Psychology ap exam review

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to give meaning to our environment.

Bottom-up processing

An approach where perception starts with sensory input and works up to the brain's integration of this information.

Top-down processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, drawing on experience and expectations to construct perceptions.

Schema

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Perceptual set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

Gestalt psychology

Emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts.

Closure

The perceptual tendency to mentally fill in gaps in a visual image to perceive objects as wholes.

Figure and ground

The organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground).

Proximity

The perceptual tendency to group together visual and auditory events that are near each other.

Similarity

The perceptual tendency to group together elements that seem alike.

Attention

The focusing of mental resources on select information.

Selective attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.

Cocktail party effect

The ability to focus auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out other stimuli.

Inattentional blindness

Failing to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere.

Change Blindness

Failing to notice changes in the environment.

Binocular depth cues

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, 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.

Convergence

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

Monocular depth cues

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

Relative clarity

A monocular cue for perceiving depth; hazy objects are seen as farther away than sharp, clear objects.

Relative size

A cue that allows determining the closeness of objects to an object of known size.

Texture gradient

A gradual change from coarse to fine texture signaling increasing distance.

Linear perspective

Parallel lines appear to converge with distance.

Aptitude tests

Tests designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.

Fixed mindset

The idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change.

Growth mindset

The belief that one's skills and qualities can change and improve through effort and dedication.

Explicit memory

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

Episodic memory

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

Semantic memory

Memory for factual information.

Implicit memory

Retention independent of conscious recollection.

Procedural memory

A type of long-term memory of how to perform different actions and skills.

Prospective memory

Remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point in time.

Long-term potentiation

An increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

Working memory model

A model that suggests that memory involves a series of active, temporary memory stores that manipulate information.

Working memory

A newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Central executive

The part of working memory that directs attention and processing.

Phonological loop

The part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information.

Visuospatial sketchpad

The part of working memory that holds visual and spatial information.

Multi-store model

A model of memory that suggests information passes through three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Sensory memory

The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

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 or 4 seconds.

Short-Term Memory

Activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten.

Long-Term Memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Automatic processing

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

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

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.

Levels of processing model

The theory that deeper levels of processing result in longer-lasting memory codes.

Shallow encoding

Processing information based on its surface characteristics.

Deep encoding

Processing information based on its meaning and the significance of the information.

Mnemonic devices

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

Method of loci

A mnemonic device that involves imagining placing items around a room or along a route.

Chunking-Grouping

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

Categories-Grouping

Grouping information into categories that share common attributes.

Hierarchies-Grouping

Organizing items into a hierarchy, starting with general categories and working down to specific examples.

Spacing effect

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

Massed practice

Cramming information all at once. It is less effective than spaced practice.

Distributed practice

Spacing the study of material to be remembered by including breaks between study periods.

Serial position effect

Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

Primacy effect

The tendency to remember information at the beginning of a body of information better than the information that follows.

Recency effect

The tendency to remember information that is presented last.

Maintenance rehearsal

Repeating information over and over to keep it active in short-term memory.

Elaborative rehearsal

A method of transferring information from short-term to long-term memory by making that information meaningful in some way.

Memory retention

The ability to retain information over time through the storage and retrieval of information.

Autobiographical memory

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

Retrograde amnesia

An inability to retrieve information from one's past.

Anterograde amnesia

An inability to form new memories.

Alzheimer's disease

A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning.

Infantile amnesia

The inability to retrieve memories from much before age 3.

Recall

A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

Recognition

A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

Retrieval cues

Stimuli that aid the recall or recognition of information stored in memory.

Context-dependent memory

The theory that information learned in a particular situation or place is better remembered when in that same situation or place.

Mood-congruent memory

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

State-dependent memory

The theory that information learned in a particular state of mind (e.g., drunk, sober) is more easily recalled when in that same state of mind.

The forgetting curve

A graph showing retention and forgetting over time.

Encoding failure

The failure to process information into memory.

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.

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

The temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that it's just out of reach.

Repression

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

Misinformation effect

Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.

Source amnesia

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

Constructive memory

The process by which memories are influenced by the meaning we give to events.

Memory consolidation

The neural storage of a long-term memory.

Imagination inflation

The increased confidence in a false memory of an event following repeated imagination of the event.

Health Psychology

A branch of psychology that focuses on how physical activities, psychological traits, and social relationships affect overall health and illness.

Stress

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

Hypertension

High blood pressure, often associated with stress, which can increase the risk of heart and kidney diseases and stroke.

Immune Suppression

Reduction in the effectiveness of the immune system, which can be caused by various forms of stress.

Stressors

Events or conditions in your surroundings that may trigger stress.

Daily Hassles

Everyday minor events that cause stress, such as traffic jams or overwhelming chores.

Significant Life Changes

Major life transitions like moving, leaving a job, or divorcing, which can be stressful.

Catastrophes

Unpredictable, large-scale events that cause significant stress and alter the lives of many people.

Eustress (motivating)

Positive stress which results from striving toward a challenging goal.

Distress (debilitating)

Negative stress that can make a person sick or keep a person from reaching a goal.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood and can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

The three-stage process (alarm, resistance, exhaustion) that describes the physiological changes the body goes through when under stress.