AP Psychology 2.1-2.3 Quiz

Perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Bottom-Up processing

analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information (you begin by examining small details and piece them together into a larger picture)

Top-Down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes (when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations)

Perceptual set

a tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others.

Schemas

mental filters or maps that organize our information about the world are called - they can impact our perceptual sets

Context Effects

states that the context (environmental factors) that surrounds an event affects how an event is perceived and remembered (is this a B or a 13? it depends on the context if you're perceiving it as a letter or a number)

Selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

The Cocktail Party Effect

phenomenon of being able to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli

Gestalt

an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

Proximity

Objects close together will be viewed together visually

Closure

the brain is good at filling in gaps to create a whole

Similarity

2 items that share attributes will be visually grouped together

Figure and Ground

People instinctively perceive objects as either being in the foreground or the background

Inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Change blindness

failing to notice a change in the environment around us

Binocular cues

depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of 2 eyes

Retinal disparity

a binocular cue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the retinas in the 2 eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity between 2 images, the closer the object

Convergence

When 2 eyes move inward to see near objects and outward to see faraway objects (more convergence - closer the object)

monocular cues

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

Relative size

if two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts a smaller retinal image to be farther away

Interposition

objects that block other objects tend to be perceived as closer

Relative clarity

Because more light passes through objects that are farther away, we perceive these objects as hazy

Linear perspective

Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge with distance. The more the lines converge, the greater the perceived distance

Texture gradient

Indistinct (fine) texture signals an increasing distance. Less detail shows closeness; finer and denser is further away

Perceptual constancy

our ability and need to perceive objects as unchanging, even as changes may occur in distance, point of view, and illumination (color, size, shape, and light constancy)

Apparent motions

an optical illusion that makes a stationary object appear to move

Concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. There are a variety of chairs, but their common features define the concept of the chair itself

Prototype

mental image or the best example of a category

Schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Assimilation

the process of absorbing new information into an existing schema

Accommodation

the process of adjusting old schemas or developing new ones to incorporate new information

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem because it explores ever possibility

Heuristic

simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently (rule of thumb)

Representative heuristic

When we judge how something represents, or matches, certain prototypes we have

Availability heuristic

a mental shortcut where people judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind

mental set

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been sucessful in the past

priming

a technique whereby exposure to one stimuls infueces a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention

framing

The way an issue is posed, how an issue is framed, can significantly affect decisions and judgments

functional fixedness

inability to perceive a new use for an object associated with a different purpose

Gamblers fallacy

the mistaken belief that, in independent events, a past outcome influences future probabilities

sunk cost fallacy

The phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.

creativity

ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Divergent thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions

Memory

learning that has continued over time

implicit memory

retention independent of conscious recollection. (memories located in the ganglia and cerebellum) (examples: muscle memory, riding a bike, remembering words to a song)

Procedural memory

the memory of how to do repetitive everyday tasks. (Implicit memory)

Explicit memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"

Episodic memory

the stories of our lives and experiences that we can recall and tell someone

Semantic memory

personal memories that are not drawn from personal experience but rather from everyday, common kinds of knowledge (names of colors, states, facts)

prospective memory

remembering to perform actions in the future

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

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory

Phonological loop

a part of working memory that holds and manipulates auditory information for a short time

visuospatial sketchpad

refers to our ability temporarily to hold visual and spatial information

multi-store model

suggests our memories are processed through 3 distinct storage systems - sensory memory, short-term/working memory, and long-term memory

Sensory memory

processing everything we sense

Iconic memory

the brief, fleeting visual memory that retains a perfect, short-term snapshot of sensory information

Echoic memory

auditory signals

Short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, 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

Encoding

get information in (prepares for storage)

Storage

keeps information

Retrieval

gets information back

Automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

Effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

shallow processing

simple memorization of something without attaching meaning to it (remembering a word by its font or rhyming word but not actually knowing the definition of the word)

structural encoding

involves using physical and visual characteristics to encode information - appearance of words, such as whether they are long or short

Phonemic encoding

a type of shallow processing that focuses on the sound of the words, or phonemes, to distinguish one word from another. For example, the "p" at the beginning of the word "pat" is a phoneme that distinguishes pat from bat and hat

Deep processing

involves elaborate rehearsal along with meaningful analysis of the ideas and words being learned

Semantinc encoding

involves converting sensory input into long-term memories by associating new information with existing knowledge and experiences