly representative
examples of a concept.
Algorithm
A rule that, if applied
appropriately, guarantees a solution to
a problem.
Heuristic
A cognitive shortcut that
may lead to a solution
Means-ends analysis
Repeated testing
for differences between the desired outcome
and what currently exists.
Insight
A sudden awareness of the
relationships among various elements
that had previously appeared to be
independent of one another
Functional fixedness
The tendency to
think of an object only in terms of its
typical use.
Mental set
The tendency for old
patterns of problem solving to persist.
Confirmation bias
The tendency to
favor information that supports one's
initial hypotheses and ignore contradictory
information that supports
alternative hypotheses or solutions.
Creativity
The ability to generate
original ideas or solve problems in
novel ways.
Divergent thinking
The ability to
generate unusual, yet nonetheless
appropriate, responses to problems or
questions.
Convergent thinking
The ability to
produce responses that are based primarily
on knowledge and logic.
Cognitive psychology
The branch of psychology that focuses on
the study of higher mental processes, including thinking, language,memory, problem solving, knowing, reasoning, judging, and decision making.