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AP Psychology > Unit 2: Cognition > Flashcards

Unit 2: Cognition Flashcards

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1
Q

bottom-up processing

A

information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information

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2
Q

top-down processing

A

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

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3
Q

schema

A

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

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4
Q

perceptual set

A

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

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5
Q

gestalt psychology

A

an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

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6
Q

closure

A

mentally filling in gaps to create a complete, whole object

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7
Q

figure-ground

A

the organization of the visual-field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)

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8
Q

proximity

A

mentally groups things that are close together into one set

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9
Q

similarity

A

mentally grouping objects based on how alike they are to each other

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10
Q

attention

A

a state in which cognitive resources are focused on certain aspects of the environment rather than on others and the central nervous system is in a state of readiness to respond to stimuli

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11
Q

selective attention

A

focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

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12
Q

cocktail party effect

A

the brain’s ability to attend to only one voice within a sea of many as you chat with a party guest

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13
Q

inattentional blindness

A

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

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14
Q

change blindness

A

failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness

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15
Q

binocular depth cues

A

a depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes

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16
Q

retinal disparity

A

a binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object

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17
Q

convergence

A

a cue to nearby object’s distance, enabled by the brain combing retinal images

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18
Q

monocular depth cue

A

a depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone

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19
Q

relative clarity

A

because more light passes through objects that are farther away, we perceive these objects as hazy, blurry, or unclear. Nearby objects, by contrast, appear sharp and clear.

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20
Q

relative size

A

if we assume two objects are similar in size, most people perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image as farther away

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21
Q

texture gradient

A

moving towards or away from an object changes our perception of its smoothness or texture. When a wall is viewed from a distance, we will perceive it as smooth. Viewing the same wall up close will reveal greater texture and detail.

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22
Q

linear perspective

A

parallel lines appear to meet in the distance. The sharper the angle of convergence, the greater the perceived distance is

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23
Q

interposition

A

if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer

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24
Q

apparent movement

A

an illusion of motion or change in size of a visual stimulus

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25
Q

prototypes

A

a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a crow)

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26
Q

assimilation

A

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

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27
Q

accommodation

A

adapting our current schemas (understanding) to incorporate new information

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28
Q

algorithm

A

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. This contrasts with the usually speedier - but also more error-prone - use of heuristics

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29
Q

heuristic

A

a simple thinking strategy - a mental shortcut - that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than an algorithm

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30
Q

representativeness heuristic

A

judging the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

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31
Q

availability heuristic

A

judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

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32
Q

mental set

A

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way; often a way that has been successful in the past

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33
Q

priming

A

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing ones perceptions, memory, or response

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34
Q

framing

A

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

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35
Q

Gambler’s fallacy

A

when people observe random events happening repeatedly (such as flipping a coin and having it land on heads 8 times in a row), they may unconsciously use the representative heuristic when judging the likelihood of future events (assuming the coin will surely land on tails next time)

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36
Q

sunk-cost fallacy

A

our tendency to stick to our original ideas and plans because we’ve invested our time, even when switching to a new approach could save us time

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37
Q

executive functions

A

cognitive skills that work together, enabling us to generate, organize, plan and implement goal-directed behavior

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38
Q

creativity

A

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

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39
Q

divergent thinking

A

expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions

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40
Q

convergent thinking

A

narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

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41
Q

functional fixedness

A

occurs when our prior experiences inhibit our ability to find creative solutions

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42
Q

storage

A

the process of retaining encoded information over time

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43
Q

retrieval

A

the process of getting information out of memory storage

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44
Q

explicit memory

A

retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and “declare”

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45
Q

episodic memory

A

explicit memory of personal experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems

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46
Q

semantic memory

A

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems

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47
Q

implicit memory

A

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection

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48
Q

procedural memory

A

automatic skills (how to ride a bike) and classically conditioned associations among stimuli (if you are attacked by a dog when you’re young, you might become tense when a dog approaches you years later)

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49
Q

prospective memory

A

remembering to do something in the future, such as taking one’s medicine later

50
Q

long-term potentiation (LTP)

A

an increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory

51
Q

primary memory system

A

memory that retains a few items for only several seconds, in contrast to secondary memory

52
Q

working memoryt

A

a newer understanding of short-term memory; conscious, active processing of both incoming sensory information and information retrieved from long-term memory

53
Q

central executive

A

a memory component that coordinates the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad

54
Q

phonological loop

A

a memory component that briefly holds auditory information

55
Q

visuospatial sketchpad

A

a memory component that briefly holds information about object’s appearance and location in space

56
Q

long-term memory

A

the relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

57
Q

multi-store model

A

any theory hypothesizing that information can move through and be retained in any of several memory storage systems, usually of a short-term and a long-term variety

58
Q

sensory memory

A

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

59
Q

iconic memory

A

a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photograph or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few seconds in length

60
Q

echoic memory

A

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 to 4 seconds

61
Q

automatic processing

A

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of familiar or well-learned information, such as sounds, smells, and word meanings

62
Q

effortful processing

A

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

63
Q

encoding

A

the process of getting information into the memory system – for example, by extracting meaning

64
Q

shallow encoding

A

cognitive processing of a stimulus that focuses on its superficial, perceptual characteristics rather than its meaning. It is considered that processing at this shallow level produces weaker, shorter-lasting memories than deep processing

65
Q

deep processing

A

cognitive processing of a stimulus that focuses on its meaningful properties rather than its perceptual characteristics. It is considered that processing at this semantic level, which usually involves a degree of elaboration, produces stronger, longer-lasting memories than shallow processing.

66
Q

mnemonic devices

A

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

67
Q

method of loci

A

a mnemonic technique in which the items to be remembered are converted into mental images and associated with specific positions or locations. For instance, to remember a shopping list, each product could be imagined at a different location along a familiar street

68
Q

chunking

A

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

69
Q

hierarchies

A

a few broad categories divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts

70
Q

spacing effect

A

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice

71
Q

memory consolidation

A

the neurobiological processes by which a permanent memory is formed following a learning experience

72
Q

massed practice

A

cramming; can produce speedy short-term learning and an inflated feeling of confidence

73
Q

distributed practice

A

a learning procedure in which practice periods for a particular task are separated by lengthy rest periods or lengthy periods of practicing different activities or studying other material, rather than occurring close together in time

74
Q

serial position effect

A

our tendency to recall best the last items in a list initially (a recency effect) and the first items in a list after a delay (a primacy effect)

75
Q

primacy effect

A

our tendency to remember the first items in a list after a delay (when our attention is elsewhere)

76
Q

recency effect

A

our tendency to recall best the last items in a list quickly and well, perhaps because they are still in working memory

77
Q

short-term memory

A

briefly activated memory of a few items (such as digits of a phone number while calling) that is later stored or forgotten

78
Q

maintenance rehearsal

A

repeating items over and over to maintain them in short-term memory, as in repeating a telephone number until it has been dialed

79
Q

elaborative rehearsal

A

an encoding strategy to facilitate the formation of memory by linking new information to what one already knows. For instance, when trying to remember that someone is named George, one might think of five other things one knows about people named George

80
Q

memory retention

A

persistence of learned behavior or experience during a period when it is not being performed or practiced, as indicated by the ability to recall, recognize, reproduce, or relearn it.

81
Q

autobiographical memory

A

a person’s memory for episodes or experiences that occurred in their own life

82
Q

retrograde amnesia

A

an inability to remember information from one’s past

83
Q

anterograde amnesia

A

an inability to form new memories

84
Q

Alzheimer’s disease

A

a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by plaque accumulation and neuron death. Begins as difficulty remembering new information, progressing to an inability to do everyday tasks. Complex speech becomes simple sentences, family members and close friends become strangers, the brain’s memory centers wither away

85
Q

infantile amnesia

A

the commonly experienced inability to recall events from early childhood

86
Q

recall

A

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test

87
Q

recognition

A

a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, like on a multiple-choice test

88
Q

retrieval cues

A

a prompt or stimulus used to guide memory recall

89
Q

context-dependent memory

A

a familiar context or setting can help retrieve or activate new memories

90
Q

mood-congruent memory

A

tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood

91
Q

state-dependent memory

A

what we learn in one state may be more easily recalled again when we are in that state. For instance, adults who hide money when drunk may forget the location until drunk again

92
Q

testing effect

A

the finding that taking a test on previously studied material leads to better retention than does restudying that material for an equivalent amount of time

93
Q

metacognition

A

cognition about our cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes

94
Q

forgetting curve

A

a graphic depiction of the amount of forgetting over time after learning has taken place

95
Q

encoding failure

A

we cannot remember what we have not encoded; much of what we sense we will never notice

96
Q

proactive interference

A

the forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information

97
Q

retroactive interference

A

the backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information

98
Q

tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

A

the experience of attempting to retrieve from memory a specific name or word but not being able to do so. Usually, the name or word is eventually retrieved, but while on the TOT, it seems to hover tantalizingly on the rim of consciousness

99
Q

repression (psychodynamic)

A

the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

100
Q

misinformation effect

A

occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information

101
Q

source amnesia

A

faulty memory for how, when, and where information was learned or imagined (as when misattributing information to the wrong source). Source amnesia, along with misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories

102
Q

constructive memory

A

remembering conceived as involving the use of general knowledge stored in one’s memory to construct a more complete and detailed account of an event or experience by changing or filling in various features of the memory

103
Q

imagination inflation

A

the increased likelihood that a person will judge an event as having actually occurred (e.g., during childhood) when they imagine the event before making such a judgment

104
Q

intelligence

A

the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

105
Q

general intelligence (g)

A

according to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

106
Q

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A

defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus IQ = ma/ca x 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

107
Q

mental age

A

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age. Thus, a child who does as well as an average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.

108
Q

chronological age

A

the amount of time elapsed since an individual’s birth, typically expressed in terms of months and years

109
Q

standardization

A

defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

110
Q

validity

A

the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what is it supposed to

111
Q

construct validity

A

how much a test measures a concept or trait

112
Q

predictive validity

A

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and criterion behavior

113
Q

reliability

A

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting

114
Q

stereotype threat

A

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

115
Q

stereotype lift

A

the confidence that your group or “type” does well on a task, being exposed to situations that create stereotype threat in outgroup members may actually improve task performance

116
Q

Flynn effect

A

the gradual cross-cultural rise in raw scores obtained on measures of general intelligence. These increases have been roughly 9 points per generation

117
Q

achievement test

A

a test designed to measure what a person has learned

118
Q

aptitude test

A

a test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

119
Q

fixed mindset

A

the view that intelligence, abilities, and talents are unchangeable, even with effort

120
Q

growth mindset

A

a focus on learning and growing rather than viewing abilities as fixed

AP Psychology (4 decks)

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