AP Psych Unit 2 - Cognition

bottom-up processing

A cognitive process that begins with sensory input, where perception starts with the stimulus and builds up to a final interpretation.

top-down processing

A cognitive process that starts with higher-level cognitive functions, such as beliefs and expectations, which influence perception and interpretation of sensory information.

schema

a mental framework that helps organize and interpret information.

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another, influenced by expectations and prior experiences.

Gestalt: closure

the tendency to perceive incomplete figures as complete by filling in gaps.

Gestalt: figure and ground

the organization of visual fields into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground).

Gestalt: proximity

the tendency to group close objects together

Gestalt: similarity

the tendency to percieve similar objects as a group

change blindness

missing environmental changes because of limited attention capacity

cocktail party effect

the effect of percieving only specific words (like your name) out of a lot of sound

binocular depth cues

visual information from both eyes that helps perceive depth and distance.

retinal disparity

the difference in how your eyes can see the world - has to do with why you see 2 fingers when you place your finger far away from your eyes

convergence

the inward turning of the eyes when focusing on a close object, helping to perceive depth.

monocular depth cues

relative clarity, relative size, texture gradient, linear perspective, interposition

autokinetic effect

the optical illusion where a stationary point of light appears to move in a dark environment, often due to eye movements.

prototype

a mental expectation of what some kind of object or idea should look like

concept

a mental category used to group similar objects, events, or ideas, helping to organize knowledge and facilitate communication.

assimilation

associating new information with an existing schema

accommodation

changing an existing schema to fit new information

representativeness heuristic

interpreting an event in a particular way because of how similar it is to an existing prototype - leads to stereotypes

availability heuristic

interpreting an event in a particular way based on how quickly you remember a similar event

mental set

the tendency to operate using a framework that worked in the past

priming

the process by which exposure to a stimulus influences response to a subsequent stimulus, often unconsciously.

framing

influencing someone to believe something or behave a certain way by the language/stimulus used (Ads, etc)

gambler’s fallacy

believing the statistical likelihood for something changes based on how many times it’s happened (flipping a coin)

sunk-cost fallacy

the tendency to not abandon something after investing a large amount of time/effort/money into it, even if the losses will be greater than the rewards

executive functioning

The cognitive processes that enable goal-directed behavior, including planning, decision-making, and impulse control.

creativity

innovation (exploring new things), venturesome personalities, expertise in specific areas, collaboration

divergent thinking

the ability to think “outside of the box”

convergent thinking

thinking based on prior knowledge/experience

functional fixedness

not being open to trying things a different way/being unable to come up with alternative solutions because the typical way to solve a problem is unavailable.

explicit memory

clear memories of events, memorization

episodic memory

memory of personal experiences/events

semantic memory

facts/general knowledge

implicit memory

doesn’t require active recall

procedural memory

memory of skills, “muscle memory”

prospective memory

remembering to do something you planned or needed to do

long-term potentiation

the strengthening of synaptic signals over time to create and strengthen memory pathways

working memory model

central executive

controls slave systems; part of working memory; in charge of processing sensory info

visuospacial sketchpad

slave system that holds images and sensory information

phonological loop

slave system that contains verbal content

multi-store memory model

sensory information → short-term memory → long-term memory (if important)

short-term memory

short-term, stays only when needed, then forgotten

long-term memory

encoded permanently, can be retrieved

sensory memory

short-term memory of sounds (echoic) or images (iconic)

consolidation

transformation of short-term memory into long-term memory

hippocampus

where explicit memories are stores

basal ganglia

skills like walking, writing, etc

cerebellum

forms associations - implicit memory

automatic processing

thinking that is fast and automatic

effortful processing

active interpretation

structural encoding

encoding based on form of words

semantic encoding

encoding based on meaning of words

phonemic encoding

encoding based off the sound of the words

spacing effect

reviewing things learned at intervals to increase recollection

serial position effect

remember things better that are at the beginning or end of a series

recency effect

remember the most recently learned information

primary effect

first items in a series remembered better because you rehearse them to yourself