2.1-2.2 Psych

Selective attention

Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Inattentional blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Change blindness

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

Perceptual set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another; our expectations and experience can influence our interpretation

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to recognize objects and events.

Bottom-Up Processing

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.

Top-Down Processing

Perception guided by expectations and prior knowledge.

Schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets info; concepts that help us to organize and interpret the world

Gestalt Psychology

Focuses on how we perceive whole forms.

Closure

Perceiving complete images despite missing parts.

Figure Ground

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

Proximity

The principle that objects close to each other are perceived as a group.

Depth Perception

see in 3d with BOTH eyes

Visual Cliff

involves an apparent, but not actual, drop from one surface to another

Binocular cues

convergence, retinal disparity

Convergence

muscles strain in as object gets closer with both eyes open

Retinal Disparity

difference in perspective from each eye, which creates sense of depth with BOTH eyes

Monocular cues

linear perspective, interposition, texture gradient, relative size, relative clarity

Relative clarity

Objects that appear sharp, clear, and detailed are seen as closer than more hazy objects

Relative size

monocular depth cue that refers to the comparison of the sizes of two objects to determine which is closer or farther away

Texture gradient

Depth cue from surface texture changes as distance increases.

Linear perspective

type of depth prompt that the human eye perceives when viewing two parallel lines that appear to meet at a distance

Interposition

Monocular cue that refers to the perception that an object is farther away when it is partially or completely covered by another object

Perceptual constancies

The ability to perceive objects as having consistent properties, such as size, shape, and color, even when the object is viewed from different angles, distances, or lighting

Constancy

color, shape, or size always stays the same despite environmental changes

Perceptual adaptation

The brain's ability to adjust and adapt to changes in sensory input over time

Apparent motion

Two stationary objects appear to move when presented in quick succession

Stroboscopic movement

Makes objects appear to move in a way that's different from reality

Phi phenomenon

blinking lights appear to move

Autokinetic effect

illusion that still object is moving

Concept

Mental groupings of similar objects

Prototype

Best example of an idea

Assimilation

interpreting new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Accommodation

adapting our current schemas (understandings) to incorporate new info

Executive functions

Mental processes (executive functioning skills) that help you set and carry out goals

Algorithm

methodical, logical rule or procedure that is slower but guarantees a solution to a problem

Heuristic

simple strategy (mental shortcut), quicker than algorithm but much more error-prone

Representativeness heuristic

judge likelihood of events based on how well they represent prototype

Availability heuristic

judge likelihood of things based on how readily they come to mind

Mental set

Approach a problem in a certain way, often based on a familiar solution or past experience

Priming

Exposure to one stimulus may influence a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention

Framing

Decision is influenced by how the information is presented rather than what is being said.

Gambler’s fallacy

The false belief that If an event has occurred several times before in the past, it will occur less often in the future.

Sunk-cost fallacy

reluctancy to abandon something due to how much someone has put into it

Functional fixedness

limited ability to use object for purpose other than what it’s intended

Confirmation bias

seeing evidence that follows one’s bias despite contrasting evidence also being present

Fixation

The inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective; an impediment to problem-solving.

Intuition

effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thoughts instead of systematic reasoning

Belief perseverance

The tendency to cling to one's beliefs even when faced with contrary evidence.

Creativity

the ability to produce new and novel ideas

Divergent thinking

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

Convergent thinking

narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Cocktail Party Effect

Focusing on one conversation in a noisy place.

Similarity

The principle that objects that are similar in appearance are perceived as a group.