AP Psych Unit 2

Key terms from Unit 2

Perception

how we interpret the world. Our physical surroundings, cultural background, and our environment heavily shape what we notice or ignore.

Bottom-Up Processing

relying on external sensory information

Top-Down Processing

relying on internal expectations

Schema

your way to organize cognitive information.

Assimilation

Incorporating new information without altering the schema

Accommodation

Changing the schema to incorporate new information

Perceptual sets

your expectations of what you will see, based on environmental context, emotions, culture.

Selective Attention

Focusing on one stimulus and filtering the rest out

Cocktail Party Effect

auditory selection. Ex: hearing your name in a noisy room, or being at a loud party and being able to hear the person next to you

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to notice a change because you're focused elsewhere.

Change Blindness

Not noticing a large change in a scene because you're distracted, blink, or have another visual interruption

Retinal Disparity

You can tell how far something is by how different the object appears to the left vs. the right eye. A large disparity indicates the object is close, a small disparity indicates it is far (binocular depth cue).

Convergence

With both eyes, you can tell how far something is by how much your eyes turn inward (binocular depth cue).

Relative Clarity

the perceived sharpness and distinctness with which humans view objects at varying distances (monocular cue).

Relative Size

With just one eye, you can tell how far away something is by how big it appears compared to how big you know it actually is, or how it looks compared to other objects you know about (monocular cue).

Texture Gradient

With just one eye, you can tell how far away something is by whether its texture gets smoother and smoother (farther away) or more defined (closer). (monocular cue)

Linear Perspective

With just one eye, you can tell how far away something is by lines converging in the distance (monocular cue).

Interposition

With just one eye, you can tell how far away something is by

whether other objects get in the way of it or not (monocular cue).

Perceptual Constancies

allow us to maintain a stable perception of objects even when their appearance changes in our visual field.

Shape Constancy

We recognize an object’s shape even if its angle changes (perceptual constancy)

Size Constancy

We perceive an object as having the same size, even if its image on the retina gets smaller as it moves away (perceptual constancy).

Relative Motion

the motion of one object with respect to another object

Apparent Motion

occurs when we perceive motion even though objects aren’t actually moving.

Gestalt Principle - Closure

Our brain fills in gaps to create a complete image.

Gestalt Principle - Figure and Ground

We distinguish objects from their background.

Gestalt Principle - Proximity

we perceive objects as grouped together if they are close

Gestalt Principle - Similarity

we perceive objects as grouped together if they are alike

Attention

is a combination of sensation and perception, affected by internal and external factors.

Concepts

form the basis of thought and organize our understanding of the world.

Prototypes

the ideal example of a concept, representing the most typical

instance.

Algorithms

Problem-solving methods that methodically attempt all possible solutions until the correct one is found.

Heuristics

error-prone mental shortcuts that help with quick judgments

Representative Heuristic

Judging based on stereotypes or prior expectations.

Availability Heuristic

Judging based on the most vivid or recent example that comes to mind.

Insight

Suddenly finding a solution to a problem that one may have thought about for a while.

Mental Set

Past successful strategies influence future decision-making.

Priming

sets the stage by exposing audiences to specific stimuli, preparing their minds to be more receptive to certain messages

Framing

presenting information in different ways to invoke particular perspectives or responses, guiding focus and decision-making.

Gambler’s Fallacy

Believing that past random events affect future outcomes

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

Continuing with a decision because of prior investment, even when it's not beneficial.

Executive Functions

cognitive processes that allow individuals to plan, organize, and carry out goal-directed behaviors that are essential for problem solving, decision making, etc.

Creativity

generating novel, valuable ideas

Divergent Thinking

creating multiple multiple solutions to a problem

Convergent Thinking

deciding on one possible solution.

Functional Fixedness

a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used, hindering creative thinking.

Encoding

the first stage of memory, where sensory information is processed and converted into a form that the brain can store and later retrieve.

Storage

is the process of retaining encoded information within the neurocognitive system, moving information from sensory memory to short-term memory, and then to long-term memory for more permanent storage.

Retrieval

is the process of accessing information that has been previously stored in memory

Parallel Processing

the brain's ability to perform multiple cognitive functions or process multiple sensory inputs simultaneously, like driving and talking,

Explicit Memory

can be consciously recalled and verbalized

Episodic Memory

specific personal experiences that are easy to share. hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (explicit).

Semantic Memory

facts and knowledge (explicit)

Implicit Memory

unconscious memory that’s harder to describe. Automatically processed, such as place, time, frequency

Procedural Memory

skills and procedures. Like muscle memory (implicit).

Prospective Memory

Memory related to future actions or tasks. Helps us remember to perform planned activities.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

Strengthening of synaptic connections between neurons through frequent activation. Is a key biological process that helps explain how memories are stored in the brain through repeated experiences.

Central Executive

directs attention, does not store memory (working memory model)

Phonological Loop

a brief repetition of auditory or visual information (working memory model)

Visuospatial Sketchpad

being able to imagine physical spaces, like closing your eyes and seeing how your room looks (working memory model)

Multi-store Model of Memory

Proposes three memory systems—sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory—which information must pass through to be remembered. This model shows how memory is processed in stages, with effortful and automatic processing

Structural Processing

1st level. You remember just how something looks. Shallowest level, worst memory retention

Phonemic Processing

2nd level. You remember what something sounds like. Medium level, medium retention

Semantic Processing

3rd level. You remember what something means. Deepest level, best retention

Sensory Memory

1st stage of storage. Brief, lasting few seconds

Iconic Memory

Visual. Can see an image for a few seconds after it disappears (sensory).

Echoic Memory

Auditory. Can hold auditory info temporarily to be processed (sensory)

Short-Term Memory

2nd stage of storage. Limited capacity, holds memory for 20-30s

Working Memory

2nd stage of storage. Active processing of new and old info

Long-Term Memory

3rd stage of storage. Vast capacity, lasting for a long duration

Automatic Processing

a type of processing that does not involve conscious effort or deliberation

Effortful Processing

encoding information through conscious attention and effort

Mnemonic Devices

Memory aids that help encode information into memory more effectively.

Method of Loci

A mnemonic where you visualize items placed in familiar locations to help remember them.

Chunking

The process of grouping information into smaller, meaningful units.

Spacing Effect

The phenomenon where learning is better when spread out over time (distributed practice) versus cramming all at once (massed practice).

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to remember the first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) items in a list better than those in the middle.

Maintenance Rehearsal

deliberate repetition of information to prolong memory storage.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Linking new information to existing knowledge to improve retention. Use your schemas!

Highly Superior Autobiographical

Memory (HSAM)

The ability to recall detailed events from one’s life with remarkable accuracy.

Retrograde Amnesia

affects past memories

Anterograde Amnesia

impairs ability to form new memories

Alzheimer’s Disease

A neurodegenerative disorder that leads to memory loss.

Infantile Amnesia

The inability to recall events from early childhood.

Memory Retrieval

the process of accessing and bringing to conscious awareness information previously stored in long-term memory.

Recall

Retrieving information without cues.

Recognition

Retrieving information with the help of cues.

Context-Dependent Memory

Retrieval is easier when in the same environment where the memory was encoded.

Mood-Congruent Memory

Retrieval is easier when in the same mood as when the memory was encoded.

State-Dependent Memory

Retrieval is easier when in the same physical state as during encoding.

Testing-Effect

Practicing retrieval through self-testing improves long-term memory.

Context Effects

Memory is enhanced when the context (environment, mood, etc.) during encoding matches the context during retrieval.

Meta-cognition

Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes can enhance memory retrieval.

The Forgetting Curve

Demonstrates that forgetting occurs rapidly after learning

and then levels off over time.

Encoding Failure

Information is not properly stored in memory, making retrieval difficult.

Proactive Interference

Old information hinders the recall of new information.

Retroactive Interference

New information hinders the recall of old information.

Inadequate Retrieval (TOT)

the experience of knowing a piece of information stored in memory but being temporarily unable to access it

Repression 

According to (hard to prove) psychodynamic theory, memories are sometimes repressed to protect the ego from distress.

Misinformation Effect

False information presented after an event can alter the memory of that event.

Source Amnesia

Forgetting where or how information was acquired.