Studied by 0 people
Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
selective attention
Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.
inattentional blindness
Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.
change blindness
Failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness.
perceptual set
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
gestalt
An organized whole; Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.
figure-ground
The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).
grouping
The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.
depth perception
The ability to see objects in three dimensions; allows us to judge distance.
visual cliff
A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.
binocular cue
A depth cue that depends on the use of two eyes.
convergence
A cue to nearby objects’ distance, enabled by the brain combining retinal images.
retinal disparity
A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.
monocular cue
A depth cue available to either eye alone.
stroboscopic movement
An illusion of continuous movement experienced when viewing a rapid series of slightly varying still images.
phi phenomenon
An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.
autokinetic effect
The illusory movement of a still spot of light in a dark room.
perceptual constancy
Perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change.
color constancy
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object.
perceptual adaptation
The ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field.
cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
metacognition
Cognition about our cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes.
concept
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.
prototype
A mental image or best example of a category.
schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.
assimilation
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.
accommodation
Adapting our current schemas to incorporate new information.
creativity
The ability to produce new and valuable ideas.
convergent thinking
Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.
divergent thinking
Expanding the number of possible problem solutions.
executive functions
Cognitive skills that work together, enabling us to generate, organize, plan, and implement goal-directed behavior.
algorithm
A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.
heuristic
A simple thinking strategy or mental shortcut that allows judgments and problem-solving efficiency.
insight
A sudden realization of a problem's solution.
confirmation bias
A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and ignore contradictory evidence.
fixation
The inability to see a problem from a new perspective.
mental set
A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way.
intuition
An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought.
representativeness heuristic
Judging the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent particular prototypes.
availability heuristic
Judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory.
overconfidence
The tendency to be more confident than correct.
belief perseverance
The persistence of one’s initial conceptions even after they have been discredited.
framing
The way an issue is posed; it can significantly affect decisions and judgments.
nudge
Framing choices in a way that encourages beneficial decisions.
memory
Persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and retrieval.
recall
A measure of memory where a person retrieves information learned earlier.
recognition
A measure of memory in which a person identifies previously learned items.
relearning
A measure of memory assessing the amount of time saved when learning material again.
encoding
The process of getting information into the memory system.
storage
The process of retaining encoded information over time.
retrieval
The process of getting information out of memory storage.
parallel processing
Processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously.
sensory memory
The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information.
short-term memory
Briefly activated memory of a few items.
long-term memory
The relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system.
working memory
Conscious, active processing of incoming sensory information and retrieved long-term memory.
central executive
A memory component that coordinates the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad.
phonological loop
A memory component that briefly holds auditory information.
visuospatial sketchpad
A memory component that briefly holds information about objects’ appearance and location.
neurogenesis
The formation of new neurons.
long-term potentiation (LTP)
An increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation.
explicit memory
Retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and declare.
effortful processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
automatic processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental information.
implicit memory
Retention of learned skills or associations independent of conscious recollection.
iconic memory
A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.
echoic memory
A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli that can be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.
chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units.
mnemonics
Memory aids that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
spacing effect
The tendency for distributed study to yield better long-term retention.
testing effect
Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information.
shallow processing
Encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words.
deep processing
Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words.
