AP Psychology Unit 2

Accommodation

Changing existing schemas to fit new information.

Achievement Tests

Tests designed to measure what a person has learned.

Algorithm

A step-by-step method that guarantees a solution to a problem.

Alzheimer's Disease

A progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys memory and cognitive skills.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new long-term memories after a brain injury.

Apparent Motion

Perceiving movement when there is none.

Aptitude Tests

Tests designed to predict a person's future performance or ability to learn.

Assimilation

Fitting new information into existing schemas.

Attention

Focusing mental resources on specific stimuli while ignoring others.

Autobiographical Memory

Memory of personal experiences and specific events in one's life.

Autokinetic Effect

A stationary point of light in a dark room appears to move.

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of information such as time, space, and frequency.

Availability Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind.

Belief Perseverance

Holding on to beliefs even after they have been proven wrong.

Binocular Cues

Depth cues that require both eyes.

Bottom-Up Processing

Using details from the senses to build up a complete perception (starts with the senses).

Categories

Grouping related items together to improve memory and organization.

Cattell-Horn-Carroll Theory (CHC)

A hierarchical model of intelligence combining fluid and crystallized intelligence with other cognitive abilities.

Central Executive

The part of working memory that directs attention and coordinates other parts (like the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad).

Change Blindness

Not noticing changes in the environment when attention is directed elsewhere.

Chunking

Organizing information into meaningful units to make it easier to remember.

Closure

Filling in gaps to create a complete, whole object.

Cocktail Party Effect

The ability to focus on one voice among many, like hearing your name in a noisy room.

Cognition

All the mental processes involved in thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Cohort

A group of people from a given time period who are studied over time.

Color Constancy

Perceiving colors as the same even when lighting changes.

Concept

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, or people.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to look for or favor information that supports one's beliefs.

Construct Validity

The extent to which a test measures a theoretical construct or trait.

Constructive Memory

Memories that are built or reconstructed rather than perfectly recalled.

Content Validity

The extent to which a test samples the behavior or knowledge it is intended to measure.

Context-Dependent Memory

Better recall when the environment during retrieval matches the environment during learning.

Convergence

Eyes move inward for close objects; the brain uses this movement to judge distance.

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing down options to find the single best solution.

Creativity

The ability to produce new and valuable ideas.

Cross-Sectional Study

A study that compares people of different ages at one point in time.

Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)

The accumulation of knowledge, facts, and skills acquired through experience.

Deep Processing

Encoding information based on meaning; leads to better long-term retention.

Déjà Vu

The eerie sense that one has experienced a situation before.

Depth Perception

The ability to see in three dimensions and judge distance.

Distributed Practice

Spacing study sessions over time; improves long-term memory retention.

Divergent Thinking

Thinking that generates many possible solutions to a problem.

Echoic Memory

Auditory sensory memory; lasts a few seconds.

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Ego

In psychoanalytic theory, the part of personality that mediates between the id, superego, and reality (sometimes linked to defense mechanisms like repression).

Elaborative Rehearsal

Connecting new information to existing knowledge to encode it into long-term memory.

Emotional Intelligence

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions effectively.

Encode

To take in information and convert it into a form that can be stored in memory.

Encoding

The process of getting information into the memory system.

Encoding Failure

When information never enters long-term memory.

Encoding Specificity Principle

Memory is improved when retrieval occurs in the same context as encoding.

Episodic Memory

Memory of personal experiences and specific events.

Executive Functions

Mental skills that help manage thinking, decision-making, and behavior (like planning and self-control).

Explicit Memory

Memory of facts and experiences that can be consciously recalled; also called declarative memory.

Factor Analysis

A statistical method used to identify clusters of related mental abilities.

Figure and Ground (figure-ground)

Organizing visual information into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground).

Fixation

Inability to see a problem from a new perspective.

Fixed Mindset

The belief that intelligence and abilities are static and cannot change.

Flashbulb Memory

A vivid and detailed memory of an emotionally significant event.

Fluid Intelligence (Gf)

The ability to reason and solve new problems independently of previously acquired knowledge.

Flynn Effect

The observed rise in average IQ scores over time, across generations.

Framing

The way an issue or question is presented can affect decisions and judgments.

Functional Fixedness

The tendency to see objects only in their usual functions.

Gambler's Fallacy

The mistaken belief that past random events affect future ones (e.g., 'I'm due for a win').

General Intelligence (g)

A basic intelligence factor that underlies all cognitive abilities.

Gestalt Psychology

The idea that we perceive whole patterns, not just parts ('the whole is greater than the sum of its parts').

Grit

Perseverance and passion for long-term goals.

Grouping

Organizing stimuli into meaningful groups.

Growth Mindset

The belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort and learning.

Heuristic

A simple thinking strategy or 'mental shortcut' that helps solve problems quickly, but may lead to errors.

Hierarchies

Organizing information into levels or systems, from broad to specific.

Iconic Memory

Visual sensory memory; lasts less than a second.

Imagination Inflation

When imagining an event increases confidence that it actually occurred.

Implicit Memory

Unconscious memory for skills and conditioned responses; also called nondeclarative memory.

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to see visible things because attention is focused elsewhere.

Infantile Amnesia

The inability of adults to retrieve memories from early childhood.

Insight

A sudden realization of a problem's solution ('Aha!' moment).

Intelligence

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A numerical measure of intelligence, traditionally computed as mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100.

Interleaving

Mixing different topics or types of problems during study to improve learning and retention.

Interposition

When one object blocks another, the blocked object is seen as farther away.

Intuition

An effortless, automatic feeling or thought; 'gut instinct.'

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines appear to meet in the distance, like railroad tracks.

Long-Term Memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

A lasting strengthening of connections between neurons, believed to be the basis for learning and memory.

Longitudinal Study

A study that follows the same group of people over time to track changes.

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating information over and over to keep it in short-term memory.

Massed Practice

Cramming information all at once; produces short-term learning but poor long-term retention.

Memory

The process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information over time.

Memory Consolidation

The process of stabilizing a memory for long-term storage, often during sleep.

Mental Age

The age level at which a person functions intellectually, as measured by an intelligence test.

Mental Set

A tendency to approach problems the same way, even if it doesn't work.

Metacognition

Thinking about your own thinking; awareness and understanding of your thought processes.

Method of Loci

A mnemonic strategy that involves associating items with specific locations in a familiar place.

Misinformation Effect

When misleading information corrupts memory of an event.

Mnemonic Devices

Memory aids that use associations, patterns, or imagery to help remember information.

Monocular Cues

Depth cues that require only one eye.

Mood-Congruent Memory

The tendency to recall memories that match one's current mood.

Multi-Store Model

Model of memory with three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner's theory that intelligence is divided into distinct modalities, like linguistic, musical, and interpersonal intelligence.