Unit 2- Cognition Flashcards
Schema
a cognitive framework or mental structure that helps individuals organize and interpret information based on past experiences
Size Constancy
We perceive objects as having a constant size, even when our distance from them varies
Shape Constancy
We perceive the form of familiar objects as a constant even while our retinal image of it changes
Closure
We fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object. Thus we assume that the circles are complete but partially blocked by the triangle. Add nothing more than little line segments that close off the circles and now your brain stops constructing a triangle.
Constancy
Unchanging and constant in perception, shape, or size.
Cocktail Party Phenomenon
Your ability to attend to only one voice among many. An example of selective attention.
Perception
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
Retinal Disparity
Retinal disparity is defined as the way that your left eye and your right eye view slightly different images. Retinal disparity is important in gauging how far away objects are. The more difference (or greater disparity) between the image each eye has of the same object, the closer it is to you.
Convergence
The muscles of the eyes send signals to the brain as they move, the more they converge (turn inward toward each other), the closer an object must be.
Figure-ground
The organization of our visual field into objects (figure) and their surroundings (ground).
Proximity
When we group nearby figures together
Linear perspective
The eyes sense of depth and distance perception
Relative size
A perceptual clue that allows you to determine how close objects are to an object of known size.
Brightness Constancy
We perceive an object as having a constant lightness even while its surrounding lighting.
Top-down processing
refers to how our brains make use of information that has already been brought into the brain by one or more of the sensory systems.
Interposition
If one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer. (Depth Cue)
Texture Gradient
The distortion in size which closer objects have compared to objects farther away.
Bottom-up processing
Analysis of sensory information that begins with our sensory receptors (details) and works its way up to the brain’s integration of the sensory information
Similarity
Grouping principle that says we group similar objects together
Monocular cues
Depth cues like interposition and linear perspective that can be detected by either eye (or both).
Binocular cues
Depth cues like retinal disparity that require the use of both eyes
Perceptual set
a mental predisposition or readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular way based on past experiences, expectations, beliefs, and context
Inattentional Blindness
the phenomenon where someone fails to notice something directly in their visual field because their attention is focused on something else, essentially “missing” something obvious due to their concentration being elsewhere
Gestalt Psychology
a school of thought that emphasizes how the brain perceives the “whole” of a stimulus as more important than its individual parts
Change Blindness
the phenomenon where a person fails to notice a significant change in their visual environment, usually because their attention is momentarily diverted or interrupted, causing them to miss the alteration even if it’s obvious
Relative Clarity
the perceptual cue where objects that appear sharp and clear are perceived as closer than objects that appear hazy or blurry, which are seen as farther away
Apparent Movement
the perception of motion created by rapidly displaying a series of still images, essentially an optical illusion where a stationary object appears to be moving, like the classic example of a flickering light string seeming to move across the line; also known as the “phi phenomenon.”
Serial position effect
our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.
Structural encoding
The encoding of pictures and images
Phonemic encoding
the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.
Mnemonic Devices
memory aids, especially those tech- niques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
Semantic encoding
the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.
Memory
the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.
Sensory Memory
the immediate, very brief recording of sensory in- formation in the memory system.
Iconic Memory
momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.
Echoic Memory
momentary sensory memory of auditory stim- uli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.
Selective Attention
the focusing of conscious awareness on a par- ticular stimulus.
Repression
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from concours es anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories
Misinformation Effect
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event
Mood-congruent memory
the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.
State-dependent memory
When it is more easily recalled when you are in the same state as you were when it happened
Anterograde amnesia
The loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact.
Retrograde amnesia
the loss of memory-access to events that occurred, or information that was learned, before an injury or the onset of a disease.
Long-term potentiation
an increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.
Testing effect
Helps to rehearse the material and figure out what you do not know
Recognition
a measure of memory in which the person need only iden- tify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.
Recall
a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve in- formation learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.
Source Amnesia
Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined.
Prototype
A mental image or best example of a category.
Algorithm
A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.
Heuristic
A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently.
Working (Short-term) memory
a cognitive system that temporarily holds and actively manipulates a limited amount of information, allowing individuals to perform complex tasks like reasoning, problem-solving, and comprehension, essentially acting as a “mental workspace” where information is actively processed before being stored or discarded
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
