Vocab

Question 1

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Answer 1

Selective attention

Question 2

Failing to see visible objects when are attention is directed elsewhere

Answer 2

Inattentional blindness

Question 3

Failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of in attentional blindness

Answer 3

Change blindness

Question 4

A mental predisposition to perceive on thing and not another

Answer 4

Perceptual set

Question 5

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

Answer 5

Gestalt

Question 6

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

Answer 6

Figure-Ground

Question 7

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Answer 7

Grouping

Question 8

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

Answer 8

depth perception

Question 9

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

Answer 9

visual cliff

Question 10

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

Answer 10

binocular cues

Question 11

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

Answer 11

convergence

Question 12

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.

Answer 12

retinal disparity

Question 13

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

Answer 13

monocular cue

Question 14

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

Answer 14

stroboscopic movement

Question 15

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

Answer 15

phi phenomenon

Question 16

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

Answer 16

autokinetic effect

Question 17

perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

Answer 17

perceptual constancy

Question 18

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

Answer 18

color constancy

Question 19

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

Answer 19

perceptual adaptation

Question 20

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

Answer 20

cognition

Question 21

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

Answer 21

metacognition

Question 22

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

Answer 22

concept

Question 23

a mental image or best example of a category

Answer 23

prototype

Question 24

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Answer 24

schema

Question 25

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Answer 25

assimilation

Question 26

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Answer 26

accommodation

Question 27

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

Answer 27

creativity

Question 28

narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Answer 28

convergent thinking

Question 29

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

Answer 29

divergent thinking

Question 30

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

Answer 30

executive functions

Question 31

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

Answer 31

algorithm

Question 32

a simple thinking strategy - a mental shortcut - that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently

Answer 32

heuristic

Question 33

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

Answer 33

insight

Question 34

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

Answer 34

confirmation bias

Question 35

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

Answer 35

fixation

Question 36

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

Answer 36

mental set

Question 37

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

Answer 37

intuition

Question 38

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

Answer 38

representativness heuristic

Question 39

judging the likelihood or probability of an event based on how readily available other instances of the event are in memory

Answer 39

availability heuristic

Question 40

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

Answer 40

overconfidence

Question 41

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

Answer 41

belief perseverance

Question 42

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

Answer 42

framing

Question 43

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

Answer 43

nudge

Question 44

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

Answer 44

memory

Question 45

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

Answer 45

recall

Question 46

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

Answer 46

recognition

Question 47

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time

Answer 47

relearning

Question 48

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

Answer 48

encoding

Question 49

the process of retaining encoded information over time

Answer 49

storage

Question 50

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Answer 50

retrieval

Question 51

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously

Answer 51

parallel processing

Question 52

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

Answer 52

sensory memory

Question 53

briefly activated memory of a few

Answer 53

short-term memory

Question 54

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Answer 54

long-term memory

Question 55

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

Answer 55

central executive

Question 56

a newer understanding 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

Answer 56

working memory

Question 57

a memory component that briefly holds auditory information

Answer 57

phonological loop

Question 58

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

Answer 58

visuospatial sketchpad

Question 59

an increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

Answer 59

long-term potentiation

Question 59

the formation of new neurons

Answer 59

neurogenesis

Question 60

retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"

Answer 60

explicit memory

Question 61

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Answer 61

effortful processing

Question 62

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

Answer 62

implicit memory

Question 62

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

Answer 62

automatic processing

Question 63

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

Answer 63

iconic memory

Question 64

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

Answer 64

echoic memory

Question 65

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

Answer 65

chunking

Question 66

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

Answer 66

mnemonics

Question 67

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

Answer 67

spacing effect

Question 68

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information

Answer 68

testing effect

Question 69

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

Answer 69

shallow processing

Question 70

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

Answer 70

deep processing

Question 71

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems

Answer 71

semantic memory

Question 71

explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems

Answer 71

episodic memory

Question 72

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.

Answer 72

hippocampus

Question 73

the neural storage of a long-term memory

Answer 73

memory consolidation

Question 74

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

Answer 74

flashbulb memory

Question 75

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Answer 75

priming

Question 76

the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it

Answer 76

encoding specificity principle

Question 77

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

Answer 77

mood-congruent memory

Question 78

our tendency to recall best the last (a recency effect) and first items (a primacy effect) in a list

Answer 78

serial position effect

Question 79

a retrieval practice strategy that involves mixing the study of different topics.

Answer 79

interleaving

Question 80

an inability to form new memories

Answer 80

anterograde amnesia

Question 81

an inability to retrieve information from one's past

Answer 81

retrograde amnesia

Question 82

the forward-acting disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Answer 82

proactive interference

Question 83

the backward-acting disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Answer 83

retroactive interference

Question 84

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Answer 84

repression

Question 85

a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again

Answer 85

reconsolidation

Question 86

occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information

Answer 86

misinformation effect

Question 87

faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined

Answer 87

source amnesia

Question 88

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Answer 88

deja vu