AP Psychology Unit 2 Flashcards

Flashcards for AP Psychology Unit 2 covering cognition, perception, memory, and intelligence.

Perception

The way we understand and interpret the world around us.

Bottom Up Processing

Relying mostly on sensory information without using past experiences.

Top Down Processing

Using what we already know, our expectations and experiences, to interpret what we sense.

Schema

A mental framework that helps us organize and understand information.

Perceptual Set

A readiness to perceive something in a certain way based on expectations.

Closure

Completing incomplete images in our minds.

Figure Ground Perception

Helps us distinguish objects from their backgrounds.

Proximity

We tend to see objects that are close together as a group.

Similarity

People tend to perceive objects that share similar characteristics as being related.

Attention

The mental process that allows us to focus on certain information while filtering out everything else.

Cocktail Party Effect

Even if you are not listening to every conversation, if someone says your name, your brain immediately picks it up.

Inattentional Blindness

A person fails to notice an unexpected object in their field of vision because their attention is focused elsewhere.

Change Blindness

A person does not notice a change in a visual scene.

Binocular Depth Cues

Visual cues that require both eyes to perceive depth and distance.

Retinal Disparity

The slight difference in the images perceived by each eye due to their different positions, which the brain uses to determine depth.

Convergence

The inward movement of the eyes when focusing on a nearby object, with greater convergence indicating closer distance.

Monocular Depth Cues

Visual cues that require only one eye to perceive depth and distance.

Relative Clarity

The tendency for clearer and sharper objects to appear closer, while hazy or blurred objects appear farther away.

Relative Size

The perception that when two objects are known to be of similar size, the smaller one appears farther away.

Texture Gradient

The gradual decrease in detail and texture as an object's surface recedes into the distance, creating a sense of depth.

Linear Perspective

The appearance of parallel lines converging as they extend into the distance, creating the illusion of depth.

Interposition

An object blocking part of another object is closer than the one it partially obscures.

Visual Perceptual Consistency

The brain's ability to perceive objects as stable and unchanging, despite variations in sensory input.

Apparent Movement

Stationary objects are perceived as moving due to visual cues.

Concepts

Mental categories that help us group similar things together.

Prototype

The best or most typical example of a category.

Schema

A more complex mental framework that includes not just a category but also expectations, knowledge, and associations about that category.

Assimilation

When we take in new information, but do not change our existing schema.

Accommodation

When new information forces a change in the schema itself.

Algorithm

A step by step procedure that guarantees the right answer, as long as it is followed correctly.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut or rule of thumb that simplifies problem solving by relying on experience and intuition rather than exhaustive analysis.

Representativeness Heuristic

We judge something based on how well it matches our expectations or stereotypes.

Availability Heuristic

We make decisions based on the first or most vivid example that comes to mind.

Mental Set

Occurs when we rely on strategies that worked in the past, even if they are not the best solution in a new situation.

Priming

Exposure to certain stimuli influences our decision making.

Framing

How a decision is presented. People tend to make different choices based on whether something is framed as a gain or a loss.

Gambler's Fallacy

People believe that past events affect future probabilities in situations where the outcomes are actually random.

Sunk Cost Fallacy

People continue investing time, money, or effort into something because they have already invested so much, even when it no longer makes sense.

Executive Functions

Mental skills that allow people to set goals, make plans, and stay organized.

Divergent Thinking

Exploring many unique possible solutions to a single problem, many of which might be out of the ordinary.

Convergent Thinking

Focuses on finding a single, correct solution.

Functional Fixedness

People struggle to see new uses for familiar objects.

Explicit Memory

The type of memory we can consciously recall and explain.

Episodic Memory

Personal experiences.

Semantic Memory

Knowledge about facts and concepts that are not linked to personal experiences.

Implicit Memory

The kind of memory that influences our behavior without us consciously thinking about it.

Procedural Memory

Stores information about how to perform tasks.

Prospective Memory

The ability to remember to do something later.

Long Term Potentiation

Neurons in the brain repeatedly activate together, strengthening the connections between them.

Working Memory

A temporary system that helps us hold and manipulate information while we use it.

Central Executive

The system that directs attention and controls how information is processed.

Phonological Loop

Holds and repeats verbal information.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Processes visual and spatial information.

Sensory Memory

Briefly holds raw sensory information.

Iconic Memory

Visual information that lasts less than a second.

Echoic Memory

Auditory information that lasts a few seconds.

Short Term Memory

Holds a small amount of information for about twenty to thirty seconds.

Long Term Memory

Stores information indefinitely.

Automatic Processing

Happens without effort.

Effortful Processing

Requires focus and practice.

Structural Processing

Remembering how something looks.

Phonemic Processing

Focusing on how something sounds.

Semantic Processing

Deepest level based on meaning.

Mnemonic Devices

Creating mental associations that make the information easier to recall.

Method of Loci

Associating pieces of information with specific locations.

Acronyms

Using the first letter of each word to create a new, easy to remember word.

Rhymes and Songs

Encoding information into a catchy tune or rhyme to aid recall.

Imagery

Creating vivid mental pictures to help remember information.

Chunking

Breaking down long pieces of information into smaller, more manageable parts.

Categorization

Grouping related information together.

Hierarchies

Structuring information from general to specific.

Massed Practice

Studying everything in one long session.

Distributed Practice

Studying in multiple shorter sessions over time.

Serial Position Effect

Items at the beginning and end of a list are easier to recall than those in the middle.

Primacy Effect

Remembering information presented at the beginning of a list better than information in the middle.

Recency Effect

Remembering the last items in a list better than those in the middle.

Maintenance Rehearsal

Simple repetition. Repeating information over and over to keep it in short term memory.

Elaborative Rehearsal

A deeper form of rehearsal that connects new information to things you already know.

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory

People can remember almost every detail of their lives.

Autobiographical Memory

Refers to memories connected to our own lives.

Amnesia

Memory loss caused by injury, illness, or psychological trauma.

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of past memories.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new long term memories.

Alzheimer's Disease

Progressive brain disorder that leads to memory loss, confusion, and difficulty with thinking and reasoning.

Infantile Amnesia

Inability to remember events from early childhood.

Recall

When you remember information without any cues or hints.

Recognition

When you identify something familiar from a set of choices.

Context Dependent Memory

When being in the same physical environment where a memory was first formed helps recall it more easily.

Mood Congruent Memory

Emotions influence what we remember.

State Dependent Memory

Your physical state affects retrieval.

Testing Effect

Actively retrieving information strengthens memory more than simply reviewing it.

Metacognition

Thinking about how you think.

Forgetting Curve

Memory loss happens rapidly after learning, but slows down over time.

Retrieval Failure

Struggle to retrieve memories from our mind.

Encoding Failure

Information never fully enters memory in the first place.

Interference

Similar memories get mixed up.

Proactive Interference

Old information blocks new learning.

Retroactive Interference

New information makes it harder to remember old information.

Inadequate Retrieval

You feel like you know something but cannot quite retrieve it.

Repression

People unconsciously push distressing or traumatic memories out of awareness to protect themselves from emotional pain.