Stuff I Don't Know

Eustress

a positive, short-term form of stress that challenges, motivates, and improves performance

Semicircular Canals

three interconnected, fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear—the anterior, posterior, and lateral canals—that act as motion sensors for rotational balance

Top-Down Processing

Using prior knowledge and expectations to interpret a stimulus

Bottom-Up Processing

The brain uses raw sensory data (sight, feel, sound) to interpret a stimulus

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts to make decisions

Sensorimotor

development of object permanence and basic problem-solving skills

Preoperational

Emergence of symbolic thinking and egocentrism

Concrete Operational Stage

Development of logical thinking, conservation, and reversibility

Formal Operational Stage

The ability to think abstractly, reason hypothetically, and consider multiple perspectives

Accommodation

the cognitive process by which individuals adjust their existing mental frameworks (schemas) to incorporate new experiences or information that do not fit into their current understanding

Hindsight Bias

the tendency to see events as having been predictable after they have already occurred. This cognitive bias can lead individuals to believe that they could have predicted the outcome of an event, thus influencing their perception of prior knowledge and judgment.