Glossary

The smallest amount of stimulation needed for detection by a sense.

A rapid sequence of changes in the voltage across a cell membrane; often referred to as a nerve impulse.

A well-defined procedure or set of rules that is used to solve a problem or accomplish a task or that is used for conducting a series of computations. Often guarantees a solution but is less efficient than a heuristic.

Perceptual experiences and mental imagery experiences are represented in somewhat similar (analogous) formats such that the two processes may be linked.

Anchoring is a reference used when making a series of subjective judgments. For example, in an experiment in which participants gauge distances between objects, the experimenter introduces an anchor by informing the participants that the distance between two of the stimulus objects is a given value. That value then functions as a reference point for participants in their subsequent judgments. Similarly, the options listed for a multiple-choice test item provide an anchor for the test taker to use when answering.

A disturbance in memory marked by the inability to learn new information.

The condition of having little to no mental imagery.

An inability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions.

Speakers design their utterances for their audiences by taking into account knowledge and context.

A conscious experience or the capability of having conscious experiences, which is distinct from self-awareness, the conscious understanding of one’s own existence and individuality.

Perception or knowledge of something; often viewed as a component of consciousness, though it may be possible to be “aware” of something without being explicitly conscious of it.

The neutral, preferred category for a given object, at an intermediate level of specificity.

An approach to psychology, formulated in 1913 by John B. Watson, based on the study of objective, observable facts rather than subjective, qualitative processes, such as feelings, motives, and consciousness. To make psychology a naturalistic science, Watson proposed to limit it to quantitative events, such as stimulus–response relationships, effects of conditioning, physiological processes, and a study of human and animal behavior, all of which can best be investigated through laboratory experiments that yield objective measures under controlled conditions. Historically, behaviorists held that mind was not a proper topic for scientific study since mental events are subjective and not independently verifiable.

Difference is images processed by the left and right eyes.

Our ability to perceive 3D and depth because of the difference between the images on each of our retinas.

Information processing in which incoming sensory data initiate the higher level processes involved in their recognition, interpretation, and categorization.

A set of entities that are equivalent in some way. Usually the items are similar to one another.

A proposed sub-component of the working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974). This component manages the activities of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad to manipulate the materials held within, switch focused attention across components, and initiate long-term memory encoding and retrieval.

The process by which the mind divides large pieces of information into smaller (often meaningful) units that are easier to retain. A form of recoding.

A behaviorist approach to learning in which a neutral stimulus (event) comes to elicit a response through its association with an unconditioned stimulus that naturally produces a behavior.

Also, Categorization; the process by which objects, events, people, or experiences are grouped into classes on the basis of shared characteristics of class members and/or distinguishing features from other groups/classes.

Broadly, the performance of one or more actions in a sequence varies according to the other actions in the sequence. In language, the formation of speech sounds may vary according to the sounds immediately preceding or following them.

A mental picture or visual representation of one's physical environment.

A mental understanding of an environment containing spatial information, symbolism, and meaning.

The branch of psychology that explores the operation of mental processes related to perceiving, attending, thinking, language, and memory, mainly through inferences from behavior. 

A set of knowledge that a speaker and listener share (and that they think/assume they share such knowledge as well).

An idea that represents a class of objects or their properties.

Possible influencing factors that differ systematically between conditions.

The conjunction of two events is never more likely to be the case than the single events alone.

An approach in cognitive science that models mental or behavioral phenomena as the emergent processes of interconnected networks that consist of simple units.

Having knowledge of something external or internal to oneself; being aware of and responding to one’s surroundings.

The first-person perspective of a mental event, such as feeling some sensory input, a memory, an idea, an emotion, a mood, or a continuous temporal sequence of happenings.

The first-person perspective of a mental event, such as feeling some sensory input, a memory, an idea, an emotion, a mood, or a continuous temporal sequence of happenings.

The neural changes that occur after learning to create the memory trace of an experience.

A research area concerned with understanding how contemplative practices such as meditation can affect individuals, including changes in their behavior, their emotional reactivity, their cognitive abilities, and their brains. Contemplative science also seeks insights into conscious experience that can be gained from first-person observations by individuals who have gained extraordinary expertise in introspection.

Learning that occurs in a particular environment is better recalled when the individual is subsequently in the same environment.

The sum of one’s knowledge including vocabulary and general information.

The theory that learned material leaves in the brain a trace or impression that autonomously recedes and disappears unless the material is practiced and used. Decay theory is a theory of forgetting.

The outcome variable a researcher measures but does not manipulate in an experiment.

Research that describes observed or measured behaviors and attributes without manipulating variables.

The process of receiving different auditory messages presented simultaneously to each ear.

A neuroimaging technique that infers brain activity by measuring changes in light as it is passed through the skull and surface of the brain.

In language, the idea that we are able to communicate about events, objects, and environments that not in our immediate presence (e.g. past, future, and imaginary).

A dissociative disorder characterized by failure to recall important information about one’s personal experiences, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be explained by normal forgetfulness.

A task that is designed to make a person think about something unrelated to an impending decision.

Creative thinking in which an individual solves a problem or reaches a decision using strategies that deviate from commonly used or previously taught strategies.

Attention to two or more channels of information at the same time, such that two or more tasks can be performed concurrently.

Pathway of visual processing flowing from the primary visual cortex to the parietal lobe. Involved in processing object motion and location. Also known as the “where” pathway.

The retention of auditory information for a brief period (2-3 seconds) after the end of the stimulus.

The degree to which an effect has been obtained under conditions that are typical for what happens in everyday life.

A clear, specific, high-quality mental image of a visual scene that is retained for a period (second to minutes) after the event.

A neuroimaging technique that measures electrical brain activity via multiple electrodes on the scalp.

A philosophical view that true knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience and empirical evidence.

The conversion of a sensory input into a form capable of being processed and deposited in memory. Encoding is the first stage of memory processing.

The principle that retrieval of memory is optimal when the retrieval conditions (such as context or cues) duplicate the conditions that were present when the memory was formed.

The ability to remember personally experienced events associated with a particular time and place.

The philosophical position that things have “essences;” that is, they have certain necessary properties without which they could not be the things they are.

A social and political philosophy, based loosely on Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory and Francis Galton’s research on hereditary genius, that seeks to eradicate genetic defects and improve the genetic makeup of populations through selective human breeding.

When a creative product enters consciousness.

When a creative product enters consciousness.

Specific patterns of electrical activity produced in the brain when a person is engaged in a cognitive act (like stimulus discrimination). Different electrical spikes/patterns are considered different potentials related to differing cognitive events.

A theory that categorization depends on specific remembered instances of the category (as opposed to an abstract “prototype” or a feature-based rule.

A research procedure in which researchers allocate participants to experiences or groups based on the intentional manipulation of variables.

Individuals with high levels of domain-specific knowledge and skills accumulated with age or experience.

Also: Declarative Memory. Long-term memory that can be consciously recalled: general knowledge or information about personal experiences that an individual retrieves in response to a specific need or request to do so.

In studies of categorization, the idea that a set of instances may form a category or give rise to a concept even though there is no single attribute common to all instances: It is sufficient that each instance should have one or more attributes in common with one or more other instances.

Observations made by individuals about their own conscious experiences, also known as introspection or a subjective point of view. Phenomenology refers to the description and investigation of such observations.

The ability for people to correct or change their beliefs and evaluations if they believe these judgments have been biased (e.g., if someone realizes they only thought their day was great because it was sunny, they may revise their evaluation of the day to account for this “biasing” influence of the weather).

Where speech remains fluent, but content may be lacking, and the person may have difficulties understanding others.

The proposed set of mental processes that is used in dealing with relatively novel tasks.

The gradual cross-cultural rise in raw scores obtained on measures of general intelligence. These increases have been roughly 9 points per generation (i.e., 30 years). The gains have been unequally distributed across the different kinds of abilities, with fluid abilities showing substantially greater gains than crystallized abilities.

The process of defining the context or issues surrounding a question, problem, or event in a way that serves to influence how the context or issues are perceived and evaluated.

The tendency to perceive an object only in terms of its most common (or intended) use.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): A neuroimaging technique that infers brain activity by measuring changes in oxygen levels in the blood.

How representative findings from the study are to the rest of the people we are curious about.

In language, the ability to combine a finite set of symbols to form an infinite number of sentences and meaning.

Literally, form or pattern (German). A perceptual configuration made up of elements such that the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

Principles/laws of human perception that describe how humans group elements and recognize patterns.

The category used for something is not too small (northern brown bear) and not too big (animal) but is just right (bear).

In cognition, an experience-based strategy for solving a problem or making a decision that often provides an efficient means of finding an answer but cannot guarantee a correct outcome.

Extremely vivid and life-like mental imagery.

Predictions with testable implications that can be measured by an experiment.

The brief retention of an image of a visual stimulus after the end of the stimulus (typically less than a second).

The appearance of a relationship between two variables that does not exist (or is much weaker than assumed).

Implicit Associations Test (IAT): A computer reaction time test that measures a person’s automatic associations with concepts. For instance, the IAT could be used to measure how quickly a person makes positive or negative evaluations of members of various ethnic groups.

A computer reaction time test that measures a person’s automatic associations with concepts. For instance, the IAT could be used to measure how quickly a person makes positive or negative evaluations of members of various ethnic groups.

Memory for a previous event or experience that is produced indirectly, without an explicit request to recall the event and without awareness that memory is involved.

The failure to notice a fully visible, but unexpected, object or event when attention is devoted to something else.

The variable a researcher manipulates and controls in an experiment.

The (apparent) clear and often sudden discernment of a solution to a problem by means that are not obvious and may never become so, even after one has tried hard to work out how one has arrived at the solution.

The ability to derive information, learn from experience, adapt to the environment, understand, and correctly utilize thought and reason.

Contrasted with “syntax-first” sentence parsing. Suggests syntax and semantics are used simultaneously to parse sentences, giving semantics a more central and earlier role in sentence parsing.

Self-reflecting upon or scrutinizing aspects of your own cognition.

Learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is sufficient motivation to demonstrate it.

The lexical knowledge of an individual; the set of words that a person uses and/or recognizes when used by others.

An association between two variables that when subjected to regression analysis and plotted on a graph, forms a straight line. The direction and rate of change in one variable are constant with respect to changes in the other variable.

See also, Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. The suggestion that our language use (e.g. bilingualism or specific language characteristics) can influence thoughts and actions.

A relatively permanent information storage system that enables one to retain, retrieve, and make use of skills and knowledge hours, weeks, and sometimes years after they were originally learned.

A persistent increase in synaptic efficacy or strength following high-frequency stimulation of a chemical synapse.

A perceptual illusion (typically in the context of speech) that occurs when the auditory component of one sound is paired with the visual component of another sound, leading to the perception of a third sound.

A problem-solving strategy in which an end goal is identified and then fulfilled via the generation of steps that reduce the difference between the current and desired end state.

The scientific study of cognitive processing speed.

Hypothetical entities that are presumed to stand for a perception, thought, memory, or the like during cognitive operations.

The ability to mentally manipulate stimuli some degree clockwise or counterclockwise from their normal orientations.

A temporary readiness to perform certain psychological functions that influences the response to a situation or stimulus, such as the tendency to apply a previously successful technique in solving a new problem.

The result of developing a more positive attitude towards a stimulus after repeated instances of mere exposure to it.

The result of developing a more positive attitude towards a stimulus after repeated instances of mere exposure to it.

A state of heightened focus on the thoughts passing through one’s head, as well as a more controlled evaluation of those thoughts (e.g., do you reject or support the thoughts you’re having?).

a state of heightened focus on the thoughts passing through one’s head, as well as a more controlled evaluation of those thoughts (e.g., do you reject or support the thoughts you’re having?)

A phenomenon in which a person mistakenly recalls misleading information that an experimenter has provided, instead of accurately recalling the correct information that had been presented earlier.

Any device or technique used to assist memory, usually by forging a link or association between the new information to be remembered and information previously encoded.

The smallest units of meaning in a language; a string of one or more phonemes that makes up the smallest units of meaning in a language.

The effects that concurrent stimulation in more than one sensory modality has on the perception of events and objects in the world.

A kind of neural intersection of information coming from the different senses; neurons that are devoted to the processing of one sense at a time send their information to the convergence zones, where it is processed together.

Variables move in opposite directions; a decrease in one variable is associated with an increase in the other and vice versa.

A process in which previous learning obstructs or interferes with present learning. For instance, tennis players who learn racquetball must often unlearn their tendency to take huge, muscular swings with the shoulder and upper arm.

Where speech is very halting and effortful and may consist of just one or two words at a time.

A behaviorist approach to learning in which a behavior comes to be associated with a related subsequent event (consequence). Through this process, behaviors followed by reinforcement are strengthened while those followed by punishment are weakened.

Specific definitions of variables that make them measurable, quantifiable, and/or categorizable.

Theory proposing color vision as influenced by cells responsive to pairs of colors.

The ability to process multiple types of stimuli or information simultaneously, occurring at both conscious and subconscious levels of awareness.

The psychological process of interpreting sensory information.

The elementary sounds of our language; the smallest unit of sound that makes a meaningful difference in a language.

A psycholinguistic phenomenon whereby a person listening to speech in which phonemes have been made inaudible does not notice the interruption.

A proposed sub-component of the working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974). It is said to hold and manipulate auditory information over short intervals of time.

Similar to the idea of analog representations of mental imagery. Suggests mental images are spatially mapped out.

A visual illusion in which the upper of two parallel horizontal lines of equal length appears to be longer than the bottom of the two lines when they are flanked by oblique lines that are closer together at the top than they are at the bottom.

Variables move in the same direction; as one variable increases so does the other, and conversely, when one variable decreases so does the other.

A neuroimaging technique that measures brain activity by detecting the presence of a radioactive substance in the brain that is initially injected into the bloodstream and then pulled in by active brain tissue.

The elements of communication that are not part of language content but help us understand its meaning.

The Gestalt principle that we tend to perceive the simplest or most stable interpretation of ambiguous or complex forms.

The tendency for facts, impressions, or items that are presented first to be better learned or remembered than material presented later in the sequence

Priming: the activation of certain thoughts or feelings that make them easier to think of and act upon.

In cognitive psychology, the effect in which recent experience of a stimulus facilitates or inhibits later processing of the same or a similar stimulus.

When perceiving speech, the idea that a person assumes new incoming words are part of the current phrase being processed. Thus, the current phrase is being closed off “late” in the sequence of processing events.

Interference in new learning due to previous learning of similar or related material.

An individual’s scheme that represents the relations among elements of a problem they wish to solve.

The process by which individuals attempt to overcome difficulties, achieve plans that move them from a starting situation to a desired goal, or reach conclusions through the use of higher mental functions, such as reasoning and creative thinking. Problem solving is seen in nonhuman animals in laboratory studies involving mazes and other tests as well as in natural settings to obtain hidden foods. Many animals display problem-solving strategies, such as the win–stay, lose–shift strategy, which allows an animal to solve a new problem quickly based on whether the first response was successful or unsuccessful. In terms of conditioning, problem solving involves engaging in behavior that results in the production of discriminative stimuli in situations involving new contingencies.

Long-term memory for the skills involved in particular tasks. Procedural memory is demonstrated by skilled performance and is often separate from the ability to verbalize this knowledge. Typically considered a type of implicit memory.

In the theory of Erich Fromm, thinking in which a given question or issue is considered with objectivity as well as respect and concern for the problem as a whole.

A form of visual agnosia in which the ability to perceive and recognize faces is impaired.

The best or most average example of a category. For example, a prototypical bird is some kind of mental average of all the different kinds of birds of which a person has knowledge.

A theory of categorization proposing that people form an average of the members of a category and then use the average as a comparison point for making judgments about category membership.

The scientific study of the relation between physical stimuli, sensation, and perception.

This occurs when the outcome of an experiment or research study biases the decision to publish or otherwise distribute it.

An experiment that does not utilize random assignment to varying experiences or conditions.

Participants do not pick which condition they experience; the experimenter assigns them to a condition using random methods.

A philosophical view suggesting that truth can be determined from reason and logic; it does not require direct sensory experience or physical evidence.

A memory phenomenon in which the most recently presented facts, impressions, or items are learned or remembered better than material presented earlier.

The translation of material from one form (or representation) into another.

The neurobiological stabilization of a reactivated memory. Research suggests that reconsolidation is necessary each time a memory is reactivated and that, prior to reconsolidation, the memory is unstable and susceptible to being changed or lost.

A way of measuring quantitatively, without relying on an individual’s conscious memory, how much learned material is retained. In an initial learning session, the number of trials or the amount of time until the individual can achieve a goal, such as one perfect recitation of a list of nonsense syllables, is recorded. At a later time, they are retaught the same material. The difference in number of trials or time taken to achieve the goal is compared between the first and second sessions; this is the savings value (or savings score). Even if the individual has no conscious recollection of the original learning experience (e.g., because of a large time delay between the two sessions), the measurement can still be obtained. Also called the Savings Method.

A reliable measure or test is one that gives you consistent results over repeated administrations.

Cell layer in the back of the eye containing photoreceptors.

Visual information falling on adjacent areas of the retina is processed in corresponding adjacent areas of the primary visual cortex.

The process of recovering or locating information stored in memory.

Interference that occurs when new learning or exposure to new information impairs the ability to remember material or carry out activities previously learned, especially if the two sets of material are similar.

A disturbance in memory marked by the inability to recall previously learned information or past events.

In language, the process through which a hearer separates speech into a sequence of identifiable words and phonemes (often without reliable breaks between words).

Concentration on certain stimuli in the environment and not on others, enabling important stimuli to be distinguished from peripheral or irrelevant ones.

A method for studying selective attention in which people focus attention on one auditory stream of information while deliberately ignoring other auditory information.

the widespread tendency for individuals to have a superior or enhanced memory for stimuli that relate to the self or self-concept.

cognitive encoding of new information that focuses on its meaningful aspects as opposed to its perceptual characteristics

Memory for general factual knowledge and concepts, of the kind that endows information with meaning and ultimately allows people to engage in such complex cognitive processes as recognizing objects and using language.

The property of language that allows it to represent events, ideas, actions, and objects symbolically, thereby endowing it with the capacity to transmit meaning.

The physical processing of environmental stimuli by the sense organs.

Brief storage of information from each of the senses (in a relatively unprocessed form beyond the duration of a stimulus).

A task in which a participant repeats aloud a message word-for-word at the same time that the message is being presented, often while other stimuli are presented in the background.

The reproduction, recognition, or recall of a limited amount of material after a period of about 10-30 seconds. STM is often theorized as a separate memory system from long-term memory (LTM).

A task in which the observer is required to discriminate between trials in which a target stimulus (the signal) is present and trials in which it is not (the noise). Signal detection tasks provide objective measures of perceptual sensitivity. Also called detection task.

A cognitive-ability and intelligence test that has been used to diagnose developmental or intellectual deficiencies in young children.

Learning that occurs in a particular biological or psychological state is better recalled when the individual is subsequently in the same state.

An individual’s expectation that negative stereotypes about their member group will adversely influence others’ judgments of their performance and that a poor performance will reflect badly on the member group. This expectation can undermine the individual’s actual ability to perform well.

Persistence of learned behavior or experience during a period when it is not being performed or practiced, as indicated by the ability to recall, recognize, reproduce, or relearn it.

A school of American psychology that sought to describe the elements of conscious experience.

The registration of stimuli below the level of conscious awareness, particularly stimuli that are too weak (or too rapid) for an individual to consciously perceive them.

A subdivision of a “basic-level” category formed at a more specific level of organization.

The finding that responses to multimodal stimuli are typically greater than the sum of the independent responses to each unimodal component if it were presented on its own.

A high-level category that subsumes a number of “basic-level” categories.

A condition in which a sensory stimulus presented in one area (often called the Inducer) evokes a sensation in a different area (called the Concurrent experience).

The set of grammatical rules that control how words are put together.

An approach to sentence parsing suggesting that syntax processing plays the main role in sentence parsing; humans infer the meaning of a sentence primarily based on syntactical structure.

In the context of imagery, the idea that we have knowledge of the world stored without awareness and we apply such knowledge to our expectations of how we manipulate and scan mental representations.

An empirical method of knowledge acquisition that relies on observation and experimentation to support declarations regarding human behavior and mental processes.

Observations made by individuals in a way that can be independently confirmed by other individuals so as to lead to general, objective understanding. With respect to consciousness, third-person perspectives make use of behavioral and neural measures related to conscious experiences.

A language in which the meaning of utterances varies based on the pitches

Information processing in which higher level knowledge, expectations, and concepts influence the processing of lower level (e.g. sensory) information.

The conversion of one form of energy into another.

To attempt different solutions to a problem until the problem is solved; typically utilized by non-experts.

Theory proposing color vision as influenced by three different cones responding preferentially to red, green and blue.

The difference in “goodness” of category members, ranging from the most typical (the prototype) to borderline members.

Not conscious; the part of the mind that affects behavior though it is inaccessible to the conscious mind.

Not conscious; the part of the mind that affects behavior though it is inaccessible to the conscious mind.

The making of automatic assumptions (or inferences) about the world based on experience with the environment.

Areas of the brain dedicated to the processing of a single modality.

The extent to which our measure is accurately testing what we want to know about.

Pathway of visual processing flowing from the occipital cortex to the temporal lobe, representing nameable visual features of objects. Also known as the “what” pathway.

A loss or impairment of the ability to recognize and understand visual stimuli.

A proposed sub-component of the working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974). It is said to briefly hold and manipulate information about the appearance of objects and their location in space.

The length of time between the release of a stop consonant and the start of vibration of the vocal cords

The length of time between the release of a stop consonant and the start of vibration of the vocal cords.

A phenomenon describing how people are better able to recognize letters when they are presented within words as opposed to when they are presented alone or within non-word strings.

A problem-solving strategy in which the solver begins at the goal state and attempts to find a path back to the problem’s starting conditions.

A more recent conceptualization of short-term memory involved in the brief retention (and retrieval) of information in a highly accessible state. Some researchers have proposed sub-systems of working memory including a phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive, and episodic buffer.