Unit 2A

Selective Attention

Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

Change Blindness

Failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness.

Perceptual Set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

Gestalt

An organized whole; emphasizes our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

Figure-Ground

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

Grouping

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.

Depth Perception

The ability to see objects in three dimensions, allowing us to judge distance.

Visual Cliff

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.

Binocular Cue

A depth cue that depends on the use of two eyes.

Convergence

A cue to nearby objects’ distance, enabled by the brain combining retinal images.

Retinal Disparity

A binocular cue for perceiving depth; comparing retinal images from the two eyes to compute distance.

Monocular Cue

A depth cue available to either eye alone, such as interposition or linear perspective.

Stroboscopic Movement

An illusion of continuous movement experienced when viewing a rapid series of slightly varying still images.

Phi Phenomenon

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

Autokinetic Effect

The illusory movement of a still spot of light in a dark room.

Perceptual Constancy

Perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change.

Color Constancy

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected.

Perceptual Adaptation

The ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or inverted visual field.

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; matching new items to a prototype aids in categorization.

Schema

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Assimilation

Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas.

Accommodation (in Developmental Psychology)

Adapting current schemas to incorporate new information.

Creativity

The ability to produce new and valuable ideas.

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.

Divergent Thinking

Expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions.

Executive Functions

Cognitive skills that enable us to generate, organize, plan, and implement goal-directed behavior.

Algorithm

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

Heuristic

A simple thinking strategy; a mental shortcut that allows for faster judgments and problem-solving.

Insight

A sudden realization of a problem’s solution.

Confirmation Bias

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

Fixation

Inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving.

Mental Set

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

Intuition

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought; contrasts with explicit reasoning.

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events based on how well they represent particular prototypes.

Availability Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory.

Overconfidence

The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Belief Perseverance

Persistence of one’s initial conceptions even after their basis has been discredited.

Framing

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

Nudge

Framing choices in a way that encourages beneficial decisions.

Proximity

an individual perceives several objects that are close together as belonging together.

Similarity

how we piece information together by how similar objects are.

Continuity

our brains tend to see objects as continuous or smooth rather than disjointed or discontinuous.

Connectedness

when we see connections in disjointed objects

Closure

when individuals fill in the blanks

Texture Gradient

textures are more clear up front and move closer together as they get farther away

Linear Perspective

position of objects are determined by drawn or imagined lines converging at a point on the horizon

Relative Clarity

hazy objects perceived as distant

Relative Size

Objects that are closer look bigger and farther away look smaller

Interposition

when one object blocks another, it’s perceived as closer

g factor

general intelligence, score higher on one factor, usually score higher on another one

factor analysis

identifying clusters of test items that have a common ability

Charles Spearman

g factor and factor analysis guy

Robert Sternberg Triarchic Theory

believes intelligence is made up of 3 abilities: analytical, creative, and practical

Fluid Intelligence (gf)

The ability to reason and solve problems in unique and novel situations. Lessens when u get older

Crystallized intelligence (gc)

the ability to use knowledge acquired through past learning or experience. strengths as u get older r

Raymond Cattell

fluid and crystallized intelligence guy

Howard Gardner- Multiple Intelligences

IQ doesn’t highlight all intelligences

Sir Francis Galton

intelligence testing for eugenics guy

Alfred Binet

Founded modern intelligence test, tested for mental age

Lewis Terman

Revised Binet’s test for US, Stanford-Binet Test, calculated IQ

WAIS and WISC Tests

measures intelligence and cognitive ability