Essential Psychology Concepts: Memory, Thought, and Learning

Understanding Learning and Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Refers to voluntary behavior. An instrumental behavior is one that helps us achieve certain effects.

Classical Conditioning

A learning relationship between stimuli.

Key Memory Concepts and Processes

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to acquire new information or remember events after a brain injury.

Blockade (Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon)

Occurs when an information search is frustrated, and we are unable to retrieve a specific memory, even though we feel it's accessible.

Short-Term Memory

Analyzes and organizes knowledge.

Long-Term Memory

Stores our knowledge of the physical world, social and cultural reality, autobiographical memories, language, and the meanings of concepts.

Basic Memory Processes

Encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Episodic Memory

A personal, autobiographical memory that allows us to recall dates, facts, or events experienced at a specific time and place.

Semantic Memory

Stores knowledge of language and the world, independent of the circumstances of its learning.

Levels of Information Processing

Superficial, intermediate, and deep.

Amnesia

The partial or total loss of memory caused by a person's neurological status or psychological reasons.

Forgetting (Oblivion)

The inability to recall names, dates, facts, or knowledge. It is often caused by an overload of information or a failure in retrieval.

Exploring the Nature of Thought

Thought

A mental activity that requires effort; it is a free and creative attitude, willing to embrace the enigmatic nature of life and give meaning to what we think and do.

Units of Thinking

Images, words, concepts, and rules.

Thinking Skills

Concept formation, reasoning, decision-making, problem-solving, creative thinking, and critical thinking.

Cognitive Distortions

Irrational beliefs or habits of thought that are inaccurate, erroneous, or distorting of facts.

Dichotomous Thinking

Perceiving things as black or white, true or false.

Fallacies

Faulty reasoning that appears persuasive and valid.

Formal Fallacies

Invalid inferences that violate a law of deductive reasoning, which logic can reveal.

Informal Fallacies

Errors not in the logical form of an argument, but in its content.

Algorithm

An ordered and finite set of operations that allows for solving a problem.

Heuristics

Strategies that can lead to a solution, but do not guarantee one.

Stages of the Creative Process

Preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification.