AP psych unit 2

Unit 2 terms based on AP outline

Perceptual set

perceiving one thing due to mental predisposition (mental tendencies and assumptions)

Gestalt

seeing parts as a whole thing

figure-ground

Seeing things by distinguishing them from the background

grouping

perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

depth perception

ability to see object in three perceptions although object striking retina is two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance

visual cliff

Device that allows for testing of depth perception mostly is infants and young animals

Binocular cues

depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes

Retinal disparity

The difference between two images after being “joined into one by the brain” (distance); the closer an object is, the greater the retinal disparity is

Monocular cues

depth cues available for either eye alone

Phi Phenomenon

illusion of movement created when 2 or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Perceptual constancy

perceiving objects as the same or unchanging even as illumination and retinal image change

Color Constancy

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even when illumination changes

perceptual adaptation

ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

stroboscopic movement

Cognition

All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Concept

mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Prototype

creativity

Ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

divergent thinking

convergent thinking

Algorithm

Heuristic

Insight

confirmation bias

Tendency to search for information that supports what we believe

mental set

intuition

fixation

inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective

Encoding

Getting information to our brain (processing)

Storage

Retaining/maintaining information

Retrieval

Get/recall information from our brain

Parallel processing

processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions

sensory memory

quick fleeting; memory using senses; quickest memory

short-term memory

long-term memory

working memory

long-term potentiation (LTP)

increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; strengthening of synapses

Explicit memories

Actively thinking about what you are doing; memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know; active retrieval of information

Effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental info

Implicit memories

Ability to do things w/out having to think about them; automatically doing things

iconic memory

part of sensory memory; related to eyesight and seeing things; <2 secs duration

echoic memory

part of sensory memory; related to hearing; 3-4 secs duration

chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

spacing effect

distributed practicing allows you to better remember things

testing effect

You can better remember things the more you test yourself

shallow processing

encoding on a basic level based on structure or appearance of words

deep processing

encodes semantically, based on meaning of the words. The deeper (more meaningful) the processing, the better the retention

Flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

priming

mood-congruent memory

serial position effect

Top-down processing

Brain uses what it already knows to understand what’s around us

Bottom-up processing

Something so new that we use senses first to later process and make connections (We don’t already know it)

Gambler’s fallacy

thinking something that’s completely random has to happen the way you think

Sunk-cost fallacy

Anterograde amnesia

Inability to form new memories but still able to recall the past

Retrograde

Inability to recall the past; retrieve information from one’s past

Proactive interference

prior learning disrupts your recall of new information

Retroactive interference

new learning disrupts recall of old information

Misinformation

incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event

Source amnesia