AP Psych 2.2 and 2.7

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

meta-cognition

thinking about our thinking (keeping track of and evaluating mental processes)

schemas

concepts/frameworks that organize/interpret information

prototypes

mental image/best example of a category

assimilation

interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas

accomodation

adapting current schemas to incorporate new info

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Sternbergs Components of Creativity

expertise, imaginative thinking skills, adventuresome personality, intrinsic motivation, creative environment

convergent thinking

ability to provide 1 correct answer

divergent

ability to consider many opinions and think in novel ways

exectutive functions

high-level cognitive abilities that collectively allow us to solve problems and make decisions effectively.

algorithms

step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution

heuristics

simple thinking strategy (ex. grouping letters that appear together)

insight

sudden realization of a problem’s solution

Kohler’s Chimpanzee Study

showed that humans aren’t the only creatures to display insight

framing/wording effects

framing - the way we present an issue

nudge

framing choices in a way that encourages people to make beneficial decisions

confirmation bias

tendency to search for info that supports our preconceptions to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

overconfidence

tendency to overestimate accuracy of our knowledge and judgements

fixation/functional fixedness

inability to see a problem from a new perspective

mental set

tendency to approach a problem with mindset of what has worked for us previously

belief perseverence

tendency to cling to our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence

intuition

fast, automatic, unreasoned feelings/thoughts

representative heuristics

judging the likelihood of something by intuitively comparing it to a particular prototype

availability heuristics

evaluating commonality of an event based on its mental availability

encoding failure

info doesn’t make it to long-term memory because it was not properly processed initially

storage decay

gradual weakening of a physical memory trace over passage of time when info isn’t used

retrieval failure

inability to access info in long term memory because retrieval cues are missing

motivated forgetting (repression)

psychological defense mechanism where people block painful memories to reduce distress

interference

old/new memories compete with and disrupt retrieval of other info

amnesia

partial/total loss of memory

anterograde amnesia

inability to form new memories

retrograde amnesia

inability to remember past info

proactive interference

prior learning disrupts recall of new info

retroactive interference

new learning disrupts recall of old info

reconsolidation

previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

misinformation effect

memory corrupted by misleading info (Elizabeth Loftus)

Deja vu

cues trigger retrieval of earlier situation (“I’ve seen this before”)

source amnesia

faulty memory for how, when, or where info was learned