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AP Psychology: Unit 2 – Cognition: A Comprehensive Study Guide

Cognition, in the realm of psychology, encompasses all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. Unit 2 of AP Psychology delves deep into these processes, exploring how we acquire, process, store, and utilize information. This guide provides a detailed overview of the key concepts within this unit, equipping you with the knowledge necessary for success on the AP exam.

1. Cognitive Psychology Fundamentals

* **Definition of Cognition:** Understanding the broad scope of cognitive psychology – encompassing attention, memory, language, problem-solving, and decision-making. * **The Information Processing Model:** This model views the mind as a computer, receiving input, processing it, and producing output. It highlights the sequential stages involved in cognitive processes. * **Cognitive Biases:** Systematic patterns of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. Understanding how biases like confirmation bias, availability heuristic, and anchoring bias affect our thinking is crucial.

2. Memory: Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval

* **Encoding:** The initial process of getting information into the memory system. Levels of processing (shallow vs. deep) significantly impact encoding effectiveness. Elaborative rehearsal (connecting new information to existing knowledge) is superior to maintenance rehearsal (rote repetition). * **Storage:** Retaining information over time. * **Sensory Memory:** Brief storage of sensory information. Iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory) memory have very short durations. * **Short-Term Memory (STM) / Working Memory:** Limited capacity (around 7 chunks) and short duration. Working memory involves actively manipulating information. * **Long-Term Memory (LTM):** Relatively permanent and unlimited capacity storage. * **Explicit (Declarative) Memory:** Consciously recalled memories. Divided into: * **Semantic Memory:** General knowledge and facts. * **Episodic Memory:** Personal experiences and events. * **Implicit (Nondeclarative) Memory:** Memories not consciously recalled. Includes: * **Procedural Memory:** Skills and habits (e.g., riding a bike). * **Classical Conditioning:** Learned associations. * **Retrieval:** Accessing stored information. Retrieval cues, priming, and context-dependent memory all play a role. * **Forgetting:** Reasons we fail to retrieve information. * **Encoding Failure:** Information never entered long-term memory. * **Storage Decay:** Gradual fading of memory traces over time. * **Retrieval Failure:** Inability to access information. Interference (proactive and retroactive) and motivated forgetting (repression) can hinder retrieval. * **Memory Construction:** Memory is not a perfect recording; it is reconstructed. The misinformation effect (incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event) and source amnesia (attributing the wrong source to an event) highlight the reconstructive nature of memory.

3. Thinking and Problem Solving

* **Concepts:** Mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. Prototypes are the best examples of a concept. * **Problem-Solving Strategies:** * **Algorithms:** Step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution. * **Heuristics:** Mental shortcuts that are faster but more prone to error (e.g., trial and error, insight). * **Obstacles to Problem Solving:** * **Confirmation Bias:** Seeking evidence that confirms our beliefs. * **Fixation:** Inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. * **Mental Set:** Approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past. * **Functional Fixedness:** Only thinking of things in terms of their usual functions.

4. Language

* **Language Structure:** * **Phonemes:** Basic units of sound. * **Morphemes:** Smallest units that carry meaning. * **Grammar:** System of rules governing language. Syntax (word order) and semantics (meaning). * **Language Development:** Stages from babbling to one-word stage to two-word stage (telegraphic speech). * **Theories of Language Acquisition:** * **Nature (Innate):** Noam Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device (LAD) suggests an innate capacity for language. * **Nurture (Learned):** B.F. Skinner emphasized reinforcement and imitation. * **Language and Thought:** The relationship between language and thought. * **Linguistic Determinism (Whorf’s Hypothesis):** Language determines the way we think (controversial, but language can influence thought).

5. Intelligence (Brief Overview – More Detail in Unit 7)

* **Definition of Intelligence:** The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations. * **Theories of Intelligence:** A brief introduction to different perspectives (e.g., Spearman’s *g* factor, Gardner’s multiple intelligences, Sternberg’s triarchic theory). (This will be covered in much more depth in a later unit).

Study Tips for Unit 2

* **Active Recall:** Regularly test yourself on the material. * **Spaced Repetition:** Review concepts at increasing intervals. * **Connect Concepts:** Relate new information to what you already know. * **Real-World Examples:** Apply cognitive principles to everyday situations. * **Practice FRQs:** Writing free-response questions will help you synthesize information.