Chap1 intro to cognitive psych Flashcards
Define mind?
1.Cognition: The mind creates and controls mental functions such as perception, attention, memory, emotions, language, deciding, thinking, and reasoning.
2. Function and Operation: The mind is a system that creates representations of the world so that we can act within it to achieve out goals.
Cognitive Psychology?
The study of mind processes ( characteristics and properties) and how it operates.
how did Donter set her expereiment?
by measuring reaction time.
simple reaction time vs choice reaction time?
SIMPLE REACTION TIME: just doing one task in a set of time.
CHOICE REACTION TIME: making the choice in a set of time.
what was the findings of Donder’s experiement?
That choice RT took 1/10 Sec longer than simple RT.
who founded the school of structuralism and what it is?
Wilhelm Wundt founded the school of structuralism: all human experience is determined by combining basic elements of experience the structuralists called sensations. “ sensation involved in creating experience”.
analytic introspection?
trained participants described their experience and thought processes in response to stimuli.
Ebbhinghaus’s memory experiment?
how long it takes to forget information. (Saving curve)
- memorized random alphabets and test his memory.
Result: forgetting happened rapidly in the first 2 days and after that occurs slowly.
what was findings of Wilhelm James?
the observation of one things requires the withdrawing of attention of others.
- wrote the first psychology book.
who founded behaviorism and describe it?
John Watson
- observable behavior produces the only valid data for psychology.
What were the critiques of analytical introspection made by Watson?
- production of variable results from person to person
- difficulty of interpretation of the results due to being a a result of invisible inner mental processes.
classical conditioning?
pairing a neutral stimuli with a stimuli produces response to the neutral stimuli alone (little Albert’s expereiment).
skinner’s operant conditioning?
behavior can be reinforced by a positive reinforcer and eliminated by a withdrawal of a negative reinforcer.
Noam Chomsky vs B.F. Skinner?
- language is learned through reinforcement. (Skinner, Verbal Behavior)
- language is a product of brain’s construction rather than reinforcement. (Chomsky)
when cognitive revolution happen?
- interest in the mind died out with Behaviorism, but started to come back in the 1940s-1950s
Kohler’s ”Insight”
Tolman’s “Cognitive Maps”
Children’s language and development
scientific revolution?
a shift from one paradigm to another.
- paradigm: a system of ideas that dominate science at a particular time.
artificial intelligence?
First time used by John McCarthy defined as making a machine to behave in a way that would be called intelligent if a human were so behaving.
what is logic theory?
a program made by Newell and Simon: could create proofs of mathematical theories that involved principle of logic.
Cognitive revolution?
shift of focus from behaviorism to study of mind (psychology).
who coined the term cognitive psychology?
Ulrich Neisser stated, “ the purpose of this book is to provide a useful and current assessment of the existing state of the art.
what is the central theme of cognitive psychology?
- study of higher mental processes.
- study of the physiology of mental processes.
Atkinson and Shiffrin’s mode of memory?
input-> sensory memory -> short-term memory (rehearsal/ output)-> long-term memory.
components of the long-term memory?
- Episodic memory: Life events
- Semantic memory: facts
- procedural memory: physical actions.
Neuropsychology?
the study of behavior of people with brain damage.
Electrophysiology?
measuring of the electrical responses of the nervous system (listen to the activity of single neuron).
PET scan?
positron emission tomography: show the active part of the brain during cognitive activity through emitting energy by radioactive material.
disadvantage: expensive, low resolution
CAT/ CT scan?
similar to very powerful x-ray
* utility: reveals localized brain tumors and lesions
* Advantages
o instantaneous
o non-invasive
* Disadvantages
o exposure to radiation
o poor spatial resolution, can’t specify about the exact area of the brain.
* Can’t differentiate between the white and grey matter.
MRI?
large magnet that reveals brain structures by taking “images” of the brain
* utility: reveals soft tissue abnormalities in the brain, grey and white matter.
* Advantages
o great spatial resolution
o non-invasive
o mostly low risk*
* Disadvantages
o contraindications
o low accessibility, only in big city, expensive.
* Can pull out magnet if be in the body.
through which technique the brain activity could be studies ?
EEG and FMRI
EEG?
- Electroencephalogram (EEG): records electrical activity of large group of neurons in the brain, measures the neuron’s activity!
Ø micro electrodes: record activity of single neuron - utility: direct measure of neural activity, rare, need to be invasive. Only can be inserted in the patients that have electrodes in their body.
- Advantages
o excellent temporal resolution (msecs), can record in in milliseconds.
o non-invasive, low risk - Disadvantages:
o poor spatial resolution, no certain area detection.
o sensitive to movement
monism?
Mind and body (brain) are one.
Mental events correspond to physical events in the brain
- Thomas Hobbes & John Locke?
○ British Empiricists
Scientific observation is how we gain knowledge
Radical Behaviorism vs Behaviorism?
- Radical Behaviorism: behavior is governed by lawful principles (reinforcement) Skinner
Behaviorism: observable behavior is the only valid way to study psychological phenomenon.
Cognitive insight?
- insight = sudden perception of a relationship between two seemingly disconnected ideas that helps solve a problem
Ø remote associate task (e.g. cottage, cake, burger)
opposite of math questions
- Wolfgang Kohler Gestalt Psychologist?
chimpanzees display insight (also shown in ravens, other animals).
- Edward Tolman?
o If it was conditioning, then rat would always turn right.
o But when placed in a different location, the rat chose the path leading directly to food!
