Perception
The failure to notice large changes in one's environment when the change occurs simultaneously with a visual disruption.
Change Blindness
Cognitive process that focuses on finding a single, correct solution to a problem by applying logical steps.
Convergent Thinking
Divides a test into two halves and compares scores between them. It measures internal consistency by checking if both halves yield similar results.
Split-Half Reliability
Shallow processing that focuses on the auditory aspects of information.
Phonemic
Remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point.
Prospective Memory
A way our brain makes sense of information by starting with the small details and then building up to a complete perception.
Bottom-Up Processing
("Details to Big Picture")
Cognitive bias that occurs when individuals believe that the outcome of a random event is influenced by previous outcomes, even though each event is independent and has no bearing on future results.
Gambler’s Fallacy
Measure a person's potential for learning or mastering specific skills or tasks in the future. They assess innate abilities and predict future performance.
Aptitude Tests
Organizing information into a system of ranked categories or levels.
Hierarchies
(a type of grouping)
The phenomenon where learning is more effective when study sessions are spaced out over time, rather than crammed into one session.
Spacing Effect
(“Distributed Practice")
Ability to perceive colors of objects as stable under varying lighting conditions.
Color Constancy
A tendency to approach situations in a certain way because that method worked in the past, which can sometimes prevent seeing alternative solutions
Mental Set
The overarching mental ability that influences performance on various cognitive tasks.
g (General Intelligence)
Type of sensory memory that briefly holds visual images. It captures a precise copy of a visual scene for a fraction of a second before it fades.
Iconic Memory
Occurs when older memories inhibit the ability to learn and remember new information.
Proactive Interference
An individual fails to notice an unexpected stimulus in their visual field when their attention is focused on something else.
Inattentional Blindness
A mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a person's mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method, or decision.
Availability Heuristic
Shows how well a test can forecast future outcomes or behaviors. It measures if test scores can predict future performance accurately.
Predictive Validity
Type of memory encoding that requires active work and attention to embed information into long-term memory.
Effortful Processing
Learning technique that involves repeatedly reviewing information to keep it in short-term memory.
Maintenance Rehearsal
Occurs when one object overlaps another, leading us to perceive the overlapping object as closer.
Interposition
The cognitive process of fitting new information into existing schemas.
Assimilation
(“Adding to Existing")
The opposite of stereotype threat, occurs when individuals from stereotypically advantaged groups perform better on tests due to the positive expectations associated with their group.
Stereotype Lift
Component of Working Memory responsible for processing and storing verbal and auditory information.
Phonological Loop
Type of explicit memory that involves the recollection of personal experiences and specific events.
Episodic Memory