AP Psychology; Unit 2 Vocab Terms (Cognition, Memory, & Intelligence)

Vocabulary

Cognition

The mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge and understanding, including thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Concept

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

Prototype

A mental image or best example of a category that helps to organize and classify information.

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem, often involving step-by-step calculations.

Heuristic

A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently, though it may not always be accurate.

Insight

A sudden realization of a problem's solution, often characterized by a sense of clarity.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs.

Fixation

The inability to see a problem from a new perspective, hindering problem-solving.

Mental Set

A tendency to approach problems in a particular way, often based on past experiences.

Intuition

An effortless, automatic feeling or thought that leads to a conclusion, often without conscious reasoning.

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent or match particular prototypes.

Availability Heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume they are common.

Overconfidence

A cognitive bias characterized by excessive confidence in one's own answers, judgments, or abilities.

Belief Perseverance

The tendency to cling to one's initial beliefs even in the face of contrary evidence.

Framing

The way an issue is presented, which can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

Creativity

The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas or solutions.

Convergent Thinking

A type of thinking that involves solving problems through a single correct answer.

Divergent Thinking

A type of thinking that generates multiple possible solutions to a problem.

Memory

The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Recall

The ability to retrieve information learned earlier, without cues.

Recognition

The ability to identify previously encountered information when presented with it again.

Rehearsing

The process of repeatedly practicing or reviewing information to aid retention.

Encoding

The process of transforming sensory input into a form that can be stored in memory.

Storage

The retention of encoded information over time.

Retrieval

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

Sensory Memory

The brief initial recording of sensory information in the memory system.

Short-term Memory

A temporary storage system that holds a limited amount of information for a brief period.(About 7 bits and 20 seconds)

Long-term Memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

Working Memory

A part of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming information and information retrieved from long-term memory.

Explicit Memory

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

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency.

Implicit Memory

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

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 to 4 seconds.

Chunking

The organization of items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Mnemonics

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

Spacing Effect

The phenomenon where distributed study or practice leads to better long-term retention than massed study or practice.

Testing Effect

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

Shallow Processing

Encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words.

Deep Processing

Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.

Semantic Memory

A type of explicit memory involving facts and general knowledge.

Episodic Memory

A type of explicit memory that involves personally experienced events.

Memory Consolidation

The process by which short-term memories are converted into long-term memories.

Flashbulb Memory

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

Long-term Potentiation

A biological process involved in the strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity, believed to be the basis for learning and memory.

Encoding Specificity Principle

The idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping recall it.

Mood-Congruent Memory

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

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to recall the first and last items in a list better than the middle items.

Anterograde Amnesia

An inability to form new memories following a traumatic event.

Retrograde Amnesia

An inability to retrieve memories from before a traumatic event.

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 basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Reconsolidation

The process by which memories are recalled and then stored again, potentially altering them.

Misinformation Effect

The phenomenon where a person's recall of an event becomes less accurate due to post-event information.

Source Amnesia

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

Déjà Vu

The eerie sense that you have experienced something before; it can occur in a familiar context.

Intelligence

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

General Intelligence

A measure of an individual's overall cognitive abilities, often referred to as "g."

Savant Syndrome

A condition in which a person with a serious mental disability demonstrates profound and prodigious capacities or abilities in a specific area.

Emotional Intelligence

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions effectively in interactions with others.

Intelligence Test

A method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others using numerical scores.

Achievement Test

A test designed to assess what a person has learned or accomplished in a specific area.

Aptitude Test

A test intended to predict a person's future performance or capacity to learn.

Mental Age

A measure of intelligence that reflects the age at which an average person reaches a particular level of intellectual functioning.

Stanford-Binet (test)

An intelligence test that measures a variety of cognitive abilities and produces an IQ score.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A numerical score derived from standardized tests designed to measure intelligence.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

A widely used intelligence test that provides a score for overall intelligence as well as separate scores for verbal and performance abilities.

Standardization

The process of defining meaningful scores relative to a pretested group to ensure consistency and fairness in testing.

Normal Curve

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes, where most scores fall near the average.

Reliability

The extent to which a test yields consistent results over time or across different observers.

Validity

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to measure or predict.

Content Validity

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest.

Predictive Validity

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict.

Cohort

A group of individuals who share a common characteristic, often used in research studies.

Crystalized Intelligence

The accumulated knowledge and verbal skills that remain stable or increase with age.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to reason quickly and abstractly, which tends to decline with age.

Intellectual Disability

A condition characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, originating before the age of 18.