AP Psych Unit 2: Cognition

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Bottom-Up Processing

Analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.

Top-Down Processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, drawn from expectations and experiences.

Schemas

Concepts or mental frameworks that organize and interpret information.

Perceptual Set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another based on expectations.

Attention

The cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring others.

Selective Attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus out of many incoming inputs.

Cocktail Party Effect

The ability to focus on a single speaker in a noisy environment while ignoring surrounding background noise.

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere.

Change Blindness

Failing to notice changes in the environment or a visual scene.

Gestalt Psychology

An approach emphasizing that the mind tends to perceive whole shapes and figures rather than individual components.

Closure

The Gestalt principle where the brain fills in gaps to create a complete, whole object.

Figure-Ground

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

Grouping

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.

Proximity

The Gestalt principle stating that objects close to each other tend to be perceived as a group.

Similarity

The Gestalt principle stating that elements that look alike tend to be grouped together.

Depth Perception

The ability to see objects in three dimensions, allowing us to judge distance.

Visual Cliff

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.

Binocular Cues

Depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes working together.

Convergence

A binocular depth cue involving neuromuscular strain when eyes turn inward to focus on near objects.

Retinal Disparity

A binocular depth cue comparing images from both retinas to compute distance.

Monocular Cues

Depth cues available to either eye alone.

Relative Clarity

A monocular cue where clearer objects are perceived as closer than hazy or blurry objects.

Relative Size

A monocular cue where smaller retinal images of similar objects are perceived as farther away.

Texture Gradient

A monocular cue where distinct details fade into a finer, indistinct texture with increasing distance.

Linear Perspective

A monocular cue where parallel lines appear to converge as they recede into the distance.

Interposition

A monocular cue where an object that partially blocks the view of another is perceived as closer.

Perceptual Constancies

Perceiving objects as unchanging in shape, size, or color despite changes in sensory input.

Color Constancy

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color despite changing illumination.

Perceptual Adaptation

The ability of the vision system to adjust to an artificially displaced or inverted visual field.

Apparent Motion

The perception of movement created by visual stimuli presented rapidly in sequence.

Stroboscopic Movement

The illusion of motion created when a rapid series of slightly varying still images is presented.

Phi Phenomenon

An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Metacognition

Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes.

Concept

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

Prototype

A mental image or best example of a category used for quick identification.

Schema

A cognitive structure or mental framework that categorizes and organizes information.

Assimilation

Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas.

Accommodation

Adapting current schemas to incorporate new information.

Executive Functions

Higher-level cognitive skills involved in planning, decision-making, and controlling impulses.

Algorithm

A step-by-step procedure or rule that guarantees solving a specific problem.

Heuristic

A simple thinking strategy or mental shortcut that allows efficient judgment and problem-solving.

Representativeness Heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of an event by comparing it to an existing prototype.

Availability Heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind.

Mental Set

A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that was previously successful.

Priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations that predisposes one's perception or memory.

Framing

The way an issue is posed or framed, significantly affecting decisions and judgments.

Gambler’s Fallacy

The belief that independent past events alter the probability of a future random outcome.

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

The tendency to continue an endeavor once an investment in time, effort, or money has been made.

Functional Fixedness

A cognitive bias limiting the use of an object to only its traditional or intended function.

Insight

A sudden realization of a problem's solution without explicit step-by-step strategy.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information that confirms preexisting beliefs.

Fixation

The inability to see a problem from a fresh or new perspective.

Intuition

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit reasoning.

Overconfidence

The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of personal knowledge, beliefs, and judgments.

Belief Perseverance

Clinging to initial beliefs even after the basis on which they were formed has been refuted.

Creativity

The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

Divergent Thinking

Expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that branches out.

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing down available problem solutions to determine the single best answer.

Memory

The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Explicit Memory

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

Episodic Memory

Memory for personal experiences and specific life events.

Semantic Memory

Memory for general knowledge, facts, concepts, and language rules.

Implicit Memory

Retention independent of conscious recollection, such as motor skills and classical conditioning.

Procedural Memory

Implicit memory for carrying out motor skills and habits.

Prospective Memory

Remembering to perform an intended action or task at a specific time in the future.

Neurogenesis

The formation and development of new neurons in the brain.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

An increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning.

Working Memory

Active processing system that temporarily holds and manipulates information needed for complex tasks.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

The component of working memory responsible for handling visual and spatial information.

Long-Term Memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

Multi-Store Model

Atkinson and Shiffrin's model proposing memory moves through sensory, short-term, and long-term stores.

Sensory Memory

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

Central Executive

The controlling component of working memory that directs attention and allocates mental resources.

Phonological Loop

The component of working memory that handles spoken and written material.

Iconic Memory

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli lasting a fraction of a second.

Echoic Memory

A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli lasting three to four seconds.

Shallow Processing

Encoding on a basic level based on the structure, appearance, or sound of words.

Deep Processing

Encoding semantically based on the meaning of words, yielding better retention.

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information like space, time, and frequency.

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires conscious attention and effort.

Encoding

The initial process of getting information into the memory system.

Storing

The process of retaining encoded information over time.

Retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory storage.

Structural Processing

Encoding visual features and physical structure of letters or words.

Phonemic Processing

Encoding the auditory qualities and sound patterns of words.

Semantic Processing

Encoding the actual meaning and conceptual relationships of words.

Encode

To process and input information into the brain's memory system.

Mnemonic Devices

Memory aids or techniques that use vivid imagery or organizational devices to improve encoding.

Method of Loci

A mnemonic strategy associating items to be remembered with specific physical locations along a familiar path.

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units to increase short-term memory capacity.

Categories

Conceptual groupings of related items or ideas based on shared properties.

Hierarchies

Complex information structures divided into broad concepts and subdivided into narrower concepts.

The Spacing Effect

The finding that distributed study yields better long-term retention than massed study.

Massed Practice

Cramming or intensive study performed all at once without breaks.

Distributed Practice

Spreading study sessions over time to enhance memory consolidation.

Serial Position Effect

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

Primacy Effect

Enhanced recall for items at the beginning of a list due to greater rehearsal.

Recency Effect

Enhanced recall for items at the end of a list because they remain in short-term memory.