404 • GlossaryPrecueing A procedure in which participants are given a cue that will usually help them
carry out a subsequent task. This procedure has been used in visual attention experiments
in which participants are presented with a cue that tells them where to direct their
attention. (4)
Premise The first two statements in a syllogism. The third statement is the conclusion. (13)
Primacy effect In a memory experiment in which a list of words is presented, enhanced
memory for words presented at the beginning of the list. See also Recency effect. (6)
Primary receiving area Area in the cortex that is the first to receive inputs from one of the
senses. For example, the occipital cortex is the primary receiving area for vision. (2)
Priming A change in response to a stimulus caused by the previous presentation of the same
or a similar stimulus. See also Conceptual priming; Repetition priming. (6)
Proactive interference (PI) When information learned previously interferes with learning new
information. See also Retroactive interference. (5)
Problem A situation in which there is an obstacle between a present state and a goal state and
it is not immediately obvious how to get around the obstacle. (12)
Problem space The initial state, goal state, and all the possible intermediate states for a
particular problem. (12)
Procedural memory Memory for how to carry out highly practiced skills. Procedural memory
is a type of implicit memory because although people can carry out a skilled behavior, they
often cannot explain exactly how they are able to do so. (6)
Propaganda effect People are more likely to rate statements they have read or heard before as
being true, just because of prior exposure to the statements. (6)
Propositional representation A representation in which relationships are represented by s ymbols,
as when the words of language represent objects and the relationships between objects. (10)
Prosopagnosia Condition caused by damage to the temporal lobe that is characterized by an
inability to recognize faces. (2)
Prototype A standard used in categorization that is formed by averaging the category
members a person has encountered in the past. (9)
Prototype approach to categorization The idea that we decide whether something is a member
of a category by determining whether it is similar to a standard representation of the cat-
egory, called a prototype. (9)
Prototypicality The degree to which a particular member of a category matches the prototype
for that category. See also High prototypicality; Low prototypicality. (9)
Psycholinguistics The field concerned with the psychological study of language. (11)Radiation problem A problem posed by Duncker that involves finding a way to destroy a
tumor by radiation without damaging other organs in the body. This problem has been
widely used to study the role of analogy in problem solving. (12)
Reaction time The time it takes to react to a stimulus. This is usually determined by
measuring the time between presentation of a stimulus and the response to the stimulus.
Examples of responses are pushing a button, saying a word, moving the eyes, and the
appearance of a particular brain wave. (1)
Reactivation A process that occurs during memory consolidation, in which the hippocampus
replays the neural activity associated with a memory. During reactivation, activity occurs
in the network connecting the hippocampus and the cortex. This activity results in the
formation of connections between the cortical areas. (7)
Reading span The maximum number of sentences that a person can read while simultaneously
holding the last word of each sentence in memory. Reading span has been used to measure
both the storage and processing functions of working memory. (5)
Reasoning Cognitive processes by which people start with information and come to
conclusions that go beyond that information. See also Deductive reasoning; Inductive
reasoning. (13)
Recall test A test in which participants are presented with stimuli and then, after a delay, are
asked to remember as many of the stimuli as possible. See also Cued recall; Free recall. (5)
Recency effect In a memory experiment in which a list of words is presented, enhanced
memory for words presented at the end of the list. See also Primacy effect. (6)
Receptors Specialized neural structures that respond to environmental stimuli such as light,
mechanical stimulation, or chemical stimuli. (2)33559_14_glossary_p391-410.indd 40433559_14_glossary_p391-410.indd 404 13/04/10 5:47 PM13/04/10 5:47 PM
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