Cognition

Functional fixedness

Functional fixedness

when you can’t see an object in a new way because you only think of it for its usual purpose

Priming

When something you see hear or think about makes you more likely to notice to something similar

Nudge

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

Framing

the way an issue is presented (can significantly affect decisions and judgements)

Motivated Reasoning

When we come to a conclusion based on what we want to believe rather than looking at all the facts fairly.

Belief Perseverance

When you keep believing something even though there's evidence that shows you that you're wrong

Planning fallacy

When you think a task will take a shorter amount of time than it actually does

Overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct-overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs & judgements

Gamber's Fallacy

Belief that past events can influence events in random situations

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent or match- particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Intuition

an effortless immediate automatic feeling or thought in contrast with conscious reasoning

Perceptual set

predisposes us to what we percieve

Mental Set

The tendency to approach a problem in a single way often that gas been successful in the past

Fixation

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective

Confirmation Bias

A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions to ignore contradictory information

Insight

sudden realization of a prolem's solution

Heuristics

Simple thinking strategies that allow us to make judgements & solve problems faster

Algorithms

Methodical logical step-by-step procedure that is guaranteed to solve a problem

Executive functions

cognitive skills that work together allowing us to generate plan and implement goal-directed behavior

Divergent Thinking

Expanding the number of possible problem solutions

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Creativity

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

Accommodation

Adapting to current schemas to incorporate new information

Assimilation

Interpreting our new experiences in regard to our existing schemas

Prototype

a mental image or best example of a category

Concepts

mental grouping of similar objects events or people

Metacognition

Thinking about our thinking; planning and assessing our performance and understanding

Cognition

all the mental activities that are associated with thinking knowing remembering and communicating

change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment

Similarity

similar items are grouped together

Proximity

objects that are close together are seen as a group

Closure

the tendency to fill in gaps to create complete shapes or forms

Texture Gradient

texture appears finer and more compressed as it recedes into the distance

Relative Clarity

objects that are clearer sharper and more detailed are perceived as closer

Relative size

Objects that are larger are percieved as being closer

Interposition

when one object overlaps another the object that is overlapped is seen as closer

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines seem to converge as they meet at vanishing point on the horizon

Perception

process by which our brain organizes interprets and makes sense of sensory info from the environment

Perceptual constancy

Perceving objects as unchanging even as retinal images change

Perceptual Adaptation

the ability to adjust to changed sensory input including an inverted or altered visual field

Autokinetic Effect

The illusory movement of a still spot of light in a dark room

Phi Phenomenon

An illusion created when two or more lights blink on and off in quick succession

Strotoscopic movement

the illusion of continuous movement experienced when viewing a fast series of slightly different still images

motion perception

process by which our brain interprets changes in visual stimuli to perceive movement

Monocular cue

depth cue available to either eye alone

Convergence

inward turning of the eyes when focusing on an object

Retinal Disparity

slight difference in images seen by each eye which helps the brain judge distance

Binocular cues

depth perception mechanism that relies on two eyes to judge distance and perceive 3D objects

Visual cliff

A device used for testing depth perception in small children

Depth perception

the ability to see the world in 3D and judge the distance of objects

Grouping

the tendency to organize stimuli into groups

Figure and ground

The tendency to organize a visual field into objects that stand out from the background

Gestalt

People perceive and interpret visual elements as a unified whole instead of a group of individual parts

Schema

cognitive frameworks that help to organize information based on previous knowledge and experiences

Perceptual set

A mental predisposition to perceive things in a certain way

Change Blindness

A form of individual blindness; failing to notice changes in the environment

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to notice a visible object because your attention is focused elsewhere

Cocktail Party Effect

ability to pay attention to one voice amidst many other voices (distraction) while talking to someone.

Selective Attention

The process of focusing conscious awareness (attention) on one thing at a time and ignoring everything else

Dunning-Kruger Effect

cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities

Memory

specific information or a specific past experience that is recalled

explicit memory

refers to the type of long-term memory that involves conscious recollection of specific facts, events, or experiences

episodic memory

memory of personal experiences & events such a recalling what you did on your last birthday or a specific conversation with a friend

semantic memory

memory of general knowledge & facts, like knowing the capital of a country or the meaning of a word

Alzheimer’s disease

begins as difficulty remembering new information, progressing to an inability to do everyday tasks

Recall

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier (ex: fill-in-the-blank test)

Recognition

a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, such as a multiple choice test

Relearning

learning something more quickly when you learned it in a second or later time

Encoding

getting information into the memory system (ex: extracting meaning)

store

the process of retaining encoding information over time

retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Sensory memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Short-term memory

brief activated memory of a few items that is later stored or forgotten

long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system

working memory

a type of short-term memory that temporarily holds and manipulates information for cognitive tasks

Maintenance rehearsal

prolong storage through rehearsal over time

elaborative rehearsal

rehearsing information in ways that promote meaning

Central executive

memory component that coordinates the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad

Phonological loop

memory component that briefly holds auditory information

Visuospatial sketchpad

memory component that briefly holds information about objects’ appearance and location in space

long-term potentiation

an increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; neural basis for learning and memory

Implicit memory

learned skills and learned associations

explicit memories

retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and declare

effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

procedural memory

how to perform a specific task, you don’t have to recall how to perform these tasks

prospective memory

remembering to do something in the future, such as taking one’s medicine later

Iconic memory

an immediate, brief memory of a visual image that lasts no more than half a second

Echoic memory

brief sensory memory of audible sounds

chunking

organizing items into familiar units, occurs automatically

Mnemonics

memory aids, especially those techniques that we use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Spacing effect

learning is more effective when repeated in spaced-out sessions

Massed practice

a learning procedure in which practice periods for an activity are not separated by breaks

Distributed practice

A learning strategy where practice is broken up into a number of short sessions over a period of time

testing-effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information

memory-consolidation

the neural storage of a long-term memory.

semantic processing

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge

flashbulb memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

structural processing

which is when we encode only the physical qualities of something

 Phonemic processing

which is when we encode its sound

serial position effect

being able to better recall the first and last words of a long list of words