AP Psych Unit 2 Cognition

Cognition

Mental processes involved in thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. Example: Solving a puzzle.

Metacognition

Thinking about your own thinking. Ex: Realizing you learn best by drawing diagrams.

Concepts

Mental categories that group similar objects, events, or ideas. Ex: The concept "fruit."

Prototype

The best/most typical example of a category. Ex: A robin as a "typical" bird.

Schemas

Frameworks that organize and interpret information. Ex: A schema for "birthday party."

Assimilation

Fitting new info into an existing schema. Ex: Calling a cow a "dog."

Accommodation

Changing a schema to include new information. Ex: Learning that a cow is not a dog.

Convergent Thinking

Finding one correct solution. Ex: A math answer.

Divergent Thinking

Generating many creative ideas. Ex: Brainstorming uses for a brick.

Functional Fixedness

Inability to see new uses for objects. Ex: Not using a shoe as a hammer.

Executive Functions

are a set of higher-order cognitive processes that help us plan, organize, make decisions, control our impulses, and manage our thoughts and behaviors.They are like the "brain's CEO"—directing attention, problem-solving, and coordinating mental tasks.

These functions are primarily associated with the prefrontal cortex of the frontal lobe.

Algorithm

Step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution. Ex: Trying every key on a keyring.

Heuristic

Mental shortcut; quick but error-prone. Ex: Choosing a store brand because you've used it before.

Availability Heuristic

Judging likelihood based on how easily examples come to mind. Ex: Thinking shark attacks are common.

Representative Heuristic

Judging based on stereotypes or prototypes. Ex: Assuming a quiet person is a librarian.

Mental Set

Tendency to use the same methods that worked before. Ex: Restarting your computer for every problem.

Priming

is the unconscious activation of certain associations in memory, which makes you more likely to think, feel, or behave in a certain way without realizing why.

In other words:Exposure to one stimulus influences your response to a later stimulus.

works automatically—it prepares your brain to respond.

Framing

How information is presented influences decisions. Ex: "90% fat-free" vs. "10% fat."

Gambler's Fallacy

Belief that past events affect future random outcomes. Ex: "The coin MUST land heads now."

Sunken-Cost Fallacy

Continuing something because you've already invested in it. Ex: Staying in a boring movie because you paid.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

Strengthening of neural pathways through repeated stimulation. Ex: Studying vocab repeatedly.

Explicit Memory

Memory of facts/events you consciously recall. Ex: Knowing your address.

Implicit Memory

Unconscious memory for skills/conditioning. Ex: Riding a bike.

Semantic Memory

General knowledge/facts. Ex: Knowing the sky is blue.

Episodic Memory

Personal life events. Ex: Your first day of school.

Procedural Memory

How to do things (skills). Ex: Tying your shoes.

Encoding

Getting info into memory. Ex: Paying attention during class.

Storage

Maintaining information over time. Ex: Info in long-term memory.

Retrieval

Accessing stored memory. Ex: Answering a test question.

Working Memory Model

Central executive + phonological loop + visuospatial sketchpad + episodic buffer. Ex: Doing mental math while remembering numbers.

Multi-Store Model

memory is made up of three separate stores, and information moves through them in a linear sequence: Sensory → short-term → long-term memory. *Ex: Seeing a word, holding it briefly, storing it.*

Sensory Memory

Immediate brief recording of sensory info. Ex: A quick flash of light.

Iconic Memory

Visual sensory memory (<1 second). Ex: Afterimage of a picture.

Echoic Memory

Auditory sensory memory (3-4 sec). Ex: "What? Oh wait, I got it."

Short-Term Memory

the memory system that holds a small amount of information for a brief period of time—usually about 20–30 seconds—unless you actively rehearse it. Holds ~7 items for ~20 sec. *Ex: A phone number you just heard.*

Long-Term Memory

Relatively limitless storehouse of information. Ex: Childhood memories.

Automatic vs Effortful Processing

Automatic processing happens without conscious effort, while effortful processing requires active attention and deliberate rehearsal to encode information.

Automatic Processing

Encoding that happens without conscious effort or awareness.You don’t try to remember it—it just happens.

Effortful Processing

encoding that Requires attention, such as studying.

Levels of Processing Model

how deeply you think about information determines how well you remember it — not how long it stays in short-term memory or which “box” it goes into.

Method of Loci

Memory trick using locations, like placing items around your house in your mind.

Chunking

Grouping information into meaningful units, such as a phone number.

Spacing Effect

Distributed practice improves retention, for example, studying 10 minutes per day.

Serial Position Effect

the tendency to better recall items at the beginning and end of a list compared to the middle.pl

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating information to keep it in short-term memory, like repeating a phone number.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Connecting information to meaning, such as making a story with vocabulary words.

Autobiographical Memory

Memory of your personal life story, like remembering your 13th birthday.

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to recall old memories, such as forgetting everything before a head injury.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories, exemplified by HM after surgery.

Infantile Amnesia

Inability to recall early childhood memories, typically before age 3.

Recall vs Recognition

Recall involves no cues (essay), while recognition involves cues (multiple choice).

Retrieval Cues

Hints that help you remember, such as the smell of cookies reminding you of grandma's house.

Context-Dependent Memory

Context-dependent memory is the tendency to remember information better when you are in the same physical environment or context in which you learned it.

Your brain encodes not just the information but also the surroundings, and those surroundings become retrieval cues. like taking a test in the same room you studied in.

State-Dependent Memory

Better recall in the same internal state, like remembering something learned when tired if you're tired again.

Mood-Congruent Memory

Your mood pulls up similar memories, such as remembering sad things when you're sad.

Testing Effect

Retrieving information strengthens memory, like quizzing yourself to improve retention.

Forgetting Curve

Rapid forgetting initially, then levels off, such as forgetting most of what you crammed.

Proactive Interference

Old information interferes with new, like an old password getting in the way.

Retroactive Interference

New information interferes with old, such as a new locker combination making you forget the old one.

Misinformation Effect

Memory distortion from misleading information, like a witness misremembering after hearing others' stories.

Source Amnesia

Remembering information but not where it's from, such as not knowing if you heard it or dreamed it.

Repression

Unconscious blocking of painful memories, as described by Freud, like forgetting trauma.

Imagination Inflation

Imagining something makes you believe it actually happened, like repeatedly imagining an event leading to a false memory.

General Intelligence (g)

One underlying mental ability influencing all tasks, such as doing well across subjects.

Construct Validity

Test measures what it claims to measure, like an IQ test measuring intelligence, not reading skill.

Predictive Validity

Test predicts future performance, such as the SAT predicting college GPA.

Test-Retest Reliability

Scores stay consistent when repeated, like getting a similar score next week.

Split-Half Reliability

Two halves of a test give similar results, like odd/even question scores matching.

Stereotype Threat

Fear of confirming a stereotype lowers performance, such as girls performing worse when reminded that 'girls are worse at math.'

Stereotype Lift

Performance increases when another group is stereotyped negatively, like men scoring higher when told women do poorly.

Achievement Test

Measures learned knowledge, such as an AP exam or unit test.

Aptitude Test

Predicts future ability to learn, like the SAT or IQ test.

Fixed Mindset

Belief that abilities are unchangeable, exemplified by the thought, 'I'll never be good at math.'

Growth Mindset

Belief that abilities improve with effort, such as thinking, 'I can get better if I practice.'

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