Chapter 2 AP psychology

AP psychology

bottom up

starts by noticing individual elements an then zooms out to appreciate the whole picture, external sensory information

inductive reasoning

bottom up, an approach to logical thinking that begins with specific details or observations and forms broad perceptions or generalizations

bottom up

the way people with only rudimentary knowledge of a different language try to undstrand the meaning of a message by picking. out words they understand and piecing it together

top down

guided by our thoughts and higher-level mental processes-we move from the general concept to the specific example, looking at the whole big picture and trying to find patterns to make meaning, internal sensory information

deductive reasoning

top down, an approach to logical thinking that begins with a general idea, such as a hypothesis and then develop specific evidence to support or refute it

schemas

the mental frameworks or structures that helps us organize and interpret information about the world (associations)

schemas

a child calling all females “mom” and all males “dad”

perceptual set

top down, refers to our disposition to perceive one aspect of a thing and not another, creates expectation and influences how we experience a stimuli

perceptual set

someone who likes art noticing patterns and colors and compositions in everyday object and scenes others may miss

context, experience, cultural expectations, motivation

external factors that filter perception of the world

Context

using our surroundings to make judgement about what were perceiving

context

seeing an object in the ocean and assuming its a boat

experience

your past experiences give you knowledge to make judgements about what you’re perceiving

experience

meeting someone and knowing to shake their hand

cultural expectations

not all cultures perceive the same stimuli in the same way, culture directs our attention and tells us what is important to notice and what is funny or offensive, and can shape our experiences

cultural expectations

staring can be good or bad

motivation

what is currently motivation us is what were more likely to perceive

motivation

if you’re thirsty, you’re more likely to notice water before anything else

Gestalt psychology

the study of the brains tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes, this perception or interpretation of the external world is done in predictable ways

figure

what is focused on

ground

the blurry background, which is likely to be ignored

ambiguous figures

viewers can see both images, but not at the same time. They need an attention shift to go back and forth. Shows how our brains are followed when examining external reality

proximity

we see three sets of parallel lines rather than six unrelated lines because of the nearness, or proximity of the pairs of lines

Similarity

we note two columns of triangles and a column of circles rather than three columns of shapes because we group similar items/that share characteristics

closure

we see a triangle rather than a species of broken lines in the form of what could be an unfinished triangle because we fill in the missing pieces to form a whole

attention

an interaction of sensation and perception affected by both internal and external processes. When we pay _____ our brains must ignore all the other stimuli that are occurring at the same time

cocktail party effect

we have been “primed” to hear our name, having responded to it for many years. The stimulus of our name immediately demands our attention and produce the effect

selective attention

competing between two or more automatic processes, the inhibition of the easier perceptual process

attention blindness

when our focus is directed at one visual stimulus (selective attention), leaving us blind to other stimuli

change blindness

when change to the environment are not perceived due to inattention

convergence, retinal disparity

binocular depth cues

convergence

the closer the object is, the more your eves turn inwards (converge)

convergence

the relative muscle tension/pressure tells us the distance something is from us

retenial disparity

the further an object is, the more similar an image your eyes give

differently

each eye perceives the world ____:

monocular depth cues

cues that give the illusion of depth on flat or two dimensional surfaces

binocular depth cues

use both eyes to create a 3-d version of the world

relative clarity

the closer sometime is, the clearer the image

texture gradient

the fine detail, texture of the surfaces is more prominent the closer it is to you

Interposition

if an object is obscured by another object, you know that object that is blocking the other one is closer to you

relative size

the closer something is to you the bigger it is (or at least appears)

linear perspective

you notice how close lines are, a point where they’re closer together is farther away from a point where the lines are farther apart

distance, light, angle

the brains ability to perceive an object s having a consistent shape, size, color, etc. despite changes in the sensory information we receive from the eyes due to variation in ________ allows us to have a consistent accurate perception of the object

apparent movement

can be visually perceived even when objects are not actually moving

stroboscopic movement

the illusion of movement created from seeing static image in quick succession

concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people that help us organize information

schemas

you collect concepts together to create:

assimilation, accommodation

2 ways schemas are modified:

assimilation

just add the new information into an existing schema or concept

accommodation

requires a change in a concept or schema

prototype

ideal or most typical example of the concept (benchmark)

Creativity

a way of thinking that includes generation novel ideas and engaging in divergent thinking

functional fixedness

creativity is hindered by:

convergent thinking

the cognitive process of narrowing down solutions (single solution)

divergent thinking

the cognitive process of trying to find multiple solutions to an issue

functional fixedness

the inability to see objects other than their usual function

Algorithms

systematic step by step approach tot est all possible solutions and guarantees the right answer

heuristics

mental short cut we use to quickly make a decision or solve a problem

representative heuristic

we make a judgement based on the “normal” or “prototype” answer to the issue, leads to STEREOTYPES

availiabity heuristic

we make a judgement based on the most vivid example

mental set

the tendency to approach a problem based on previous, successful solutions. Often do not notice subtle differences

framing

how information is presented impacts the decision you make (95% effective vs. 5% not effective)

priming

you make a decision influenced by exposure to a prior stimulus (often unconscious)

mental set, framing, priming

all obstacles to decision making

gamblers fallacy

the mistaken belief that a series of independent events impact a subsequent event

sunk cost fallacy

you continue to invest time, money, and effort into something even when it is clearly “not working”. Even if the events have changed and even if it stops benefitting that person

executive functions

the mental processes that help us plan, execute, and focus on tasks

working memory

the ability to temporarily hold in your memory information needed to do a task

cognitive flexibility

the ability to switch between approaches and strategies to complete a task (be able to adapt)

inhibition control

the ability to stay focused

working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibition control

types of executive functions

explicit, implicit

long term memory consists of:

explicit

somatic, episodic, prospective memory

explicit

memories you have to consciously recall

Sematic

remembering facts and concepts

episodic

remembering your own experiences

prospective

remembering stuff you need to do

implicit

procedural, primed, classical conditioning

implicit

do not need to actively remembering in order to remember

procedural

recalling how to do things (muscle memory)

priming

primed to without effort recall something

priming

seeing a red car and remembering when your dog got hit with a red car

classical conditioning

association between things that you are not necessarily aware of

classical conditioning

sweating and being scared at the dentists because last time you were there you got a tooth pulled and it hurt

long term potentiation

strong synaptic connections = easier recall, the more exposure the stronger the synaptic connections

multi store

sees short term memory as nothing more than a bin

working memory

says the short term memory/working memory creates and manipulates information and memories

multi store

linear model of memory, memories must go through each stage

visuospatial sketchpad

responsible for processing visual and spatial information and navigation

phonological loop

temporary store for auditory info

phonological store

(inner ear) which holds auditory info in a speech based form for a brief period

articulatory control process

(inner voice) involved in the rehearsal of verbal info

episodic buffer

integrates from long term, phonological loop, and visual spatial sketchpad

slave functions

phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer

central executive

deices where you put your attention

Sematic

meaning

structural process

seeing stuff

hoenemic

hearing stuff

mnemonic devices

a system of linking things you want to remember to things that are more easily remembered

memory palace

using a visual space with which you are very familiar with, an as you travel through this space you “place” the things you want to remember along your route