AP Psychology Unit 2: Cognition

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to give it meaning.

Bottom-up processing

Processing that starts with raw sensory data and builds up to a perception without prior knowledge guiding it.

Top-down processing

Processing that uses prior knowledge, expectations, and context to interpret sensory information.

Schema

A mental framework or organized pattern of knowledge that helps interpret and organize new information.

Perceptual set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another based on expectations or context.

Gestalt approach

A psychological perspective that emphasizes how the brain organizes sensory elements into unified wholes rather than separate parts.

Proximity

The Gestalt principle that objects close together tend to be perceived as belonging to the same group.

Similarity

The Gestalt principle that objects that look alike tend to be perceived as part of the same group.

Symmetry

The Gestalt principle that symmetrical elements tend to be perceived as belonging together as a unified whole.

Continuity

The Gestalt principle that the brain tends to perceive smooth continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones.

Closure

The Gestalt principle that the brain fills in gaps to perceive incomplete figures as complete wholes.

Law of Prägnanz

The Gestalt principle that people tend to perceive the simplest and most stable interpretation of an ambiguous image.

Feature detector approach

The theory that specialized neurons in the visual cortex respond to specific features of stimuli such as edges angles and movement.

Selective attention

The ability to focus conscious awareness on a particular stimulus while filtering out other stimuli.

Attentional resource theories

Theories proposing that attention is a limited resource that must be allocated among competing tasks.

Filter theories

Theories of attention proposing that the brain filters out irrelevant information before it is fully processed.

Cocktail party phenomenon

The ability to focus on one conversation in a noisy environment while still noticing your own name spoken elsewhere.

Shadowing

An attention research technique in which a participant repeats aloud a message heard in one ear while ignoring the other ear.

Divided attention

The ability to process two or more tasks simultaneously by splitting attentional resources between them.

Change blindness

The failure to notice changes in a visual scene when the change occurs during a brief interruption.

Binocular depth cues

Depth perception cues that require the use of both eyes together.

Retinal disparity

A binocular depth cue based on the slightly different images each eye receives due to their different positions.

Retinal convergence

A binocular depth cue based on the degree to which the eyes turn inward when focusing on a nearby object.

Visual perception

The process of interpreting and making sense of visual information received by the eyes.

Visual cliff

An experimental apparatus used to test depth perception in infants and animals by creating the illusion of a sudden drop.

Monocular depth cues

Depth perception cues that require only one eye and are used in two-dimensional representations.

Relative size

A monocular depth cue in which smaller objects are perceived as farther away than larger objects of the same type.

Texture gradient

A monocular depth cue in which the texture of a surface appears finer and less detailed as distance increases.

Interposition

A monocular depth cue in which an object that partially blocks another is perceived as closer.

Linear perspective

A monocular depth cue in which parallel lines appear to converge as they recede into the distance.

Vanishing point

The point in a scene where parallel lines appear to meet in the distance.

Relative clarity

A monocular depth cue in which hazy objects are perceived as farther away than sharply defined objects.

Constancy

The tendency to perceive objects as stable and unchanged despite changes in sensory input such as lighting or viewing angle.

Motion detection

The perceptual ability to identify and track moving objects in the visual field.

Apparent movement

The perception of movement when no actual movement occurs such as in a flipbook or neon signs.

Prototype

The most typical or representative example of a category used to quickly classify new instances.

Superordinate concept

The broadest and most general level of a concept hierarchy such as animal.

Basic concept

The intermediate level of a concept hierarchy that is most commonly used in everyday thinking such as dog.

Subordinate concept

The most specific level of a concept hierarchy such as golden retriever.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that allow quick judgments and decisions without exhaustive analysis.

Availability heuristic

A mental shortcut in which the likelihood of an event is judged based on how easily examples come to mind.

Representative heuristic

A mental shortcut in which the likelihood of something is judged based on how closely it resembles a typical example.

Algorithms

Step-by-step problem-solving procedures that guarantee a correct solution if followed precisely.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to search for interpret and remember information in a way that confirms one's existing beliefs.

Hindsight bias

The tendency to believe after learning an outcome that one would have predicted it beforehand.

Belief perseverance

The tendency to maintain a belief even when presented with evidence that contradicts it.

Framing

The way information is presented which can influence decisions and judgments even when the underlying facts are the same.

Mental set

The tendency to approach problems using strategies that have worked in the past even when they are no longer appropriate.

Gambler's fallacy

The mistaken belief that past random events affect the probability of future random events.

Sunk cost fallacy

The tendency to continue investing in something because of past investment even when continuing is not rational.

Executive functions

Higher-order cognitive processes including planning decision-making and impulse control managed primarily by the frontal lobe.

Divergent thinking

A type of creative thinking that generates many possible solutions or ideas from a single starting point.

Convergent thinking

A type of thinking that narrows down multiple possibilities to find the single best or correct solution.

Creativity

The ability to produce ideas or solutions that are both novel and useful.

Explicit memory

Conscious intentional memory for facts and experiences that can be verbally stated.

Episodic memory

A type of explicit memory for personally experienced events and autobiographical information.

Semantic memory

A type of explicit memory for general world knowledge facts and concepts not tied to personal experience.

Implicit memory

Unconscious memory that influences behavior without deliberate recollection including skills and habits.

Procedural memory

A type of implicit memory for how to perform skills and procedures such as riding a bike.

Prospective memory

Memory for planned future actions such as remembering to take medication at a certain time.

Long-term potentiation

The strengthening of synaptic connections through repeated activation believed to be the neural basis of learning and memory.

Working memory

A limited capacity system that temporarily holds and manipulates information for use in ongoing cognitive tasks.

Sensory memory

The very brief initial stage of memory that holds sensory information for a fraction of a second before it is processed or lost.

Iconic

A type of sensory memory that holds visual information for a very brief period typically less than a second.

Echoic

A type of sensory memory that holds auditory information for a few seconds after the sound has ended.

Visual persistence

The brief continuation of a visual image in sensory memory after the stimulus has been removed.

Semantically encoded

Information that is encoded based on its meaning which leads to deeper and more durable memory traces.

Visually encoded

Information that is encoded based on its appearance or visual characteristics.

Acoustically encoded

Information that is encoded based on its sound which is common in short-term memory.

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires conscious attention and deliberate effort such as studying for a test.

Automatic processing

Encoding that occurs without conscious effort or attention such as remembering what you ate for breakfast.

Levels of processing model

The theory that memory durability depends on the depth of processing with semantic processing producing stronger memories than shallow processing.

Recognition memory

The ability to identify previously encountered information when presented with it again.

Recall memory

The ability to retrieve previously learned information without being given a specific cue.

Mnemonic device

A memory aid that uses associations imagery or patterns to improve encoding and retrieval.

Dual-coding hypothesis

The theory that memory is enhanced when information is encoded both verbally and visually.

Method of loci

A mnemonic technique that involves associating items to be remembered with specific locations along a familiar mental path.

Self-reference effect

The tendency to better remember information that is related to oneself compared to unrelated information.

Chunking

The process of grouping individual pieces of information into larger meaningful units to improve working memory capacity.

Spacing effect

The finding that information is better retained when studying is spread out over time rather than massed into one session.

Distributed practice

A study strategy in which practice or study sessions are spread out over time taking advantage of the spacing effect.

Massed practice

A study strategy in which all practice or studying is concentrated into one session often less effective than distributed practice.

Testing effect

The finding that retrieving information from memory during practice tests enhances long-term retention more than restudying.

Metacognition

Thinking about one's own thinking including awareness and regulation of one's own cognitive processes.

Primacy effect

The tendency to better remember items presented at the beginning of a list due to greater rehearsal opportunity.

Recency effect

The tendency to better remember items presented at the end of a list due to their presence in working memory.

Serial position effect

The combined finding that items at the beginning and end of a list are better remembered than items in the middle.

Maintenance rehearsal

Repeating information over and over to keep it in working memory without necessarily encoding it deeply into long-term memory.

Elaborative rehearsal

Linking new information to existing knowledge or giving it meaning to encode it more deeply into long-term memory.

Context-dependent memory

The finding that memory is better when the retrieval environment matches the environment in which the information was encoded.

State-dependent memory

The finding that memory is better when one's internal state during retrieval matches the state during encoding.

Mood-congruent memory

The tendency to recall information that is consistent with one's current emotional state.

Encoded

The process by which information is transformed into a form that can be stored in memory.

Decay

The fading of a memory trace over time due to disuse.

Interference

The disruption of memory retrieval caused by other learned information competing with the target memory.

Retroactive interference

When newly learned information disrupts the recall of previously learned information.

Proactive interference

When previously learned information disrupts the recall of newly learned information.

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

The experience of being unable to retrieve a word or name while feeling certain that the memory exists.

Memory reconstruction

The process by which memories are actively rebuilt during retrieval and can be altered by subsequent information.

Source confusion

Misattributing the origin of a memory such as confusing where or from whom information was learned.