AP Psych - Unit 2 (things I forget)

sensation

detecting a stimulus

perception

interpreting a stimulus

top-down processing

use old information to understand things we are seeing… fast and with info we are familiar with

Like when you mis what you wrote on an essay because you think you already know what you wrote

bottom up processing

when stimuli is complex and unfamiliar… we have to interepret the stimulus as it comes to us… takes longer

schema

general idea of something

perceptual set

a mental shortcut that you use to quickly interpret something. The way you have lived determines the way you will analyze information given to you.

perception can be impacted by…

both internal and external factors.

selective attention

when you hone in on one stimulus and leave out the other ones. You are still recieving the stimuli, so if someone says your name you will respond, but your brain mutes them.

cocktail party phenomenon

to be able to focus on a single conversation ina. loud environment

blindess due to attention (there are 2)

Inattentional blindess: you miss things in your field of vision because you are focused on something else

Change blindess: fail to notice changes in an envionrment (spot the difference)

apparent movement

we perceive motion through still images.

Stroboscopic effect: seris of images in rapid succession appear to be moving

phi phenomenon: STATIONARY lights turn on and off to make a perceived motion

Induced movement: stationary object appears to move because of the movement of surrounding objects

autokinetic effect: stationary point of light in a dark environment appears to move

gestalt

how put things together in our mind ot form one big picture

Gestalt principles (6):

figure and ground: separates what we see into two categories

continuation: follow continous lines

Closure: fill in missing info

similarity: similar objects are one group

• Thats why we notice anomalies (objects that stand out from a similar group)

Proximity: objects close together will be one group

Symmetry: symmetrical objects are perceived as one

Depth Perception:

Binocular:

• retinal disparity (the slight difference both of our eyes see)

Monocular:

• One eye, help wioth flat or 2D surfaces

Monocular cues (7):

Relative size: bigger objects are closer than smaller objects

Interposition: blocked objects are fartehr away

Relative height: objects higher in field of view are farther away than closer objects that are lower

Contour and Shading: less detail and more hazy means farther away. The more detailed means closer

texture and gradient: more detail is closer

Liner perspective: parallel lines seem to converge in distance proving distance

Motion parallax: closer objects seem to move faster than those that are farther away

perceptual constancy (4):

size

color: stays the same even in dif. light

shape: stays the same even at dif angle

lightness: the relative lightness or darkness of an object remains the same under dif amounts of light. Think hue

concepts

mental categories that we fit prototypes into.

Ex. ball is the concept… a basketball, bouncy ball, baseball, are all prototypes

prototype

most basic example of a concept. What you picture when you think of a concept

Schema

complex frameworks that organize and interpert information about the world.

groups of charcateristics that we associate with certain objects so that we can make mental judgements

assimilation

when we fit new information into existing schemas.

kid knows what a dog is, and sees a cat for the first time. “look a doggy!” they fit what they think it was a dog because it fit similar characterisitcs

accomodation

when we change a schema to fit new info

The kid learns that the cat is not a dog and makes a new, more specific, set of charactersitics for cats

representative heuristic

making judgments based on how much something represents a typical case or stereotype.

Thinking based on what we think the thing should be like, not based on the logic.

availability heustistic

making judgments based on how easliy you can think of examples

mental set

using past experiences to solve a new problem

priming

repetition priming: when you are exposed to a specific stimulus that makes it easier to recognize that same stimulus later

semantic: influence of one word on the interpretation of another

framing

the way info is presented can change the way we interpret it

divergent thinking

many possible solutions to solve one problem

convergent thinking

narrowing down the possibilities to identify the single best solution

Sternbergs 5 parts of creativity:

Expertise: more knowledge ona. subject means more likely to apply it in new and innovative ways

imaginitive thinking: must. be able to think about things in unique ways… leave traditional thinking behind

venturesome personality: must be willing to seek out new opportunities and embrace challenges that will help them grow

intrinsic motivation: internal drive for satisfaction

creative enviro: surround yourself with other creative people to foster innovation

gamblers fallacy:

if an event happens more often than normal during a given period, then it is less likely to happen in the future.

previous outcomes have no effect on future outcomes

sunk cost fallacy:

when you want to continue an action more the more time you have put into it… regardless of future value

memory

info that can be stored over time and retrieved when needed

metacognition

the awareness of your own cognitive processes

3 types of memory

explicit: consciously recall info with effort and thought

• episodic: personal experience and events

• semantic: knowledge facts and general info

Implicit: skills we learn without being fully aware

• procedural: how to do tasks like motor skills and routines

Prospect: remembering to perform future actions

parallel processing

handling multiple streams of info at the same time

long term potentiation

Strengthening synaptic connections through repetition.

Makes storing info easier

working memory model

visuospatial sketchpad: working memory that handles visual and spatial info… how we visualize things (the eye)

phonological loop:

• phonological store: inner ear (holds sounds for a short period of time)

• articulatory rehearsal process: inner voice, rpeat and rehearse verbal info

Central executive: control center of working memory. Attention focusing, task prioritizing, switching between dif activities, integrating information

episodic buffer: long term memory integrates with working memory. temporary storage system

what is working memory

short term memory

multistore model for memories

sensory memory:

• Iconic: visual (<1 second)

• Echoic: auditory (1-4 seconds)

• Automatic porcessing… does not take much effort. If your brain wants the info it goes to working memory

Working memory (short term):

• both types of rehearsal

• maintenance

• elaborative

Long term memory:

• encoding (putting info into LTM)

maintenance rehearsal

when you go over info repititively to prevent forgetting it

elaborative rehearsal

connect info to something you already know so you remmeber it easier

encoding levels:

Structural: superficial and physical appearance on info

Phonemic: how a word sounds

Semantic: the meaning of the info or concept

method of loci:

associating information with a familiar place so it is easier to remember

chunking:

grouping info into chunks so its easier to recall

Short term memory

Hold 7±2 items for about 20-30 seconds

working memory

stores info and processes it. more updated form of STM

long term memory

Infinite space and stores info for long periods of time

memory consolidation

short term memories are transformed into long-term memories

flashbulb memories

very clear and specific memories that are generally stressful and extreme

autobiographical memory

memories connected to our own lives are more memorable because they have personal relevance

amnesia

loss of memory (temporary or permanent)

• anterograde

  • can’t form new memories… porlly damage to hippocampus

• retrograde

  • cannot retrieve past info

• source

  • Remember info but not where/how they learned it

• infantile

  • cannot remember info from early years of life

alzheimers

neurodegenerative disease

cannot store or retrieve new/old memories

recall

retrieve info without any cues

recognition

use cues to help retrieve info

context dependent memory

retrieval is improved when youre in same enviro that you first learned info

mood congruent memories

more likely to recall info that match your current moods

state dependent memory

retrieval is imporved if youre in the same physical or mental state as when the memory was encoded

forgetting curve (ebbinghaus)

can make it less drastic with rehearsal/review

proactiver interference

old memories interfere with recall of new memories

retroactive interference

when new memories make it harder to recall old ones

distress

bad stress: caused by neagtive life events

eustress

good stress that is caused by positive life events

Freud’s Id, Ego, and Superego

ID - unconscious desires that are for pleasure (food and sex)

Superego - personal ideals and morals

Ego - The middle man between the Id and Superego. The “conscious” part that we use in reality

Defense mechanisms of the ID

How to protect itself and reduce anxiety

Repression: unconscious shielding of memories, but they can still have influence.

constructive memory

we do not remember things for basic facts, rather a combination of assumpations expectations, and new info. Our memories may not be 100% exact to what actually happened

Reconsolidation

altering memories before they are stored again

misinformation effect

altering a memory with false info

general intelligence (G)

the ability to be smart in all walks of life, its a combination of specific skills

specific intelligence (S)

Binet

Intoduced IQ and IQ testing.

IQ = Mental age/actual age x 100

arguments against IQ tests

stereotype threat: people are brought down by how they are stereotyped

Stereotype lift: people improve based on how they are stereotyped

good IQ tests need to follow psychometric principles

Reliability: will give the same results every time

• test retest: when same person takes test, results should be similar

• split half: two halves of the same test should give similar results

Validity: give accurate results

• content: test asks questions that are on topic

• construct: measures the trait its supposed to measure

• criterion: correlates with outside variables

• predictive: future performance (only when there is a large data set)

standardized: test is administered the same way every time

flynn effect

Iq is increasing generationally: better education and more resources

group Iq difference

the IQ difference within the same group is larger than the difference between two groups

achievement tests

how much someone knows at one point in time

aptitude test

predicts how someone will perform in the future