AP Psych Big Unit. Cognition, Intelligence, Memory

Sensation

Simple awareness due to the stimulation of sense organs.

Perception

The organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation.

Bottom-up processing

Perception that starts at the sensory input (the stimulus) and is data-driven.

Top-down processing

Perception that develops pattern recognition through the use of contextual information and prior knowledge.

Schema

A cognitive framework, based on previous knowledge and experiences, that helps humans organize and interpret incoming information.

Gestalt

An organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts.

Closure

The tendency to fill in gaps to form a whole object.

Figure and ground

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

Proximity

The principle that things closer to each other appear more related than things farther apart.

Similarity

The principle that similar-looking things are grouped together and tend to be thought of as having the same function.

Depth perception

The ability to see objects in three dimensions, which allows us to estimate distance.

Retinal disparity

A depth cue based on the difference between the retinal images of our two eyes; the closer the object, the larger the disparity.

Texture gradient

A monocular depth cue in which textures are clearer up front and become closer together as they get farther away.

Relative clarity

A monocular depth cue in which hazy objects are perceived as distant.

Relative size

A monocular depth cue in which objects that are closer appear bigger and objects that are farther appear smaller.

Linear perspective

A monocular depth cue in which object positions are determined by lines converging at a point on the horizon.

Interposition

A monocular depth cue in which an object that blocks another is perceived as closer.

Perceptual constancy

The ability to recognize an object regardless of angle, distance, or illumination.

Stroboscopic movement

The perception of a rapid series of slightly different images as movement, such as in a flip book or cartoon.

Motion parallax

A motion cue in which objects closer to us appear to move past faster than distant objects.

Phi phenomenon

The perception of movement from lights that turn on and off in sequence.

Cocktail party effect

The ability to focus on one voice out of many in a noisy environment.

Inattentional blindness

Missing stimuli in the environment because attention is directed elsewhere.

Change blindness

Being unaware of a change in the environment when not paying attention to it.

Choice blindness

Being unaware of a change in a choice you made.

Cognition

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

Metacognition

Cognition about our cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes.

Concept

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

Prototype

A mental image or best example of a category, used to quickly sort new items into categories.

Assimilation

Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas.

Accommodation

Adapting current schemas to incorporate new information.

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.

Heuristic

A simple thinking strategy (mental shortcut) that allows efficient judgments and problem solving, usually faster but more error-prone than an algorithm.

Representativeness heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events by how well they seem to match a particular prototype, which may lead us to ignore other relevant information.

Availability heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events based on how easily instances come to mind, presuming readily recalled events are common.

Mental set

A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has worked in the past.

Priming

Prior exposure to certain ideas or words that influences later thoughts or decisions, often unconsciously.

Fixation

In cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, which is an obstacle to problem solving.

Confirmation bias

A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident than correct, overestimating the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Belief perseverance

The persistence of initial beliefs even after the basis for them has been discredited.

Framing

The way an issue is posed, which can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

Nudge

Framing a choice in a way that encourages people to make beneficial decisions.

Gambler's fallacy

The mistaken belief that past events influence future events that are actually independent of them.

Sunk cost fallacy

The tendency to continue an endeavor into which money, effort, or time has been invested, even when current costs outweigh benefits.

Ad hominem fallacy

Attacking the person making an argument instead of addressing the argument itself.

Slippery slope fallacy

Claiming that one small step will automatically trigger a chain of extreme consequences.

False dichotomy

Presenting only two choices when more possibilities exist.

Bandwagon effect

Believing or doing something because everyone else does.

Appeal to emotion

Using feelings such as fear, pity, or anger instead of logic or evidence to persuade.

Straw man fallacy

Misrepresenting or oversimplifying someone's argument so it is easier to attack or refute.

Intuition

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.

Insight

A sudden realization of a problem's solution, as contrasted with strategy-based solutions.

Executive functions

Cognitive skills that work together to generate, organize, plan, and implement goal-directed behavior.

Divergent thinking

Creative thinking that expands the number of possible problem solutions.

Convergent thinking

Narrowing available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.

General intelligence (g)

According to Spearman and others, a general intelligence that underlies all mental abilities and is measured by every task on an intelligence test.

Factor analysis

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (factors) on a test, used to identify dimensions of performance.

Fluid intelligence (Gf)

Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age.

Crystallized intelligence (Gc)

Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.

Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory

A theory stating that intelligence is based on g as well as specific abilities, bridged by Gf and Gc.

Gardner's multiple intelligences

A theory proposing eight distinct types of intelligence, including linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic.

Savant syndrome

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing.

Triarchic theory

Sternberg's theory proposing three intelligences: analytical, creative, and practical.

Grit

In psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.

Emotional intelligence

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.

Achievement test

A test designed to assess what a person has learned.

Aptitude test

A test designed to predict a person's future performance, measuring capacity to learn.

Mental age

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age.

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Originally the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100 (IQ = ma / ca x 100); on contemporary tests, average performance for an age is assigned a score of 100.

Stanford-Binet

The widely used American revision of Binet's original intelligence test, completed at Stanford University.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

The most widely used intelligence tests for adults and their companion versions for children, containing verbal and performance subtests.

Psychometrics

The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.

Standardization

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group.

Normal curve

The bell-shaped curve describing the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes, with most scores near the average.

Flynn effect

The rise in intelligence test performance over time and across cultures.

Content validity

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest.

Construct validity

How much a test measures a concept or trait.

Predictive validity

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict, assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior.

Cross-sectional study

Research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time.

Longitudinal study

Research that follows and retests the same people over time.

Cohort

A group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as being from a given time period.

Stereotype threat

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

Recall

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

Recognition

A measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

Relearning

A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.

Encoding

The process of getting information into the memory system, for example by extracting meaning.

Storage

The process of retaining encoded information over time.

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory storage.

Sensory memory

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Short-term memory

Briefly activated memory of a few items that is later stored or forgotten, such as digits of a phone number while dialing.

Long-term memory

The relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system, including knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Working memory

A newer understanding of short-term memory; conscious, active processing of incoming sensory information and information retrieved from long-term memory.

Central executive

The memory component that coordinates the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad.

Phonological loop

The memory component that briefly holds auditory information.

Visuospatial sketchpad

The memory component that briefly holds information about objects' appearance and location in space.

Neurogenesis

The formation of new neurons.

Long-term potentiation

An increase in a nerve cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.

Explicit memory

Retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and declare; also called declarative memory.

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.