2.1-2.4 Cognition

Question 1

focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Answer 1

selective attention

Question 2

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Answer 2

inattentional blindness

Question 3

failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness.

Answer 3

change blindness

Question 4

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Answer 4

perceptual set

Question 5

Three factors that affect our interpretation of stimuli

Answer 5

Context, Motivation, and Emotion

Question 6

An organized whole, psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Answer 6

Gestalt

Question 7

the organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

Answer 7

figure-ground

Question 8

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Answer 8

grouping

Question 9

the ability to see objects in three dimensions, although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance

Answer 9

depth perception

Question 10

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Answer 10

visual cliff

Question 11

a depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes

Answer 11

binocular cue

Question 12

a cue to nearby objects’ distance, enabled by the brain combining retinal images

Answer 12

convergence

Question 13

a binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object

Answer 13

retinal disparity

Question 14

a depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

Answer 14

monocular cue

Question 15

an illusion of continuous movement experienced when viewing a rapid succession of slightly varying still images

Answer 15

stroboscopic movement

Question 16

an illusion of movement created when 2 or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Answer 16

phi phenomenon

Question 17

the illusory movement of a still spot of light in a dark room

Answer 17

autokinetic effect

Question 18

perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

Answer 18

perceptual constancy

Question 19

perceiving familiar objects as having a consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Answer 19

color constancy

Question 20

the ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Answer 20

perceptual adaptation

Question 21

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Answer 21

cognition

Question 22

cognition about our cognition, keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes

Answer 22

metacognition

Question 23

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Answer 23

concept

Question 24

a mental image or best example of a category

Answer 24

prototype

Question 25

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Answer 25

schema

Question 26

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Answer 26

assimilation

Question 27

adapting our current schemas to incorporate new information

Answer 27

accomodation

Question 28

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

Answer 28

creativity

Question 29

narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Answer 29

convergent thinking

Question 30

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

Answer 30

divergent thinking

Question 31

Sternberg's 5 components for creativity

Answer 31

1. Expertise 2. Imaginative thinking skills 3. A venturesome personality 4. Intrinsic motivation 5. A creative environment

Question 32

cognitive skills that work together, enabling us to generate, organize, plan, and implement goal-directed behavior

Answer 32

executive functions

Question 33

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.

Answer 33

Algorithm

Question 34

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; speedier but more error prone than an Algorithm

Answer 34

Heuristic

Question 35

a sudden realization of a problems solution; contrasts with strategy based solutions.

Answer 35

insight

Question 36

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Answer 36

confirmation bias

Question 37

in cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, an obstacle to problem solving

Answer 37

fixation

Question 38

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

Answer 38

mental set

Question 39

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

Answer 39

intuition

Question 40

judging the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Answer 40

representativeness heuristic

Question 41

judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common

Answer 41

availability heuristic

Question 42

the tendency to be more confident than correct -- to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

Answer 42

overconfidence

Question 43

the persistence of one's initial conceptions even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Answer 43

belief perseverance

Question 44

the way an issue is posed; can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Answer 44

framing

Question 45

framing choices in a way that encourages people to make beneficial decisions

Answer 45

nudge

Question 46

the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

Answer 46

memory

Question 47

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the blank test

Answer 47

recall

Question 48

a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test

Answer 48

recognition

Question 49

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.

Answer 49

relearning

Question 50

the process of getting information into the memory system -- for example by extracting meaning

Answer 50

encoding

Question 51

the process of retaining encoded information over time

Answer 51

storage

Question 52

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Answer 52

retrieval

Question 53

processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

Answer 53

parallel processing

Question 54

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

Answer 54

sensory memory

Question 55

briefly activated memory for a few items that is later stored or forgotten

Answer 55

short-term memory

Question 56

the relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experience

Answer 56

long-term memory

Question 57

a newer understanding of short term memory; conscious active processing of both incoming sensory info and info retrieved from long-term memory

Answer 57

working memory

Question 58

a memory component that coordinates the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 58

central executive

Question 59

a memory component that briefly holds auditory information

Answer 59

phonological loop

Question 60

a memory component that briefly holds information about objects' appearance and location in space

Answer 60

visuospatial sketchpad

Question 61

the formation of new neurons

Answer 61

neurogenesis

Question 62

an increase in nerve cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory

Answer 62

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Question 63

retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and declare

Answer 63

explicit memory (also declarative memory)

Question 64

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Answer 64

effortful processing

Question 65

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of familiar or well-learned information, such as sounds, smells, and word meanings

Answer 65

automatic processing

Question 66

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection

Answer 66

implicit memory

Question 67

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

Answer 67

iconic memory

Question 68

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

Answer 68

echoic memory

Question 69

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Answer 69

chunking

Question 70

memory aids; especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Answer 70

mnemonics

Question 71

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

Answer 71

spacing effect

Question 72

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information.

Answer 72

testing effect

Question 73

encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words

Answer 73

shallow processing

Question 74

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

Answer 74

deep processing