Page 18 - Demo

xviTO THE STUDENT READ THE TEXT and use the features to help grasp the big ideas. 2 Welcome to the wonderful world of psychological science! We are Charlie and Randy, and we wrote this book as a guide for your introductory tour of psychology, the fascinating field that attempts to understand behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. The book is an extension of our many years in the high school classroom, and our goal is to provide you, your classmates, and your teacher with the information you need to: %u2022 appreciate the sometimes surprising conclusions of psychology; %u2022 learn how the scientific method is used to study behavior and thinking; and %u2022 develop the critical thinking skills that will enable you to evaluate claims about psychological issues you encounter in the media. Every day, your news feeds are filled with attention-grabbing headlines like these: %u201cAdvances in Depression Treatment Announced%u201d %u201cOnline Scam Fools Thousands into Donating Money%u201d %u201cMore Single Parents as Divorce Rates Climb%u201d %u201cArtificial Intelligence Spells Trouble for Teachers%u201d %u201cFentanyl-Related Deaths on the Rise%u201d %u201cHospital Cybersecurity Breach Exposes Health Records%u201d %u201cSexual Harassment Case Sent to Jury%u201d %u201cWater Poisoning Said to Impair Brain Functioning%u201d %u201cAsylum Seeker Dies in Immigration Custody%u201d Thinking About Psychology Module 1 kali9/E+/Getty ImagesHi! I%u2019m Charlie.And I%u2019m Randy. CognitionModule 17PerceptionModule 18Information ProcessingModule 19Forgetting and Memory ConstructionModule 20ThinkingModule 21Intelligence and Intelligence TestingPILLAR 3270Cavan Images/Getty ImagesEach Pillar is divided into short modules to make it easy to read and study. What is psychology all about? Module 1 offers context on what to expect in this life-relevant course and explains the themes that connect the content. It also reviews the main subfields of psychology, called Pillars, that provide the organization for the text. Information Processing MODULE 18 291 2. Once encoded, the information must be stored (or in tech speak, saved ). Computers offer several kinds of storage, some more permanent than others. Temporary storage takes place in the active memory of the computer, which keeps programs and applications open on your screen. You know how temporary this memory is if you%u2019ve ever briefly lost power while working on a project%u2014POOF! (Thank goodness for autosave.) More durable storage is available on the computer%u2019s drive. This storage can even survive the computer%u2019s %u201closs of consciousness%u201d when it%u2019s turned off. You might also back up your information by storing a copy in the cloud: your work will still be there even if the computer you did it on crashes! 3. All this encoding and storage would be useless if you couldn%u2019t retrieve the information. If you%u2019re careful about naming and organizing your files, finding your documents will be a snap. If not, you may lose track of things. You might be confident that you saved English paper, but if you can%u2019t recall what you called it, or which drive you%u2019ve stored it on, you may never find it. Humans also encode information. But instead of an Internet connection or keyboard, we use our senses to gather information. Then we must store the information, either temporarily or permanently. Finally, we must gain access to the memories we have permanently stored. Let%u2019s take a more detailed look at how these three steps work in the human information-processing system. Encoding 18-1 What are the factors that allow us to effectively encode information into our memory system? Encoding is the process in which you move information%u2014the raw material, the stuff that you will remember%u2014into your memory system. Good students are invariably good encoders of information. It%u2019s not that they were born that way. Instead, they have learned to apply several factors that influence how well we encode information. In this section, we examine the following topics: %u2022 The role of effort in encoding %u2022 The effect of the order of the information on encoding, known as the serial position effect %u2022 The significance of how you space out the rehearsal of the information to be encoded encoding The process of getting information into the memory system. storage The retention of encoded information in memory over time. retrieval The process of getting information out of memory storage. Retrievalof storedmemoriesMemorystorageEncode externalevents intomemoryFIGURE 18.1 The InformationProcessing Model of Memory Memories are processed in three stages. Encoding brings information into the memory system. Storage allows us to retain the information over time. Retrieval brings the information back out of memory. Have you ever found a photo on your phone that you forgot about, or even one that you don%u2019t remember taking? The software in your phone saves every photo automatically %u2014whether it is important or not. But for you to encode the memory into shortterm or long-term memory often requires more effortful processing. Meet the author who will be %u201ctalking to you%u201d in each module by looking at the cartoon and reading the speech bubble. Focus on each Learning Goalquestion as you read the module. They are repeated at the point of use to make it easier to study and review. %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.