AP Psych Unit 2 Flashcards 2024-25

reversible figures

Drawings that one can perceive in different ways by reversing figure and ground.

perceptual set

a readiness to perceive a stimulus in a particular way

inattentional blindness (or change blindness)

failure to notice an obvious change in visual environment

feature analysis

the process of detecting specific elements in visual input and assembling them into a more complex form

bottom-up processing

the analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete perception

top-down processing

the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole

subjective contours

Perceived contours that do not exist physically. We tend to complete figures that have gaps in them by perceiving a contour as continuing along its original path.

phi phenomenon

the illusion of movement created by presenting visual stimuli in rapid succession

closure

the tendency to complete figures that are incomplete

similarity

the tendency to perceive things that look similar to each other as being part of the same group

simplicity

viewers tend to organize elements in the simplest way possible

continuity

the tendency to perceive things as simply as possible with a continuous pattern rather than with a complex, broken-up pattern

distal stimuli

Stimuli that lie in the distance (that is, in the world outside the body).

proximal stimuli

The stimulus energies that impinge directly on sensory receptors.

depth perception

ability to judge distance and three-dimensional relations

binocular cues

depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes

retinal disparity

a binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

convergence

A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object

monocular depth

clues about distance based on the image in either eye alone

motion parallex

the perception of motion of objects in which close objects appear to move more quickly than objects that are farther away

pictorial depth cues

clues about distance that can be given in a flat picture

linear perspective

parallel lines appear to converge with distance

texture gradient

the tendency for textured surfaces to appear to become smaller and finer as distance from the viewer increases

interposition

if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer

relative size

perception that occurs when objects that a person expects to be of a certain size appear to be small and are, therefore, assumed to be much farther away

height in plane

distant objects appear higher in a picture

light/shadow

Nearby objects reflect more light to eyes. Given two identical objects, the dimmer one seems farther away

perceptual constancies

tendency to perceive objects as stable and unchanging despite changing sensory info (size, shape, brightness, color)

visual illusion

involves an apparently inexplicable discrepancy between the appearance of a visual stimulus and its physical reality

impossible figures

objects that can be represented in 2D pictures but cannot exist in 3D space

habituation

an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it

dishabituation

recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulation

cognition

the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

mental images

representations in the mind of an object or event

concepts

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

fusiform facial area (FFA)

some scientists believe that small portion of brain that recognizes faces

parahippocampal place area (PPA)

An area in the temporal lobe that contains neurons that are selectively activated by pictures of indoor and outdoor scenes.

formal concept

a mental category that is formed by learning the rules or features that define it

natural concept

a mental category that is formed as a result of everyday experience

problem solving

the process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues.

trial and error

A problem-solving strategy that involves attempting different solutions and eliminating those that do not work.

algorithms

very specific, step-by-step procedures for solving certain types of problems

heuristics

Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that often lead to a solution (but not always).

asperger syndrome

A specific type of autistic spectrum disorder characterized by extreme attention to details and deficient social understanding.

insight

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

intuition

the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.

guiding stage

Perceiving a pattern in the info you're considering, but not consciously; 1st stage of the two stage intuition model

integrative stage

a representation of the pattern becomes conscious, usually in the form of a hunch or hypothesis

functional fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment 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

single-feature model

make a decision by focusing on only one feature

additive model

rating the attributes of each alternative and selecting the one which has the highest sum

elimination by aspects model

gradually eliminate options whose attributes fail to satisfy a minimum criteria

probability

likelihood that a particular event will occur

availability heuristic

estimating 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

representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

schema

a concept of framework that organizes and interprets information based on what we already know. They are built from past experiences and help create expectations about the world

Perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. Tye of readiness to percieve specific aspects of a stimulus based on recent experiences of what you expect to happen.

cocktail party effect

ability to attend to only one voice among many in distracting environments

prototype

an original model on which later versions are patterned

assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

accomodation

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

gambler's fallacy

the belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently

sunk-cost fallacy

a framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

divergent thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions)

convergent thinking

ability to give the correct answer to standard questions that don't require significant creativity

memory

the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

encoding

the processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

storage

the retention of encoded information over time

retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

sensory memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system (0.25-3s)

short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten (20s)

long-term memory

the relatively permanent storage of information (lifetime)

George Sperling experiment

Flashed 12 letters on a screen, in four rows of three. Subjects looked at the screen for 1/20th of a second and then had to report however many letters they could remember (on average 4-5).

Then, Sperling arranged in three rows of four and played a tone (high, medium, or low) which would clarify which row to report.

This increased accuracy in subjects which proved that all of the letters had been in the subjects short term memory.

Visual sensory memory/iconic memory

a temporary visual buffer that holds visual information for brief periods of time

auditory sensory memory/echoic memory

brief memory that is like an echo

maintenance rehearsal

A system for remembering involving repeating information to oneself without attempting to find meaning in it

chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

working memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory

phonological loop

the part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information

visuospatial sketchpad

A component of working memory where we create mental images to remember visual information (spacial info)

central executive

the part of working memory that directs attention and processing

elaborative rehearsal

a method of transferring information from STM into LTM by making that information meaningful in some way

procedural memory

a type of implicit memory that involves motor skills and behavioral habits

episodic memory

the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

autobiographical memory

the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story

semantic memory

memory for knowledge about the world

explicit memory

the act of consciously or intentionally retrieving past experiences

implicit memory

retention independent of conscious recollection

cluster

A number of similar things grouped together

semantic network model

model of memory organization that assumes information is stored in the brain in a connected fashion, with concepts that are related stored physically closer to each other than concepts that are not highly related

retrieval cue

a stimulus for remembering

cue failure

don't have the right cue for recall