Untitled Flashcards Set

Bottom-up processing: Processing that begins with sensory data. Example: Seeing a round, orange object and recognizing it as a basketball.

Top-down processing: Processing influenced by expectations and prior knowledge. Example: Reading text with missing letters but still understanding the message.

Transduction: Converting one form of energy to another. In sensation, converting physical stimuli (light, sound) into neural signals.

Schema example: A mental framework for organizing knowledge. Example: Restaurant schema includes expectations about menus, ordering, paying, and tipping.

Cocktail party effect: Ability to focus on one conversation in a noisy environment while filtering out others.

Inattentional blindness: Failing to notice an unexpected object in plain sight because attention is focused elsewhere.

Inattentional blindness vs. change blindness: Inattentional blindness is failing to see something because attention is elsewhere; change blindness is failing to notice changes in the visual environment.

Gestalt principle of closure: Tendency to perceive incomplete figures as complete. We mentally fill in gaps to create whole objects.

Binocular cues: Depth perception cues requiring both eyes, including retinal disparity (different images on each retina) and convergence (eyes turning inward for close objects).

Monocular cues: Depth perception cues using one eye. Example: Linear perspective (parallel lines appearing to converge with distance).

Perceptual constancy: Perceiving objects as unchanging despite changes in sensory input. Example: Recognizing a door as rectangular even when viewed at an angle.

Apparent movement: Perception of motion from a rapid sequence of still images, like in movies or animations.

Cognitive psychologists study: Mental processes like perception, thinking, memory, language, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Prototype: The most typical example of a category that shares common features with other members.

Assimilation vs. accommodation: Assimilation fits new information into existing schemas; accommodation changes existing schemas to fit new information.

Prototype example: A robin is a prototype of a bird because it possesses typical bird features.

Algorithm: Step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing a task.

Availability heuristic: Mental shortcut judging likelihood based on how easily examples come to mind. Example: Overestimating plane crash likelihood after news coverage.

Framing: Presenting the same information differently to influence decisions. Example: "95% survival rate" sounds better than "5% mortality rate."

Priming: Exposure to one stimulus influences response to a later stimulus. Example: Seeing "nurse" makes recognizing "doctor" faster.

Gambler's fallacy: Incorrect belief that if something happens more frequently than normal, it will happen less frequently in the future (or vice versa).

Divergent thinking: Generating many possible solutions to a problem. Promotes creativity.

Episodic memory: Memory of personal experiences and specific events, including time, place, and emotions.

Semantic memory: General knowledge and facts not tied to personal experiences.

Brain part for episodic memories: Hippocampus.

Procedural memory: Memory for skills and how to do things. Example: Riding a bike or typing.

Prospective memory: Remembering to perform planned actions in the future. Example: Remembering to take medication.

Long-term potentiation effect: Strengthens synaptic connections, making signal transmission more efficient and enhancing memory formation.

Relatively permanent, limitless memory: Long-term memory.

Automatic processing: Processing that occurs without conscious awareness. Example: Reading or driving a familiar route.

Levels of processing (shallow to deep): Physical/structural → Phonemic/acoustic → Semantic (meaning).

Method of loci: Memory technique where information is associated with specific locations in a familiar place, then mentally "walked through" for retrieval.

Chunking: Grouping information into meaningful units to increase memory capacity. Example: Remembering phone number 8005551234 as 800-555-1234.

Spacing effect: Learning is more effective when study sessions are spaced out rather than crammed together.

Serial position effect: Better recall for items at the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of a list than those in the middle.

Maintenance rehearsal purpose: Keeps information in short-term memory but doesn't effectively transfer it to long-term memory.

Retrograde vs. anterograde amnesia: Retrograde affects memories formed before the onset (past); anterograde affects ability to form new memories (future). Remember: Retrograde = go back, anterograde = go forward.

Recall tests: Fill-in-the-blank questions, essay questions, free recall of learned material.

Context-dependent memory: Memory is better when retrieval occurs in the same environment as learning.

Metacognition: Thinking about one's own thinking; awareness and understanding of one's thought processes.

Forgetting Curve: Shows how information is lost over time when there's no attempt to retain it, with rapid initial forgetting that slows over time.

Retroactive interference: New learning disrupts recall of previously learned material.

Flynn Effect explanation: Improved education, nutrition, environmental complexity, and test familiarity.

Reliability in testing: Consistency of test results; a reliable test produces similar scores when taken multiple times.

Growth vs. fixed mindset: Growth mindset believes abilities can develop through effort; fixed mindset believes abilities are static traits.

Research method with scatterplot: Correlational research.

Operational definition: Precise description of how variables are measured or manipulated in research.

Confirmation bias: Tendency to search for information that confirms existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Sampling bias: When a sample doesn't accurately represent the population being studied.