Chapter 1

Question 1

what is the mind

Answer 1

the system that creates mental representations of the world and controls mental functions

Question 2

what is cognition

Answer 2

the mental processes involved in the mind

Question 3

explain Donder’s developments

Answer 3

• measured decision speed by subtracting simple response conditions from complex (2 possible stimuli and 2 possible response) conditions
• we infer mind from behaviour

Question 4

what were Wundt’s two Developments

Answer 4

1. structuralism

2. analytic introspection

Question 5

Explain Wundt’s structuralism

Answer 5

perceptions are composed of basic sensation elements

Question 6

Explain Wundt’s analytic introspectin

Answer 6

attempted to train participants to recognize basic elements of perception (sensations) to categorize all the basic sensations

Question 7

explain Ebbinghaus’ memory experiments

Answer 7

• learned a list of nonsense syllabus and measured how long to relearn the list after some delay
• ‘Savings’ = original time to learn - time to relearn
  increase savings increases memory

Question 8

explain the findings of ebbinghaus’ memory experiments

Answer 8

• longer delay means decreased savings
• savings curve - memory drops fast 2 days after learning, then maintains
• demonstrated memory could be quantified

Question 9

Explain James’ methods and findings

Answer 9

• observed his own mental operations

- noticed attention was the withdrawal from other stimuli to just one

Question 10

what is behavourism

Answer 10

idea that only overt behaviour is an acceptable object in psychology - consciousness and the mind are not scientific
- analytic introspection sucks - no data

Question 11

Explain the litter Albert study and conclusions

Answer 11

• bang a thing every time the kid saw a white rat

- classical conditioning - stimulus-response pairing as the foundation of behaviour

Question 12

explain skinner’s operation condition

Answer 12

investigates how behaviour is strengthened or weakened by reinforcers or punishers

Question 13

explain Tolman’s findings on mental models and their relevance

Answer 13

placed rats in mazes with food in one spot
- rats find food from a point (A) after some trials
But also find food from a point (C) that is different
- rats must be making a cognitive map of the space to do this
- step away from behaviourism; there is stuff going on in the mind

Question 14

Explain Chomsky;s rejection of Skinner

Answer 14

skinner - we learn language through operant conditioning
Chomsky - bs, kids over generalize linguistic structures and say things that they’ve never heard - gotta be some innate structures to it

Question 15

what is the information processing approach

Answer 15

the mind processes information through several stages much like a computer

Question 16

explain Cherry’s dichotic listening study

Answer 16

when people attend to thee message in one ear, they hear the form of the words in the other ear but do not process semantics

Question 17

Broadbent’s flow diagram of attention

Answer 17

input to a filteer, to a detector, to memory
- provided a way to analyze the operation of the Mindi n terms of a sequence of processing stages - proposed a model that is further testable

Question 18

Explain tehe developments of Newell and Simon

Answer 18

developed a program that could prove statements in prospotiional logic - a real thinking machine

Question 19

Explain Miller’s ‘magical number seven, plus or minus two’

Answer 19

• STM has a max cap of 7 units plus or minus two

Question 20

Explain Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model of memory

Answer 20

• input to sensory memory (holds incoming information for a fraction of a second)
• sensory memory to short term memory (holds information for a few seconds)
• sensory memory can bee rehearsed, output, or stored in LTM
• LTM can send info back to STM for rehearsal or output.

Question 21

what is the relevance of Atkinson and Shiffrins model of memory

Answer 21

model distinguished different components of the memory process which opened the way to study each aspect separately

Question 22

how did Tulving build on Atkinson and Shiffrins model of memory

Answer 22

further subdivided LTM into episodic, semantic and procedural memory

Question 23

what are the three main methods of studying the physiology of cognition

Answer 23

1. neuropsychology - study of behaviour of those with brain damage
2. electrophysiology - measuring electrical responses of the NS to learn about single neurones
3. Brian imaging

Question 24

explain PET (plus 2 downsides)

Answer 24

positron emission tomography - see what areas of brain active during cognition

• disadvantages
  1. expensive
  2. injection of radioactive tracers

Question 25

explain fMRI

Answer 25

functional magnetic resonance imaging - capable of higher resolution

Question 26

what are the ‘new perspectives on behaviour?’

Answer 26

1. early research was in the lab, now its done in real world situations more so
2. humans are not blank slates - cognition influenced by knowledge

Question 27

explain Palmer’s study on the influence of knowledge on cognition

Answer 27

presented an image of a kitchen, then flashed an image

• correctly identified the image 80% of the time if It was theme specific (bread)
• only right 40% of the time if not
• using knowledge of the scene to influence perception