Unit 3 Cognition Flashcards
Selective Attention
We cannot pay attention to everything all the time, we have to select what we attend to.
Cocktail Party Effect
You focused your attention on one particular voice amidst the crazy loudness of all those other voices. Example of selection attention. Tendency to hear specific information pertaining to you when you are focusing on something else.
Inattentional Blindness
You don’t see the gorilla. When you are not selecting to apply your attention to something, you will be blind to it.
Change Blindness
When you are not applying your attention to something, you will not see a minor or obvious change.
Perceptual Set
Bias or readiness to perceive certain aspects of available sensory data and to ignore others. If you expect something, you will interpret it even if it may not be there.
Gestalt
We organize the sensory information coming into our brains. Our perception is greater than the sum of the parts actually presented to our senses.
Figure Ground
The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings. (Background vs. foreground).
Proximity
We groups nearby figures together.
Continuity/Similaity
We groups things based on continuous patterns and similar attributes of images.
Closure
We visually fill in the gaps to create a complete, whole object.
Depth Perception
Innate ability to see objects in 3D although images that strike the retina are 2D. Allows us to judge distance.
Visual Cliff
Experiment, fake illusion of a cliff to observe how babies would react to differences in height of ground.
Binocular Cue
Depth cues such as retinal disparity and convergence, depends on the use of two eyes. As an object becomes closer or farther, bot binocular depth cues operate to help us determine distance.
Convergence
To focus on close objects, the eyes must point inward. Muscles monitor the angle, determine depth.
Retinal Disparity
By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance. Greater disparity means a closer object.
Monocular Cue
Depth cues that use one eye to give the illusion of depth on flat or 2D surfaces.
Relative Clarity
Because light from distant objects passes through more light than closer objects, we perceive hazy objects to be farther away than those that appear clear.
Relative Size
If we assume two objects are similar in size, we perceive the smaller image as farther away.
Texture Gradient
Degree to which you can see things finely pixelated. Finer detail in the front vs. the back.
Linear Perspective
Parallel lines appear to meet in the distance. The sharper the angle of convergence, the greater distance perceived.
Interposition
If one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer.
Apparent Movement
As we move, objects that are stable appear to move.
Stroboscopic Movement
Our brain perceives a rapid series of slightly varying images as continuous movement. (Moving pictures)
Phi Phenomenon
Flashing lights create the illusion of movement.
Autokinetic Effect
The Illusory movement of a still spot of light in a dark room.
Size
We perceive an object having an unchanging size, even while distance varies.
Perceptual Constancy
Top down process that recognizes objects without being deceived by changes in color, shape, size, lightness. Our brain keeps images constant.
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
Metacognition
Cognition about our Cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes.
Concept
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.
Prototype
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.
Jean Piaget
A developmental psychologist who studied the development of cognition in children and argued that our intellectual progression reflects an unceasing struggle to make sense of our experiences.
Schema
Concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.
Assimilation
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.
Accomodation
Adapting our current schemas to incorporate new information.
Convergent Thinking
Narrowing, the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.
Divergent Thinking
Expanding, the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that expands in different directions.
Executive Funtions
Cognitive skills that work together, enabling us to generate, organize, plan, and implement goal-directed behavior.
Algorithm
Methodical, logical rule or step-by-step procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.
Heuristic
Simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems effectively. Mental shortcuts.
Insight
A sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions.
Confirmation Bias
Tendency for people to be more confident that they are accurate, people look for evidence that confirms what they believe.
Mental Set
Prime example of fixation is mental set, our tendency to approach a problem with a mind-set that has worked previously.
Intuition
Effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.
Representative Heuristic
Estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent particular prototypes. May lead us to ignore relevant information.
Gambler’s Fallacy
We might see patterns in independent random chain of events, leading us to believe that based on a series of previous events, an outcome is more likely than odds actually suggest.
Availability Heuristic
Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory, if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common.
Overconfidence Bias
Tendency to be more confident than correct, and overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements.
Sunk-Cost Fallacy
Tendency for people to continue something because they’ve already invested their time, energy, or money, even when abandoning it would be beneficial.
Belief Perseverance
The persistence of one’s initial conceptions even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.
Framing
The way an issue is posed; how an issue is worded can significantly affect decisions and judgments.
Creativity
The ability to produce new and valuable ideas.
Fixation
The inability to see a problem from a new perspective, an obstacle to problem-solving.
Memory
Learning that has persisted over time. Information that has been stored.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Begins as difficulty remembering new information, individuals may become unknowing and unknowable.
Recall
Retrieve information learned earlier.
Recognition
Identify items previously learned (multiple choice).
Encoding
The process of getting information into the memory system - for example, by extracting meaning.
Storage
The process of retaining encoded information over time.
Retrieval
The process of getting information out of memory storage.
Multi-Store Model
Sensory Memory
The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system. Echoic or iconic.
Echoic
Momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli.
Iconic
Momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than 1/2 second.
Short-Term Memory
Briefly activated memory of a few items that is later stored or forgotten. (A few digits of a phone number).
Long-Term Memory
The relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.
Working Memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory; conscious, active processing of both incoming sensory information and information retrieved from long-term memory.
Maintenance Rehearsal
Helps us prolong memory storage through rehearsal over time.
Elaborative Rehearsal
Helps us prolong memory storage through rehearsing information in ways that promote meaning. (Elaborating on the meaning).
Central Executive
Memory component that coordinates the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial Sketchpad. (Organizes incoming information)
Phonological Loop
Memory component that briefly holds auditory information. (Repeating a number or word after it was said).
Visuospatial Sketchpad
Memory component that briefly holds information about objects’ appearance and location in space. (How to get home from school).
Long-Term Potentiation
An increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.
Implicit Memory
Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.
Explicit Memory
Retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and declare.
Effortful Processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
Automatic Processing
System 1, Non-conscious encoding of information such as space, time, frequency, sounds, smells, and word meanings.
Semantic Memory
Explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems.
Episodic Memory
Explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems.
Hippocampus
A neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage.
Memory Consolidation
The neural storage of a long-term memory.
Infantile Amnesia
As adults our conscious memory of our first 4 years is largely blank.
Retrieval Cues
Associate memories with other bits of information about your surroundings, mood, seating position, and so on.
Prospective Memory
Priming
The activation, often unconscious, or certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.
Context-Dependent Memory
Remembering can depend on the environment, memories are affected by the cues we have associated with that context.
State-Dependent Memory
What we learn in one state may be more easily recalled when we are again in that state.
Mood-Congruent Memory
Experiences may be recalled easier is consisten with one’s current good or bad mood.
Serial Position Effect
Tendency to recall best the last items in a list initially (recency effect) and the first items in a list after a delay (primacy effect).
Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory
Incredibly accurate memory of life’s events.
Anterograde Amnesia
An inability to form new memories
Retrograde Amnesia
Inability to remember information from one’s past.
Encoding Failure
We cannot remember what we have not encoded.
Proactive Interferrence
The forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of information.
Retroactive Interferrence
The backward-acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information.
Repression
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
Ego
Our self concept.
Constructive Memory
Used to infer our past from stored information and what we later imagined, expected, saw, and heard. Memories are constructed, not just retrieved but remade every time we recall them.
Misinformation Effect
Occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information.
Imagination Inflation
Source Amnesia
Faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined. Reason for many false memories.
Forgetting Curve
The course of forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off with time.
Tip of the Tongue
Often, forgetting is not memories faded, but memories unretrieved. (Ex. a name on the tip of your tongue).
Psycho dynamic Theory
Freud’s theory that people repress their traumatic memories that can be later retrieved by cues. Most memory researchers think repression rarely occurs.
Intelligence
The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.
General Intelligence
Theory that g underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test. g is one thing, not made up of different things.
Factor Analysis
A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score.
Fluid Intelligence
(Gf) our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood.
Crystallized Intelligence
(Gc) our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.
Intelligence Test
Assesses people’s mental aptitudes and compares then with those of others, using numerical scores.
Achievement Test
A test designed to assess what a person has learned.
Aptitude Test
A test designed to predict a persons’ future performance/capacity to learn.
Mental Age
Measure of intelligence test performance; level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age.
Intelligence Quotient
Ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100.
Psychometrics
Scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.
Sandardization
Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group.
Normal Curve
A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean and fewer scores lie near the extremes.
Flynn Effect
The rise in intelligence test performance over time and across cultures.
Reliability
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.
Split-Half
Agreement of odd numbered question scores and even numbered question scores.
Test-Retest
Retesting the same group with the same test to ensure reliability.
Validity
The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what its supposed to.
Construct Validity
How much a test measures a concept or trait/reason behind the test.
Predictive Validity
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 the criterion behavior.
Poverty and Societal Discrimination
Cross-Sectional Study
Longitudinal Study
Growth Mindset
A focus on learning and growing rather than viewing abilities as fixed.
Fixed Mindset
The view that intelligence, abilities, and talents are unchangeable, even with effort.
Stereotype Threat
Self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.
Stereotype Lift
Procedural Memory
Memory for automatic skills (riding a bike) and classically conditioned associations (association of stimuli with events) included in implicit memories.
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.
Mnemonics Methods of Loci
Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
Hierarchies
Way to organize knowledge that helps us retrieve information efficiently.
Spacing Effect
The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.
Massed Practice
Cramming, can produce speedy short-term learning and an inflated feeling or confidence.
Distributed Practice
Produces better long-term recall.
Retrieval Practice Processes
Testing Effect
Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information. Also referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.
Shallow Processing
Encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words.
Structural Encoding
Phonemic Encoding
Deep Processing
Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.
Semantic Encoding
Levels of processing
We process verbal information at different levels, and that depth of processing affects our long-term retention.
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