Perception Unit 2B Psych

Concept

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, or ideas for organization and understanding.
Ex: "Dog" as a concept includes all breeds like poodles, huskies, and bulldogs.

Prototype

A best example of a category or concept.
Ex: When thinking of "bird," a robin might come to mind more easily than a penguin.

Schemas

Mental frameworks that organize and interpret information, often based on experience.
Ex: A schema for "school" might include classrooms, teachers, and homework.

Assimilation

Incorporating new information into existing schemas without making changes.
Ex: Calling a zebra a "striped horse" because it fits an existing schema for a horse.

Accommodation

Adjusting or creating new schemas when new information doesn’t fit.
Ex: Learning that zebras are different from horses and forming a new schema for "zebra."

Algorithm

A step-by-step, logical procedure to guarantee solving a problem.
Ex: Following a detailed recipe to bake a cake.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut or rule of thumb that simplifies problem-solving but may not be accurate.
Ex: Guessing which checkout line is fastest based on its length.

Representative Heuristic

Judging the probability of an event based on how similar it is to a prototype.
Ex: Assuming someone with glasses is more likely to be a professor than a truck driver.

Availability Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind.
Ex: Fearing shark attacks after watching a movie about sharks, despite their rarity.

Mental Sets

A tendency to approach problems using methods that worked in the past.
Ex: Always trying to solve a puzzle with the same strategy, even when it doesn't work.

Priming

Exposure to one stimulus influences how a person responds to another related stimulus.
Ex: Seeing the word "doctor" makes you recognize "nurse" faster than "bread."

Framing

The way information is presented affects decisions and judgments.
Ex: People prefer "90% fat-free" over "10% fat," though they mean the same thing.

Gambler’s Fallacy

Believing that past independent events affect future outcomes.
Ex: Thinking a coin flip will land on heads because the last five flips were tails.

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

Continuing a behavior due to prior investments, even if it’s unwise.
Ex: Staying in a bad movie because you already paid for the ticket.

Executive Functions

Higher-order cognitive processes for planning, decision-making, and self-control.
Ex: Creating a weekly schedule to organize your study time.

Creativity

The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.
Ex: Designing a new app that solves an everyday problem uniquely.

Divergent Thinking

Generating multiple possible solutions to a problem.
Ex: Thinking of various ways to use a paperclip, like as a hook or a lockpick.

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing down to the single best solution for a problem.
Ex: Selecting the correct answer on a multiple-choice test.

Functional Fixedness

Seeing objects only in their typical roles, limiting problem-solving.
Ex: Not realizing you can use a coin to tighten a screw when a screwdriver isn’t available.

Memory

The process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information.
Ex: Remembering a friend’s phone number after hearing it once.

Encoding

The process of getting information into the memory system.
Ex: Repeating a phone number to remember it.

Storage

Keeping information in memory over time.
Ex: Retaining facts learned in school for years.

Retrieval

Accessing stored information when needed.
Ex: Recalling the name of your first-grade teacher during a conversation.

Explicit Memory

Memory of facts and experiences that can be consciously recalled.
Ex: Knowing that Paris is the capital of France.

Episodic Memory

Memory of specific personal experiences and events.
Ex: Remembering the details of your high school graduation.

Semantic Memory

Memory of general knowledge and facts.
Ex: Knowing that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

Implicit Memory

Memory for skills and actions, often unconscious.
Ex: Knowing how to ride a bike without actively thinking about it.

Procedural Memory

Memory of how to perform tasks or actions.
Ex: Tying your shoes without needing instructions.

Prospective Memory

Remembering to perform a planned action in the future.
Ex: Remembering to take medicine at 8 p.m.

Long-Term Potentiation

The strengthening of neural connections through repeated use, aiding memory.
Ex: Practicing vocabulary words daily to retain them longer.

Working Memory Model

A framework explaining how we temporarily store and manipulate information.
Ex: Remembering a shopping list while finding items in the store.

Working Memory

A short-term memory system for actively processing and using information.
Ex: Doing mental math to calculate a tip at a restaurant.

Central Executive

The part of working memory that manages attention and decision-making.
Ex: Switching focus between writing an essay and checking research sources.

Phonological Loop

A part of working memory that deals with verbal and auditory information.
Ex: Repeating a phone number to remember it long enough to write it down.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

The part of working memory that processes visual and spatial information.
Ex: Visualizing the route to your destination while driving.

Long-Term Memory

The relatively permanent storage of information for extended periods.
Ex: Remembering your first pet’s name years later.

Multi-Store Model

A theory that memory consists of sensory, short-term, and long-term stores.
Ex: First seeing a name (sensory memory), repeating it (short-term), and recalling it later (long-term).

Sensory Memory

The immediate, brief storage of sensory information.
Ex: Quickly noticing the details of a billboard you just passed.

Iconic Memory

A brief visual sensory memory lasting less than a second.
Ex: Glancing at a picture and remembering its details for a moment.

Echoic Memory

A brief auditory sensory memory lasting a few seconds.
Ex: Hearing someone’s name and recalling it just after they’ve introduced themselves.

Short-Term Memory

A temporary memory store with limited capacity.
Ex: Remembering a list of groceries long enough to write them down.

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information like time or frequency.
Ex: Noticing how many times you’ve run into a classmate today without trying to track it.

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires attention and deliberate effort.
Ex: Studying flashcards to memorize definitions for a test.

Levels of Processing Model

The depth of processing affects how well information is remembered.
Ex: Remembering words better when thinking about their meaning instead of their sound.

Structural Encoding

Processing information based on its physical appearance.
Ex: Remembering if a word was written in uppercase or lowercase letters.

Phonemic Encoding

Processing information based on sound.
Ex: Memorizing a rhyme like "cat and hat."

Semantic Encoding

Processing information based on its meaning.
Ex: Remembering "apple" because you associate it with food and health.

Mnemonic Devices

Techniques that aid memory by using associations or imagery.
Ex: Using "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" to remember the notes of a music staff.

Method of Loci

A memory technique that uses familiar locations to organize information.
Ex: Associating parts of a speech with rooms in your house for easier recall.

Chunking

Grouping information into smaller, manageable units for easier recall.
Ex: Remembering a phone number as "555-123-4567" instead of ten separate digits.

Categories

Grouping similar items together for organization.
Ex: Organizing animals by "mammals," "birds," and "reptiles."

Hierarchies

Organizing information into levels for better understanding.
Ex: Classifying living organisms by kingdom, phylum, class, and spec

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to recall the first and last items in a list better than the middle items.
Ex: Remembering the first and last items on a grocery list but forgetting the ones in between.

Primacy Effect

Better recall for items at the beginning of a list due to rehearsal.
Ex: Recalling the first few names on an attendance sheet after reading it.

Recency Effect

Better recall for the most recent items in a list.
Ex: Remembering the last few items you added to your shopping list.

Spacing Effect

Information is better retained when study sessions are spaced out over time.
Ex: Studying vocabulary words for 30 minutes daily instead of cramming for three hours.

Massed Practice

Cramming information in a short period, which often leads to poor retention.
Ex: Studying all night before an exam but forgetting most of it afterward.

Distributed Practice

Spreading out study sessions over time for better retention.
Ex: Reviewing class notes every evening rather than once before the test.

Mood-Congruent Memory

The tendency to recall memories consistent with your current mood.
Ex: Feeling sad and recalling other times you were upset.

State-Dependent Memory

Better recall when in the same physical or emotional state as when learning.
Ex: Remembering a fact learned while drinking coffee only when you have coffee again.

Testing Effect

Improved memory after retrieving information rather than just reading it.
Ex: Taking practice quizzes to prepare for a test instead of rereading notes.

Metacognition

Thinking about your own thought processes and strategies.
Ex: Realizing you understand concepts better by teaching them to others.

Forgetting Curve

The decline of memory retention over time if not reviewed.
Ex: Forgetting most of what you learned in a lecture within days without review.

Encoding Failure

Failure to process information into memory.
Ex: Not remembering a penny’s exact design because you never paid attention to it.

Proactive Interference

Old information disrupts the recall of new information.
Ex: Calling your new pet by your old pet’s name.

Retroactive Interference

New information disrupts the recall of old information.
Ex: Forgetting your old address after learning a new one.

Inadequate Retrieval

Failure to recall information due to lack of proper cues.
Ex: Not remembering someone’s name until you hear it in a conversation.

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

The feeling of knowing information but being unable to retrieve it.
Ex: Struggling to remember a familiar actor’s name while watching their movie.

Source Amnesia

Forgetting where or how you learned something while remembering the information.
Ex: Recalling a fact but not remembering whether you read it in a book or heard it on TV.

Constructive Memory

Building memories using existing knowledge, which can lead to errors.
Ex: Remembering a conversation but adding details that didn’t happen.

Memory Consolidation

The process of stabilizing a memory after it is initially encoded.
Ex: Sleeping after studying to help retain the information better.

Imagination Inflation

Creating false memories by imagining events repeatedly.
Ex: Believing you visited a place after repeatedly imagining it based on stories.

Retrograde Amnesia

The inability to recall past memories due to brain injury or trauma.
Ex: Forgetting your childhood after a car accident.

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to form new memories after brain injury or trauma.
Ex: Not remembering someone you met after a surgery.

Alzheimer’s Disease

A progressive neurodegenerative disorder causing memory loss and cognitive decline.
Ex: Forgetting close family members or common routines.

Infantile Amnesia

The inability of adults to recall memories from early childhood.
Ex: Not remembering events from when you were two years o

Recall

Retrieving information without cues.
Ex: Answering an open-ended test question.

Recognition

Identifying previously learned information from choices.
Ex: Picking the right answer in a multiple-choice question.

Retrieval Cues

Hints that help access stored memories.
Ex: Hearing a song that reminds you of a specific vacation.

Context-Dependent Memory

Better recall when in the same environment as learning.
Ex: Remembering details of a lecture better when sitting in the same classroom.

Mood-Congruent Memory

Recalling memories that match your current mood.
Ex: Feeling sad and remembering other sad events.

State-Dependent Memory

Better recall when in the same physical state as learning.
Ex: Learning something while tired and recalling it better when tired again.

Testing Effect

Improved memory after retrieving information during testing.
Ex: Taking practice quizzes to remember material better for an exam.

Metacognition

Awareness and understanding of one’s thinking processes.
Ex: Realizing you need to reread a chapter to fully understand it.

Forgetting Curve

Memory declines rapidly at first, then stabilizes.
Ex: Forgetting most of a lecture within a day but remembering the rest weeks later.

Encoding Failure

Information never properly stored in memory.
Ex: Forgetting details of a penny because you never paid close attention.

Proactive Interference

Old information hinders new learning.
Ex: Struggling to remember your new phone number because of your old one.

Retroactive Interference

New information disrupts recall of old information.
Ex: Forgetting your old address after learning your new one.

Inadequate Retrieval

Failure to access stored memories.
Ex: Forgetting an answer during a test but remembering it later.

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

Being unable to recall something but feeling close.
Ex: Struggling to remember someone’s name but knowing it starts with “J.”

Psychodynamic

Freud's theory of unconscious influences on memory and behavior.
Ex: Repressing traumatic memories to avoid distress.

Ego

Freud’s concept of the rational part of personality balancing desires and reality.
Ex: Wanting to eat cake but choosing fruit for health reasons.

Repression

Blocking distressing memories from conscious awareness.
Ex: Forgetting details of a traumatic event.

Misinformation Effect

False memories due to misleading information.
Ex: Witnesses recalling incorrect details after being fed suggestive questions.

Source Amnesia

Forgetting where or how information was learned.
Ex: Knowing a fact but forgetting you heard it from a friend.

Constructive Memory

Memories influenced by imagination and expectations.
Ex: Remembering a friend’s birthday party with details that didn’t happen.

Memory Consolidation

Strengthening memories for long-term storage.
Ex: Reviewing material after class helps solidify learning.

Imagination Inflation

False memories created by imagining events.
Ex: Believing you met a celebrity after imagining it multiple tim