APPSYCH UNIT 2 Part 1

selective attention: focusing conscious awarenesson a particular stimulus.

2. inattentional blindness: failing to see visibleobjects when our attention is direct- ed elsewhere.

3. change blindness: failing to notice changes in theenvironment; a form of inattentional blindness.

4. perceptual set: a mental predisposition to perceiveone thing and not another.

5. gestalt: an organized whole. Gestalt psychologistsemphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

6. figure-ground: the organization of the visual fieldinto objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).

7. grouping: the perceptual tendency to organizestimuli into coherent groups.

8. depth perception: the ability to see objects inthree dimensions, although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance.

9. visual cliff: a laboratory device for testing depthperception in infants and young animals.

10. binocular cue: a depth cue, such as retinaldisparity, that depends on the use of two eyes.

11. convergence: a cue to nearby objects’ distance,enabled by the brain combining retinal images.

12. retinal disparity: a binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes,the brain computes distance — the greater thedisparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

13. monocular cue: a depth cue, such as interpositionor linear perspective, avail- able to either eye alone.

14. stroboscopic movement: an illusion of continuousmovement (as in a motion picture) experienced when viewing a rapid series of slightly varying still images.

15. phi phenomenon: an illusion of movement createdwhen two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.

16. autokinetic effect: the illusory movement of a still spot of light in a dark room.

17. perceptual constancy: perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness,shape, and size) even as illumination and retinalimages change.

18. color constancy: perceiving familiar objects ashaving consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object.

19. perceptual adaptation: the ability to adjust tochanged sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field.

20. cognition: all the mental activities associated withthinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

21. metacognition: cognition about our cognition;keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes.

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AP Psychology – Unit 2 Terminology

22. concept: a mental grouping of similar objects,events, ideas, or people.

23. prototype: a mental image or best example of acategory. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a crow).

24. schema: a concept or framework that organizes andinterprets information.

25. assimilation: interpreting our newexperiences in terms of our existing schemas.

26. accommodation (in developmental psychology):in developmental psychology, adapting our currentschemas (understandings) to incorporate newinformation.

27. creativity: the ability to produce new and valuableideas.

28. convergent thinking: narrowing the availableproblem solutions to determine the single best solution.

29. divergent thinking: expanding the number ofpossible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions.

30. executive functions: cognitive skills that worktogether, enabling us to generate, organize, plan, and implement goal-directed behavior.

31. algorithm: a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrastswith the usually speedier — but also more error-prone

— use of heuristics.

32. heuristic: a simple thinking strategy—a mentalshortcut — that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than an algorithm.

33. insight: a sudden realization of a problem’ssolution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions.

34. confirmation bias: a tendency to search forinformation that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

35. fixation: in cognition, the inability to see a problemfrom a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving.

36. mental set: a tendency to approach a problem inone particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.

37. intuition: an effortless, immediate, automaticfeeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.

38. representativeness heuristic: judging thelikelihood of events in terms of how well they seem torepresent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead usto ignore other relevant information.

39. availability heuristic: judging the likelihood ofevents based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common.

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AP Psychology – Unit 2 Terminology

40. overconfidence: the tendency to be moreconfident than correct — to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

41. belief perseverance: the persistence of one’s initialconceptions even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

42. framing: the way an issue is posed; how an issueis framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

43. nudge: framing choices in a way that encouragespeople to make beneficial decisions.

44. memory: persistence of learning over time throughthe encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

45. recall: a measure of memory in which the personmust retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

46. recognition: a measure of memory in which theperson identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

47. relearning: a measure of memory that assessesthe amount of time saved when learning material again.

48. encoding: the process of getting information intothe memory system — for example, by extracting meaning.

49. storage: the process of retaining encodedinformation over time.

50. retrieval: the process of getting information out ofmemory storage.

51. parallel processing: processing multipleaspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously.

52. sensory memory: the immediate, very briefrecording of sensory information in the memory system.

53. short-term memory: briefly activated memory of afew items (such as digits of a phone number while calling) that is later stored or forgotten.

54. long-term memory: the relatively permanent andlimitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

55. working memory: a newer understanding ofshort-term memory; conscious, active processing of both (1) incoming sensory information and (2) information retrieved from long-term memory.

56. central executive: a memory component thatcoordinates the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad.

57. phonological loop: a memory component thatbriefly holds auditory information.

58. visuospatial sketchpad: a memory componentthat briefly holds information about objects’appearance and location in space.

59. neurogenesis: the formation of new neurons.

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AP Psychology – Unit 2 Terminology

60. long-term potentiation (LTP): an increase in a nervecell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory.

61. explicit memory: retention of facts and experiencesthat we can consciously know and “declare.” (Also called declarative memory.)

62. effortful processing: encoding that requires attentionand conscious effort.

63. automatic processing: unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, andfrequency, and of familiar or well-learned information,such as sounds, smells, and word meanings.

64. implicit memory: retention of learned skills orclassically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection. (Also called nondeclarative memory.)

65. iconic memory: a momentary sensory memory ofvisual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

66. echoic memory: a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.

67. chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageableunits; often occurs automatically.

68. mnemonics: memory aids, especially those techniquesthat use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

69. spacing effect: the tendency for distributed study orpractice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

70. testing effect: enhanced memory after retrieving,rather than simply rereading, information. Also referred toas a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.

71. shallow processing: encoding on a basic level,based on the structure or appearance of words.

72. deep processing: encoding semantically, based onthe meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention.