Unit 2 - Cognition Flashcards
accomodation
In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the process of modifying existing cognitive structures in response to new information or experiences.
achievement test
A test designed to assess what a person has learned or accomplished in a particular area, such as academic subjects or job-related skills.
Alfred Binet
A French psychologist known for developing the first intelligence test, which aimed to measure children’s mental abilities and predict their academic success.
algorithm
A step-by-step procedure or formula for solving a problem, often involving repetitive operations.
Alzheimer’s Disease
A progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by memory loss, language deterioration, and impaired ability to mentally manipulate visual information.
Amnesia
A significant memory loss that is too extensive to be due to normal forgetting.
Amos Tversky
A cognitive psychologist known for his collaboration with Daniel Kahneman on decision-making and heuristics.
anterograde amnesia
A type of memory impairment characterized by the inability to form new memories after a specific event or injury, while memories from before the event remain intact.
aptitude test
A test designed to assess a person’s potential for learning or ability to perform in a particular area, such as intelligence tests or vocational aptitude tests.
assimilation
In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the process of incorporating new information or experiences into existing cognitive structures or schemas.
Attention
The cognitive process of selectively focusing on a specific aspect of information while ignoring other perceivable information.
Autobiographical Memory
A person’s memory for events and issues related to oneself.
autokinetic effect
A perceptual phenomenon where a stationary point of light appears to move in a dark environment due to small eye movements.
automatic processing
The unconscious processing of information that requires minimal attention and effort, such as routine tasks or well-learned skills.
availability heuristic
A mental shortcut where people make judgments based on the ease with which examples come to mind, often leading to overestimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory.
belief perserverance
The tendency to maintain one’s beliefs even in the face of contradictory evidence.
binocular cue
Depth cues that rely on information from both eyes to perceive depth and distance, such as retinal disparity and convergence.
Bottom-Up Processing
An approach to perception that starts with incoming stimuli and builds up to a final perception; involves analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information.
Carol Dweck
A psychologist known for her research on motivation and mindset, particularly the concepts of fixed mindset and growth mindset.
Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory
A contemporary theory of intelligence proposing that intelligence is composed of multiple distinct abilities, including fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and various specific cognitive skills.
central executive
In Baddeley’s model of working memory, the component responsible for coordinating and controlling cognitive processes, including attention, planning, and decision-making.
Change Blindness
A phenomenon in visual perception where changes in a visual stimulus are not noticed by the observer.
Charles Spearman
A British psychologist known for his work on intelligence and the development of factor analysis, which identified a general factor of intelligence (g factor) underlying performance on cognitive tasks.
chunking
Organizing information into smaller, more manageable units or chunks to improve memory and processing efficiency.