1: Cognitive psychology Flashcards
What is psychology?
The science of mind and behaviour.
What is science?
Science is one of the of four ways of knowing about the world and reality, based on empirical and non-empirical methods.
What are the two empirical methods used in ways of knowing about the world?
- Intuition (direct observation)
2. Science
What are the two non-empirical methods used in ways of knowing about the world?
- Authority
2. Logic
What is authority?
A belief based on what someone else claims.
What is logic?
A belief based on inductive or deductive reasoning.
What is inductive reasoning?
Specific to general. Generalisations based on single observations.
What is deductive reasoning?
General to specific. Uses syllogisms, when 2+ arguments are believed to be true, it guides us towards a conclusion.
What is intuition?
A belief based on direct observation.
What is science?
A belief based on a collection of methods.
What are the 5 steps of the scientific method?
- Make observation.
- Generate theory.
- Generate hypothesis.
- Test hypothesis.
- If outcome is consistent with hypothesis, then retain it. If different, generate a new theory.
What are the 7 characteristics of science? (Hint: STTOPPE)
- Self correcting.
- Tentative.
- Theoretical.
- Objective,
- Progressive.
- Parsimonious.
- Empirical.
What is parsimony?
The simples explanation is the best.
What are the 3 components of measurement in scientific experiments?
- True value.
- Bias.
- Random error.
What is the true value?
The things being estimated.
What is bias?
Type of error who’s value is unknown and does not equals zero. Can be minimised through precaution.
What 2 precautions can we used to minimise bias?
Careful measurement and accurate equipment.
What is random error?
Type of error who’s value varies from one measurement to the next. It’s mean value across all measurements equals or is very close to zero.
Using the computer analogy in cognitive psychology, the brain is _________ and the cognition is ________.
Using the computer analogy in cognitive psychology, the brain is hardware and the cognition is software.
Who is Hermann Ebbinghaus?
Studied human memory and first documented several important features about it (serial position curves and savings).
Used only himself as subject, using nonsense syllables called CVC’s as a method to study memory.
Who is William James?
Wrote seminal 2-volume tome ‘The Principles of Psychology’.
Astute observer of the mind and cognition. Made distinction between primary and secondary memory.
What is the main goal of introspectionism?
To understand human cognition via introspection.
Who is Wilhelm Wundt?
Established the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879.
Founded school of Structuralism, attempting to describe the mind via its simplest components.
Who is Edward Titchner?
Wundt’s most prominent student, establishing his own lab in the USA.
Famous for sparking debate with Wundt over existence of imageless thought.
Who is Ivon Pavlov?
Russian physiologist, credited with discovering classical conditioning.
Who is John B. Watson?
American psychologist, who in 1930 wrote the ‘Behaviourists Manifesto’, causing the paradigm shift from introspectionism to behaviourism.
Who is B. F. Skinner?
Discovered operant conditioning. Wrote 1957 book ‘Verbal Behaviour’ to explain human language acquisition through behaviourist S-R principles.
Who is Edward Tolman?
Behaviourist who demonstrated cognitive maps in rats.
Who is Noam Chomsky?
MIT linguist who wrote 1959 influential critique of Skinner’s ‘Verbal Behaviour’.
Provided examples that language is generative and not bound by S-R principles.
Provide arguments for importance of internal grammar in language acquisition rather than general learning principles.
What is Posner famous for?
Introducing cognitive science in 1989.
What disciplines make up cognitive science? (Hint: CCPLAN)
Cognitive psychology Computer science Philosophy Linguistics Anthropology Neuroscience
What are the three basic assumptions of cognitive psychology?
- Mental processes exist.
- Mental processes can be measured and understood using science.
- Humans are information processing systems.
What are the three traditional methods of measuring mental processes?
- RT’s.
- Errors.
- Verbal protocols.
What are RT’s and how are they used in cognitive research?
Reaction times, which are measured via response speed (ms) using simple equipment like buttons or more sophisticated devices like eye-trackers.
What are errors and how are they used in cognitive research?
There are two types, error rates and types of errors, such as those seen in speech production.
What are verbal protocols and how are they used in cognitive research?
Participants are asked to complete a task whilst ‘think aloud’ protocols are recorded.
What are the three non-traditional (modern) methods of measuring mental processes?
- ERP’s
- fMRI
- TMS
What are ERP’s and how are they used in cognitive research?
Event-Related Potentials use electrodes to measure brains electrical activity on the scalp.
