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Covers the entirety of Unit 2: Cognition in the AP Psychology course :)
What is perceptual adaptation?
The brain’s ability to adjust to altered sensory environments
EX: If you wear glasses that flip your vision upside down, your brain will eventually adapt, making the world appear “normal” again.
What is apparent motion?
It is the perception of movement when there’s none.
EX: Lights flashing off and on again, making an illusion that something movement.
What are the three types of apparent motion?
Stroboscopic Movement, Phi Phenomenon, and Autokinetic Effect.
What is stroboscopic movement?
When still images are shown in rapid succession that appear to move. It’s exactly like a flipbook.
What is the phi phenomenon?
Lights blinking on and off in sequence, creating the illusion of movement.
What is the autokinetic effect?
A stationary point of light appears to move in a dark room because of minor eye movements.
What are perceptual constancies?
Recognizing objects as constant despite changes in lighting, distance, or angle.
What are the three types of constancies?
Color, shape, and size.
What is color constancy?
When we perceive colors as the same even when lighting changes.
What is shape constancy?
When objects maintain the same shape despite changes in viewpoint.
What is size constancy?
An object appears the same size even as it moves closer or farther away.
What is relative size?
Objects that appear smaller are perceived as farther away.
What is interposition?
When one object overlaps another, it’s perceived as closer.
What is texture gradient?
Objects with finer details are seen as closer.
What is relative clarity?
Hazy or blurry objects seem farther away than clearer objects.
What is linear perspective?
Parallel lines appear to converge in the distance, like railroad tracks.
What is retinal disparity?
The difference between images in the left and right eyes; the brain uses this difference to calculate depth.
What is convergence?
As objects get closer, our eyes turn inward.
What are the ONLY binocular cues?
Convergence & Retinal disparity.
What is gestalt psychology?
A type of psychology that organizes stimuli into coherent groups.
What are the “coherent” groups according to Gestalt Psychology? DEFINE THEM ALL!
Proximity - We group nearby objects together
Similarity - We group similar-looking things
Closure - We fill in gaps to see a complete object
What are executive functions?
High-level mental processes that help us plan, prioritize, and control impulses.
EX: Studying for a test instead of playing video games shows strong executive function.
What part of the brain would mostly be in control of executive functions?
The frontal lobe, specifically the prefrontal cortex.
What is creativity?
The ability to come up with novel and valuable ideas.
What are the two types of creative thinking?
Divergent thinking & Convergent thinking.
What is divergent thinking?
Generating multiple solutions to a problem.
EX: Brainstorming different uses for a paperclip.
What is convergent thinking?
Narrowing down options to find the single best solution.
EX: Solving a riddle.
What does problem-solving usually require we humans do?
It requires us to break free from mental sets and functional fixedness.
What is a mental set?
Using the same solutions that worked before on a problem, even if they’re not effective now.
EX: Trying the same method to solve a puzzle instead of exploring new strategies.
What is gambler’s fallacy?
Believing that past events affect future outcomes.
EX: Thinking a coin flip is “due” to land heads after several tails.
What is the Sunk-Cost Fallacy?
Sticking with a bad choice because you’ve already invested time, money, or effort.
EX: Continuing a boring movie because you paid for the ticket.
Why are fallacies often bad for decision-making?
It is because they can cloud our judgement.
How are our decisions shaped in the world when we hear new information?
They are shaped by logic and how the information is presented.
What are the two ways that information is presented to us?
Through priming and framing.
What is priming?
It is when exposure to one thing influences your response to another.
EX: Seeing positive words like “happy” might make you more generous.
What is framing?
It is when new informatoin is worded in a particular way that affects our choices.
EX: People are more likely to choose a surgery with a “90% success rate” than one with a “10% failure rate,” even though the outcomes are the same.
What are heuristics?
The ability to make quick decisions.
What is a representative heuristic?
It represents the environment around us and leads us to think of prototypes.
EX: Assuming someone wearing glasses is more likely to be a librarian than a football player.
What is an availability heuristic?
It is when we judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.
EX: Thinking plane crashes are more common after seeing one on the news.
Why is it bad to rely on heuristics?
It is beacuse they are prone to mistakes.
What are the three most common ways we solve problems?
Through algorithms, heuristics, and insights.
What are Algorithms?
Step by step solutions that guarantee a solution. It is slow.
What are insights?
The sudden realization of solution.
What is a schema?
A mental framework that organizes and interprets information.
EX: You might have a schema for what a "restaurant" experience looks like: entering, ordering, eating, and paying.
What is a prototype?
The picture you imagine after thinking about a concept.
EX: When you think of a “bird,” you’re probably picturing a robin or a sparrow--not an ostrich.
Why do we use prototypes?
We use them to categorize and understand the world quickly.
What are concepts?
A mental grouping of similar things.
EX: The idea of “fruit” includes apples, bananas, and oranges.
What is metacognition?
It involves the thinking about our thinking.
What is cognition?
The mental processes involved in acquiring, processing, storing, and using information.
What are the two types of implicit memories?
Procedural Memories & Conditioned Memories.
What are the two types of explicity memories?
Episodic Memories & Semantic Memories.
What are episodic memories?
Things that have happened to you or have been a part of.
EX: Like an episode of your life. What would be the context of the episodes?
What are semantic memories?
The most common memory that stores information about facts, concepts, and general knowledge about the world.
EX: The memory of facts, knowledge, information, and stuff we learn from school.
What are procedural memories?
Knowing what to do off the top of your head (like being able to ride a bike without recalling the steps)
EX: Riding a bike, playing a musical instrument.
What are conditioned memories?
Associating things with memories.
EX: Opening a certain cabinet for your dog and he gets all excited.
What are implicit (non-declarative) memories?
Our reaction to a place, event, or procedure. We know them, but not necessarily how we learned about the place.
What are explicit (declarative) memories?
It is something you do. You’re able to say what you did and why.
What are the three ways to expand/strengthen your short term memory?
Chunking, Mnemonic devices, and rehearsal.
What is chunking?
Organizing items into familiar, management units.
What are Mnemonic Devices?
Memory tools to help retain information and expand STM.
EX: Never Eat Soggy Waffles for cardinal direction.
What is rehearsal?
The ability to retain information through speech or continuing it over and over again.
What are the two types of rehearsal?
Maintenance Rehearsal & Elaborative Rehearsal.
What is maintenance rehearsal?
The ability to memorize things for short periods. It’s doing the bare minimum.
EX: Repeating flashcards in your head.
What is elaborative rehearsal?
Attaching a deeper meaning to things to retain it for long periods.
EX: Assigning a number to when your first child was born.
What is sensory memory?
A split-second holding tank for ALL sensory information (your 5 senses)
What are the two types of sensory memory?
Echoic and Iconic memory.
What is echoic memory?
A memory for audio stimuli that is quickly fading.
EX: Hearing your parents and then being able to recite it
What is iconic memory?
A memory for visual stimuli that is quickly fading away
EX: Immediately looking at words.
What is recall?
Retrieving the information from your memory.
EX: Fill-in-the-blank tests.
What is recognition?
Identifing the largest possible targets.
EX: Multiple-choice answers.
What is the three-step process for memory?
Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval.
What is encoding?
Processing information into the memory system.
What is storage?
The retention of encoded material over time.
What is retrieval?
The process of getting the information out of memory storage.
REMEMBER, failure can happen at (some/all) stages of memory.
ALL
What are the ways we encode information? (hint: 3 types) Define them…
Visual Encoding - Using our eyes
Acoustic Encoding - Using our ears. Works well with words.
Semantic Encoding - Assigning meaning to information to help retain it.
In terms of sensory memory, how long can you retain visual & auditory stimuli?
Visual - 0.5 seconds
Auditory - 2.5 seconds
In terms of short term,memory, how long can you retain new information AND how much can you remember (number)?
30 seconds.
You can remember 5-9 things.
Note 
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