AP Psych Unit 2: Cognition Exam

Intelligence

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt in to new situations

General Intelligence (g)

According to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Factor Analysis

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s intelligence score

Fluid Intelligence (Gf)

Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood

Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)

Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Theory

The theory that our intelligence is based on g as well as specific abilities, bridged by Gf and Gc

Savant Syndrome

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing

Grit

In psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

Emotional Intelligence

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

Spearman’s General Intelligence (g) Theory

A basic intelligence predicts our ability in varied academic areas

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory

Our abilities are best classified into eight or nine independent intelligences, which include a broad range of skills beyond traditional school smarts

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

Our intelligence is best classified into three areas that predict real-world success: analytical, creative, and practical

Intelligence Test

A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

Achievement Test

A test designed to assess what a person has learned

Aptitude Test

A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

Mental Age

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age. Thus, a child who does as well as an average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8

Stanford-Binet

The widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ = ma/ca x 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

The WAIS and its companion versions for children are the most widely used intelligence tests; they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests

Psychometrics

The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

Standardization

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

Normal Curve

The bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes

Flynn Effect

The rise in intelligence test performance over time and across cultures

Reliability

The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting

Validity

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Content Validity

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

Construct Validity

How much a test measures a concept or trait

Predictive Validity

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict’ it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior

Cross-Sectional Study

Research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time

Longitudinal Study

Research that follows and retests the same people over time

Cohort

A group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as being from a given time period

Growth Mindset

A focus on learning and growing rather than viewing abilities as fixed

Fixed Mindset

The view that intelligence, abilities, and talents are unchangeable, even with effort

Stereotype Threat

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Metacognition

Cognition about our cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes

Concept

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

Prototype

A mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method of sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a crow)

Schema

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Assimilation

Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Accommodation

Adapting our current schemas (understandings) to incorporate new information

Creativity

The ability to produce new and valuable ideas

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Divergent Thinking

Expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions

Executive Functions

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

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier—but also more error-prone—use of heuristics

Heuristic

A simple thinking strategy—a mental shortcut—that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than an algorithm

Insight

A sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Confirmation Bias

A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Fixation

In cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving

Mental Set

A tendency to approach a problem in one particularly, often a way that has been successful in the past

Intuition

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or though, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Availability Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

Belief Perseverance

The persistence of one’s initial conceptions even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Framing

The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Nudge

Framing choices in a way that encourages people to make beneficial decisions

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; a form of inattentional blindness

Perceptual Set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Gestalt

An organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Figure-Ground

The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out form their surroundings (the ground)

Grouping

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Depth Perception

The ability to see objects in three dimensions, although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance

Visual Cliff

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Binocular Cue

A depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes

Convergence

A cue to nearby object’s distance, enabled by the brain combining retinal images

Retinal Disparity

A binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object

Monocular Cue

A depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone

Stroboscopic Movement

An illusion of continuous movement (as in a motion picture) experienced when viewing a rapid series of slightly varying still images

Phi Phenomenon

An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in rapid succession

Autokinetic Effect

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

Perceptual Constancy

Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

Color Constancy

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Perceptual Adaptation

The ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Relative Clarity

Because more light passes through objects that are farther away, we perceive these objects as hazy, blurry, or unclear. Nearby objects, by contrast, appear sharp and clear

Relative Size

If we assume two objects are similar in size, most people perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image as farther away

Texture Gradient

Moving toward or away from an object changes our perception of its smoothness or texture. When a wall is viewed from a distance, we will perceive it as smooth. Viewing the same wall up close will reveal greater texture and detail. The same can be seen in the close-up and distance views of sand dunes

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines appear to meet in the distance. The sharper the angle of convergence, the greater the perceived distance is

Interposition

If one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer