Cognition Note Guide

Before you begin reading, consider the following:

● To maintain academic integrity and maximize your learning, each response should be answered in your
own words. Please do not copy and paste from the textbook or another source.
● Successful students
○ develop their own note-taking strategies as they work through the course. You can use bullets,
paraphrasing, acronyms, etc. The goal is to create a way to process the information you are
reading in a way that makes sense to you and helps you remember it most accurately.
○ master the definitions for the key vocabulary for each lesson. You can define the terms in your
note guide or use note cards. Some students use an online source to create digital flashcards.
● Note that modules in your e-text are not aligned with modules in the course. Read the modules in the e-
text that are assigned with each lesson.

Lesson 03.01 Perception

Read Unit 2 Introduction and Module 2.1a–2.1b in the e-text. Complete the note guide as you read.

Key Vocabulary
Be sure you know the meaning of the following terms from the lesson:

perception similarity monocular depth cues

top-down processing selective attention relative clarity
bottom-up processing cocktail party effect relative size
schemas change blindness texture gradient
perceptual sets inattention (inattentional linear perspective
Gestalt psychology blindness) interposition
closure binocular depth cues perceptual constancy
figure/ground retinal disparity apparent
proximity convergence motion/movement

Module 2.1a Perception: Influences on Perception

Guided reading questions:

2.1-1.1 Compare the amount of information your senses absorb to the amount that you pay attention to.

⇒ AP Science Practice: Exploring Research Methods and Design (page 166)

After reading the e-text and watching the associated video, answer the following questions:

1. Identify a potential confounding variable that could impact the researchers results.
2. What type of sample was used?
3. What are some potential ethical violations present in the scenario?

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2.1-1.2 How are selective attention and change blindness different?

2.1-2.1 If you were going to an art museum on a field trip, how would top-down and bottom-up processing relate to
the paintings you see?

2.1-2.2 Explain the idea of perceptual set.

2.1-2.3 How does perceptual set influence your understanding of sensory input?

2.1-2.4 Identify factors beyond perceptual set that influence your perceptions.

Module 2.1b Perception: Perceptual Organization and Interpretation

Guided reading questions:

2.1-3.1 Explain each of the following Gestalt principles. Paste an image (different from the e-text) as an example if
you’re able to.
Principle Explanation Image
Figure-ground
Proximit
y
Similarity
Closure

2.1-4.1 Summarize the research of Gibson and Walk (visual cliff).

⇒ In Your Own Words

After reading about the visual cliff study, which ethical guidelines need to be monitored?

2.1-4.2 You overheard a friend talking depth perception. They said, “everything we see is processed in the same way.”
How would you go about correcting their misunderstanding? Use specific vocabulary in your answer.

2.1-4.3 Explain how stroboscopic movement, phi phenomenon, and autokinetic effect trick the brain.

2.1-5.1 Relate top-down processing to perceptual constancy.

2.1-5.2 Using Figures 2.1-17 and 2.1-18 for reference, explain how color constancy and brightness (lightness)
constancy are different.

2.1-5.3 How do shape and size constancy help us understand distance and the perceived changes in objects?

2.1-6.1 What has been learned through research about restored vision and perceptual comprehension?

2.1-6.2 What could you expect if asked to wear goggles that invert your visual field? Relate this to perceptual
adaptation.
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Lesson 03.02 Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision Making
Read Unit 2, Modules 2.2a-2.2b in the e-text. Complete the note guide as you read.

Key Vocabulary
Be sure you know the meaning of the following terms from the lesson:

 concepts  representativeness heuristic  sunk-cost fallacy

 prototypes  availability heuristic  executive functions
 assimilation  mental set  creativity
 accommodation  priming  divergent thinking
 algorithms  framing  convergent thinking
 heuristics  gambler’s fallacy  functional fixedness

Module 2.2a Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision Making: Concepts and Creativity

Guided reading questions:

2.2-1.1 How can you relate metacognition to your academic success?

2.2-1.2 Create an example of a concept and prototype (different from the one shared in the e-text).

2.2-1.3 Create an example of a schema (different from the one shared in the e-text) and discuss how a person can
assimilate or accommodate information within that schema.

2.2-2.1 Explain the difference between convergent and divergent thinking.

2.2-2.2 Discuss a possible way to research one or more of the components of creativity. Include a method and sample.

Module 2.2b Thinking, Problem Solving, Judgments, and Decision Making: Solving Problems and
Making Decisions

Guided reading questions:

2.2-3.1 Explain the differences between trial and error, algorithm, and heuristic.

⇒ In Your Own Words:

Describe a time when you have experienced insight or an Aha! moment.

2.2-3.2 How do fixation and mental set relate to confirmation bias?

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2.2-4.1 Relate stereotypes and discrimination to representativeness heuristic.

2.2-4.2 How is availability heuristic different from representativeness heuristic?

⇒ AP Science Practice: Developing Arguments (page 197)

After the reviewing the information presented in The Fear Factor infographic, answer the following question:

How do confirmation bias and availability heuristic support the claim that more people fear flying than driving? Use
evidence to support your answer.

2.2-5.1 As a student, when have you experienced overconfidence?

2.2-5.2 When considering the research on belief perseverance, what seems to be the best way to confront this and
prevent motivated reasoning?

⇒ In Your Own Words:

Describe a time when you made a decision based on framing.

Lesson 03.03 Introduction to Memory

Read Unit 2, Module 2.3 in the e-text. Complete the note guide as you read.

Key Vocabulary
Be sure you know the meaning of the following terms from the lesson:

 memory  central executive  effortful processing

 explicit memory  phonological loop  encoding
 episodic memory  visuospatial sketchpad  storage
 semantic memory  multi-store model  retrieval
 implicit memory  sensory memory  levels of processing model
 procedural memory  iconic memory  structural processing
 prospective memory  echoic memory  phonemic processing
 long-term potentiation  short-term memory  semantic processing
 working memory model  long-term memory
 working memory  automatic processing

Module 2.3 Introduction to Memory

Guided reading questions:

2.3-1.1 Compare recall, recognition, and relearning.

2.3-1.2 Summarize the Ebbinghaus’ research.

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2.3-1.3 What is the difference between relearning and overlearning?

2.3-2.1 How does the information processing model explain the memory process?

2.3-2.2 Compare the information processing model to parallel processing.

2.3-2.3 Explain the difference between short term memory and working memory.

⇒ In Your Own Words

How does selective attention relate to working memory? Be sure to include relevant vocabulary in your answer.

2.3-3.1 Using Figure 2.3-4, how would you explain long-term potentiation to a friend/ relative?

2.3-3.2 How are explicit and implicit memories different?

Lesson 03.04 Encoding and Storing Memories

Read Unit 2, Modules 2.4-2.5 in the e-text. Complete the note guide as you read.

Key Vocabulary
Be sure you know the meaning of the following terms from the lesson:

 mnemonic devices  distributed practice  superior autobiographical

 method of loci  serial position effect memory
 chunking  primacy effect  retrograde amnesia
 categorization  recency effect  anterograde amnesia
 hierarchy  rehearsal  Alzheimer’s disease
 spacing effect  maintenance rehearsal  infantile amnesia
 memory consolidation  elaborative rehearsal
 massed practice  autobiographical memory

Module 2.4 Encoding Memories

Guided reading questions:

2.4-1/ 2.4-2 Complete the organizer comparing effortful and automatic processing.
Effortful processing only Both Automatic processing only

2.4-3.1 Describe sensory memory. Be sure to include types of sensory memory, capacity for retaining information,
duration of retention.

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2.4-4.1 Compare short-term memory and working memory.

⇒ AP Science Practice: Data Interpretation (Figure 2.4-2, page 217)

Summarize the information provided by the data in the graph.

2.4-5.1 Identify strategies that can assist with short-term memory. Include an example of each one related to your
psychology course.

2.4-6.1 Why is massed practice not an effective study strategy for long-term retention?

⇒ In Your Own Words:

Your friend is concerned about their grade in psychology. They ask you for suggestions to improve their studying.
What do you suggest? Use specific vocabulary from the lesson.

⇒ AP Science Practice: Exploring Research Methods and Design (page 221)

After reading the e-text and watching the associated video, answer the following questions:

What results do you expect the researcher to find? Support your prediction with evidence from your reading.

2.4-6.2 Explain the difference between shallow and deep processing.

2.4-6.3 How can deep processing and the self- reference effect help you as a student?

Module 2.5 Storing Memories

Guided reading questions:

2.5-2/2.5-3 Complete the organizer with information related to long-term memory.
Type of long-term memory Description Areas of the brain associated with this
type
Explicit
Implicit

⇒ In Your Own Words

What role does sleep play in memory consolidation and retention of information?

2.5-4.1 How does stress impact the formation of memories?

2.5-4.2 What makes flashbulb memories different from other long-term memories?

⇒ In Your Own Words

Clive Wearing’s story is tragic yet interesting. Clive is a renown pianist. During adulthood, he suffered a brain
infection that left him unable to remember anything 30 seconds after it happened. Interestingly, he can remember
how to play the piano and that he is in love with a woman named Deborah (his wife). Using what you have learned,
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 explain how this is possible.

Lesson 03.05 Retrieving and Forgetting Memories

Read Unit 2, Modules 2.6-2.7 in the e-text. Complete the note guide as you read.

Key Vocabulary
Be sure you know the meaning of the following terms from the lesson:

 recall  mood-congruent memory  tip-of-the-tongue

 recognition  testing effect phenomenon
 retrieval  metacognition  repression
 context-dependent  forgetting curve
 source amnesia
memory  proactive interference
 state-dependent  misinformation effect
 retroactive interference
memory  constructive memory
 encoding failure
 imagination inflation

Module 2.6 Retrieving Memories

Guided reading questions:

2.6-1.1 Give some examples of retrieval cues.

2.6-1.2 Explain how each of the following can influence retrieval.

 Priming
 Context- dependent memory
 State- dependent memory
 Serial position effect

2.6-1.3 How can you use interleaving to help you with studying?

Module 2.7 Forgetting and Other Memory Challenges

Guided reading questions:

2.7-1.1 Why is it considered helpful to forget old or useless information?

2.7-1.2 Differentiate between anterograde and retrograde amnesia.

2.7-1.3 Explain encoding failure and how age can impact the efficiency of encoding.

2.7-1.4 Use Figure 2.7-3 to explain Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve.

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 ⇒ In Your Own Words
What would be some effective strategies to prevent the rapid drop seen in the Forgetting Curve?

2.7-1.5 Explain how each of the following retrieval problems contributes to forgetting:
 Proactive interference
 Retroactive interference
 Repression

2.7-2.1 What is reconsolidation of a memory? Why does this happen?

2.7-2.2 Summarize the research of Elizabeth Loftus.

2.7-2.3 Explain the difference between misinformation effect and source amnesia.

2.7-2.4 What problems have been identified with using children as witnesses?

Lesson 03.06 Intelligence and Achievement

Read Unit 2, Modules 2.8a-2.8d in the e-text. Complete the note guide as you read.

Key Vocabulary
Be sure you know the meaning of the following terms from the lesson:

 intelligence  psychometrics  stereotype threat

 general intelligence (g)  standardized  stereotype lift
 multiple abilities (in  valid  Flynn effect
reference to intelligence)  predictive validity  achievement tests
 intelligence quotient (IQ)  constructive validity  aptitude tests
 mental age  reliability  fixed mindset
 chronological age  test-retest reliability  growth mindset
 intelligence tests  split-half reliability

Module 2.8a Intelligence and Achievement: Theories of Intelligence

Guided reading questions:

2.8-1.1 Explain how one’s culture can influence how intelligence is defined.

2.8-2.1 How did Spearman use factor analysis in his research?

2.8-2/ 2.8-3/ 2.8-4/ 2.8-5 Complete the organizer with information about each theory. **Note: strengths and criticisms
may not be discussed in the reading for all theories.
Theory Summary Strengths Criticisms
Spearman’s General
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 Intelligence (g)
Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC)
Gardner’s Multiple
Intelligences
Sternberg’s Three
Intelligences
Emotional Intelligence

⇒ AP Science Practice: Data Interpretation (Figure 2.8-2, page 257-258)

After reading the e-text and watching the associated video, answer the following questions:

 What is the independent variable?

 What is the dependent variable?
 How would you describe the relationship between these two variables?
 Identify a potential third variable that could be impacting these results.

Module 2.8b Intelligence and Achievement: Assessing Intelligence

Guided reading questions:

2.8-6.1 Explain the purpose of an intelligence test.

2.8-6.2 How do aptitude tests and achievement tests differ?

2.8-7.1 Summarize the ideas of Francis Galton related to intelligence.

2.8-7.2 What was the reasoning behind Alfred Binet developing an intelligence test?

2.8-7.3 Explain the concept of mental age.

⇒ In Your Own Words

How did Binet’s ideas about children with learning difficulties differ from Galton’s?

2.8-7.4 What are criticisms related to the formula for calculating IQ?

2.8-7.5 How do the WAIS and WISC more accurately measure intelligence than the Stanford-Binet?

2.8-8.1 Describe each of the psychometric properties listed below. **Include relevant vocabulary as appropriate.
Property Description
Standardization
Reliability
Validity

2.8-8.2 What is the Flynn Effect? How does it impact intelligence test scores?

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Module 2.8c Intelligence and Achievement: Stability of, and Influences on, Intelligence

Guided reading questions:

⇒ AP Science Practice: Developing Arguments (page 271)
After reviewing the infographic provided, answer the following question:

When assessing changes in intelligence, which method of research is better to use — cross-sectional or longitudinal?
Use evidence to support your choice.

2.8-9.1 Summarize the data that was collected in Scotland when they retested the children born in 1921 as adults.

2.8-10.1 Describe how crystallized intelligence (Gc) and fluid intelligence (Gf) change with age.

2.8-11.1 How does heritability relate to intelligence and the difference amongst people?

⇒ AP Science Practice: Data Interpretation (Figure 2.8-9, page 275)

After reviewing the graph provided, describe the trend you can observe in the data.

2.8-11.2 Summarize how the environment can impact intelligence.

2.8-12.1 What observations were made regarding the impacts of poverty, isolation, and deprivation on intelligence?

⇒ In Your Own Words

How can you apply growth mindset to your academics?

Module 2.8d Intelligence and Achievement: Group Differences and the Question of Bias

Guided reading questions:

2.8-13.1 Summarize some of the differences among genders in intellectual abilities and the proposed reasons for these
differences.

2.8-14.1 What similarities and differences have been identified between various racial and ethnic groups regarding their
mental ability scores?

2.8-15.1 Identify criticisms related to biases present in intelligence tests.

2.8-15.2 Explain the ideas of stereotype threat and stereotype lift.

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