Unit 2 Flashcards
Bottom-up vs top-down processing
- when the brain uses sensory info to use clues to understand stimuli (what am I seeing?)
- using prior knowledge or experiences to interpret what we see
Schamas
patterns of thinking and behavior that people use to interpret the world. Allows us to take shortcuts in interpreting the info that is available in our environment
Perception-sets
A cognitive bias, tendency to perceive or notice things but ignore others. This affects the way people interpret things based on expectations and past experiences
Gestalts theory of perception
Helps explain how human organize their perceptual world (closure, figure and ground, proximity, similarity)
Closure
Illusion of seeing an incomplete stimulus as though it were a whole (closing a square that has gaps)
Figure and ground
Tend to segment our visual world this way. Figure is the object or person that is the focus of the visual field and ground is the background
Proximity
Things that are close together appear to be more related than things that are spread further apart
Similarity
when things appear to look alike we tend to group them together
Selective attention
Focusing on a particular object for some time while at the same time ignoring distractions and irrelevant info (cocktail party effect)
Change Blindness
a change in visual stimulus is introduced and the observer doesn’t notice it (change in thing that was already present)
Inattentional Blindness
The failure to notice a fully visual but unexpected object bc attention was engaged on another task, event, object (didn’t notice a new thing presented)
Depth perception (Binocular Depth)
Difference b/n images projecting on retina and converge (come together) both images in each eye to provide perception of depth
Monocular Depth (one eye)
Can’t have depth perception in only one eye
Relative Clarity
objects that appear sharp, clear and detailed are seen as closer than more hazy objects
Relative Size
the more distant an object, the smaller its size will appear
Texture Gradient
Smaller objects that are more thickly clustered appear farther away than objects that are spread out in space
Linear Perspective
parallel lines that converge appear far away
Interposition
1 object partially blocking covers another object giving the perception the object that is partially blocked is farther away
Perceptual Constancies
several types but the main 4 are: size, shape, color and brightness. An observer’s recognition of an object can remain the same even if it appears to change in these ways
Concepts
a mental grouping of similar objects, events or people
Prototype
A mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a this provides a quick and easy method for understanding what the thing is and putting it into a category
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets infor
Assimilation
interpreting new experiences in terms of our existing schema (schema doesn’t change)
Accommodation
adapting current schemas to incorporate new info (schema changes)
Algorithm
a methodical, logical procedure that guarantees solving the problem
Heuristic
mental shortcuts to solve problems quicker, but more prone to error than algorithm
Representativeness heuristic
prior expectations
Availability heuristic
most recent examples
Decision Making
can be influenced by prior experiences that were successful (mental set) or circumstances surrounding a decision (priming and framing)
Mental Set
The brain’s tendency to stick with most familiar solutions to a problem and ignores alternatives. Likely driven by previous knowledge (long-term mental set) or is a temporary by-product or procedural learning (short-term mental set)
Priming
People’s exposure to stimulus influencing response w/out awareness of the connection (familiarity)
Framing Effect
people react differently to something depending on whether it is presented as positive or negative. Decisions are influenced by how it is being presented vs what is being said
Cognitive Processes
such as gambler’s fallacy and sunk-cost fallacy can make it difficult for people to make good decisions
Gambler’s fallacy
individuals erroneously believe that a certain random event is less or more likely to happen based on the outcome of a previous event or series of events (can’t have 3 C’s in a row on a test)
sunk–cost fallacy
our tendency to continue with an endeavor we have invested $, effort or time into, even if the current costs outweigh the benefits
Executive Functions
are cognitive processes that let people generate, organize, plan and carry out our goal-directed behavior and experience critical thinking
Creativity
is a way of thinking that includes generating new ideas and engaging in divergent (vs convergent) thinking. Hindered by functional fixedness
Divergent Thinking
expanding number of possible problem solutions
Convergent thinking
narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution
Functional Fixedness
prior experiences inhibit our ability to find creative solutions
semantic and episodic memory
are explicit
Semantic Memory
knowledge learned over many interactions, takes effort, fact
Episodic Memory
memory for specific events that you have experienced; just happened, no effort
Procedural Memory
Memory of how to do things (things we don’t even think about how to do it we just know like speaking in our first language or riding a bike) and often goes hand in hand with declarative memory, which is memory of facts and events
Prospective Memory
enables a person to recall an intention to do something. in that sense, while it retains info from the past, prospective memory is most future-oriented than other categories of memory (remember to call a friend at a specific time, take medication every night)
long-term potentiation
process where synaptic connections p/u neurons become stronger with frequent activation. A biological process for memory
Explicit Memory
have to work to remember, leads to implicit memory over time
Implicit memory
unconsciously remembered
Multi-store memory model
Atkinson and Sniffrin
something from the environment goes to the brain->sensory memory (2-4 seconds) –>attention and rehearse it–>short-term (7 things) (20-30 seconds)–> rehearsal consolidation ->long-term memory (limitless)->retrieval in there but in back)
Working Memory
refers to the parts of the human memory dedicated to processing and utilizing temporary (short-term) info. how we make sense of, modify, interpret and store info in short-term memory
Levels of Processing Model
proposes that memory is encoded on 3 levels from shallowest to deepest; structural (looks like) phonemic (sounds like) and semantic (means)
Encoding Memories
involves processes and strategies to get info into memory. how info is encoded can determine how effectively info is stored and retrieved
Mnemonic Devices
are processes that aid in encoding info into working and long-term memory. any learning technique that aids info retention or retrieval in the memory often by associating info with something easy to remember
Method of Loci
strategies for memory enhancement by using visualizations or familiar spatial environments to recall info
Encoding
can be improved by grouping, categorizing or hierarchies (most to least important)
Spacing Effect
process that can cause differences in encoding and memory consolidation depending on whether the info is encoded all at once (mass practice) or distributed over time (distributed practice
Encoding Processes
can be effected by the order of how the info is presented
Serial Position Effect
predicts that info presenter at the beginning of the list (primary) or end of the list is more memorable than info in the middle of the list
Sensory Memory
brief physiological storage of info that comes from 1 of the 5 senses
Short-term memory
working Memory ->long-term memory
Elaborative Rehearsal
(better than maintenance) helps commit into long-term memory. contextualizes info for better storage and retrieval (chunking, rhymes, puns)
Maintenance Rehearsal
Used to commit info to short-term memory. Repetition and leads to forgetting info in a short time (dates, names, times)
Autobiographical memory
long-term memory for one’s personal history (happened to them)
Anterograde Amnesia
(cant make new) Inability to form or retain new memories/info after the onset of amnesia. damage to the medial temporal lobe and medial diencephalon. Temporary or permanent but can be treated by repetition, practice.
Retrograde amnesia
(Can’t remember old) inability to recall memories before amnesia. Caused by damage to areas adjacent to hippocampus, treated by exposing lost memories and temporary in nature
Dementia
Decline in memory reasoning, or other thinking skills
Infantil amnesia
Inability to remember events that occurred before the age of 4-3 years old (unless saw them in a tape or described to us)
Recall vs recognition
Recall- remembering without cues
Recognition- relies on retrieval cues
Context Dependent memory
Putting yourself back in the context of some thing can prime your retrieval recall is better in the room you learned it in.
Testing effect
Finding that long-term retention is best when the info is repeatedly tested during learning
Metacognitive Theory
Thoery of knowledge that is interested in how humans can actively monitor and regulate thier own thoughts processes
Metacognitive Theory
Theory of knowledge that is interested in how humans can actively monitor or reguate thier own thought processes
Stage Dependent Memory
You remember when your in the same mood as you learned it in
What is the significant factor in forgetting?
Time. Forgetting occurs rapidly after initial leaning and levels off over time
Encoding failure
Breakdown in the process of getting info into the cognitive system. When encoding failures happen the info doesn’t get into memory. Can occur because of inattention to the target info or inference when the target info is presented
Proactive interference
When old info or knowledge gets in the way of learning new info
Retroactive interference
When newer memories interfere with the retrieval of old memories
Type of the tongue phenomenon
The inability to retrieve a specific word as a response to a visual, auditory or tactical presentation. Even though the person will know the word, they’re trying to think of it, it remains elusive and just outside of mental reach
What do psychodynamic theorists believe? (Repression)
Info memories can be forgotten to defend the ego from this stress. Something that happened we didn’t like, so we forget.
The misinformation effect
Tendency for the info learned after an event to interfere with your original memory of what happened
Source amnesia
Inability to remember where, when, or how previously learned info has been acquired while retaining the factual knowledge.
Constructive memory
Psychological concept that analysis how the brain creates memories. Memories may not fully
recall real happenings or events since they can be altered by new information.
Factors such as perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes may also alter memories
Memory consolidation
Processes in the brain that convert short-term memories into long-term ones
Imagination inflation
Increase tendency to falsely remember that an item has been seen, or an action has been performed when its only been Imagined
Spearman General Intelligence “G”
introduced this concept which he found correlated with similar scores on mental aptitude tests, indicating that intelligence is a general cognitive ability.
Thurstone Seven Primary Mental Abilities
seven primary mental abilities: verbal comprehension, word fluency, number facility, spatial visualization, associative memory, perceptual speed, and reasoning
Multiple intelligence theory
Individuals have various types of intelligences, each representing a unique way of processing information and problem-solving, challenging traditional IQ-based views and broadening their definition
Sternberg Triarchic Approach to Intelligence
three types of intelligence: practical,(street smarts/ common sense), creative and analytical (academic problem solving)
What are the 3 things a good intelligence test needs?
It must be standard, valid, and reliable
construct vs predictive vadility
- measurement of knowledge of the subject
- predicts future scores
Flynn Effect
IQ scores across much of the world have generally
increased over time due to societal
factors, such as higher socioeconomic status and
access to better health care and better nutrición
Binocular depth cues
Using input from both eyes to perceive depth. Retinal disparity (changes place in each eye) and convergence (inward movement of eyes as object comes closer)
Monocular depth cues
Relative clarity, relative size, texture gradient, linear perspective, interposition
