AP PSYCH UNIT 2

What is perception?

Perception is how we understand and see the world around us.

Top Down Processing

Using prior knowledge and experience to interpret sensory information. (You’re going from the top, what you already know, to intepret the bottom, what you don’t know.)

Bottom Up Processing

When we don’t know a stimuli and it is new to us (Building knowledge about it from the bottom Up) Takes longer

What are schemas?

Mental templates that help organize information. Built from past experiences. People assimilate into schemas, but if it does not make sense any longer, you accommodate a new schema.

Perceptual set

A mental shortcut that the brain uses to quickly intepret experiences. Influence immediate experiences based on experiences or emotions, affecting how we intepret a stimulus at a given moment (If someone has heavily critqued you in the past, you will assume they are trying to be mean if they are trying to help)

Difference between schemas and perceptual sets

Schemas are pre-existing and guide how we view the world, while perceptual sets are in the moment and immediate.

Gestalt Psychology

Focuses on how humans group elements together to form meaningful patterns

Figure and Ground

When viewing something, our perception breaks it down into a figure, and the ground.

Closure

Brain subconciously fills in missing information

Similarity

Things with similarities and patterns are grouped into a single unit

Proximity

When objects are placed close to each other, they are perceived as one single group.

Continuation

We will continue folloing continuous lines or path

Symmetry

When objects are ___, we view them as one object

Depth perception

Ability to perceive relative distance of an object in one’s visual field

Where does depth perception come from?

Monocular and Binocular cues

Bincoular cues

Rely on both eyes working together. When eyes look inward, it’s a close object, but when our eyes straighten out, it’s far.

Retinal disparity

The differences between the two images seen by the different eyes

Depth perception and Binocular cues

The retinal disparity creates depth perception

Monocular cues

Rely on one eye for depth perception and distance

Relative size

Helps determine how close an object is, objects that are closer appear larger, objects farther appear smaller

Interposition

Occurs when one objects blocks another, blocked object is perceived as farther away while blocking object is perceived as closer

Relative Height

Objects higher in the visual field are farther away, shorter in visual field are closer

Texture and Gradient

Objects that are clear, in focus, and full of detail appear close, while blurry objects appear farther

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines seem to converge, showing distance

Motion Paralax

Objects closer appear to move quickly, while objects farther away appear to move slowly

Selective Attention

Tuning out other stimuli because you’re focusing on one

Cocktail Party Effect

Able to use selective attention while unconcously listening to detect something important in the background (At a party, you’re paying attention to see when they’re serving cocktails)

Inattentional Blindness

Faliure to notice stimuli in visual field due to attention being focused somewhere else

Change blindness

Fail to notice changes in environment as a result of selective attention

Apperant Movement

Brain perceived motion even though nothing is moving (Apperant, Like apparently cus it’s not always true)

Phi phenomenon

When lights blink on and off in a sequence, resulting in perceiving objects as moving even though object is stationary (Phi, Li)

Induced movement

When an object appears to move because of the motion of surrounding objects (the other objects are INDUCTING the main object to move)

Autokinetic effect

When a stationary poont of light in a dark environment appears to move (Light makes you want to move, move=kinetic

Concepts

Group similar things together

Prototypes

A mental representation of an object and concept that shows its most typical features, used as standard. Example: Tabby cat as ____ for felines

Schema

Mental framework that helps organize and guide perception

Concepts vs Schemas

Concepts are the definitions we have of things, schemas guide us through how things work and what to expect

Assimilation

Learning something new and fitting it into an existing schema

Accomodation

Learning something new and creating a new schema or changing the schema

Executive function

Mental skills that help plan, organize, and reach goals

Algorithims

Tackling a problem step by step in a systematic way

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts based on past experiences

Representative Heuristic

Making judgements based on how much something resembles a stereotype (Heu, Ju, Judging representative compared to reality)

Availability Heuristics

Involves making judgements based on how easily (the availability of) examples come to mind

Mental Set

Tendency to approach a problem a way it worked in the past, even if it’s not the best solution (You’re SET on solving it a certain way)

Mental Sets vs Schemas

Mental Sets are only for problem solving, schemas are for understanding the world

Priming

The phenomenon where Exposure to one stimulus influences how we respond to later stimulus (Pri, Pri means first, what comes first affects how you view everything else)

Repitition priming

occurs when exposed to specific stimulus, allowing recognition of stimulus later

Semantic priming

the influence of one word on the intepretation of another (semantic means same, you make words same level by using them to influence maning of another)

Gambler’s fallacy

Incorrect belief that likelihood of a random event changes based on previous experiences (Gamblers believe If they won in the past, they’re bound to win again)

Creative people tend to use what type of thinking?

Divergent Thinking

Divergent thinking

When a person explores many possible solutions, expanding range of options for solving a problem (Arrow split into many)

Convergant Thinking

Narrowing down possibilities to identify single, best solution (Multiple arrows (possibities) to find one arrow)

Functional Fixedness

A person limiting using an object to one particular way (A form of mental set)

Explicit Memory

Information you can conciously recall and explain to someone else (It’s ex, out in the open)

Another world for explicit memory

Declarative memory, because you can declare it

Episodic memory

Memories of personal experiences or specific events (It’s an episode)

Semantic memory

Facts, concepts, and knowledge (Semantics is a word you know, that is a fact)

Implicit memories

Unconcious, and harder to verbalize

Procedural memory

A type of implicit memory that helps us remember how to reform skills and routines (A surgeon needs ____ memory to perform a procedure on a patient)

Prospective Memory

Memory of what you need to do in the future (prospect). Event based, such as a certain event reminding you, or a certain time reminding you

Long term Potentiation

Explains how repeated activation of certain neural pathways makes connections stronger (Long term, Potentiation, potential, potential is increased the more you repeat it)

Working memory

Think of updated version of short term memory. Working on a mental scratch pad.

Parts of working memory?

Visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, and phonological loop

Visuospatial sketchpad

Where visual and spatial information is processed

Phonological loop

Broken down into two parts. Phonological store, where spoken words are briefly held, (Phone, phone store, imagine you’re rembering what someone said to you on a phone while at a store) Articulatory Rehersal process: Repeating things to remember (Articulate rehearse, articulate it multiple times to remember it)

central executive

Control center of working memory, manages attention (executives manage employee attention), coordinates other systems, and helps switch between tasks

episodic buffer

temporary storage that combines different types of information into one meaningful piece (buffer added to episodic memory so It makes sense)

multi store model

explains how information is processed, stored, and retrieved. focuses on three main systems information must pass through to be remembered (multi as in three, stores process things)

What are the three systems of the multi store model?

Sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory

Iconoc and Echoic memory

Brief memories of either a visual stimulus or auditory (lasts longer, speeches last longer than episodes)

maitenance rehearsal

repetedly going over information to prevent forgetting (you’re regularly performing a rehearsal to maintain information)

elaborative rehersal

connecting what you already know to new information (elaborating on things you already know)

effortful processing

actively and consciously try to encode information

cues

context you learned information in, emotional state, or related associations

levels of proccesing model

shallowest to deepest of a pyramid, stuctural on top (only paying attention to what something looks like, the structure), phonemic (based on sound, how a word is pronounced, pho is a nice word to say) semantic (processing the meaning of information, semantic word def)

which level of processing leads to long lasting memory?

Semantic encoding

tactile coding

remembering things based on how it feels to touch (tact, touch)

mnemonic device

encoding information through connecting it to a pattern, picture (visual encoding), or acronym (auditory encoding), think mne, connecting to what you know

method of loci

remember information by associating it with specific locations in a familiar setting (loci, place, both have c)

distributed practice

spacing out study sessions over time instead of trying to cram (distributing it)

short term memory vs working memory

short term is storage, working is held and manipulated, working with it

memory consolidation

turning short term memory into long term memory

highly superior autobiographical memory

extraordinary ability to remember events

damage to left hippocampus

struggle to remember verbal information

damage to right hippocampus

struggling to remember visual information

anterograde amnesia

can no longer form new memories (antero=new)

retrograde amnesia

can no longer remember previous memories

anterograde interference

past memories mess up opportunity at learning new things, typically from hippocampus

retrograde interference

new information makes it difficult to remember old info

source amnesia

remember info, but not where they learned it

infantile amnesia

when an adult cannot remember personal experiences from the early stages of life

recall

remembering something without cues (reCALLing)

context dependent

when retrieval is improved when you’re in the same environment when you learned the information

state dependent memory

retrieval is easier if you are in the same mental or physical state as when you remembered it

testing effect

quizing or testing something lets you remember things better than rereading or reviewing notes

metacognition

thinking about thinking (Meta) and learning process

encoding failure

never properly encoding memories leads to a faliure in memory retrieval

forgetting curve

slow curve that is positive