Unit 2 - Cognition

Perception

making meaning of stimuli

Bottom Up Processing

begins with individual elements and combines them to form a complete perception

Top Down Processing

uses past experiences to create a general idea of the world around you

Gestalt Psychology

A theory on how our brain organizes visual sensory data

Figure Ground

contrast between object (figure) and background

Reversible Figure

if contrast is vague in an image

Proximity

groups things that are close to each other

Similarity

groups things with visual elements in common (shape and color)

Closure

automatically filling in missing details

Selective Attention

when your brain selects what to pay attention to

Cocktail Party Effect

the ability to filter out one auditory signal over any others

Attention

focusing on stimuli so it gets into short term memory

Inattention Blindness

failing to SEE VISIBLE OBJECTS when attention is directed elsewhere

Change Blindness

failing to NOTICE CHANGES to a scene due to inattention

Depth Perception

the ability to see objects and recognize their proximity to you

Apparent Motion

perception of motion even though there isn’t any

Binocular Cues

ways that the brain perceives depth that requires 2 eyes

Monocular Cues

ways that the brain perceives depth that only requires one eye

Relative Size

a monocular cue that assumes that if an object is getting larger it is approaching you and if it is getting smaller then it is getting farther away

Texture Gradient/Relative Clarity

a monocular cue that assumes that clearer objects are closer to you and blurrier/less clear objects rae farther away from you

Motion Parallax

a monocular cue that assumes that an object seems to move faster when its closer to you and slower when its farther away

Linear perspective

a monocular cue that assumes that parallel lines converge as they move farther away from you

Interposition

a monocular cue that assumes that an object that is overlapping other objects on the top layer is the closest to you

Convergence

a binocular cue that has your brain account for the angles of both of your eyeballs and put it together with retinal disparity

Retinal Disparity

a binocular cue that has your brain account for the slightly offset images in each eye and put it together with convergence

Perceptual Constancies

Our ability to percieve objects as constant even though changes may occur in retinal images, POV, and/or light

Color Constancy

a perceptual constancy that has the brain color something the same regardless of color variation

Size Constancy

a perceptual constancy that has the brain perceive something as the same size regardless of the retinal size

Shape constancy

a perceptual constancy that has the brain perceive something as the same shape regardless in changes of shape through POV

Concept

mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Prototypes

mental images of best examples of a specific concept/catagory

Critical Thinking

developing opinions and beliefs about information

Skepticism

doubting everything; it helps prevent easy accommodation because it causes you to stop and think about information

Schemas

a mental representation of a set of connected ideas

Assimilation

relating new experiences with prior ones and their schemas

Accommodation

changing schemas or making new ones to incorporate new info

Executive Functions

cognitive functions that help us manage thoughts, actions, and achieve goal directed behavior (decision making, planning, self control, prioritizing tasks,etc)

Algorithms

step by step instructions to solve a problem

Heuristics

shortcuts that the brain takes to make decisions and thoughts faster with less energy; a form of top down processing

Representativeness Heuristic

a heuristic that happens when we favor an option that most closely represents our prototype for something

Availability Heuristic

a heuristic that has us think that events are more likely to occur if they are remembered more clearly or more recent in memory

Mental Set

the tendency to approach decision making based on past experiences, habits, or previous successes

Priming

exposing people to certain circumstances to influence them unconsciously

Framing

setting people up by asking them about a specific look on something, like saying “how bad did I do” or “how positive is the symbol”

Creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable

Convergent Thinking

When a question only has one correct answer

Divergent Thinking

When a question can have multiple correct answers

Functional Fixedness

a cognitive bias that limits a person’s ability to see alternative uses for familiar objects

Explicit Memory

past knowledge consciously brought to mind

Episodic Memory

a type of explicit memory that are stories of our lives that we recall

Semantic Memory

a type of explicit memory that connects meaning to already known information

Implicit Memory

knowledge retained without conscious effort and without awareness

Procedural Memory

a type of implicit memory that is a memory of how to do something that can become implicit over time

Long term potentiation

the long term strength between neurons

Prospective Memory

remembering to do something in the future

Automatic Processing

the brain’s ability to handle different stimuli at once

Effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Encoding

the act of getting memories into your short term memory

Storing

the act of transferring memories from short term to long term memory

Retrieval

accessing stored information from long term memory when its needed

Short Term Memory

memory that holds a small amount of information for a short duration

Working Memory

a part of short term memory that temporarily hold and processes information

Working Memory Model

a theoretical model that proposes how short term memory functions

Central Executive

a part of short term memory that coordinates cognitive processes and sends signals to different subsystems

Phonological Loop

a subsystem of short term memory that includes your auditory and verbal memory

Sensory Memory

a subsystem of short term memory that processes all of your senses

Iconic memory

a type of sensory memory that processes visual signals

Echoic Memory

a type of sensory memory that processes your auditory signals

Visuospatial Sketchpad

a subsystem of short term memory that is responsible for processing visual and spatial information (mental imagery)

Long Term Memory

memory that can store info indefinitely, often based on relative importance

Multi Store Model

a model of memory that explains memory as three separate stores that information moves through

Shallow Processing

memorizing/learning information on a shallow level

Structural Processing

encoding physical characteristics of stimuli

Phonemic Processing

Processing sound/pronunciation of a stimulus and relating it with other words

Deep/Semantic Processing

processing the meaning of a stimulus and its relationship to other concepts/stimuli

Catagories

a method of encoding that organizes information into groups/classes based on shared characteristics

Chunking

a method of encoding that groups info into more manageable chunks

Autobiographical Memory

a type of memory that has you remember events from your own life

Maintenance Rehearsal

shallow processing/encoding through repetition

Elaborative Rehearsal

deeper processing that happens through making connections and meaning of the subject

Mnemonic Devices

a method of encoding information that provides organizational structures that make information more memorable

Method of Loci

a method of encoding that associates information with specific locations in a familiar place

Spacing Effect

a phenomenon where information is better retained over multiple spaced intervals rather than one sesion

Distributed Practice

encoding information over spaced intervals

Massed Practice

encoding information over one session

Serial Position Effect

a phenomenon where items at the beginning or end of a list are more likely to be remembered than items in the middle of a list

Primacy

when items at the beginning of a list are more likely to be remembered

Recency

when items at the end of a list are more likely to be remembered

Hierarchies

a method of encoding that orrganizes information into a multi level structure

Alzheimer’s Disease

a disease where the victim has progressive, accumulating memory loss

Amnesia

a disease where the victim has either partial or complete loss of memory

Retrograde Amnesia

a type of amnesia where the victim forgets older memories, but can still make new ones

Anterograde Amnesia

a type of amnesia where the victim cannot make new memories, but can remember older ones

Infantile Amnesia

a type of amnesia where the victim is not able to retrieve memories from their infant/toddlerhood

Recall

a type of retrieval when you search for and bring back learned details

Recognition

a type of retrieval where you pick from a list of choices and only bring back learned details and never search for them

Testing Effect

a phenomenon where actively retrieving information through testing yourself is more effective than simply restudying that information

Dual Process Theory

a theory that states that your brain has to search for possible answers to a question and then select the correct answer to retrieve information

Cue Dependency Theory

A theory that says that our memory is based on retrieval cues

Retrieval Cues

stimuli that assist in accessing information stored in long term memory