Psych unit 2

Perception

The way we process information rather than the gaining of information

Selective attention

Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Cocktail party effect

Your ability to listen to one voice in a room of many

Inattentional blindness

Failing to see a visible object when our attention is directed elsewhere

Change blindness

Failing to notice changes in the environment, a form of inattentional blindness

Perceptual set

A set of mental tendencies and assumptions that address top down what we hear

Gestalt psychology

How some people organize thought (seeing the whole)

Closure

When the brain sees an incomplete object and wants to close it

Figure and ground

To separate faces from their background

Proximity

How the brain groups things that are compose together

Similarity

The brain groups similar things together

Depth perception

The ability to see objects in three dimensions- allows us to judge distance

Visual cliff

An experiment establishing that depth perception is inert

Binocular depth

Cues that show depth perception using two eyes

Retinal disparity

Retinas see different things but there is a crossover

Convergence

Retinal images are combined by the brain

Retinal disparity

Retinas see different things but there is a crossover and comparing the space between retinas can show depth

Convergence

Retinal images are combined by the brain

Monocular depth cues

Takes 1 eye to show depth

Relative clarity

More light passes through further objects so further objects are hazy and close objects are clear

Relative size

Objects that are similar sizes but cast a smaller retinal image are further away

Texture gradient

The closer the object the more texture or gradient we see

Linear perspective

The sharper the angle of convergence the greater the perceived distance

Interposition

If one object blocks the view of another one we assume it’s closer

Apparent movement

As we move stable objects may also appear to move, whatever is in front of a fixed point will go faster backwards where as whatever is in the back will move slower

Concepts

Mental groupings of similar objects events ideas or people

Prototypes

A mental image or best example of a category

Schemas

Concepts or mental molds in which we pour our experiences

Assimilation

We interpret experiences according to our current understanding

Accommodation

Adjusting our understanding with our experiences

Creativity

The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Divergent thinking

The ability to consider many different options and think in novel ways

Convergent thinking

The ability to provide a single correct answer

Functional fixedness

Occurs when our prior experiences inhibit our ability to find creative solutions

Executive functions

The high level cognitive abilities that collectively allow us to solve problems and make decisions effectively

Algorithms

Step by step procedures that guarantee a solution

Heuristics

Simpler thinking strategies

Confirmation bias

Seeking evidence for our ideas more eagerly than we hunt for evidence against it

Mental set

Our tendency to approach a problem with the mindset of what has worked previously

Representative heuristics

To judge the likelihood of something. By comparing them to a prototype

Availability heuristics

When we evaluate the commonality of an event based on its mental availability

Gamblers fallacy

Unconsciously using the representative heuristic when judging the likelihood of future events

Sunk cost fallacy

We stick to our original plan because we are invested even though it could save time

Framing

The way an issue is posed can significantly affects decisions or judgements

Alzheimer’s Disease

Impairment of the memory after time (progressive)

Memory retention

Retaining information within the brain

Recall

Retrieving information that is not in your current awareness but you learned before

Recognition

Identifying items previously learned (multiple choice)

Encoding

Getting information into our brain

Storage

Retain information

Retrieval

Later get out information from the brain

Multi-store model

A memory model that looks specifically at 3 stages of memory

Sensory Memory

We sense something/ take it in

Working memory

Paying attention to a topic (short term memory)

Long-term memory

Where memories move for later retrieval (no capacity)

maintenance rehearsal

Rehearsal of information

Elaborative rehearsal

rehearsing information in ways that promote meaning

Central executive

Coordinates focusing and processing of information

Phonological loop

Holds auditory information in short term memory

Visiospatial sketched

To remember information about objects

Long-term potential

The more you use a memory the stronger it gets

Explicit memory

The facts and experiences we can consciously know and declare

Effortful processing

The way we encode and process explicit memories

Implicit memories

Memories that are not consciously encoded

Automatic processing

When memories skip the conscious encoding track and go straight to memory

Procedural memory

Included in implicit memories and helps with automatic memories

Iconic memory

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimulus, a photographic or automatic memory

Echoic memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimulus

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar manageable units often occurs automatically

Mnemonic devices

Memory aids, using vivid imagery and organization

Method of loci

A memory strategy that involves adding vivid details to words

Hierarchies

Memory aid that involves organizing words into broad categories

Spacing effect

Spacing out learning leads to better understanding of content

Massed practice

Cramming (grand to learn quickly and forget quickly)

Distributed practice

We retain information better when our encoding is distributed over time

Testing effect

Retrieval practice leads to better memory and retrieval

Shallow encoding

Encodes in an elementary level based on the letters or sounds of words

Deep encoding

Encoding based on the meaning of the words

Episodic memory

Experienced events

Semantic memory

Facts and general knowledge

Memory consolidation

Memories migrate to the cortex for storage (sleep supports)

Infantile amnesia

Don’t have ability to have long term memory prior to age 3

Retrieval cues

Like passwords that open memories, associations found when we encode memories

Prospective memory

Intended future actions memory (planning ahead)

Priming

Wakening of associations (memory less memory)

Context-dependent memory

Memory is affected by cues we have associated with that

State-dependent memory

What we learn in one state may be more easily recalled in that state

Mood-congruent memory

Emotions that accompany good or bad events become retrieval cues

Serial position effect

Easier to remember first and last information in a list than middle information

Primacy effect

Recall first information quick and well

Recency effect

Recall last items quick and well in a list

Retrieval

Getting info out of long term memory

Metacognition

Thinking about thinking

Autobiographical memory

An entire memory of everything you’ve don’t in your life

Retrograde amnesia

People who cannot remember their past

Anterograde amnesia

You remember your past but you cannot create new memories

Encoding failure

You saw it and paid attention but you didn’t pay enough attention and you forgot it

Forgetting curve

The course of forgetting is initially rapid and then levels off over time

Tip of the tongue phenomenon

When a memory is almost nearly retrieved

Proactive interference

When prior learning disrupts your recall of new information