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Selective Attention
similar to a spotlight, focusing our awareness on one particular thing
Cocktail Party Effect
the ability to focus on one voice in a sea of many
Perception
the process of interpreting stimulus through the five senses
Sensation
the process of detecting stimulus through sensory receptors
Inattentional blindness
Failing to recognize visible objects due to attention being focused elsewhere
Ex: when Jaden doesnt respond to my texts because they are too fixated on tiktok; also the monkey example
Change Blindness
a form of inattentional blindness, failing to notice a change in surrounding
Ex: when the walls I am surrounded by alternate colors
Top-Down processing
Processing information with prior knowledge and experience; used when stimuli is familar
Bottom-Up processing
Processing unfamiliar knowledge, building from the ground up
Perceptual Set
To notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others; relies on familiar ways
Ex: If you expect a class to be boring, are you more likely to be uninterested in class
Concepts/Schemas
Frameworks which organize and interpret information
Ex: Balls that are used in sports is the concept since they are organizing a group of similar things in one category
Accommodate
Change schemas to interpret new information
Assimilate
New info into existing schemas
Gestalt
An organized whole; our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes
Figure & Ground
to be able to seperate faces from their backgrounds
Grouping
the need to organize stimuli into coherent groups
Depth perception
ability to perceive relative distance of an object
Binocular cues
a depth cue that depends on the use of two eyes. Used to judge the distance of nearby objects
Convergence
A cue to nearby objects’ distance enabled by the brain combining retinal images
Retinal disparity
difference in left and right retinal images
Monocular cues
depth cues available to each eye seperately
Relative size
objects that are closer to us will appear larger compared to objects further away
Interposition
When objects are blocked by another object they are likely further away
Texture gradient
objects that are further away have less texture and detai,
Apparent movement
when we assume motion even though nothing is moving
Stroboscopic movement
Stopmotion
Phi Phenomenon
When lights blink on and off making it look like the lights are moving when they are not
Autokinetic effect
When a stationary point of light in a dark room appears to move
Perceptual constancy
Perceiving objects as unchanging, having consistent shape, color, etc
Color constancy
Perceiving familar objects as having consistent color
Brightness constancy
perceiving an object to have a constant brightness even as its illumination varies
shape constancy
perceiving the form of familar objects as constant
size constancy
percieving an object to have an unchaging size
Perceptual adaptation
the ability to adjust to changed visual input
Cognition
The mental activities associated with thinking knowing remmebering and communicating
Metacognition
cognition about our cognition - keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes
Concepts
mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
Prototypes
a mental image which fits in a category
Creativity
the ability to produce new and valuable ideas
Convergent thinking
ability to narrow down solutions to determine the one best solution
Divergent thinking
expanding the number of possible solutions
Executive functions
the high level cognitive abilities that collectively allow us to solve problems and make decisions effectively
Algorithms
a logical procedure that guarantees solving a problem however more error prone and is slow - use of heuristics
Heuristics
a simple thinking stratgey that allows us to make judgements and solve problems effitiently but is more error prone than an algorithim but is speedier
Insight
a sudden realization of a problems solution
Confirmation bias
a tendency to seek evidence for our ideas more eagerly than against ideas
Fixation
an inability to see a different perspective
mental set
a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way that has been successful in the past
Intuition
fast automatic uneasoned feelings and thoughts
Representativeness heuristic
to judge the likelihood of something by comparing it to particular prototypes - may lead us to ignore other relevant information
Ex: Imagine someone who is short and slim, and likes to read poetry. Is this person more likely to be an Ivy League university English professor or a truck driver?
Availability heuristic
judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind we think that such events are common
Ex: Watching a horrific terrorist beheading implants a fear of global terrorism that lingers
Overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct and overestimate the accuracy of beliefs and judgements
Belief perseverance
the tendency to cling to our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence
Framing
the way an issue is presented
Gambler’s fallacy
Judging the likelihood of future events
Planning fallacy
overestimating future leisure time and income
Sunk cost fallacy
Sticking to an original plan due to the time spent even though a new plan could cut down on time
Working memory
mental scrach pad where information is processed and then linked to previouslt stored information
Priming
exposure to a stimulus which can help with later stimulus
ex: learn about rabbits / hares - assocuate the word hair with hair
Explicit memories
Retention of facts and experiences that we can conciously know and declare
Involves information that we actively recall, requires effort and thought
All are processed in the frontal lobes and hippocampus
Effortful processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort, used with explicit memories
Automatic processing
Unconscious encoding of information such as space time (as time passes) etc or familiar and well learned information such as sounds smells etc
Produces implicit memories
Implicit memories
Retention of skills we learn without fully being aware of it
Sensory memory
feeds our active working memory recording momentary images sounds and strong scents
Iconic memory
photographic memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
Echoic memory
a momentary memory of auditory stimuli
if attention is elsewhere sounds and words can still be recalled within 3-4 seconds
Semantic memories
explicit memory of facts and general knowledge - one of two concious memory systems
Episodic memory
explicit memory of personally experienced events
Hippocampus
helps process explicit (concious) memories of facts and events for storage
Memory consolidation
the neural storage of a long term memory
Cerebellum
Plays a key role in forming and storing implicit memories
Basal ganglia
deep brain structures involved in motor movement
receives input from the cortex
Flashbulb memories
a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
siginifacantly stressful typically
Chunking
organizing items into manageable units, often occurs automatically
Mnemonics
memory aids, a technique that uses vivid imagery and organizational devices
Hierarchies
a few broad categories divided into narrower concepts and facts
spacing effect
distributed study which yields better long term retention
testing effect
enhanced memory after retriving rather than simply rereading information
Shallow processing
encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words
deep processing
encoding semantically based on the meaning of the words - tends to yield the best retention
Recall
Our ability to produce previouslty learned information
Regocnition
ability to identify previiously learned itoems
Retrival cues
each piece of information interconnected with a target/anchor piece of information
Retrospective memory
retrieving memories from the past
Prospective memory
our intended future actions
Encoding specifically principle
helps us understand how specific cues will most effectively trigger a particular memory, as our memories are context dependent
Mood congruent
the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with ones current good or bad mood
Ex: If you had a bad day, lost your phone - your gloomy mood may facilitate recalling other bad times
Serial position effect
Tendency to recall best the last items in a list (recency effect) and the first items in a list after a delay (Primacy effect)
Interleaving
a retrieval practice strategy that involves mixing the study of different topics
Anterograde amnesia
the inability to form new memories
retrograde an
Proactive intereference
the effect of older learning on the recall of new information
Ex: when using a new locker lock your old combo may effect the new one
Retroactive intereference
when newer learning effects the recall of older information
Ex: if someone sings new lyrics to an old songs tune you might struggle to remember the original words
Repress
basic self defense mechanism that banishes painful or unacceptable memories to protect our self-concept and to minimize anxiety
Reconsonsolidation
A process whihch previously stored memories when retrieved are potentially altered before being stored again
Misinformation effect
when a memory has been corrupted by misleading informamtion
Source amnesia
faulty memory for how when where info was learned or imagined - at the heart of many false memories
deja vu
cues from the current situatuon which may unconciously trigger retrival of an earlier ecperience
General intelligence
underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test
Factor analysis
a statisticial procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test
Fluid intelligence
our ability to reason speefily and abstractly - decreases with age
Note 
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