unit 2: cognition

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to make it meaningful.

Bottom-up Processing

Analysis that starts at the sensory level and works up to higher levels of processing.

Top-down Processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

Schema

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Perceptual Set

A predisposition to perceive things in a certain way.

Gestalt Psychology

An approach to psychology that emphasizes that the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

Closure

The perceptual tendency to fill in gaps in order to perceive a complete image.

Proximity

Objects that are close to each other tend to be perceived as belonging together.

Similarity

Objects that are similar in appearance are more likely to be perceived as belonging together.

Figure and Ground

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

Attention

Focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events.

Selective Attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.

Cocktail Party Effect

The ability to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, much like tuning into a single voice at a noisy party.

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

Change Blindness

Failing to notice changes in the environment.

Binocular Depth Cues

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes.

Retinal Disparity

A binocular cue for perceiving depth

Convergence

A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object.

Monocular Depth Cues

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

Relative Size

If two objects are known to be of similar size, we perceive the one that casts a smaller retinal image as farther away.

Texture Gradient

The tendency for textured surfaces to appear to become smaller and finer as distance from the viewer increases.

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge with distance. The more the lines converge, the greater their perceived distance.

Interposition

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

Perceptual Constancies

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

Apparent Movement

The perception that a stationary object is moving.

Prototypes

A mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories.

Assimilation

Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas.

Accommodation

Adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Algorithms

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.

Heuristics

A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms.

Representativeness Heuristic

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

Availability Heuristic

Estimating 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.

Mental Set

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

Priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response.

Framing

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

Gambler’s Fallacy

The fallacy of thinking that future probabilities are altered by past events, when in reality they are unchanged. The fallacy lies in the belief that a departure from what occurs on average or in the short term will be corrected in the short term.

Sunk-cost Fallacy

Making decisions about a current situation based on what one has previously invested in the situation.

Executive Functions

Higher order thinking processes that include planning, organizing, inhibition, and decision-making.

Creativity

The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

Divergent Thinking

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

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution.

Functional Fixedness

The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving.

Testing Effect

Enhanced performance on a memory test caused by being tested on the material to be remembered.

Metacognition

Thinking about thinking. It refers to the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess one's understanding and performance.

Intelligence

Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

g (General Intelligence)

A factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.

Multiple Intelligences

Theory proposed by Howard Gardner that suggests that there are eight distinct spheres of intelligence.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

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

Mental Age

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.

Chronological Age

The age of an individual expressed as time elapsed since birth.

Standardization

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

Construct Validity

The extent to which there is evidence that a test measures a particular hypothetical construct.

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.

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.

Test-Retest Reliability

A method for determining the reliability of a test by comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate occasions.

Split-Half Reliability

A measure of reliability in which a test is split into two parts and an individual's scores on both halves are compared.

Stereotype Threat

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

Stereotype Lift

When awareness of positive expectations improves performance on tasks.

Flynn Effect

The rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations.

Achievement Tests

Tests designed to assess what a person has learned.

Aptitude Tests

Tests designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.

Fixed Mindset

The belief that abilities are fixed and unchangeable.

Growth Mindset

The belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work.

Explicit Memory

Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare."

Episodic Memory

The ability to recall and mentally re-experience specific episodes from one's personal past.

Semantic Memory

Memory for factual information.

Implicit Memory

Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.

Procedural Memory

A type of implicit memory that involves motor skills and behavioral habits.

Prospective Memory

Remembering to perform a future action at the appropriate time that you previously intended to accomplish.

Long-term Potentiation

An increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

Working Memory Model

An updated version of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Central Executive

The part of working memory that directs attention and processing.

Phonological Loop

The part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

The part of working memory that holds and processes visual and spatial information.

Multi-Store Model of Memory

A model that describes memory as consisting of three distinct stages

Sensory Memory

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Iconic Memory

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

Echoic Memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

Short-Term Memory

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.

Long-Term Memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Encoding

The processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

Storage

The retention of encoded information over time.

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory storage.

Levels of Processing Model

This model of memory suggests that memory retention is directly related to the depth of mental processing, with deeper processing producing better recall.

Shallow Encoding

Processing information based on its surface characteristics.

Deep Encoding

Processing information based on its meaning.

Structural Encoding

Shallow processing that emphasizes the physical structure of the stimulus.

Phonemic Encoding

Encoding of sounds, especially the sounds of words.

Semantic Encoding

The encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.

Mnemonic Devices

Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

Method of Loci

A mnemonic device that involves imagining placing items you want to remember along a route you know well, or in specific locations in a familiar room or building.

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Categories

Grouping items into categories that share similar characteristics.

Hierarchies

Systems in which concepts are arranged from more general to more specific classes.

Spacing Effect

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

Memory Consolidation

The neural storage of a long-term memory.

Massed Practice

Cramming information all at once. It is less effective than spreading learning over time.

Distributed Practice

Spreading out study sessions over time with breaks in between. This practice leads to better memorization and recall.