AP Psychology – Unit 7 Vocab: Cognition

A comprehensive list of vocabulary terms and definitions from Unit 7 of AP Psychology focusing on cognition concepts.

Flashbulb Memory

A vivid and detailed memory of an emotionally significant event.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories after the incident that caused the amnesia.

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to recall memories formed before the incident that caused the amnesia.

Embodied Cognition

The theory that cognitive processes are deeply rooted in the body's interactions with the world.

Piaget’s Stages

The developmental stages of children proposed by Jean Piaget: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational.

Metacognition

Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes.

Cross-sectional Study

A study that analyzes data from a population at a specific point in time.

Longitudinal Study

A research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables over long periods.

Cohort

A group of individuals with a shared characteristic, typically grouped by age.

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

Growth mindset believes abilities can be developed; fixed mindset believes abilities are static.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A belief or expectation that influences a person to act in ways that confirm the belief.

Learned Helplessness

A condition in which a person feels unable to change or control their situation.

Stereotype Threat

The risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one’s group.

Cognition

The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought.

Mandela Effect

A phenomenon where a large group of people remember an event differently than how it occurred.

Sternberg & Creativity

Robert Sternberg proposed theories of intelligence that include analytical, creative, and practical aspects.

Emotional Intelligence

The ability to understand and manage your own emotions and those of others.

Achievement Tests

Assess a person's knowledge or skills in a specific subject.

Aptitude Tests

Assess a person's ability to learn or perform in a particular area.

Galton, Darwin, Binet, Terman

Founders of various theories and methods in intelligence testing.

Stanford-Binet Test

An intelligence test that measures cognitive abilities.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A measure of a person's intellectual abilities in relation to others.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions.

Belief Perseverance

Maintaining a belief even in the face of contrary evidence.

Overconfidence

A bias in which a person's subjective confidence in their judgments is greater than the objective accuracy.

Phonological Loop

A component of working memory involved in verbal and auditory information.

Framing

The way information is presented can influence decision and judgement.

Neurogenesis

The process of generating new neurons in the brain.

Neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

A long-lasting enhancement in signal transmission between two neurons.

Nudging

A concept in behavioral economics that proposes positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions can influence behavior.

Priming

A technique whereby exposure to a stimulus influences response to a subsequent stimulus.

Memory

The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.

Recall

The ability to retrieve information learned earlier.

Recognition

The identification of something as having been previously seen or known.

Relearning

The process of learning material again that was previously learned.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

A graph that depicts the decline of memory retention over time.

Encoding

The process of converting information into a format suitable for storage in memory.

Storing

Maintaining information over time.

Retrieving Memories

The process of accessing and bringing into consciousness information stored in memory.

Spearman’s Theory of Intelligence

Proposes that general intelligence (g) underlies all cognitive abilities.

General (g) intelligence

A measure of overall cognitive ability.

Factor Analysis

A statistical method used to identify underlying relationships between variables.

Thurstone’s Theory on Intelligence

Suggests that intelligence consists of seven primary mental abilities.

Kanazawa’s Theory of Intelligence

Proposes that intelligence evolved as a means to solve novel problems.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to reason and solve new problems independently of previously acquired knowledge.

Crystallized Intelligence

The ability to use learned knowledge and experience.

Cattell-Horn-Carroll Theory (CHC)

A comprehensive model of intelligence encompassing multiple factors.

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

The theory that suggests individuals have different kinds of intelligences, such as linguistic and logical-mathematical.

Parallel Processing

The ability to process multiple aspects of information simultaneously.

Proactive Interference

When older memories interfere with the retrieval of newer ones.

Retroactive Interference

When new information interferes with the retrieval of older memories.

Procedural Memory

A type of implicit memory that enables us to perform tasks.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

A component of working memory responsible for visual and spatial information.

Dual Processing

The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.

Atkinson-Shiffrin Three-Stage Model

A model that describes memory as a process involving three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Flynn Effect

The observation that average IQ scores have increased over time.

Reverse Flynn Effect

The recent trend of IQ scores declining in certain populations.

Gambler’s Fallacy

The belief that previous random events can influence future random events.

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

A bias that causes people to continue investing in a losing proposition due to the costs already incurred.

Triarchic Theory (Sternberg)

Proposes three types of intelligence: analytical, creative, and practical.

Assimilation

The process of incorporating new experiences into existing schemas.

Accommodation

The process of altering existing schemas to fit new information.

Schemas

Cognitive frameworks that help organize and interpret information.

Acoustic Encoding

The processing of sounds and auditory information into memory.

Visual Encoding

The processing of visual images into memory.

Semantic Encoding

The processing of meaning, including the meaning of words, into memory.

Seven Sins of Memory (Schacter)

Common memory errors that illustrate the fallibility of memory.

Deja vu

The feeling of having already experienced the present situation.

Reliability

The consistency of a measure.

Validity

The extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure.

Maintenance Rehearsal

A method of encoding by repeatedly verbalizing or thinking about the information.

Content Validity

The extent to which a test represents all aspects of the construct it is measuring.

Construct Validity

The extent to which a test measures the theoretical construct it claims to measure.

Predictive Validity

How well a test predicts future performance.

Implicit Memories

Unconscious memories of skills and conditioned responses.

Explicit Memories

Conscious memories of facts and experiences.

Iconic Memories

Brief visual memories.

Echoic Memories

Brief auditory memories.

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information.

Effortful Processing

Conscious encoding that requires attention and effort.

Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

An intelligence test designed to measure intelligence in adults.

Limbic System

A complex system of nerves and networks in the brain involved in emotions and drives.

Mnemonics

Memory aids that help in the retention and retrieval of information.

Chunking

The process of breaking down information into smaller, manageable units.

Spacing Effect

The phenomenon where spaced study leads to better retention than crammed study.

Testing Effect

Improved memory performance as a result of retrieving information during learning.

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to recall the first and last items in a list more effectively.

Primacy Effect

The improved recall of items at the beginning of a list.

Recency Effect

The improved recall of items at the end of a list.

Psychometrics

The field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement.

Standardization

The process of making something conform to a standard.

Normal Curve

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data.

Interleaving

Mixing different topics or subjects in one study session.

Shallow Processing vs. Deep Processing

Shallow processing involves basic encoding while deep processing involves a more meaningful analysis.

Semantic Memory

A type of long-term memory involving the storage of factual information.

Episodic Memory

A type of long-term memory that involves recollections of personal experiences.

Hippocampus

A brain region involved in the formation of new memories.

Cerebellum

A brain structure that coordinates movement and balance, also involved in some types of memory.

Neocortex

The part of the brain involved in higher order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, and motor commands.