Finals Hot Sauce

Top-Down Attention

Attention that is allocated effortfully and consciously based on our current goals or prior knowledge

Bottom-Up Attention

Attention that is allocated effortlessly and automatically to salient stimuli in the environment

Selective Attention (Focused Attention)

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus while ignoring others

Change Blindness

Failing to notice changes in the environment

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Inattentional Deafness

Failing to hear an auditory message when attention is elsewhere

Task Switching

A rapid shifting of attention from one task to another and back again

Attentional Blink

A brief period after perceiving a stimulus, during which it is difficult to attend to another stimulus

The Alert Network

Responsible for achieving and maintaining a state of readiness

The Orienting Network

Responsible for selecting information from an input and directing focus in the direction of the stimulus/location

The Executive Control Network

Responsible for resolving conflict between responses, error detection, and cognitive control.

ADHD: Innatentive

A behavior disorder based in developmentally inappropriate ability for attention - symptoms include lack of detail attention, difficulty sustaining attention, difficulty following instructions, avoiding difficult tasks, etc

ADHD: Hyperactive

A behavior disorder based in developmentally inappropriate ability for attention - symptoms include fidgeting, inability to sit still, unable to be quiet, difficulty waiting, etc...

Attention

Focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events

Divided Attention (Multitasking)

Attempting to concentrate on more than one activity at the same time

Attrition Rate

Dropout rate; loss of subjects before the study is completed; threat of mortality

the crowd-emotion-amplification effect

individuals tend to focus on the faces that exhibit the most extreme emotions, leading them to overestimate the crowd's emotional state

Attention Restoration Theory

People can concentrate better after spending time in nature, or even just looking at scenes of nature.

Flanker Task

An experiment in which participants may be influenced by an irrelevant stimulus beside the target stimulus

Dopamine & Attention

It is found that people who have a hard time focusing have less of the receptors for this neurotransmitter, associated with the reward pathway in the brain.

Dopamine Genes

DRD4 and DAT1 (linked to ADHD risk)

Anchoring bias

The heavy reliance on the first piece of information we intake, or the anchor, when we make decisions

Classical Conditioning

Happens when a response produced naturally by a stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus not normally associated with that particular response.

Cognitive load theory (CLT)

proposes that working memory has a limited capability for processing new information

Confirmation bias

The heavy focus on information that aligns with our beliefs, and the discount of information that does not

System 1 in the dual processing model

Quick, intuitive, automatic, emotional, requires minimal effort, and influenced by biases/associations.

System 2 in the dual processing model

purposeful, requires calculation, and uses proper reasoning to come to sensical decisions.

Operant Conditioning

States that any action with a pleasurable outcome will be repeated.

Social Identity Theory (SIT)

explains that people categorize themselves and others into groups (e.g., "us" vs. "them"), and belonging to a valued group, such as a friend group or community, can enhance self-esteem. This sense of belonging fosters pride and self-worth, making our connections with peers critical to our overall self-concept.

Social Learning Theory

Individuals adopt behaviors from a new culture by observing and imitating members of the host culture, influenced by perceived rewards and social acceptance.

Cognitive Dissonance

The mental discomfort or tension we feel when our thoughts, beliefs, or actions don’t match."changing their beliefs to relieve the stress of being wrong"

Cupboard Theory

Freud (1940) believed that the bond between a mother and child is formed because the baby needs nourishment, which it receives from the mother. Since the mother provides this, a bond is formed.

attachment theory

Attachment theory, established by John Bowlby, posits that the critical period to form secure attachments is between birth and two to three years.

theory of mind

ToM is the ability to attribute mental states, such as beliefs and desires, to oneself and others.

Stage Theory

suggest cognitive development happens in distinct, qualitative stages. Children move through these specific stages in a fixed order, and must complete one stage before moving to the next.

Continuous Theory

argue that skills build steadily over time without sudden leaps; development is more like a smooth increase in ability or knowledge over time. Not everyone experiences development the same way.

Theory of delayed cognitive development

The idea that poor nutrition delays development rather than causing permanent damage.