#Cognitive Psychology: A Deep Dive 🧠

#Understanding the Core: Sensation, Perception, and Learning

Sensation: The process of receiving information through our senses.
Perception: How we interpret and make sense of sensory information.
Learning: The process of acquiring new knowledge or skills.

These three concepts form the foundation for understanding cognition. Cognitive psychology delves into how we gather, process, and use information to make sense of the world. 🌎

#🤔 Guiding Questions for this Unit

Memory and Thinking: What roles do memory and thinking play in our behaviors?
Intelligence: What is intelligence, and how can we study it to understand it?

#🕰️ Contextualizing Cognitive Psychology

Emerged as a major approach in the late 1950s.
Focuses on the study of the human mind and its mental processes.
Explores areas like language, perception, thinking, memory, and problem-solving. 🤔
Understanding these processes can help individuals with mental processing challenges.
Memory is the culmination of previous units: taking in information (sensation), processing it (perception), learning it, and then storing it.
This unit constitutes about 13-17% of the AP Psychology exam.

#🤓 Key Psychologists and Their Contributions

Key Concept

#🗣️ Noam Chomsky

Language Acquisition Device (LAD): Proposed that humans have an innate ability to develop language. 💡
Overgeneralization: Observed that children tend to overgeneralize language rules.

Key Concept

#😟 Hermann Ebbinghaus

Pioneered the scientific study of memory.
First to study forgetting.
Forgetting Curve: Developed the concept of how memory loss occurs over time.
Identified ways to improve memory.

Key Concept

#🐒 Wolfgang Köhler

Discovered insight in problem-solving.
Observed sudden solutions in chimpanzee experiments.

Key Concept

#👁️‍🗨️ Elizabeth Loftus

Expert in eyewitness testimony, false memories, and the misinformation effect.

Key Concept

#🔢 George A. Miller

Determined the limited capacity of short-term memory.
Capacity: about 7 items.
Duration: 15-30 seconds.

Key Concept

#💬 Benjamin Whorf

Developed the theory of Linguistic Relativity.
Language determines the way we think.

Brain

Image Courtesy of Careers in Psychology.

#📝 Key Vocabulary

Exam Tip

Effortful Processing: Requires conscious attention and effort.
Automatic Processing: Unconscious encoding of incidental information.
Deep Processing: Encoding based on meaning.
Shallow Processing: Encoding based on superficial characteristics.
Selective Attention: Focusing on a particular stimulus.
Divided Attention: Attending to multiple stimuli simultaneously.
Metacognition: Thinking about thinking.
Short-Term Memory: Temporary storage of information.
Long-Term Memory: Relatively permanent storage of information.
Explicit Memory: Conscious recall of facts and events.
Implicit Memory: Unconscious memory of skills and habits.
Sensory Memory: Brief storage of sensory information.
Flashbulb Memory: Vivid memory of an emotionally significant event.
Visual Encoding: Encoding of images.
Acoustic Encoding: Encoding of sounds.
Semantic Encoding: Encoding of meaning.
Rehearsal: Repetition of information to aid memory.
Iconic Memory: Visual sensory memory.
Echoic Memory: Auditory sensory memory.
Chunking: Organizing information into manageable units.
Recall: Retrieving information from memory.
Recognition: Identifying previously learned information.
Relearning: Learning something again that was previously learned.
Serial Position Effect: Tendency to remember the first and last items in a list.
Priming: Activation of certain associations in memory.
Mnemonic Devices: Memory aids.
Prototype: Mental image of a category.
Schema: Mental framework for organizing information.
Retroactive Interference: New information interferes with old information.
Proactive Interference: Old information interferes with new information.
Amnesia: Memory loss.
Repression: Unconscious blocking of painful memories.
Long-Term Potentiation: Strengthening of neural connections.
Algorithm: Step-by-step procedure for solving a problem.
Heuristic: Mental shortcut for problem-solving.
Mental Set: Tendency to approach problems in a particular way.
Creativity: Ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.
Fixation: Inability to see a problem from a new perspective.
Functional Fixedness: Tendency to think of objects only in terms of their usual functions.
Misinformation Effect: Incorporation of misleading information into memory.
Framing: How an issue is presented.
Intelligence: Ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations.
Biases: Systematic errors in thinking.
Flynn Effect: Increase in intelligence scores over time.
Intellectual Disability: Significant limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior.
Savant Syndrome: Condition where a person with developmental disabilities has exceptional abilities.
IQ: Intelligence quotient.
Mental Age: Level of intellectual functioning compared to chronological age.

#Final Exam Focus 🎯

#Top Priority Topics

Memory Models: Sensory, short-term, and long-term memory; encoding, storage, and retrieval.
Forgetting: Interference, decay, and motivated forgetting.
Problem-Solving: Algorithms, heuristics, and obstacles to problem-solving.
Language: Theories of language acquisition, linguistic relativity.
Intelligence: Theories of intelligence, measurement, and factors influencing intelligence.

Exam Tip

#Common Question Types

Scenario-based questions: Applying concepts to real-life situations.
Definition questions: Identifying and explaining key terms.
Research methods questions: Understanding experimental design and data analysis.
Comparative questions: Contrasting different theories or concepts.

Common Mistake

#Last-Minute Tips

Time Management: Allocate time for each question; don't get stuck on one question.
Read Carefully: Pay close attention to the wording of the questions.
Eliminate Options: Use the process of elimination to narrow down choices.
Don't Panic: Take deep breaths and stay calm.
Trust Your Knowledge: You've prepared well; trust your understanding of the material.

Good luck! You've got this! 💪