Unit 2: Cognition

Unit Two of AP Psychology; Cognition

Bottom-Up Processing

an analysis of the stimulus begins with the sense receptors and works up to the level of the brain and mind

Top-Down Processing

information guided by higher-level mental processes as we construct perceptions, drawing on our experience and expectations

Cocktail Party Effect

your ability to attend to only one voice while also being able to hear your name from across the room

Gestalt Psychology

theory of perception that emphasizes the processing of entire patterns and configurations, and not merely individual components

Figure-Ground

organization of visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

Grouping

perceptual tendency to organize into meaningful groups (continuity, closure, proximity, etc)

Closure

Continuity

Proximity

Binocular Cues

two eyes help perception of depth

Retinal Disparity

binocular cue for depth perception; brain calculates image by comparing images from both sets of eyes

Monocular Cues

linear perspective; relative size, motion and height

Color Constancy

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Size Constancy

perception of objects as having constant size when distant from them varies

Perceptual Adaptation

ability to adjust to an artificially displace or even inverted visual field

Phi Phenonmenon

illusion of movement that arises when stationary objects are placed side by side and illuminated rapidly one after another

Motion Parallax

objects moving at a constant speed across frame will appear to move a greater amount if they are closer to an observer/camera than they would at a greater distance

schema

cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information

concept

a mental representation of objects and categories

formal concept

concept with characteristics defined by clear rules

natural concept

a concept without clearly defined characteristics

prototype

a mental image or “best example” of a concept; has all the most typical features of an item within an overarching concept

assimilate

the process of integrating new information, experiences, or ideas into an individual’s existing cognitive structure or schemas (ex: child fits pug and corgi into the same category: dogs)

accommodate

the process of adjusting existing mental structures, or schemas, to fit new information or experiences

algorithm

methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem; a step-by-step procedure

heuristic

simple thinking strategy that often allow us to make judgments and solve problems quick and efficiently

representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent or match, particular prototypes or past experiences

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory

convergent thinking

type of thinking in which the number of possible solutions is narrowed down to the single best solution (ex: pros and cons)

divergent thinking

type of thinking in which the number of possible solutions is expanded to include multiple feasible solutions (ex: game strategy)

perceptual set

a tendency to view things only in a certain way; people tend to see things the way we expect them to be

fixation

inability to see a problem from a new perspective; impediment to problem solving

mental set

tendency to approach a problem in a particular way; especially a way that has been successful previously successful

functional fixedness

tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving

framing

a way an issue/problem is posed; bias undetected in question

sunk-cost fallacy

phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial

gambler’s fallacy

an individual erroneously believes that a certain random event is less likely or more likely to happen based on the outcome of a previous event or series of events

encoding

gets information into our brain

storage

retention of information

retrieval

getting the information back out

long-term memory

area of storage for retrieval; infinite capacity

short-term memory

encode information through rehearsal; limited capacity

priming

the activation of particular associations in a memory

iconic memory

a brief sensory of visual stimuli

echoic memory

a brief sensory memory of auditory stimuli

explicit memory

type of memory controlled consciously, intentionally, and flexibly