1. Inferences of Cognition

Question 1

makings of inference

Answer 1

• accuracy
• conjoint measures
• RT
• subjective assessments of performance
  PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Question 2

methods of psychological science

Answer 2

goal:
- gain understanding of the world by using method, evidence and theory
when we manipulate something and see systematic variations in a dependent measure we can use this to infer what foes in term of cognitive operations

Question 3

the factory analogy

Answer 3

• we try to figure out the machinery inside - reverse engineering
• use the input and output of a system to infer what processes are occurring
• predictions can be made as to the output on future occasions
• Q: patterns of error are studied - how do people make mistakes? A: an intrusion error may result from a mixup of elements still in working memory

Question 4

response time

Answer 4

• creation of a product takes time
  1. nb of steps that are taken
  2. resources available at each step
• time taken from the end of the presentation of a Q or tasks to the responses
• impacts on RT
  1. more operations = higher RT (complexity)
  2. less resources = higher RT
  3. more chunking = less RT (can categorize)
  4. if something is novel = higher R

Question 5

multitasking

Answer 5

is possible if we are very used to at least one of the tasks
- e.g. driving while singing the lyrics to a song

Question 6

accuracy

Answer 6

• nature of cogntive processes after having having been inferred from a successful completion of a task
• more accurate in a task leads to less inference is assumed to be present and/or the more resources are available
• e.g. consider a case where we want to understand the relationship between Q format and studied topic

Question 7

speed-accuracy tradeoff

Answer 7

when ACC and RT are positively related

Question 8

what is the demise of introspection?

Answer 8

frequently overexaggerated

Question 9

metacognitive assessments of performance consist of…

Answer 9

variety of self-report techniques

Question 10

subjective reports (refer to slides 16-34 of powerpoint for examples)

Answer 10

1. verbal reports
   - participants are asked to report strategies used to complete a task, descriptions of rules (e.g. how you categorize stimuli)
   subjective
2. subjective probability assessments
   participants assign a subjective probability to the occurrence of an event (e.g. what is the chance it will rain?)

Question 11

metacognition

Answer 11

• we know that subjective reports are less than accurate, so inferences can be made about how people are
• want to observe systematic deviations between subjective reports and objective measures
• e.g. if we are underconfident, we are not aware of information used to successfully complete the task, which implies that unconscious processes drive our success

Question 12

What general processes are involved in perceiving a stimuli and reporting confidence?

Answer 12

refer to page 6 of notebook

Question 13

confidence

Answer 13

knowledge I know vs knowledge I think i know

Question 14

ecological approach

Answer 14

• setting reflects the condition of the real

Question 15

ecological approach: affordances

Answer 15

potential functions/uses of stimuli in the real world

Question 16

ecological approach: information pickup

Answer 16

process where we perceive information directly

Question 17

ecological approach: schema

Answer 17

expectation concerning what we are likely to find as we explore the world

Question 18

ecological approach: perceptual cycle

Answer 18

• process whereby our schemas guide our exploration of the world
• in turn shaped by what we find there
• e.g. balcony example
• refer to page 6 of notebook

Question 19

ecological approach: cognitive ethology

Answer 19

research approach that links real-world observations with lab-based studies