AP Psychology - Unit 2 Quiz pt. 1 (selective attention thru nudge | 2.1a-2.2b) duPont Manual Myers 4th ed.

selective attention

focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

inattentional blindness

failing to see visual 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

figure-ground

the organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

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 that depends on the use of two eyes

convergence

a cue to nearby objects' 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 between the two images, the closer the object

monocular cue

a depth cue available to either eye alone

stroboscopic movement

an illusion of continuous movement 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 quick succession

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 when 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

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, ideas, or people

prototype

a mental image or best example of a category

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 to incorporate new information

creativity

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

convergent thinking

narrowing the available problems 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

heuristics

a simple thinking strategy-a mental shortcut-that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently

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 particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

intuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, 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; can significantly affect decisions and judgments

nudge

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