AP Psychology Units 2.1-2.8

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

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

gestalt

an organized whole; how sensations are organized

figure-ground

organization of the visual field into objects

grouping

perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into groups

depth perception

ability to see objects in three dimensions

visual cliff

way to test if an infant has depth perception

binocular cues

depth cue such as retinal disparity that depends on the use of two eyes (judge the depth/distance)

convergence

a cue to distance by combining retinal images

retinal disparity

a cue to depth by combining retinal images

monocular cues

depth cues available to either eye alone

stroboscopic movement

illusion of continuous movement (animation)

phi phenomenon

illusion of movement from blinking lights

autokinetic effect

illusory movement of a still spot of light in a dark room

perceptual constancy

perceiving objects as consistent/unchanging (door, color)

color constancy

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color even if changing illumination alters wavelengths (color)

perceptual adaptation

the ability to adjust to changed sensory input, even in a displaced/inverted visual field

cognition

mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and community

metacognition

thinking about cognition

concept

mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

prototype

mental image/best example of a category

schema

concept/framework that organizes/interprets information (expectations)

assimilation

interpreting new experiences based off of schemas

accommodation

adapting/changing one’s schema

creativity

ability to produce new, valuable ideas

convergent thinking

eliminating solutions to find the best one

divergent thinking

expanding the possible number of solutions

executive functions

cognitive skills that work together, allowing us to generate, organize, plan, and implement goal-directed behavior

algorithm

step by step procedures that guarantee a solution

heuristic

simple thinking strategy, mental shortcuts, to solve a problem faster

insight

sudden realization of a problem’s solution

confirmation bias

tendency to search for a solution that affirms our biases

mental set

tendency to approach a problem in one (previously successful) way

fixation

inability to see a problem from a new perspective

intuition

automatic feeling/thought, without conscious reasoning (experience)

representativeness heuristic

judging someone/something based on how well they match a prototype/bias

availability heuristic

judging the likelihood of events based off of their availability in memory (quicker it comes to memory = more common, ie plane crashes)

overconfidence

tendency to be more confident than correct, and overestimate the correctness of our beliefs

belief perseverance

tendency to cling to beliefs in the face of contrary evidence

framing

the manner in which a problem is presented

nudge

encouraging certain things based off of framing

memory

learning that persists over time

recall

retrieval of memories (fill-in-the-blank test)

recognition

identifying memories (mcq test)

relearning

learning something more quickly (review for an exam)

encoding

getting information into memory storage

retrieval

retrieving memory from memory storage

sensory memory

immediate brief recording of sensory information

short-term memory

briefly activated memory of a few items that are later forgotten

long-term memory

relatively permanent & limitless archive of memory (skills, knowledge, experiences)

working memory

conscious, active processing of incoming sensory information and information retrieved from long-term memory (scratch pad)

central executive

memory component that coordinates the loop and “scratch pad”

phonological loop

holds auditory information briefly

visuopatial sketchpad

memory component that briefly holds information about an object’s appearance and location (ie, “where is my car?”)

neurogenesis

formation of new neurons

long-term potential

increase in nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation

explicit memory

retention of facts and knowledge we know and can declare

effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of familiar information (space, time, frequency)

implicit memory

retention of learned skills (bike riding)

iconic memory

momentary sensory memory of a visual stimuli

echoic memory

momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, can be recalled for 3-4 seconds

chunking

organizing objects into familiar, manageable units

mnemonics

memory aids

hierarchies

experts divide subjects into hierarchies, subdividing information into progressively narrower concepts

spacing effect

tendency for distributed study to yield better long-term retention

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading

shallow processing

encoding on a basic level, based on structure/appearance of words

deep processing

encoding based on the meaning of words

semantic

explicit memory of facts and knowledge

episodic memory

explicit memory of personally experienced events

hippocampus

processes explicit memories for storage (save button)

memory consolidation

long-term memory storage

flashback memories

clear memory of an emotionally significant moment/event

priming

often unconscious activation of particular associations in memory

encoding specificity principle

cues and contexts specific to a memory are most effective in recalling it

mood-congruent memory

tendency to recall experiences associated with one’s current good/bad mood

serial position effect

tendency to recall best the last items in a list initially, and the first items in a list after a delay

interleaving

a retrieval practice strategy that involves mixing the study of different subjects

anterograde amnesia

inability to form new memories

retrograde amnesia

inability to remember information from one’s past

proactive interference

forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information (only remembering your old password, not your new one)

retroactive interference

new leaning interrupts memories formed prior

repression

defense mechanism that banishes anxiety inducing thoughts/feelings/memories (rarely occurs)

reconsolidation

process in which previously stored memories are retrieved, altered, and re-stored

misinformation effect

occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information

source amnesia

faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined

deja vu

sense of having previously experienced something

intelligence

ability to learn from experience, solve problems, use knowledge to adapt to situations

general intelligence (g)

underlies all mental abilities

factor analysis

statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items, used to identify different dimensions of performance

fluid intelligence

ability to reason speedily and abstractly

crystallized intelligence

accumulated knowledge and verbal skills, increases with age

CHC theory

theory that intelligence is based on g, expanded by the other 2 (crystal & fluid)

savant syndrome

a person with limited mental abilities but one exceptional specific skill, like drawing or music

sternberg 3 intelligences

analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, practical intelligence

grit

passion and perseverance in long term goals

emotional intelligence

ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions