AP Psychology Unit 6: Cognition and Language Flashcards

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering cognitive processes, memory systems, problem-solving obstacles, and language development as discussed in Unit 6.

Cognition

Mental activities involving thinking, remembering, communicating, knowing, etc., and how information is processed.

Concept

A mental grouping of similar things such as objects, ideas, or people.

Prototype

The best example or typical answer of a concept.

Algorithm

A step-by-step procedure or rule that guarantees a solution, like a recipe or math formula.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut or rule of thumb that helps make a quick decision but is often error prone and does not always give a solution.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after an event has occurred, that you 'knew it all along.'

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for information that fits or supports one's preconceptions or already set beliefs while ignoring challenging information.

Mental Set

The tendency to approach a problem in the same way it has worked before.

Functional Fixedness

An obstacle to problem solving where one only sees objects in terms of their usual, normal purpose instead of thinking beyond that.

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging something based on how much it fits a typical case or stereotype while ignoring probability.

Availability Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples of it come to mind; if it comes to mind quickly, it is assumed to be common.

Overconfidence

Overestimating one's own knowledge and abilities, being more confident than correct.

Framing

The way in which an issue is presented, which can influence decisions and judgements.

Belief Perseverance

Clinging to initial beliefs even after they have been disproven with evidence.

Barnum Effect

The tendency to believe generic or vague characterizations of themselves, such as those found in horoscopes.

Gambler's Fallacy

The tendency to believe that if a random event happens more or less in the past, it is due to happen more or less in the future.

Sunk-cost fallacy

The tendency to continue doing something once one has already invested money or time into it, such as watching the new season of a show you dislike because you watched the first $5$ seasons.

Encoding

The process of paying attention and getting information into memory.

Structural Encoding (Shallow Processing)

Encoding based on the appearance of words or picture images; this is considered the weakest form of encoding.

Phonemic Encoding

Encoding based on the sound of information.

Semantic Encoding (Deep Processing)

Encoding the meaning of information, which retains the most information over time.

Hippocampus

A part of the limbic system that processes and stores explicit memories and helps convert short-term memory to long-term memory.

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating information multiple times in order to keep it in short-term memory.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Connecting new information to something already known and meaningful to add personal relevance, allowing it to be stored in long-term memory.

Mnemonics

Strategies that help with encoding and remembering information by connecting new information to things already in long-term memory.

Chunking

Breaking down long pieces of information into smaller, meaningful groups or chunks to make them easier to remember.

Serial Position Effect

The tendency for people to remember things at the beginning and end of a list while forgetting those in the middle.

Primacy Effect

The specific tendency to remember things at the beginning of a list.

Recency Effect

The specific tendency to remember things at the end of a list.

Storage

The retention and maintenance of information in the brain over time.

Sensory Memory

The brief storage of sensory information within the memory system.

Iconic Memory

A very brief visual sensory memory.

Echoic Memory

A very brief auditory sensory memory.

Short-Term (Working) Memory

A system that holds a limited amount of information regarding events or experiences.

Long-Term Memory

A memory system that stores information for a long time, potentially forever, according to meaning.

Episodic Memories

A type of explicit, declarative long-term memory that stores memories for personal events and past experiences.

Semantic Memory

A type of declarative memory that stores concepts and general knowledge.

Procedural Memory

A type of long-term memory that stores memories for how to do things, such as skills.

Explicit Memories

Memories of facts and experiences that one can consciously recall and describe.

Implicit Memories

Memories that are retained without conscious awareness, such as skills and habits.

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory when needed, which involves location.

Curve of Forgetting

A graph developed by Hermann Ebbinghaus showing that information is forgotten rapidly at first, then forgetting slows over time.

Retrograde Amnesia

Being unable to recall past memories that existed before developing amnesia.

Anterograde Amnesia

Being unable to form new long-term memories after the onset of amnesia.

Priming

The process where previous exposure to something unconsciously influences later responses.

Mood-Congruent Memory

The tendency to remember information that matches one's current mood, such as remembering sad memories when feeling sad.

Recall

Retrieving information from memory without being prompted.

Recognition

Retrieving explicit memories by identifying information one has been exposed to or learned before.

Proactive Interference

When old or previously learned information interferes with the ability to remember new information.

Retroactive Interference

When new information interferes with the ability to remember old information.

Repression

An unconscious defense mechanism where the mind blocks out or pushes out painful memories.

Transience

The impermanence or decay of long-term memory over time.

Persistence

The inability to forget unwanted or disturbing memories.

Misattribution

Correctly remembering information but confusing the source of that memory.

Source Amnesia

Remembering specific information but forgetting where that information came from.

Misinformation Effect

The distortion of memory caused by being given suggested wrong information.

Phonemes

The smallest units of sound that can combine to create meaning in a language.

Morphemes

The smallest units in a language that hold meaning.

Semantics

A set of rules for deriving meaning from words and sentences.

Syntax

A set of rules for combining words into gramatically correct and sensible sentences.

Chomsky's Theory of Inborn Universal Grammar

The theory that humans are born with an innate, biological predisposition to learn language as a product of nature.

Skinner's Theory of Operant Learning

The theory that language acquisition is based entirely on learning and reinforcement (nurture).

Overgeneralization

A situation where a child applies a grammatical rule too widely, creating incorrect forms like 'sweeped' instead of 'swept.'