Cognition, Problem Solving, and Visual Perception

Vocabulary flashcards covering thinking, problem-solving, schemas, decision-making, and visual perception concepts from lecture notes.

Algorithms

Problem-solving procedures that address problems by attempting all possible solutions until the correct one is found.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts used to address problems and make judgments, which can lead to errors in judgements.

Representative heuristics

A type of heuristic where decisions are made according to prior experience or stereotypes, which can lead to errors in judgements.

Availability heuristic

A heuristic where decisions or judgments are made by recalling the first most vivid example that comes to mind.

Priming

A circumstance surrounding a decision that influences decision-making.

Framing

The way circumstances surrounding a decision are presented, which can influence decision-making.

Concepts

Mental categories that form the basis of thought.

Prototypes

The ideal example for any given concept.

Schemas

Frameworks for thinking that people form and modify.

Assimilation

Taking in new information but not changing the schema in light of it.

Accommodation

Taking in new information and changing the schema to incorporate the new information.

Mental set

The tendency for decision-making to be influenced by prior experiences that were successful.

Binocular depth cues

Depth cues that utilize images from each eye to provide perception of depth, such as retinal disparity and convergence.

Retinal disparity

A binocular depth cue defined as the difference between the images projecting onto the retina.

Convergence

A binocular depth cue defined as the merging of the retinal images by the brain.

Monocular depth cues

Cues that give the illusion of depth on flat or two-dimensional surfaces (e.g., relative clarity, relative size, texture gradient, linear perspective, and interposition).

Visual perceptual constancies

Perceptual processes that maintain the perception of an object even when the image of the object in the visual field changes.

Apparent movement

Movement that can be visually perceived even when objects are not actually moving.

Algorithms

Problem-solving procedures that address problems by attempting all possible solutions until the correct one is found.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts used to address problems and make judgments, which can lead to errors in judgements.

Representative heuristics

A type of heuristic where decisions are made according to prior experience or stereotypes, which can lead to errors in judgements.

Availability heuristic

A heuristic where decisions or judgments are made by recalling the first most vivid example that comes to mind.

Priming

A circumstance surrounding a decision that influences decision-making.

Framing

The way circumstances surrounding a decision are presented, which can influence decision-making.

Concepts

Mental categories that form the basis of thought.

Prototypes

The ideal example for any given concept.

Schemas

Frameworks for thinking that people form and modify.

Assimilation

Taking in new information but not changing the schema in light of it.

Accommodation

Taking in new information and changing the schema to incorporate the new information.

Mental set

The tendency for decision-making to be influenced by prior experiences that were successful.

Binocular depth cues

Depth cues that utilize images from each eye to provide perception of depth, such as retinal disparity and convergence.

Retinal disparity

A binocular depth cue defined as the difference between the images projecting onto the retina.

Convergence

A binocular depth cue defined as the merging of the retinal images by the brain.

Monocular depth cues

Cues that give the illusion of depth on flat or two-dimensional surfaces (e.g., relative clarity, relative size, texture gradient, linear perspective, and interposition).

Visual perceptual constancies

Perceptual processes that maintain the perception of an object even when the image of the object in the visual field changes.

Apparent movement

Movement that can be visually perceived even when objects are not actually moving.

Sensation

The process by which sensory receptors and the nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from the environment.

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Bottom-up processing

Information processing that begins at the entry level with sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of brain processing.

Top-down processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, drawing on experience, knowledge, and expectations.

Perceptual set

A mental predisposition or readiness to perceive one thing and not another.

Selective attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a specific stimulus while filtering out or ignoring competing sensory inputs.

Cocktail party effect

The ability to attend to a single auditory conversation amidst a noisy environment of competing voices.

Change blindness

A perceptual failure to notice visual alterations in an environment or scene.

Inattentional blindness

The failure to notice a fully visible object or event when attention is directed toward another task or stimulus.