Unit 2 - Cognition AP Psychology for midterm!!!

Perception

Perception: the process of organization and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
Perceptual set: a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

Attention and Detection

Selective attention: the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. Also known as the cocktail party effect.
Inattentional blindness: failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

Organizing Perception

Gestalt: an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into a meaningful whole.
Figure-ground: the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).
Similarity: We group similar figures together.
Closure: We fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object.
Depth perception: the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance.
Visual cliff: a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.
Binocular cues: depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes. *Remember bi means two so you need 2 eyes for disparity.
Monocular cues: depth cues that depend on the use of one eye. *Remember mono means one.
Retinal disparity: a binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance – the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.
Phi Phenomenon: an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession, like Christmas lights.

Memory

Memory: the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.

Memory Types

Semantic memory: fact based Jeopardy-like information.
Procedural memory: how-to memory. Ex. tying shoes.
Episodic memory: memories of certain episodes/events. Ex. vacations, birthdays, holidays, prom, etc. Not every episodic memory is a flashbulb memory, but every flashbulb memory is an episodic memory.
Prospective memory: remembering not to forget to do something. Ex. I can’t forget to call my boss later today.
Explicit memory: memories of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”, such as telling about a vacation or giving directions. Also called declarative memory. Goes through the hippocampus (the part of the limbic system responsible for explicit memories of names, images, and events).
Implicit memory: procedural, how-to memory that you don’t have to think about, it’s independent of conscious recollection. Also called nondeclarative or procedural memory. Goes through the cerebellum (the part of the brain that plays an important role in forming and storing implicit memories).

The Three Stage of Memory (They MUST go in this order):

Encoding: the processing of information into the memory system.
Storage: the retention of encoded information over time.
Retrieval: the process of getting information out of memory storage.

Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin Three Stage Memory Model:

Sensory memory: a quick, fleeting memory that is activated by the five senses.
Short-term/working memory: activated memory that holds a few items (on the average 7) for a brief time (usually 30 seconds) before the information is stored or forgotten. Located in the frontal lobe.
Long-term memory: the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system that includes knowledge, skills and experiences.

Processing types:

Parallel processing: the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions. We take in a lot of information at the same time, not like a computer in which you can only input one piece of information at a time.
Shallow processing: encoding the shapes, looks, or surface structure of things, especially words, not the meanings. It is difficult to remember things if it is only shallowly processed.
Deep processing: encoding something according to its semantics.
Semantic encoding: the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.
Self-referent processing: encoding something based on how it relates to you. This is a type of deep processing.
Rehearsal: the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.

Memory effects:

Spacing effect: the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.
Serial position effect: our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

Memory devices:

Mnemonics: memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
Method of Loci: a mnemonic that helps people remember things by placing them in a familiar place, such as in your house, on a baseball field, etc.
Hierarchies: a few broad concepts divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts.
Chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units.
Acronym: a type of chunking in which a word is made out of the first letters of the to-be-remembered items. Ex. HOMES (the 5 Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior)

Types of Amnesia and Memory Loss:

Amnesia: the loss of memory.
Retrograde amnesia: the inability to remember anything after specific brain surgery or an accident.
Anterograde amnesia: the inability to form new memories after specific brain surgery or an accident.
Dementia: a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. It affects memory, thinking, language, judgment, and behavior.

Other Memory and Forgetting Concepts

Working memory: a newer understanding of Atkinson and Shiffrin’s second stage 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.
Long-term potentiation (LTP): an increase in a synapses firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be the neural basis for learning and memory.
Recall: a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.
Recognition: a measure of memory in which the person needs to only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.
Priming: the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.
Retrieval cues: anchor points used to access the information you want to remember later.
Proactive interference: the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information; forward-acting.
Retroactive interference: the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information; backward-acting.
Misinformation effect: incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.

Cognition

Cognition: all of the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
Concepts: a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.
Hierarchies: breaking things down from broad to specific. Superordinate (broad category), basic (most common), or subordinate. Ex. Fruit > apple > Granny Smith
Prototypes: a mental image of best example of a category. Ex. most people think of a robin, as opposed to a flamingo, when they hear the word “bird”.

Problem solving methods:

Algorithm: a logical, step-by-step procedure that, if followed correctly, will eventually solve a specific problem. Ex. typing in 0000, 0001, 0002, 0003, etc. to figure out a pin number for an ATM card.
Heuristic: a general rule of thumb or shortcut that is used to reduce the number of possible solutions to a problem. Ex. using birthdays for a pin number.
Insight: just coming up with the answer, the “aha” moment

Obstacles to problem solving

Functional fixedness: the tendency to think of an object as functioning only in its usual way or customary way. As a result, individuals often do not see unusual or innovative uses of familiar objects.
Availability heuristic: judging the likelihood of an event based on readily available personal experiences or new reports. Ex. not wanting to fly after 9/11.
Representative heuristic: judging the likelihood of an event based on how well it matches a typical example. Ex. Not thinking a tall, skinny man who likes to read would be a truck driver.
Confirmation bias: a preference for information that confirms preexisting positions or beliefs, while ignoring or discounting contradictory evidence. Ex. only looking at good reviews of something you want.
Belief perseverance: holding onto a belief even after its been discredited. Ex. believing that fad diets work.

Intelligence

Intelligence: the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use our knowledge to adapt to new situations.
Fluid intelligence: intelligence that includes reasoning abilities, memory, and speed of information processing. ***Declines with age. Think of the difficulty older people have w/technology.
Crystallized intelligence: intelligence that is based on life experiences. ***Increases with age.
Analytical intelligence: the ability to analyze, evaluate, judge, and compare and contrast.
Creative intelligence: the ability to come up with new ideas, hypothesize, theorize, and use divergent thinking.
Practical intelligence: the ability to deal with everyday life skills.
Multiple intelligences: independent intelligences which include a broad range of skills that go beyond traditional school smarts.
Emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions, part of social intelligence.

Testing

Intelligence tests: tests devised to identify a person’s level of intelligence.
Mental age: the age at which someone is mentally, not necessarily how old someone is chronologically.
Intelligence quotient: the mathematical formula that was used to determine intelligence scores. Mental age / chronological age x 100.
Aptitude tests: tests used to predict future performance, such as SATs and LSATs.
Achievement tests: tests used to measure what was learned, such as SOLs, AP exams, and unit tests.
Standardization: the process of establishing norms, or rules, for a test, based on a bell (normal) curve. ***Remember, 68% of people fall within one standard deviation (15 points) above or below the mean and 95% fall within 2 standard deviations.***
Split-half reliability: looking at the degree of similarity between scores on 2 halves of the test. Is the 1st half consistent with the 2nd half? Are the odd and even questions consistent?

Studies and Outside Influence

Self-fulfilling prophecy: when a person’s expectations of another person leads that person to behave in an expected way.
Nature vs Nurture views of intelligence: a person’s intelligence is based both on genetic and environmental factors.
Stereotype threat: a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.