perception & thinking (+ heuristics)

ap psych test - 12/4 / heuristics, gestalt principles, additional vocab (in that order).

Attribute Substitution

The tendency to substitute simpler but related questions in place of more complex and difficult questions.

Effort Reduction

A cognitive strategy where individuals minimize the mental effort needed to make decisions by relying on heuristics or simpler judgments.

Fast & Frugal

Heuristics that prioritize speed and efficiency in decision making, allowing individuals to make satisfactory choices with minimal information.

Availability

Heuristic that relies on immediate examples that come to mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method, or decision.

Familiarity

People tend to have more favorable opinions of things, people, or places they’ve experienced before as opposed to new ones.

Representativeness

Involves making a decision by comparing the present situation to the most representative mental prototype. (e.g. assuming someone wearing glasses and suspenders is a nerd).

Affect

Making choices that are influenced by the emotions that an individual is experiencing at that moment.

Anchoring

The tendency to be overly influenced by the first bit of information we hear or learn. (e.g. jumping at the first offer w/o shopping around for a better deal).

Scarcity

Principle where we view things that are scare or less available to us as more valuable. (e.g. “limited time only”).

Trial & Error

Heuristic where people use a number of different strategies to solve something until they find what works.

Similarity

We group objects together when they look alike in shape, color, size, or pattern.

Continuation

We see smooth, continuous lines or patterns even when they’re interrupted.

Closure

We mentally fill in gaps to see a complete, whole object.

Proximity

We group things that are close together as part as the same whole.

Figure/Ground

We separate an image into a main object (figure), and the background behind it (ground).

Symmetry

We tend to perceive objects as balanced and organized when they are symmetric.

Simplicity (or Pragnanz)

We interpret complex images in the simplest, most organized way possible.

Constancy

We know objects stay the same (in size, shape, color, etc.) even when lighting, angle, or distance change.

Framing

The way information is presented influences how we think, feel, or make decisions.

Schema

A mental framework of knowledge that helps us organize and interpret new information.

Priming

Exposure to something earlier makes you more likely to think of or respond to related things later.

Convergent Thinking

Thinking focused on finding one correct solution to a problem.

Divergent Thinking

Thinking that produces many possible solutions; creative, outside-the-box thinking.

Habituation

When repeated exposure to a stimulus makes you respond less to it over time.

Conditioned Response

A learned reaction to a previously neutral stimulus after it becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Illusion

A misinterpretation of sensory information that makes you perceive something differently from reality.

Covergence

A depth cue where your eyes turn inward more when an object is close and less when it’s far away.

Binocular Disparity (or Retinal Disparity)

A depth cue created by the slight difference between the images each eye sees; the brain uses this difference to judge distance.

Linear Perspective

A monocular depth cue where parallel lines appear to meet in this distance, making far objects look smaller or farther away.

Dichotic Listening

A task where two different messages are played into each ear; used to study selective attention and how we focus on one message while ignoring the other.

Trichromatic Theory

The theory that we have three types of cones— red, green, and blue— and all colors are created by combining the activity of these cones.

Opponent-Process Theory

The theory that color perception is based on three opposing pairs (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white), which explains afterimages and why we don’t see certain color mixes (like reddish-green).

Functional Fixedness

A cognitive bias where you can only see an object’s typical use, making it harder to solve problems creatively.

Accomodation

The process where the lens of the eye changes shape (thickens or flattens) to focus light on the retina for near or far objects.