1: Cognitive Psychology Flashcards
Page 7-33
Psychology is the _____ of _____ and _____.
Psychology is the science of mind and behaviour.
Science is one of ___ ways we have of knowing about the world and reality.
Science is one of 4 ways we have of knowing about the world and reality.
The 4 ways of knowing are:
____-__________, such as _____ and ______.
________, such as ________ and ________.
The 4 ways of knowing are:
Non-empirical, such as authority and logic.
Empirical, such as intuition and science.
What is a belief based on what someone else (e.g. an expert) claims?
Authority.
What is a belief based on reasoning?
Logic.
What are the 2 types of reasoning used in logic?
Deductive and Inductive.
What is deductive reasoning?
General to specific, e.g. syllogisms.
What is inductive reasoning?
Specific to general, e.g. generalising from single observations.
What is a belief based on direct observation?
Intuition.
What is a belief based on a method or collection of methods?
Science.
What is the 1st step of the scientific method?
Make an observation.
What is the 2nd step of the scientific method?
Generate a theory.
What is the 3rd step of the scientific method?
Generate a hypothesis.
What is the 4th step of the scientific method?
Test the hypothesis (e.g. run experiment)
What is the 5th step of the scientific method?
If the outcome of the test is consistent with the hypothesis, we confirm out hypothesis.
If the outcome of the test is inconsistent with the original hypothesis, we must generate a new theory.
What are the 7 characteristics of science?
- Empirical
- Objective
- Self-correcting
- Progressive.
- Tentative.
- Theoretical
- Parsimonious (e.g. Occam’s razor)
During experiments, how do we increase the statistical power to thus reduce the amount of error?
Use a large sample size.
What are the 3 components of all measurements? (e.g. behaviour, temperature, weight, speed)
True value
Bias
Random error
What is the true value?
The thing being estimated.
What is bias?
A type of error whose values:
are unknown,
do not equal zero,
but can be minimised through precaution (e.g. careful measurement, accurate measuring equipment, etc.)
What is random error?
A type of error whose value varies from one measurement to the next, but whose expected value (i.e. mean values across many measurements) = zero.
By taking careful measurements (e.g. use a large _____ _____), bias can be minimised (but not _________) and ______ ______ should be close to zero.
By taking careful measurements (e.g use a large sample size), bias can be minimised (but not eliminated) and random error should be close to zero.
Cognitive psychology is the science of ______ and _______.
Cognitive psychology is the science of mind and cognition.
Cognitive psychology includes the study of:
Perception Attention ST (working) memory LT memory Language (production + sensation) Decision making Reasoning (thinking) Problem solving Motor control Affect/emotion
What is the difference between social psychology and cognitive psychology?
Social psychology studies then behaviour of 2 or more individuals, cognitive psychology studies the behaviour of individuals.
What is the difference between clinical psychology and cognitive psychology?
Clinical psychology studies abnormal (or otherwise compromised) mind; cognitive psychology studies the normal (intact) mind.
What is the difference between personality psychology and cognitive psychology?
Personality psychology studies how minds differ among individuals (e.g. traits); cognitive psychology studies similarities among individuals (e.g. common components of mind).
What is the difference between neuropsychology (neuroscience) and cognitive psychology?
Neuropsychology studies the neural mechanisms of the mind; cognitive psychology proves a more abstract, functional description of the mind.
What is the difference between developmental psychology and cognitive psychology?
Developmental psychology studies how the mind develops (e.g. child cognition); cognitive psychology studies the developed mind (e.g. adult cognition).
When were the 2 paradigm shifts in psychology?
After behaviourism (1960s) and during cognitivism (1980s)
Who was Hermann Ebbinghaus?
Hermann Ebbinghaus studied human memory and first documented several important facts:
serial position curve
savings
Used only himself as a subject; invented nonsense syllables (CVC’s) as a method to study memory.
Who was William James?
William James wrote a seminal 2 volume tome ‘The Principles of Psychology’. He was an extremely astute observer of the human mind and cognition. He made the distinction between primary and secondary memory.
What was the main goal of introspectionism?
To understand human consciousness and cognition via introspection.
Who was Wilhelm Wundt?
Wilhelm Wundt was credited with establishing the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879. He established the school of Structuralism, which attempts to describe the mind in terms of its simplest components.
Who was Edward Titchner?
Edward Titchner was Wundt’s most prominent student, established the first psychological laboratory in the US. Famous for sparking the debate with Wundt over the existence of imageless thought.
Who was Ivon Pavlov?
A Russian physiologist, credited with discovering classical conditioning.
Who was John B. Watson?
American psychologist, in 1913 wrote the ‘Behaviourists Manifesto’, which caused a paradigm shift from introspectionism to behaviourism?
Who was B.F. Skinner?
Credited with discovering operant conditioning. In 1957 wrote ‘Verbal Behaviour’, which attempted to explain human language acquisition using behaviourism principles. E.g. stimulus-response.
Who were the two main proponents of the cognitive revolution?
Edward Tolman and Noam Chomsky.
Who was Edward Tolman?
Behaviourist who demonstrated cognitive maps in rats.
Who was Noam Chomsky?
M.I.T. linguist who in 1959 wrote influential critique of Skinner’s ‘Verbal Behaviour’. Provided examples that language is generative and thus not amenable to stimulus-response principles.
He also provided arguments for the importance of internal grammar in language acquisition rather than general learning principles.
He used computer technology as a metaphor of the mind.
Cognitive science is a multi-disciplinary field introduced with _______ (1989) Foundations of Cognitive Science.
Posner
Cognitive psychology can be situated in relation to other domains of science. The relationship among domains of science can be described using _______ of _______.
The various domains differ in respect to:
- ________
- ________
- ________
- ________
Cognitive psychology can be situated in relation to other domains of science. The relationship among domains of science can be described using levels of analysis.
The various domains differ in respect to:
- Scale (size)
- Degree of experimental control.
- Sample sizes.
- Complexity.
What are the 3 basic assumptions of cognitive psychology?
- Mental processes exist. Behaviour cannot be explained using behaviourist (S-R) principles.
- Mental processes can be studied and understood using science. Mental processes can be measured.
- Humans are info processing systems. Awake humans are always perceiving, thinking and acting.
The computer metaphor of the mind is taken very seriously. Hardware vs. software = _______ vs. ________. Computer components = _______ __________ (e.g. the ______ model).
The computer metaphor of the mind is taken very seriously. Hardware vs. software = brain vs. mind. Computer components = mind components (e.g. the modal model).
What are the 2 traditional methods for measuring mental processes?
- Reaction times (RT’s)
2. Verbal protocols.
What are RT’s?
Measuring response speed (ms). Can include sophisticated devices like eye-trackers. Dependent measures include error rates, type of errors (e.g. speech production errors).
What are verbal protocols?
Record ‘think aloud’ protocols as participants perform a task.
What are the 3 non-traditional methods for measuring mental processes?
- Event-related potentials (ERP’s)
- Brain imaging (PET, fMRI)
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
What are ERP’s and it’s pros and cons?
Uses electrodes to measure EEG (brain electrical activity) on the scalp.
Pros: minimally invasive, excellent temporal resolution.
Cons: very poor spatial resolution.
What is brain imaging and it’s pros and cons?
Uses radioactive tracers (PET) or blood flow (fMRI) to indirectly measure brains metabolism.
Pros: good spatial resolution.
Cons: poor temporal resolution, more invasive than ERP’s. expensive.
What is TMS and its pros and cons?
Uses electromagnetic current to induce temporary cortical ‘lesions’.
Pros: fairly good temporal and spatial resolution, can be used to make causal inferences about function of cortical tissue.
Cons: more invasive than other methods.
