Political Psychology: Information Processing I

Vocabulary flashcards covering memory structures, rational choice models, heuristics, prospect theory, framing effects, and schemas from Political Psychology Week 2.

Working Memory

The component of cognitive architecture responsible for conscious information processing, characterized by limited capacity.

Long-Term Memory

The storage system from which information can be retrieved if it remains available and accessible over time.

Associative Network Model

A model of long-term memory organization where cognitive concepts are represented as nodes connected by associative links.

Spreading Activation

The process within an associative network model where activating one node triggers or primes connected concept nodes.

Procedural Rationality

A foundational assumption in rational choice theory requiring decision-makers to possess complete and transitive preferences.

Bayesian Updating

A normative rule for unbiased information processing that updates prior beliefs given new evidence using the formula $P(A|B) = \frac{P(A) \times P(B|A)}{P(A) \times P(B|A) + P(\neg A) \times P(B|\neg A)}$.

Bounded Rationality

A concept introduced by Herbert Simon (1955) asserting that human decision-making is constrained by limited cognitive capacity, incomplete information, and time limits.

Satisficing

A decision-making strategy under bounded rationality in which individuals select an option that meets a minimum acceptable threshold rather than seeking the optimal solution.

Heuristics

Cognitive shortcuts or rules of thumb that enable people to make decisions quickly and efficiently under uncertainty.

Availability Heuristic

A cognitive shortcut (Tversky and Kahneman 1974) where people estimate the frequency or probability of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.

Representativeness Heuristic

A cognitive shortcut (Tversky and Kahneman 1974) where probability or category membership is judged by how closely an object resembles a typical prototype.

Anchor and Adjustment Heuristic

A decision heuristic (Tversky and Kahneman 1974) in which individuals start with an initial reference value (anchor) and adjust insufficiently from it.

Fluency Heuristic

A heuristic (Begg et al. 1992) where statements or options processed with greater ease are judged as more accurate or true.

Familiarity Heuristic

A cognitive shortcut (Unkelbach 2007) where familiar stimuli or statements are judged more favorably or accepted as true.

Negativity Bias

The psychological phenomenon (Baumeister et al. 2001) where negative information, events, or experiences exert a stronger cognitive effect than positive ones.

Prospect Theory

A behavioral economic framework (Kahneman and Tversky 1979) proposing that decision-makers evaluate utility in terms of relative gains and losses rather than net asset levels.

Loss Aversion

A core feature of prospect theory stating that the pain of a loss causes a greater drop in utility than the pleasure derived from an equivalent gain.

Endowment Effect

A behavioral phenomenon where individuals value a good or asset more highly simply because they already possess it.

Reference Point

A baseline in prospect theory used to evaluate outcomes, determining whether an outcome is perceived as a gain or a loss and influencing risk aversion or risk seeking.

Status Quo Bias

An asymmetry in decision-making favored by loss aversion (Levy 1997) where individuals prefer the current state of affairs over potential changes.

Equivalence Framing

Presenting logically equivalent information in different ways (such as '10% success' versus '90% failure') to alter psychological response.

Emphasis Framing

Highlighting specific substantive considerations or aspects of an issue (e.g., free speech versus public safety) to guide evaluation and judgment.

Schema

A cognitive structure that organizes concepts, their attributes, and associated beliefs to aid in categorizing stimuli and interpreting information.

Theory-Driven Perception

An information processing bias where pre-existing schemas dictate attention and interpretation, leading individuals to select schema-consistent information and ignore conflicting data.