Cognition

Unit 2 AP Psych

Perception

interpretation of sensory input

Bottom-up processing

process of sensation - world → brain

Top-down processing

process of perception - brain → world

Schema

mental framework/concept

Perceptual set

predisposition to mentally see things a certain way

Attention

capacity to focus/process one thing and tune out other stimuli

Selective attention

focus/process one thing and tune out other stimuli

Cocktail party effect

ability to focus on one auditory stimulus while zoning out of other ones

Inattentional blindness

cannot detect an unexpected stimulus due to focus on something else

Change blindness

change in visible stimuli goes unnoticed

Gestalt psychology

we see things as “wholes”, whole > parts+parts

Closure

we “draw lines” that make it a whole object

Figure and ground

see subject and background

Grouping

put things in groups b/c certain things

Proximity

close = group

Similarity

alike = group

Repression

defense mechanism, push away memories/thoughts/emotions

Ego

part of the mind, balance between conscious and unconscious, “who you are”

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

cannot recall but know it’s there, retrieval error

Retroactive interference

Recent interferes with old

Proactive interference

old interferes with recent

Encoding failure

1. lack of attention

2. inadequate rehearsal

3. lack of personal relevance

4. stress

5. complexity

Forgetting curve

decline in retention over time

Reconsolidation

memories vulnerable to change when retrieved then stored

Misinformation effect

cognitive bias, add fake parts to memories and thereby making it inaccurate

Sorce amnesia

can’t recall source of memory

Déjà vu

conflict between false familiarity and rationality

Constructive memory

people form memories—they aren’t camera tapes

Memory consolidation

process of memory going short term → long term

Imagination inflation

fake memory believed to have happened b/c fake memory repeatedly imagined

Sensory memory

short-term memory of sensory input

Short-term memory

only holds what using, limited capacity

Working memory

type of short-term, actively processing information

Long-term memory

memory properly encoded and in brain, relatively unlimited capacity

Maintenance rehearsal

rehearsing memory to keep in short-term

Elaborative rehearsal

complex encoding (link to existing info) to keep in long-term

Autobiographical memory

compilation of personal long-term memories that make you up

Flashbulb memory

vivid, detailed emotional memory (usually negative)

Retrograde amnesia

cannot remember the “before” after a head injury

Anterograde amnesia

cannot remember the recent “after” of a head injury

Alzheimer’s disease

dementia: memories, thinking, behavior issues

Infantile amnesia

babies don’t have fully developed hippocampi, so they don’t remember anything until they’re 2±

Intelligence

ability to adapt and solve problems

General intelligence

broad mental capacity to adapt/problem solve/rationalize

Factor analysis

reduce: many variables → a few factors

Fluid intelligence

ability solve problems regardless or prior knowledge (on-your-feet-smarts)

Crystallized intelligence

ability to solve problems/apply solutions based on prior experiences

Cattell-Horn-Carroll Theory

hierarchy of human cognitive abilities

Multiple intelligences

intelligence ≠ one thing, but = many things

Savant syndrome

really good @ one thing, not so much at other things though

Grit

passion + discipline for long-term goals

Emotional intelligence

control over, awareness of, own emotions and similarly that of others

Encode

process/store memory long-term

Mnemonic devices

tools to remember

Method of Loci

Mind Palace: connect things to people/places in your life

Chunking

big info → small groups

Categories

cognitive process of associations based on characteristics

Hierarchies

structure where things are arranged in a certain order

Spacing effect

multiple study sessions over time > cramming

Massed practice

lots of material, short time, no/little breaks

Distributed practice

long time, multiple periods/breaks

Serial position effect

remember the first and last best (and odd)

Primacy effect

remember first thing well

Recency effect

remember most recent thing well

Phi phenomenon

still object but looks moving b/c rapid image changes (like loading screen circle)

Nudge

people’s behavior can be influenced by certain psychological factors (which can be manipulated to produce certain behaviors)

Insight

ability to gain deep knowledge/understanding of something

Executive functions

lots of things allowing person to set, plan, and achieve their goals

Long-term potentiation

lots of neurons firing in the synaptic gap

Explicit memory

conscious retrieval of facts

Episodic memory

long-term type of memory with personal details

Cohort

group of people w/ common characteristic

Interleaving

mix up things/topics while studying

Retrieval

bring memories from long-term → working

Recall

retrieval w/o prompts/cues

Recognition

retrieval w/ prompts/cues

Relearning

learn better/faster/easier the next time around

Retrieval cues

ex. place, emotion, music, smells, etc.

Monocular cues

depth cues, perceived w/ one eye

Binocular cues

depth cues, perceived w/ two eyes

Visual cliff

young humans/animals placed in front of “visual cliff”, and they didn’t go on it

Depth perception

see spatial relationships, see 3-D

Convergence

both eyes focus on one point

Retinal disparity

binocular cue, difference seen between two eyes

Relative clarity

monocular cue; far = fuzzy, near = defined

Relative size

monocular cue; far = small, near = big

Texture gradient

monocular cue; less detailed/grained = far, more detailed/grained = near

Linear perspective

monocular cue; far = lines at one point, near = lines spread out

Interposition

monocular cue; far = behind, near = front

Perceptual constancies

some things never change (size, color, shape)

Color constancy

color doesn’t change

Size constancy

size doesn’t change

Shape constancy

shape doesn’t change

Perceptual adaptation

brains adjusts sensitivity to prolonged stimulus, becoming more tolerant

Apparent motion

looks like it’s moving but it’s not

Stroboscopic movement

images shown in rapid succession, looks like something is moving but it’s just differences in what pixels are colored

Autokinetic effect

optical illusion, light point in dark space looks like it’s moving

Cognition

our mind (not brain!)

Metacognition

using our mind to think about our mind