UNIT 2 PSYCH - Cognition Pillar

PERCEPTION

Schemas: preexisting mental concept of how something should look like

Perceptual set: tendency to see something as part of a group

Constancies: recognize that objects do not physically change despite changes in sensory input

Apparent movement: objects appear to be moving even though they aren’t

Inattentional blindness: failure to notice something added because you’re focused on another task

Change blindness: fail to notice a change in the scene

Binocular depth cues (how eyes form a 3D image):

Retinal Disparity: image is cast slightly different on each retina, location of image helps us determine depth

Convergence: eyes strain more as objects come closer

Monocular depth cues (how we form a 3D image from a 2D one):

Interposition: overlapping images appear closer

Relative size: 2 objects that are usually similar in size, smaller one further away

Linear perspective: parallel lines converge with distance

Relative clarity: hazy objects appear further away

Texture gradient: coarser objects seem closer

THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING

Algorithms: step by step strategies that guarantee a solution (formula) (think of math)

Representative Heuristic: make judgement based on your experience

Availability Heuristic: make a judgement based on the first thing that comes to mind

M    etacognition: thinking about the way you think

Mental set: keep using one strategy to solve a problem, inability to think outside the box

Functional Fixedness: can only see one use for an item

Sunk cost fallacy: continue something because you’ve invested into it even though it would be more beneficial to stop

Gambler’s fallacy: believe something is more likely to happen because of patterns

Divergent thinking: ability to think about many things at once

Convergent thinking: limits creativity, one answer

Executive functioning: generating, organizing, planing, carrying out goal-directed behaviors

MEMORY

Automatic encoding: requires no effort to retrieve memory

Effortful encoding: requires work to retrieve memory

Levels of processing:

• Structural encoding: shallow, emphasis on physical structural

• Phonemic encoding: intermediate, emphasis on what words sound like

• Semantic encoding: deep, emphasis on meaning of words

Elaborative rehearsal: strategies to enhance encoding

• Imagery: attaching images to information to remember better

• Dual encoding: using multiple methods of processing to remember

Method of loci: using locations to remember a list of items in order

Context dependent memory: where you learn info is where you best remember the info

State dependent memory: physical state you were in when learning is when you best remember info

Mood congruent memory: remember events in the same mood you were in (ex. remember happy moments when happy, remember sad moments when sad)

Forgetting curve: recall rapidly decreases then plateaus after

MEMORY STORAGE

Sensory memory: stores all incoming stimuli that you receive

• Iconic memory: visual memory, lasts 0.3 seconds

  • visual spatial memory

• Echoic memory: auditory memory, lasts 2-3 seconds

  • phonological loop

Short term memory: info passes from sensory memory to STM, lasts 30 seconds and can remember roughly 7 items

• Maintenance rehearsal: rehearse info, resets time info is in STM

Explicit memory: requires conscious effort

• episodic: events

• semantic: facts

Implicit memory: automatic, no effort needed for recall

• classical conditioning:

• procedural: skills (muscle memory)

Prospective memory: remembering something you need to do in the future

Autobiographical memory: memory for personal history, episodic and semantic

Super autobiographical: rare condition where people have very detailed memories

Memory organization:

Hierarchies: memory is stores according to clusters of related info

Semantic networks: webs of semi-related info

Schema: framework that organizes info

• Assimilation: incoporate new info into existing info (ex. calling a cat a dog bc it has 4 legs)

• Accomodation: adjusting existing schemas to incorporate new information

Storage:

• Acetylcholine neurons in the hippocampus for episodic and semantic

• Infantile amnesia: memories before age 3 are unreliable since hippocampus is still forming

• Cerebellum: for implicit/procedural memories

• Amygdala: for emotional memories

• Frontal lobe: for encoding and retrieval

• long term-potentiation: neural basis of memory, connections are strengthened over time with repeated stimulation

  • memory consolidation: memories strengthened with time

MEMORY RETRIEVAL (taking info out of storage)

Serial position effect: tendency to remember the beginning (primacy effect) and end of a list (recency effect)

• primacy happens because info got moved to LTM

• recency happens because info is still in STM

Recall: remember what you have been told without cues

Recognition: remember what you’ve been told without cues

Repressed memories: unconsciously buries memories to defend ego (ex. trauma)

Encoding failure: forget info bc you never encoded it (did not pay attention)

Proactive interference: old info blocks new info

Retroactive interference: new info blocks old info

Constructive memory: the way we update memories with new memories, associations, feelings—memory is unreliable

Source amnesia: forget who told you info, where you heard it

Misinformation effect: distortion of memory by misinformation

Framing: the way a question is framed impacts how info is recalled/perceived (ex. how fast were the cars going when they smashed)

Imagination inflation: people are more confident an event happened after imagining it even though it didn’t happen

Anterograde amnesia: forget new info?

Retrograde amnesia: forget old info

INTELLIGENCE & ACHIEVEMENT

Single form of intelligence (g factor): underlies all mental abilities (IQ tests), if you’re smart in one area, you’re smart in others as well

Multiple intelligences: intelligence has lots of types, not just math/language. can be high/low in areas

IQ formula: (mental age/chronological age) x100

Psychometrics: field of psych and education for creating tests

Test reliability: same results over time (consistent)

• Split-half reliability: compare two halves of the test ?

• test-retest reliability: use the same test on two different occasions

Test validity: accurate and measures what intended

• Construct validity: test measures what you want it to

• predictive validity: test able to predict a trait accurately (ex. high math scores=good engineer)

Types of tests:

Aptitude: predicts abilities to learn a new skill

achievement: tests what you know (AP tests

Historical issues w intelligence tests

nature vs nurture influence with IQ:

genetics: MS twins have similar IQ, adopted kids more similar to biological parents

environment: early neglect leads to lower IQ, good schooling to higher IQ

eugenics: study of how to improve the gene pool by discouraging

culture fair tests: IQ tests that focus on non-language skills and minimize cultural specific

stereotype threat: feel at risk of conforming to negative stereotype about your group

stereotype lift: do better when not part of a negative stereotyped group

flynn effect: IQ steadily risen over past 80 years due to improving education standards and healthcare