ap psychology study guide unknown terms unit 2

closure

where the brain fills in gaps to perceive incomplete figures as a whole.

memory consolidation

when the brain transforms newly acquired memories into long term ones

percentile rank

a score that indicates the percentage of test takers who scored at or below a specific score. “i scored in the 89th percentile” means you scored above 89% of test takers

procedural memory

a type of implicit memory that stores knowledge of how to perform tasks and motor skills

standard deviation

a measure of how spread out or dispersed a set of data is from the mean

confounding variable

an extraneous factor that influences both the independent and dependent variables, creating a misleading or inaccurate conclusion about the cause and effect relationship between the two

functional fixedness

the tendency to see an object only in terms of its most common or traditional use

long term potentiation

where synaptic connections between neurons become stronger and more efficient through frequent, rapid stimulation.

retinal disparity

a binocular cue for depth perception, referring to the slight difference in the images received by each eye due to their physical separation

executive functioning

a set of high-level cognitive processes that control and regulate other cognitive functions