AP Psych - Unit 2

Perception

the process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, transforming it into meaningful objects and events. 

Bottom Up Processing

is a way our brain makes sense of information by starting with the small details and then building up to a complete perception.

Top Down Processing

involves interpreting sensory information based on the larger context, prior knowledge, and expectations.

Selective Attention

the process of focusing on a specific aspect of information while ignoring others. It allows us to prioritize sensory information that is most relevant to our current goals or tasks, playing a key role in how we perceive and interact with our environment.

Cocktail Party Effect

our ability to focus on a single conversation in a noisy environment, like a crowded party, while tuning out other stimuli.

Inattentional Blindness

an individual fails to notice an unexpected stimulus in their visual field when their attention is focused on something else. 

• It highlights the limits of our perceptual and cognitive processing, demonstrating that we can miss significant information in our environment when we are not directly paying attention to it.

Change Blindness

the failure to notice large changes in one's environment when the change occurs simultaneously with a visual disruption.

• Illustrates the limits of our visual perception and attention, showing that our awareness of changes in our surroundings is often less acute than we might assume.

Intelligence

the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

g (General Intelligence)

the overarching mental ability that influences performance on various cognitive tasks.

Multiple Intelligence

theory suggests that individuals possess different types of intelligence beyond traditional measures, such as linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic intelligences.

Growth Mindset

the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and effort.

Fixed Mindset

the belief that intelligence is predetermined and cannot be significantly changed.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) 

numerical measure of an individual's cognitive abilities compared to others in their age group, typically assessed through standardized tests.

Standarization 

the process of establishing consistent testing procedures and norms for administering and scoring psychological assessments.

• It ensures fairness and reliability by providing a basis for comparison among test-takers.

Achievement Tests

assess a person's knowledge or skills in a specific area, such as academic subjects or job-related tasks. They measure what an individual has learned or accomplished.

Aptitude Tests

measure a person's potential for learning or mastering specific skills or tasks in the future. They assess innate abilities and predict future performance.

Validity

the extent to which a test accurately measures what it is intended to measure.

Construct Validity

checks if a test really measures what it's supposed to. It helps make sure the test gives the right results for what it's trying to find out.

Predictive Validity

shows how well a test can forecast future outcomes or behaviors. It measures if test scores can predict future performance accurately.

Reliability

consistency in test results over time and among different scorers. It assures that a test yields stable and dependable measurements.

Test Retest Reliability

assesses consistency by administering the same test to the same group twice. It measures how stable scores are over time

Split Half Reliability

divides a test into two halves and compares scores between them. It measures internal consistency by checking if both halves yield similar results.

Flynn Effect

the trend of average IQ scores increasing over generations. It suggests a rise in general intelligence due to environmental and cultural factors

Stereotype Threat

the phenomenon where individuals underperform in situations where they feel at risk of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group.

Stereotype Lift

the opposite of stereotype threat, occurs when individuals from stereotypically advantaged groups perform better on tests due to the positive expectations associated with their group. 

Schemas

mental frameworks that help us organize and interpret information in the world around us. 

• They influence perception by shaping our expectations and guiding our attention. 

• Organize and interpret unfamiliar information

Perceptual Set

a tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others.

• It's influenced by our expectations, experiences, and context, shaping our perception by predisposing us to see what we expect to see.

• Perceive one aspect of a thing, but not another

• Top down processing-existing schema affects our perception 

Gestalt Psychology

we perceive whole objects or figures (gestalts) rather than just a collection of parts. 

• It suggests that our brains are wired to see structure, pattern, and organization in the world, guiding how we interpret sensory information and experience perception.

Figure Ground

refers to the ability to distinguish an object (figure) from its surroundings (ground).

• It involves the brain's organization of sensory information, highlighting important stimuli while filtering out irrelevant background details.

Binocular Depth Cues

visual information that requires both eyes to perceive depth and distance

• These cues help us perceive the world in three dimensions.

Retial Disparity

when each eye sees a slightly different picture because of their separate positions on our face. 

• Our brain uses these differences to figure out how far away things are, helping us see the world in 3D.

Convergence

when our eyes move inward toward each other to focus on a close object. 

• This eye movement helps us understand how near something is, aiding in our perception of depth.

Monocular Depth Cues

visual indicators of distance and space that can be perceived using just one eye. 

• Monocular Cues help us understand how far away things are (depth).

Relative Clarity

a depth cue where objects that are clearer and more detailed are perceived as closer, while objects that are hazier or less clear seem farther away. 

• This helps us gauge distance and depth in what we see.

Relative Size

a visual cue where objects closer to us appear larger, while objects further away appear smaller. 

• Our brain uses this difference in size to help determine the distance between objects and how far away they are from us.

Texture Gradient

the way we perceive texture to become denser and finer as it recedes into the distance. 

• This cue helps us understand depth, as closer objects have clearer, more distinguishable textures, while further objects appear smoother and less detailed.

Linear Perspective

a depth cue where parallel lines appear to converge as they recede into the distance. 

• This visual phenomenon helps our brain perceive depth, allowing us to judge how far away objects are based on how the lines come together.

Perceptual Constancies

our brain's ability to see objects as unchanging, even when the image on our retina (like size, shape, or color) changes. 

• This helps us recognize objects under different conditions, maintaining a stable perception of the world.

Shape Constancy

our ability to perceive an object as having the same shape, even when our angle of view or the distance from which we see the object changes.

• This helps us recognize objects regardless of the perspective from which we view them.

Size Constancy

our perception that an object remains the same size, even when its distance from us changes, causing the image on our retina to grow or shrink.

• This allows us to accurately judge the size of objects regardless of changes in their apparent size due to distance.

Color Constancy

ability to perceive colors of objects as stable under varying lighting conditions.

• This means that even when the lighting changes, we still see the object as having the same color, helping us identify and differentiate objects in our environment consistently

Apparent Movement

the perception of motion when there isn't any actual movement. 

• It's how we see still images, like in animations or movies, as moving. This occurs when our brain fills in the gaps, creating the illusion of motion from a series of still images.

Metacognition

thinking about one's own thinking processes. 

Executive Functions

cognitive processes that allow individuals to generate, organize, plan, and carry out goal-directed behaviors and experience critical thinking.

Prototypes

A mental image or best example of a category that aids in recognizing and categorizing objects or concepts.

Schemas

Cognitive frameworks or blueprints that help organize and interpret information based on past experiences and knowledge.

Assimilation

The cognitive process of fitting new information into existing schemas.

• simplifies new information, making it easier to understand and remember by integrating it with what is already known.

Accommodation

The cognitive process of modifying existing schemas or creating new ones in response to new information.

• allows for more accurate understanding of the world by adjusting schemas when they no longer fit with new information.

Convergent Thinking

cognitive process that focuses on finding a single, correct solution to a problem by applying logical steps.

• It is particularly effective in situations where a single correct answer is needed, and it relies heavily on logic and existing knowledge.

Functional Fixedness

A cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used.

• Restricts problem-solving by hindering the ability to see alternative uses for familiar objects.

Algorithms

Step-by-step procedures or formulas for solving problems that guarantee a correct solution.

• powerful for organizing an approach to complex problems and achieving consistent results.

Divergent Thinking

A thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that simplify decision-making by reducing the cognitive burden.

• speed up problem-solving and decision-making processes, especially under conditions of uncertainty.

• While efficient, they can sometimes lead to biases or errors in judgment.

Representativeness Heuristic

cognitive shortcut wherein individuals make judgments about the probability of an event under uncertainty based on how much it resembles existing stereotypes or typical cases.

Availability Heuristic

A mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a person's mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method, or decision.

• Anything that enables information to “pop into mind” quickly and with little effort (vivid, distinctive)—we presume such events are common

Mental Set

a tendency to approach situations in a certain way because that method worked in the past, which can sometimes prevent seeing alternative solutions

• Leads to rigid thinking “inflexibility”

Priming

exposure to one stimulus influences the response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention.

Framing

How information is presented influences decisions and perceptions.

Gambler’s Fallacy

cognitive bias that occurs when individuals believe that the outcome of a random event is influenced by previous outcomes, even though each event is independent and has no bearing on future results. 

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

cognitive bias where individuals continue investing time, money, or effort into a project or decision because they have already invested so much, even if the returns are poor or the endeavor no longer aligns with their goals.

Retrieval Cues

stimuli that help bring previously learned information to mind. They play a critical role in the process of retrieving memories and can be:

• External Cues: Environmental factors or objects that trigger memories.

• Internal Cues: Thoughts or feelings associated with the original learning. 

Recall

type of memory retrieval that involves accessing information without the aid of cues (retrieve information from memory spontaneously.)

Recognition

type of memory retrieval that involves identifying information when it is presented. It includes:

• Familiarity: Sensing that something has been encountered before.

• Identification: Matching new information with stored knowledge (e.g., recognizing the correct answer on a multiple-choice test).

Context-Dependent Memory

when you remember information better in the same environment where you first learned it. 

• Physical surroundings: Like being in the same room where you studied.

• Similar conditions: Such as the same background noises or smells.

State-Dependent Memory

the phenomenon where memory retrieval is most effective when an individual is in the same state of consciousness as they were when the memory was formed.

• Physical State: Such as being tired or energized.

• Emotional State: Such as being happy or sad.

Mood-Congruent Memory

the tendency to recall information that is consistent with one's current mood. 

• Memories are more easily retrieved when they match the emotional state at the time of recall.

• This can lead to a selective recall of memories that reinforce one's mood, either positive or negative.

Serial Position Effect

the tendency to remember items at the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of a list better than those in the middle.

Primary Effect

cognitive phenomenon where individuals tend to remember items presented at the beginning of a list better than those that follow.

• Items presented first can be rehearsed more as the list continues, allowing them to be more deeply encoded into long-term memory.

Recency Effect

phenomenon observed in memory recall where the most recently presented items in a list are recalled more clearly and accurately than the items in the middle.

• Items at the end of a list are still in short-term memory at the time of recall, making them more accessible.

Testing Effect

phenomenon where long-term memory is enhanced when some of the learning period is devoted to retrieving the information through testing.

Metacognition

the awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes, especially in relation to learning and memory.

• Self-Monitoring: Assessing one's own learning and memory processes, such as knowing when one knows something or not.

Explicit Memories

involves conscious recall of facts and experiences.

Semantic Memory

type of explicit memory that involves the recall of general facts and knowledge about the world.

• Knowledge of concepts, words, symbols, and meanings.

• Information is independent of personal experience and context.

Episodic Memory

type of explicit memory that involves the recollection of personal experiences and specific events.

• Remembers the "what," "where," and "when" of past experiences.

• Recalled from a first-person viewpoint.

Autobiographical Memory

type of memory that encompasses events and experiences from an individual's own life. It combines:

• Episodic Memory: Personal experiences with specific contexts and emotions.

• Semantic Memory: General personal information and knowledge that defines the self.

Implicit Memories

This type of memory does not require conscious thought and is crucial for performing everyday tasks automatically.

Procedural Memory

type of implicit memory that involves the recall of how to perform tasks or skills automatically. It includes:

• Skill-Based Actions: Such as driving, typing, or playing musical instruments.

• Actions performed routinely without conscious thought.

Prospective Memory

remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point. 

• Remembering to perform an action triggered by specific cues (e.g., giving a message when you see someone).

• Remembering to perform an action at a specific time (e.g., taking medication at noon).

Massed Practice “Cramming”

learning strategy where content is studied intensively over a short period without breaks. 

• This approach may yield quick results but is less effective for long-term memory retention compared to spaced practice.

Spacing Effect “Distributed Practice”

the phenomenon where learning is more effective when study sessions are spaced out over time, rather than crammed into one session. 

• Spacing study sessions allows for better consolidation of memories (short-term to long-term storage).  

Maintenance Rehearsal

learning technique that involves repeatedly reviewing information to keep it in short-term memory.

• Effective for retaining information temporarily but less useful for long-term retention.

Elaborative Rehearsal

memory technique that involves deep processing of information by adding meaning or connecting it to existing knowledge. 

• Promotes stronger, more lasting memory storage by linking new information to prior knowledge.

Encoding

Level of encoding depends on: 

• Attention

• Rehearsal 

• Depth of processing

• Organizing/patterns

Effortful Processing

type of memory encoding that requires active work and attention to embed information into long-term memory.

• Actively focusing on and thinking about the material.

Automatic Processing

the unconscious encoding of information about space, time, frequency, and well-learned tasks.

• Information is processed automatically without deliberate attention.

Encoding Failure

Occurs when a memory was never formed in the first place (without effort, many memories never form)

• “In one ear and out the other” 

• We cannot learn or recall what we do not perceive and attend to 

Levels of Processing Model

proposes that the depth at which information is thought about affects how well it is remembered. 

• This model argues that the deeper the processing, the more connections are made within the brain, thereby enhancing the likelihood of recalling information later.

Shallow Encoding

a basic level of processing that focuses on surface characteristics of information, such as the sound or appearance of words, without engaging with its meaning. 

• Involves Minimal Attention: Relies on repetition or simple recognition.

• Leads to Fragile Memories: Results in memories that are less likely to be retained over time.

Structural

type of shallow processing that focuses on the physical structure of

Phonemic

type of shallow processing that focuses on the auditory aspects of information.

Deep Encoding

involves thoroughly processing information by focusing on its meaning and connecting it to existing knowledge. This type of encoding:

• Analyzes the significance and implications of information.

• Creates durable and easily retrievable memories.

Chunking (Grouping)

memory strategy that involves grouping individual pieces of information into larger, meaningful units. This technique helps to:

• By organizing information into chunks, more items can be held in short-term memory.

• Makes it easier to remember and retrieve information by reducing cognitive load.

Categories (Grouping)

method of organizing information by grouping related items together into categories. This process enhances memory by:

• Helps structure information in a more logical way.

• Makes it easier to access information through associated links between items within the same category.

Hierachies (Grouping)

organizing information into a system of ranked categories or levels. This method enhances memory by:

• Facilitates efficient search and recall through a structured format.

• Helps in understanding complex relationships between concepts by viewing them in a layered approach.

Method of Loci

mnemonic technique that involves associating items to be remembered with specific physical locations. It enhances memory by:

• Links information to visual representations of familiar locations.

• Allows for retracing the mental path through these locations to retrieve the associated information.

Memory

the persistence of learning over time; it is information that has been acquired and stored and can be retrieved

Encoding

the first stage of memory, where perceived information is transformed into a format that can be processed and stored in the brain.

Storage

the process of retaining information in the brain over time.

Retrival

the process of accessing and bringing stored information back into conscious awareness.

Multi-Store Model

describes memory as a three-part system that includes: Sensory Memory,  Short-term Memory &

Long-term Memory.