AP psych 2.1-2.3

perception

process of organizing and interpreting sensory info, giving meaning to objects and events

bottom-up processing

perceives stimuli starting with external sensory info

Top-down processing

using prior expectations to guide how to interpret sensory info

schema

• cognitive structures that help individuals make sense of the world based on prior experiences and knowledge

• ex; learning a dog has four legs may cause a child to think a cow is a dog because it fits in their schema of a dog

perceptual set

• top-down processing skill

• our disposition to perceive one aspect of a thing and not another

• greatly influences how we experience a stimulus

  

context effect

• the surrounding environment influences our perception of a stimulus

• the same stimulus appears different depending on the context

selective attention

focusing on a specific stimulus or task while ignoring other irrelevant stimuli in the environment 

cocktail party effect

ability to focus on a single sound in a noisy environment while filtering out background noise

change blindness

failing to notice sig changes in a scene when attention is diverted

gestalt psychology

percieving objects as whole unified patterns rather than separate parts

closure

The brain fills in missing visual information to perceive a complete shape from incomplete visual elements.

figure ground

focus on the subject (figure) while the rest becomes the background (ground).

proximity

tend to see things that are close together as part of the same thing

similarity

tend to see similar objects as part of the same thing

depth perception

ability to perceive world in three dimensions and to judge distance and movement

monocular depth cues

visual cues that only require one eye for depth and distance

relative clarity

• objects that are further away are less clear

• monocular

relative size

objects that are further away appear smaller

monocular

texture gradient

texture that is further away is less pronounced

mono

linear perspective

parallel lines meet at a single vanishing point

makes objects appear smaller and father away

mono

interposition

an object that if covered by another object appears farther away

mono

binocular depth cues

requires both eyes to perceive depth or distance

convergence

eyes turn inward to focus on an object

more convergence closer it seems to be

bino

retinal disparity

slight diff in images in each eye bc they are slightly apart

bino

size constancy

perceive object as having constant size even when distance changes

shape constancy

perception that an object’s shape remains the same, even when the viewpoint changes

apparent movement

perception of motion where there is none

occurs when stationary objects shown in rapid succession in diff positions

concepts

basis of thought

mental grouping of similar objects events or people that help us organize and understand info

prototype

ideal/typical ex of a concept

helps us quickly identify and categorize new objects, ideas, or people by comparing to this example

assimilation

adding more examples to ones schema

ex learning about a new breed of dog

accommodation

fixing existing schema due to something that contradicts previous thinking

ex learning not all four legged animals are dogs

algorithms

step-by-step procedure that guarantees correct solution if followed correctly

time consuming

not flexible

ex recipes

heuristic

mental shortcut used to solve problems quickly, but does not guarantee correct solution

ex going to a restaurant bc there is a long line

Representative Heuristics

we judge the likelihood of something based on how well it matches our prototype or mental image of a category

availability heuristics

judge the likelihood or frequency of an event based on how easily examples come to mind

mental set

tendency to approach a problem in a specific way, often based on past experiences or familiar strategies

framing

The way information is presented or "framed" influences people's perceptions, decisions, and judgments

ex 90% success vs 10% failure

priming

exposure to one stimulus influences a person's response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious awareness

gamblers fallacy

belief that the probability of a random event is influenced by previous events, even though they are independent of each other

sunk cost fallacy

tendency to continue an endeavor once an investment (time, money, effort) has been made, even if it no longer seems rational to do so

executive function

ability to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.

woking memory

ability to hold and manipulate info for short periods

cognitive flexibility

capacity to adapt to new situations or switch perspetives

ex changing plans when something unexpected happens

inhibitory control

the ability to suppress impulses and distractions to focus on the task at hand

convergent thinking

cognitive process of focusing on a single, correct solution to a problem

solving a crossword

divergent thinking

cognitive process of generating multiple, creative solutions to a problem

finding multiple uses for a paperclip

functional fixedness

limits a person's ability

Using an object only in the way it is traditionally used