AP Psych Cognition Quiz

Perception

organizing and interpreting sensory info

Selective Attention

focusing attention on a stimulus while ignoring distractions

Cocktail Party Effect

ability to hear one voice in a sea of many

Inattentional Blindness

failing to see unexpected visible objects when our attention is elsewhere

Change Blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment, even when obvious

Expectations

one’s belief/anticipation about what is about to happen based on past experiences, knowledge, and beliefs

Perceptual Set

mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Gestalt Psychology

emphasizes tendency to integrate pieces of info into meaningful wholes

Form Perception

process where we recognize, organize, and interpret shapes/patterns to identify objects to make sense of world

Figure Ground

organization of visual field into objects that stand out from surroundings

Grouping

tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Proximity

grouping nearby figures together

Similarity

grouping similar objects together

Closure

filling in gaps to create complete object

Depth Perception

ability to see objects in 3D even if images are 2D, so we can judge distance

learned depth perception

crawling/interacting w/ environment

innate depth perception

evolutionary, needed for ancestors to avoid danger + binocular cues

Binocular Cues

visual info that helps us perceive nearby depth w/ 2 eyes

Convergence

inward movement of eyes to focus on close object, greater convergence

Retinal disparity

slight diff. in each eye when viewing an object, closer object = greater difference

Monocular Cues

visual info that helps us perceive faraway depth w/ one eye

Relative Clarity

tells us how far somethings is based on how blurry it is

Relative Height

objects in higher visual field seem higher away

Relative Size

thinking 2 objects are similar in size, smaller image seems farther away

Texture Gradient

moving toward/away from object changes perception of texture

Linear Perspective

parallel lines meet in distance, sharper angle of convergence

Interposition

if one object partially blocks another, we perceive it as closer

Motion perception

process where brain interprets visual info to detect movement

Stroboscopic Movement

continous movement when seeing series of varying still images

Phi Phenomenon

illusion of movement when 2+ adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Autokinetic Effect

illusory movement of still spot of light in a dark room

Perceptual Constancies

ability to perceive objects as unchanging even as illumination and visual input received by retina changes

Color Constancy

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

Brightness Constancy

perceiving familiar objects to have consistent brightness, even as illumination changes

Shape Constancy

perceiving object having constant shape, even if angle/perspective changes

Size Constancy

perceiving object as constant size, even when distance changes

Restored Vision

blind people can’t visually recognize objects they knew only by touch, some perception innate

Sensory Restriction

no early stimulation, unlikely to perceive shapes

Perceptual Adaptation

ability to adjust to changes sensory input

Metacognition

thinking/planning when assesing our understanding + performance

Concepts

mental groupings of similar things

Prototypes

mental image/best example of a category

Schemas

concept/framework that organizes + interprets info

Assimilation

interpreting new experiences based off existing schemas

Accommodation

adapting current schemas to incorporate new info

Creativity

ability to produce new + valuable ideas

Aptitude

one’s ability to learn

Convergent Thinking

narrowing solutions to determine single best solution

Divergent Thinking

expanding number of possible problem solutions

Expertise

high level of skill/knowledge

Imaginative Thinking Skills

seeing things in new ways, see patterns and make connections

Venturesome Personality

seek new experience, tolerates unknown, persevere to overcome obstacles

Intrinsic Motivation

driven by interest and satisfaction

Creative Environment

fosters creative thinking

Algorithims

methodical, logical procedures to guarantee solving a problem

Heuristics

simple thinking strategy

Insight

sudden realization of solution

Confirmation Bias

seeking out evidence to confirm beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence

Fixation

inability to see issue from new perspective

Mental Set

approach problem with what previously worked

Intuition

fast, automatic gut feelings

Representativeness Heuristic

judge likelihood of events based on how they match to particular prototypes

Availability Heuristic

judge likelihood of events based on availability in memory

Overconfidence

tendency to overestimate accuracy of beliefs

Belief Perseverance

persistence of one’s initial conceptions even after original basis is discredited

Framing

way in which we present an issue

Nudge

framing choices so they encourage people to make beneficial decisions