AP Psychology - Unit 2 (Cognition)

Hierarchies (as they pertain to grouping)

• a system where individuals or concepts are organized into ranked levels, essentially creating a structured order based on specific criteria

• often used to explain how information is categorized and processed in the brain

Categories (as they pertain to grouping)

• cognitive process of mentally sorting and organizing stimuli (objects, ideas, or events) into distinct groups based on shared characteristics

• allows us to understand and interpret information more efficiently

Elaborative Rehearsal

• memory strategy where new information is actively linked to existing knowledge, creating a deeper level of processing and enhancing the likelihood of long-term retention and recall

Maintenance Rehearsal

• process of repeatedly saying or thinking about a piece of information to keep it active in your short-term memory

• shallow level of processing

Recency Effect

• tendency for people to remember the most recently presented information or items in a sequence better than those presented earlier

Cognition

• process involving thought and knowledge

Bottom-Up Processing

• analysis begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information

Schema

• a collection of basic knowledge about a concept or entity that serves as a guide to perception, interpretation, imagination, or problem solving

Gestalt Psychology

• movement in Psychology

• we perceive objects as well-organized patterns rather than separate components

• based on the concepts of “grouping”

  • proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, connectedness, figure/ground relationships

Law of Closure

• people tend to fill in blanks to perceive a complete object whenever an external stimuli partially matches that object

Figure/Ground Relationships

• the ability of our brain to distinguish an object or figure from its background

Law of Proximity

• principle that objects that are closer together are perceived as more related than objects that are farther apart

Selective Attention

• process of reacting to certain stimuli selectively when several occur simultaneously

Cocktail Party Effect

• the ability to focus on a single sound while filtering out other distracting sounds

Inattentional Blindness

• occurs when someone fails to notice an unexpected object or event that is in plain sight

Change Blindness

• occurs when a person doesn’t notice a change in a visual stimulus

Binocular Depth Cues

• rely on the coordinated effort of both eyes to perceive depth

• slight differences in the images projected onto each retina

Retinal Disparity

• slight difference between right + left retinal images

• different positions of the eyes produces a disparity of visual angle

• provides an important cue to depth perception

Convergence

• the rotation of the 2 eyes inward toward an object so that the image falls on corresponding points on the foveas

Texture Gradient

• idea that the details of an object become less apparent as it moves farther away

Memory Consolidation

• process of the brain transforming short-term memories into more stable, long lasting memories

• strengthens + stabilizes newly encoded information

• involves neural changes in the brain over time (typically the hippocampus)

Apparent Movement

• the perception of continuous movement when there is none

Prototypes

• mental representation of idealized form of an object or concept

3 Levels of Processing

Shallowest:

• Structural → visual appearance

• Phonemic → sound

• Semantic → meaning

Deepest:

Law of Effect

• responses that produce a satisfying effect after a particular stimulus are likely to occur again (and opposite)

Split-Half Reliability

• measure of reliability in which a test is split into 2 parts and scores on both halves are compared

Construct Validity

• how well a test or tool measures the construct that it was designed to measure

Test-Retest Reliability

• the degree to which test results are consistent over time when the same participants take the same test at different times

Repression (Psychodynamic)

• defense mechanism where an individual unconsciously pushes distressing thoughts, memories, or emotions out of conscious awareness

• happens automatically without conscious awareness

• buries them to avoid emotional pain and anxiety

Constructive Memory

• idea that when we recall a memory, our brain actively reconstructs it by incorporating new information, perceptions, beliefs, and expectations

Misinformation Effect

• when a person’s memory of an event is altered or distorted after being exposed to misleading information about that event

Levels of Processing Model

• cognitive psychology theory that describes how the depth of mental processing affects how well information is remembered

• shallow processing + deep processing

Law of Similarity

• principle that describes how the brain organizes visual information by grouping similar elements together

Perceptual Set

• cognitive bias that influences how people perceive and interpret sensory information based on their expectations, past experiences, and other factors

Monocular Depth Cues

• visual cues that allow people to perceive depth and distance using only one eye

Relative Clarity

• idea that objects farther away appear hazier and less sharp than closer objects

Relative Size

• help us perceive how far away objects are based on their size in relation to other objects

Multi-Store Model

• theory that describes how the information is stored and processed in the human mind

• proposes that memory is made up of 3 separate systems

Linear Perspective

• visual perception where parallel lines appear to converge in the distance, creating the illusion of depth, and only requiring one eye to perceive it

Interposition

• helps people perceive depth by using the positioning of objects in a scene

Algorithms

• problem solving strategy for decision making

Heuristics

• mental shortcut that allows an individual to make a decision, pass judgement, or solve a problem quickly (from past experience)

  • Availability

  • Representativeness

Mental Set

• the brain’s tendency to stick with the most familiar solution to a problem and ignore alternatives

Priming

• when an individual’s exposure to a certain stimulus influences their response to a subsequent prompt, without awareness

  • “pepper” → “salt and pepper”

Framing

• cognitive bias that describes how the presentation of information influences a person’s decisions

Gambler’s Fallacy

• cognitive bias in which someone believes that the probability of an event changes based on a series of previous events

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

• cognitive bias that describes the tendency to continue to endeavor despite the current costs outweighing the benefits

Divergent Thinking

• thought process that involves generating multiple ideas or solutions to a problem

Convergent Thinking

• cognitive process that involves analyzing information to reach a single, correct solution to a problem

Explicit Memory

• conscious recollection of facts, events, and personal experiences

Episodic Memory

• ability to consciously remember and recall specific past events and the contextual details surrounding them

Implicit Memory

• memory for information that is expressed unconsciously or automatically through improved performance on related tasks

• knowledge slowly gained

  • ex: learning to ride a bike

Procedural Memory

• process of retrieving information necessary to perform learned skills

  • ex: talking, eating, walking

Prospective Memory

• ability to remember to carry out a planned action in the future

• involves retaining and activating intentions at the right time and place

Long-Term Potentiation

• process that strengthens connections between neurons through repeated stimulation

Working Memory Model

• theoretical framework that explains how the working memory system functions

• proposes that short-term memory is made up of multiple components that work together

Primary Memory System

• short-term memory system that holds information for a brief period of time

Working Memory

• system that temporarily stores and manipulates information to complete cognitive tasks

Visuospatial Sketchpad

• ability to temporarily hold visual and spacial information

  • ex: where the car is parked

Central Executive

• part of working memory that controls and coordinates other processes, such as attention, memory retrieval, and decision making

Phonological Loop

• component for working memory that stores and processes verbal and auditory information

Memory Retention

• the ability to store and retrieve information over a period of time

Spacing Effect

• information better remembered when study sessions are spaced out over time

• distributed rather than crammed

Chunking

• dividing large pieces of information into smaller, more manageable units

• easier to remember and store information in short-term memory

Deep Encoding

• processing information that involves relating it to other ideas, words, or prior knowledge

• leads to long-term memory retention and recall

• related to personal experiences and emotions

Shallow Encoding

• processing information that focuses on the surface-level characteristics of a stimulus, such as its appearance or sound

• information is retained for a short time but not moved to a long-term memory

Effortful Processing

• process of actively encoding information through conscious attention and effort

Automatic Processing

• mental process that involves performing tasks with little to no conscious thought

Iconic Memory

• type of sensory memory that stores visual information for a brief period of time after the physical image is no longer present

• allows people to recall visual images for a few milliseconds after the image has disappeared

Retrograde Amnesia

• memory loss where a person is unable to recall events or information that occurred before a specific traumatic event or brain injury

Anterograde Amnesia

• memory loss where a person is unable to form new memories after a traumatic event

Encoding Failure

• inability to effectively store information in memory due to insufficient processing during the initial encoding stage

Assimilation

• cognitive process of making new information fit in with your existing understanding of the world

Accommodation

• we modify our cognitive schemas in order to incorporate new information or experiences

Executive Functions

• cognitive skills that help people manage everyday tasks, solve problems, and adapt to new situations

Retroactive Interference

• newer information pushes out older, similar information

Proactive Interference

• older information makes it more difficult to carry out the present task

Availability Heuristic

• judging how likely a certain event is to happen, based on how easily information regarding this topic is available

Representativeness Heuristic

• a mental shortcut in which one thinks of the best example or a prototype of a given category

Functional Fixedness

• cognitive bias that limits a person’s ability to use an object for more than its intended purpose

Semantic Memory

• long-term storage of general knowledge about the world, including facts, concepts, and word meanings

Primacy Effect

• tendency for people to remember information presented at the beginning of a list or sequence better than information presented later on

Mnemonic Devices

• memory aid technique used to help students recall information more easily by associating it with something easily remembered

  • ex: acronyms, rhymes, or vivid imagery

Encoding

• process of perceiving and learning new information, and putting it into one memory system

Echoic Memory

• brief sensory memory of audible sounds

• allows the brain to retain spoken syllables in order for the brain to process them into intelligible speech

Sensory Memory

• short term shortage of information gathered through the 5 senses

Long-Term Memory

• the process of storing and retrieving information for extended periods, ranging from days to a lifetime

Autobiographical Memory

• a person’s recollection of significant events and experiences from their own life, which contributes to their sense of self

Alzheimer’s Disease

• progressively deteriorates an individual’s memory, cognitive abilities, and personality

• symptoms: difficulty learning new info in early stages + severe decline in thinking, speaking, and performing tasks

Infantile Amnesia

• inability of adults to recall personal memories from their early childhood (before 3-4)

Context-Dependent Memory

• information is best recalled when the retrieval environment closely matches the context in which it was originally learned

Mood-Congruent Memory

• tendency to recall memories that align with your current emotional state

  • ex: more likely to remember positive experiences when you’re feeling happy

State-Dependent Memory

• individuals are more likely to recall information when their current physiological or psychological state closely matches the state they were in when the information was learned

Testing Effect

• actively retrieving information from memory through self-testing or practice tests leads to better long-term retention

Metacognition

• awareness and understanding of one’s own thought process

• “thinking about thinking”

• ability to reflect on and analyze one’s own thinking patterns

Forgetting Curve

• graphical representation illustrating the rapid decline of memory retention over time

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

• experience of being unable to recall a specific word or name, even though you feel like you know it

• “it’s on the tip of my tongue”

Source Amnesia

• inability to recall the origin or source of a memory

Imagination Inflation

• where repeatedly imagining an event that never happened increases a person’s confidence that it actually occurred

g (general intelligence)

• idea that an individual’s overall intelligence is a compilation of different specific abilities