Unit 2: Cognition (NEW CED), AP Psychology (2024-2025) - Unit 2 - Thinking and Intelligence

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    Perception

    The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to give meaning to our environment.

    Bottom-up processing

    An approach where perception starts with sensory input and works up to the brain's integration of this information.

    Top-down processing

    Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, drawing on experience and expectations to construct perceptions.

    Perceptual set

    A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

    Gestalt psychology

    Emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts.

    Figure and ground

    The organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground).

    Proximity

    The perceptual tendency to group together visual and auditory events that are near each other.

    Similarity

    The perceptual tendency to group together elements that seem alike.

    Cocktail party effect

    The ability to focus auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out other stimuli.

    Inattentional blindness

    Failing to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere.

    Change Blindness

    Failing to notice changes in the environment.

    Binocular depth cues

    Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes.

    Retinal disparity

    A binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes.

    Convergence

    A binocular cue for perceiving depth by the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object.

    Monocular depth cues

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

    Relative clarity

    A monocular cue for perceiving depth; hazy objects are seen as farther away than sharp, clear objects.

    Relative size

    A cue that allows determining the closeness of objects to an object of known size.

    Texture gradient

    A gradual change from coarse to fine texture signaling increasing distance.

    Linear perspective

    Parallel lines appear to converge with distance.

    Aptitude tests

    Tests designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.

    Fixed mindset

    The idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change.

    Growth mindset

    The belief that one's skills and qualities can change and improve through effort and dedication.

    Explicit memory

    Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and 'declare.'

    Episodic memory

    The collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place.

    Semantic memory

    Memory for factual information.

    Implicit memory

    Retention independent of conscious recollection.

    Procedural memory

    A type of long-term memory of how to perform different actions and skills.

    Prospective memory

    Remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point in time.

    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 model

    A model that suggests that memory involves a series of active, temporary memory stores that manipulate information.

    Working memory

    A newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

    Central executive

    The part of working memory that directs attention and processing.

    Phonological loop

    The part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information.

    Visuospatial sketchpad

    The part of working memory that holds visual and spatial information.

    Multi-store model

    A model of memory that suggests information passes through three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

    Sensory memory

    The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

    Iconic memory

    A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

    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.

    Automatic processing

    Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information.

    Effortful processing

    Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

    Encoding

    The processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

    Storage

    The retention of encoded information over time.

    Retrieval

    The process of getting information out of memory storage.

    Shallow encoding

    Processing information based on its surface characteristics.

    Deep encoding

    Processing information based on its meaning and the significance of the information.

    Mnemonic devices

    Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

    Method of loci

    A mnemonic device that involves imagining placing items around a room or along a route.

    Spacing effect

    The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

    Massed practice

    Cramming information all at once. It is less effective than spaced practice.

    Distributed practice

    Spacing the study of material to be remembered by including breaks between study periods.

    Serial position effect

    Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

    Primacy effect

    The tendency to remember information at the beginning of a body of information better than the information that follows.

    Recency effect

    The tendency to remember information that is presented last.

    Maintenance rehearsal

    Repeating information over and over to keep it active in short-term memory.

    Elaborative rehearsal

    A method of transferring information from short-term to long-term memory by making that information meaningful in some way.

    Memory retention

    The ability to retain information over time through the storage and retrieval of information.

    Autobiographical memory

    The memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story.

    Retrograde amnesia

    An inability to retrieve information from one's past.

    Anterograde amnesia

    An inability to form new memories.

    Infantile amnesia

    The inability to retrieve memories from much before age 3.

    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 need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

    Context-dependent memory

    The theory that information learned in a particular situation or place is better remembered when in that same situation or place.

    Mood-congruent memory

    The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood.

    State-dependent memory

    The theory that information learned in a particular state of mind (e.g., drunk, sober) is more easily recalled when in that same state of mind.

    Proactive interference

    The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.

    Retroactive interference

    The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.

    Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

    The temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that it's just out of reach.

    Repression

    The basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

    Misinformation effect

    Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.

    Constructive memory

    The process by which memories are influenced by the meaning we give to events.

    Memory consolidation

    The neural storage of a long-term memory.

    Imagination inflation

    The increased confidence in a false memory of an event following repeated imagination of the event.

    Executive Functions

    higher-order thinking processes that include planning, organizing, inhibition, and decision-making tat encourage critical thinking

    Prototypes

    A mental image or best example that incorporates all the features we associate with a category

    Schemas

    Concepts or mental frameworks that organize and interpret information.

    Assimilation

    interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

    Accommodation

    adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

    Convergent Thinking

    a type of critical thinking in which one evaluates existing possible solutions to a problem to choose the best one

    Functional Fixedness

    the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving

    Divergent Thinking

    expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that ______ in different directions

    Heuristics

    Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that often lead to a solution (but not always).

    Mental Set

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

    Priming

    An enhanced ability to think of a stimulus, such as a word or object, as a result of a recent exposure to the stimulus

    Framing

    the way an issue is posed

    Gambler's Fallacy

    the belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently

    Sunk-Cost Fallacy

    a framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation

    Intelligence

    mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

    g (General Intelligence)

    Overarching mental ability that influences various cognitive tasks

    Multiple Intelligences

    idea that people vary in their ability levels across different domains of intellectual skill: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic

    intelligence quotient (IQ)

    The numerical value of a person's cognitive abilities in comparison to others in age group.

    Standardization

    defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

    Achievement Tests

    tests that measure a person's existing knowledge and skills

    Validity

    the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

    Construct Validity

    the degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports, to be measuring

    Predictive Validity

    The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior.

    Flynn effect

    observation that each generation has a significantly higher IQ than the previous generation

    Stereotype Threat

    a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

    stereotype lift

    awareness of positive expectations can actually improve performance on tasks