Unit 2 - Cognition Flashcards
1
Q
what is a perceptual set?
A
a mental predisposition to percieve one thing and not another
2
Q
Define change blindness
A
failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness
3
Q
define inattentional blindness
A
failing to see visable objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
4
Q
What is Gestalt
A
An organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasize our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes
5
Q
Define selective attention
A
focusing concious awareness on a particular stimulus
6
Q
What is figure-ground
A
the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) and their surroundings (the ground)
7
Q
What is grouping?
A
the pereptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.
8
Q
define depth-perception
A
the ability to see objects in three dimensions; although the images that strike the retina are two dimensional. It allows us to judge distance
9
Q
what’s a visual cliff?
A
a labratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young adults
10
Q
what’s a binocular cue?
A
a depth cue; such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes
11
Q
what is convergence?
A
a cue to nearby objects’ distance, enabled by the brain combining retinal images
eye going «cross eyed» as object gets closer
12
Q
what is retinal disparity?
A
a bonocular cue for percieving depth by compairing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance– the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object
13
Q
what’s a monocular cue? what are some examples?
A
a depth cue, such as interposition or linear persepctive, available to either eye alone
Relative clarity: more light passing through objects which are further away creates hazy feeling, therefore nearby objects seem clear
Relative size: object that casts the smaller retinal image apears further away
Texture gradient: distance=smooth, close=detail
Linear perspective: paralell lines apear to meet in the distance
Interspection: an object that overlaps another will be percieved as closer
14
Q
what is stroboscopic movement?
A
an illusion of continuous movement (as in a motion picutre) expereinces when viewing a rapid series of slightly varying still images
15
Q
what is the phi phenomenon?
A
an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession
16
Q
what is the autokinetic effect?
A
the illusory movement of a still spot of light in a dark room?
17
Q
what is perceptual constancy?
A
percieving objects as unchanging (having consistant colour, brightness, shape and size) even as illuminaion and retinal images change
18
Q
what is color consistancy?
A
percieving familiar objects as having consistent colour, even if chaning illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object
19
Q
what is perceptual adaptation?
A
the ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artifically displaced or even inverted visual field
20
Q
Define cognition
A
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating
21
Q
define metacognition
A
cognition about our cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes
22
Q
define concept
A
a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people
23
Q
define protoype
A
a mental image or best example of a catagory. 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)
24
Q
define schema
A
a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
25
define assimilation
interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
26
define accommodation
adapting our current schemas to incorperate new information
27
define creativity
the ability to produce new and valuable ideas
28
define convergent thinking
narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution
29
define divergent thinking
expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions
30
Define executive functions
cognitive skills that work together, enabling us to generate, organize, plan and implement goal directed behaviour
31
Define algorythm, is it fast or slow?
a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarentees solving a particular problem. Constrasts with the usually speedier-- but also more error-prone-- use of heristics
32
define heuristic, is it fast or slow?
a simple thinking strategy-- a mental shortcut--that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently; usually speederi but also more error-prone than an algorythm
33
define insight
a sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions
34
what is confirmation bias?
a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
35
define fixation
in cognition, the inabilty to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving
36
what is a mental set?
a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past
37
define intuition
an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, concious reasoning
38
what are representativeness heuristics
judinging 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
39
what is an availability heuristic?
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
40
define overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct--to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements
41
define belief perservereance
the persistance of one's initial conceptions even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
42
what is framing? provide an example
the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements
43
what is a nudge? provide an example
framing choices in a way that encouruages people to make beneficial decisions
subtle interventions to guide choices
44
Define memory
the persitence of learning over time through the encoding, storage and retrival of information
45
Define recall
a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve informtion learned earlier as on a fille in the blank test or via flashcards
46
define recognition
a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned as on a multuple choice test
47
define relearning
a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again
48
define encoding
the process of getting information into the memory system ex: by extracting meaning
49
define storage
the process of retaining encoded infromation over time
50
define retrieval
the process of getting information our of memory storage
51
define parallel processing
processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaniously
52
define sensory memory
the brief, initial storage of sensory information (sight, sound, touch, etc.) received through our senses, acting as a holding place before information is either lost or transferred to short-term memory
53
define short-term memory
the capacity to hold a limited amount of information in conscious awareness for a brief period, typically a few seconds, before it's either forgotten or transferred to long-term memory.
54
define working memory
a newer understanding of short-term memoryl concious active processing of incoming infomration and information retrieved from long-term memory
55
define central executive
a memory component that coordiantes the activites of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad
56
define phonological loop
a memory component that briefly holds auditory information
57
define visuospatial sketchpad
a memory component that briegfly holds infomration about objects apearances and location in space
58
define neurogensis
the formation of new neurons
59
define long term potentiation (LTP)
an increase in a nerve cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory
60
define explicit memory
retention of facts and expreinces that we can consciously know and "declare" (also called declarative memory)
61
define effortful processing
encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
62
define automatic processing
unconcious encoding of incidental information such as space, time and frequences, and of familiar or well-learned information such as sounds, smells, and word meanings
63
define implicit memory
retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection (also called nondeclarative memory)
64
define iconic memory
a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
65
define echoic memory
a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds
66
define chunking
organizing items into familiar and manageable units; often occurs automatically
67
define mnemonics
memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
68
what is the spacing effect
the tendency for distrbuted study or practice to yield better long term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
69
what is the testing effect?
enhanced memory after retrieving rather than simply rereading information. Also refered to as retrival practice effect or test-enhanced learning
70
define shallow processing
encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words
71
define deep processing
encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention
72
define semantic memory
explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two consious memory systems (the other one is episodic memory)
73
define episodic memory
explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two consious memory systems (the other one is semantic memory)
74
what is the hippocampus, what's it's role in memory
a neural center located in the limbiv system; helps process explicit (consious) memories of facts and events for storage
75
what is memory consolidation
the neural storage of a long term memory
76
what is a flashbulb memory?
a clear memory of an emotionally signifigant moment or event
77
define priming
the activation, often unconciously of particular associations in memory
78
what is the encoding specificity principle?
the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory willl be most effective in helping us recall it.
79
what is a mood-congruent memory?
the tendency to recall expereinces that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood. (Also called a state dependent memory)
80
what is the serial position effect?
our tendency to recall best the last items in a list intially (a recency effect) and the first items in a list after a delay (a primacy effect)
81
define interleaving
a retrieval practice strategy that involves mixing the study of different topics
82
what is anterograde amnesia
an inability to form new memories
83
what is retrograde amnesia
an inability to remember information from one's past
84
define proactive interferance
the forward acting distruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information
85
define retroactive interference
the backward acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information
86
define repression
in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that the ego's efforts to subconsciously keep anxious thoughts and impulses out of our awareness and keep them buried and hidden
87
define reconsolidation
a process in which previously stored memories when retrieved are potentially altered before being stored again
88
what is the misinformation effect?
occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information
89
define source amnesia
faulty memory for how, when, or whwere information was learned or imagined (as when misattributing infomration to a wrong source) source amnesia, along with misinformation effect is at the heart of many false memories
90
what is deja vu?
that eerie sense of "i've experienced this before" cures from the current situation may unconsiouly trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
91
define intellegance
the ability to learn from experience, solve problems and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
92
what is general intellegence what do we represent it with?
according to spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore mesaured by every task on an intellegance test
g
93
what is factor analysis
a statistical procedure that identitifies clusters of realted items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score
94
what is fluid intellegance and what do we represent it with?
our ability to reason speedily and abstractly tends to decrease with age especially during late adulthood
Gf
95
what is crystalized intellegance what do we represent it with?
our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills ; tend to increase with age
Gc
96
what is the cattel-horn-carroll (CHC) theory?
the theory that our intelligence is based on g as well as specific abilities bridged by Gf and Gc
97
what is savant syndrome
a conditon in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing
98
define grit
in psychology, passion and persererance in the pursuit of long-terms goals
99
what is emotional intellegence?
the ability to percieve, understand, manage and use emotions
100
what is an intelligence test
a method for assessing in individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores
101
what is an achievement test
a test designed to assess what a person has learned
102
what is an aptitude test
a test designed to predict a person's future performance, aptitude is the capacity to learn
103
what is mental age?
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
104
what is a stanford-binet?
the widely used american revision (by terman at stanford university) of binet's original intelligence test
105
define intelligence quotient what do we represent it with?
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
106
what is the wechler adult intelligence scale (WAIS)
the WAIS and it's companion versions for children are most widely used intelligence tests; they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests
107
wht are psychometrics
the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, aptitudes and traits
108
define standardization
defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group
109
define a normal curve
a bell shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. most scores fall near the average and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes
110
define the flynn effect
the rise in intelligence test performance over time and across cultures
111
define reliability
the extend to which a test yields consisten results, as asseced by the consitency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or retesting
112
define validity
the extendt to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to (see also predicvitve validity)
113
define content validity
the extend to which a test samples the behaviour that is of interest
114
define construct validity
how much a test measures a concept or trait
115
define predictive validity
the success with which a test predicts the behavuour it is deisgned to predict. it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behaviour (also called criterion related validity)
116
define cross-sectional study
research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time
117
define longitudinal study
research that follows and retests the same people over time
118
define cohort
a group of people sharing a common charectaristic such as being from a given time period
119
define a growth mindset
a focus on learning and growing rather than viewing abilities as fixed
120
define a fixed mindset
the view that intelligence abilities and talents are unchangable event with effort
121
define a stereotype threat
a self confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype
