AP Psych Cognition and Language Quiz

Sensation

the way we sense things and how we sense them

Perception

organization and interpretation of meaningless sensations

Visual capture

vision tends to dominate other senses

Gestalt

form or whole (whole is more than the sum of the parts)

Figure and ground

distinction between an object and background

Binocular cues

both eyes help determine depth

Retinal disparity

different images on each retina create depth

Convergence

eyes turning inward alerts for depth

Monocular cues

some depth is done with just one eye

Interposition

the object blocking another object is closer

Relative clarity

clearer is perceived as closer

Texture gradient

the more details you can see, the closer an object is

Linear perspective

lines converge with distance

Phi phenomenon

blinking lights are perceived as movement

constancy

perceived as unchanging when actual sensory stimuli is changing

Muller-Lyer Illusion

lines between arrow tips are misperceived

Perceptual adaptation

we adjust to new, consistent sensory input

Perceptual set

mental predisposition

Context effects

what surrounds a stimulus impacts perception

Interference

something gets in the way of how you perceive something

Concepts/schemas

mental grouping and categories

Prototypes

the best example of a concept

Convergent thinking

narrowing information (multiple choice)

Divergent thinking

thinking in different directions (FRQ)

Executive functions

set of cognitive skills that help you plan

Algorithm

every step is taken in a process

Heuristics

shortcuts or trusted methods

Representative heuristics

decide action based on how close to a prototype the problem is

Availability heuristics

what you know at the time dictates problem solving

Insight

“the lightbulb turns on”

Confirmation bias

surrounding yourself with people of the same beliefs limits your open mind

Mental set

only repeating what has worked in the past

Functional fixedness

seeing an object’s function as set and unchanging

Framing

how a problem is presented has a huge effect on how we deal with it

Overconfidence

humans believe they can do more than they actually can

Belief perseverance phenomenon

even with contradicting info, we cling to our beliefs