Unit 2: Cognition

Perception

The process of interpreting and organizing sensory information to understand and navigate the environment; it involves assigning meaning, not just sensing.

Internal factors (perception)

Influences within a person (e.g., mood, expectations, past experience, personality) that bias what is noticed and how stimuli are interpreted.

External factors (perception)

Influences outside a person (e.g., culture, social cues, physical setting like lighting/noise) that affect available information and its interpretation.

Cognition

Mental processes used to acquire, store, transform, and use information.

Information-processing approach

A framework that describes the mind as a system that encodes information, stores it over time, and retrieves it when needed (often compared to a computer, with important human limits/biases).

Encoding

The process of getting information into the memory system by transforming experiences into a storable form; attention and meaning-making strongly affect it.

Storage

Maintaining encoded information over time through biological changes that preserve and stabilize memories.

Retrieval

Accessing stored information when needed; success depends on cues, context, and how the information was encoded.

Encoding specificity principle

The idea that retrieval works best when the cues present at recall match those present during encoding (learning).

Retrieval cue

Any internal or external stimulus (prompt, context, emotion, hint) that helps access a stored memory.

Reconstructive memory

The idea that memory is rebuilt from stored pieces guided by schemas, expectations, and context (not an exact “video recording”).

Parallel processing

Processing multiple information streams at the same time (e.g., color, motion, depth while driving), which can lead people to overestimate multitasking ability.

Three-stage (Atkinson–Shiffrin) model

A memory model proposing that information moves through sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory, with rehearsal supporting transfer.

Sensory memory

A very brief initial recording of sensory information (visual/auditory) that helps experience feel continuous.

Short-term memory

Activated memory that holds a limited amount of information briefly (often described as about 7 items ±2 without organization/rehearsal).

Working memory

An active mental workspace that holds and manipulates information (e.g., mental math, multi-step directions), not just passive short-term storage.

Long-term memory

Relatively permanent, potentially vast storage of knowledge, experiences, and skills.

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information (e.g., space, time, frequency, well-learned meanings) with little effort.

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort (e.g., studying vocabulary); improved by strategies that add meaning and cues.

Levels of processing

A framework stating that deeper, meaning-based processing leads to better long-term retention than shallow, surface-based processing.

Inattentional blindness

Failing to notice an obvious stimulus because attention is focused elsewhere; illustrates that “seeing” is not the same as encoding.

Iconic memory

A brief, photographic-like sensory memory for visual information.

Echoic memory

A brief sensory memory for auditory information.

Chunking

Organizing information into meaningful units to increase effective short-term memory capacity by leveraging prior knowledge.

Mnemonic

A memory aid using imagery, organization, or associations to create strong retrieval cues.

Method of loci

A mnemonic in which items are mentally placed along a familiar route/location to support later recall.

Spacing effect

The tendency to retain information better when studying is distributed over time rather than massed in a single session (cramming).

Testing effect (retrieval practice)

Improved long-term retention produced by practicing retrieval (self-quizzing) rather than only re-reading or re-exposure.

Explicit (declarative) memory

Conscious memories you can report, including episodic (events) and semantic (facts/concepts) information.

Implicit (nondeclarative) memory

Memory that influences behavior without conscious recollection, including skills, priming, and conditioned associations.

Episodic memory

A type of explicit memory for personally experienced events and episodes (what happened, where, when).

Semantic memory

A type of explicit memory for facts, meanings, and concepts (knowledge not tied to a specific event).

Procedural memory

A type of implicit memory for skills and how-to actions (e.g., typing, riding a bike).

Consolidation

The brain process that stabilizes a memory trace after encoding, supporting durable long-term storage (influenced by sleep, rehearsal, interference, etc.).

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

A long-lasting strengthening of synaptic connections after repeated activation; a neural mechanism linked to learning and long-term memory.

Schema

A mental framework that organizes knowledge and expectations; helps efficient processing but can bias encoding and retrieval.

Recall

Retrieving information without explicit cues (e.g., short-answer or free-response questions).

Recognition

Identifying correct information when given cues (e.g., multiple-choice questions).

Proactive interference

Forgetting that occurs when old information disrupts learning or recalling new information (the past interferes).

Retroactive interference

Forgetting that occurs when new information disrupts recall of old information (the recent interferes).

Misinformation effect

Memory distortion that occurs when post-event information (e.g., leading questions) alters what someone later remembers.

Source amnesia (source misattribution)

Remembering information but misremembering where it came from (e.g., confusing a rumor with a textbook fact).

Forgetting curve

A pattern showing memory retention drops over time when information is not reinforced or revisited.

Algorithm

A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a correct solution if followed properly, though it can be slow.

Heuristic

A simple mental shortcut that often works quickly but can lead to systematic errors.

Availability heuristic

Judging likelihood based on how easily examples come to mind (ease of retrieval), not actual frequency.

Representativeness heuristic

Judging likelihood by how well something matches a prototype; often involves ignoring base rates.

Framing

How an issue is worded or presented; different but equivalent descriptions can lead to different decisions.

Phoneme

The smallest distinctive sound unit in a language (e.g., /b/ vs. /p/).

Morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning in a language (e.g., “un-,” “happy,” “-ness”).