Psych Unit 2 - Cognition

"Selective attention"

"Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus while ignoring others."

"Inattentional blindness"

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

"Change blindness"

"Failing to notice changes in the environment after a brief visual disruption."

"Perceptual set"

"A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another; expectations that shape perception."

"Gestalt"

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

"Figure-ground"

"Organizing the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground)."

"Grouping"

"Perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups (proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, connectedness)."

"Depth perception"

"The ability to see objects in three dimensions and judge distance."

"Visual cliff"

"A laboratory device testing infants' depth perception using a drop-off covered by glass (Gibson & Walk)."

"Binocular cue"

"Depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes (e.g., retinal disparity, convergence)."

"Convergence"

"A binocular cue: the inward movement of the eyes when focusing on a near object; greater convergence signals closeness."

"Retinal disparity"

"A binocular depth cue: the slight difference between the images projected on each retina; greater difference indicates closer objects."

"Monocular cue"

"Depth cues available to either eye alone (e.g., linear perspective, interposition, relative size, texture gradient)."

"Stroboscopic movement"

"An illusion of movement produced when a series of still images is shown in rapid succession."

"Phi phenomenon"

"Perceiving continuous movement between separate flashing lights when they blink in quick succession."

"Autokinetic effect"

"The perceived movement of a single stationary point of light in an otherwise dark environment."

"Perceptual constancy"

"Perceiving objects as unchanging (in size, shape, color) even as illumination and retinal images change."

"Color constancy"

"Perceiving familiar objects as having a consistent color despite changes in lighting."

"Perceptual adaptation"

"The ability of the visual system to adjust to an artificially displaced or inverted visual field (e.g., prism goggles)."

"Cognition"

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

"Metacognition"

"Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes (thinking about thinking)."

"Concept"

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

"Prototype"

"A mental image or best example of a category used to classify new items."

"Schema"

"A cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information."

"Assimilation"

"Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas."

"Accommodation"

"Adapting current schemas to incorporate new information."

"Creativity"

"The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas or solutions."

"Convergent thinking"

"Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best answer (typical of standardized tests)."

"Divergent thinking"

"Expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking."

"Executive functions"

"Higher-order cognitive processes (planning, inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility)."

"Algorithm"

"A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution to a problem when applied correctly."

"Heuristic"

"A simple, efficient thinking strategy or rule-of-thumb that often allows quick problem solving but can produce errors."

"Insight"

"A sudden realization of a problem's solution (an 'aha' moment)."

"Confirmation bias"

"The tendency to search for, interpret, or recall information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs."

"Fixation"

"Inability to take a new perspective on a problem; can include functional fixedness."

"Mental set"

"The tendency to approach situations in a certain way because that method worked in the past."

"Intuition"

"An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit reasoning."

"Representativeness heuristic"

"Judging likelihood by how well something matches a prototype."

"Availability heuristic"

"Estimating likelihood based on how easily examples come to mind."

"Overconfidence"

"The tendency to be more confident than correct — overestimating the accuracy of one's beliefs."

"Belief perseverance"

"Clinging to one's initial beliefs even after they've been discredited."

"Framing"

"The way an issue is posed; framing can significantly affect decisions and judgments."

"Nudge"

“framing choices in a way that encourages people to make beneficial decisions.”

"Memory"

"The persistence of learning through encoding, storage, and retrieval of information."

"Recall"

"A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier (no cues)."

"Recognition"

"A measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned (with cues)."

"Relearning"

"A measure of memory that assesses how much faster one relearns material already learned and then forgotten."

"Hermann Ebbinghaus"

"Pioneering memory researcher best known for the forgetting curve and spacing effect."

"Encoding"

"The process of getting information into the memory system."

"Storage"

"The retention of encoded information over time."

"Retrieval"

"The process of getting information out of memory storage."

"Parallel processing"

"The brain's ability to process many aspects of a problem simultaneously (especially in vision)."

"Richard Atkinson & Richard Shiffrin"

"Proposed the multi-store memory model (sensory memory → short-term memory → long-term memory)."

"Sensory memory"

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

"Short-term memory"

"Activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten; limited capacity."

"Long-term memory"

"The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system."

"Working memory"

"A newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming information."

"Central executive"

"The part of working memory that directs attention and processing among subsystems."

"Phonological loop"

"Working memory component that deals with verbal/auditory information."

"Visuospatial sketchpad"

"Working memory component that handles visual and spatial information."

"Neurogenesis"

"The formation of new neurons, especially in the hippocampus."

"Long-term potentiation (LTP)"

"A prolonged strengthening of synapses that helps explain memory formation — increased efficiency of neural communication after repeated stimulation."

"Explicit memory"

"Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare (declarative memory)."

"Effortful processing"

"Encoding that requires conscious attention and effort (studying, rehearsal)."

"Automatic processing"

"Unconscious encoding of incidental information, like space, time, and frequency."

"Implicit memory"

"Retention independent of conscious recollection (procedural memory and conditioned associations)."

"Iconic memory"

"A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli (lasting a fraction of a second)."

"Echoic memory"

"A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli (lasting a few seconds)."

"Chunking"

"Organizing information into meaningful units to extend short-term memory capacity."

"Mnemonics"

"Memory aids that use vivid imagery and organizational devices to improve recall."

"Spacing effect"

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

"Testing effect"

"Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information."

"Shallow processing"

"Encoding on a basic level (structure or appearance of words), producing weaker memory."

"Deep processing"

"Encoding semantically, based on meaning, producing stronger, longer-lasting memory."

"Semantic memory"

"Memory for facts and general knowledge."

"Episodic memory"

"Memory for personally experienced events (autobiographical memory)."

"Hippocampus"

"A neural center in the limbic system that processes explicit memories for storage."

"Memory consolidation"

"The neural process by which encoded memories become stable in long-term memory (often during sleep)."

"Flashbulb memory"

"A clear, vivid memory of an emotionally significant moment or event."

"Priming"

"The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory."

"Encoding specificity principle"

"The idea that cues and contexts specific to an encoded memory will be most effective in helping recall."

"Mood-congruent memory"

"The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current mood."

"Serial position effect"

"Our tendency to recall best the first and last items in a list (primacy and recency effects)."

"Interleaving"

"Mixing different kinds of problems or material during study (rather than blocking) to improve learning."

"Anterograde amnesia"

"Inability to form new explicit memories after an injury."

"Retrograde amnesia"

"Inability to retrieve memory of events that occurred before a brain injury."

"Proactive interference"

"The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information."

"Retroactive interference"

"The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information."

"Repression"

"The unconscious exclusion of anxiety-arousing memories, thoughts, or feelings (psychoanalytic concept; controversial)."

"Reconsolidation"

"The process by which retrieved memories are potentially altered before being stored again."

"Misinformation effect"

"Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event."

"Source amnesia"

"Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined."

"Déjà vu"

"The eerie sense of having experienced a situation before, possibly due to brief mismatches between familiarity and recollection."

Amygdala

a small, almond-shaped limbic system structure primarily responsible for processing and regulating emotions, especially fear, aggression, and pleasure

Brain Structures for Explicit Memories

Hippocampus, Prefrontal Cortex

Brain Structures for Implicit Memories

Cerebellum, Basal Ganglia

Prefrontal Cortex

Handles working memory (short-term holding and manipulating of information) and organizing memories for retrieval. It helps with planning, decision-making, and remembering context.

Cerebellum

Important for classical conditioning (like associating a sound with a reflex) and fine-tuning motor memory. It supports automatic, coordinated movements linked to memory.

Basal Ganglia

Involved in procedural memory (skills and habits, like riding a bike or typing). Helps with learning routines and motor patterns without conscious awareness.

Neuroplasticity

brain's remarkable lifelong ability to reorganize its structure, functions, and connections in response to experience, learning, and injury