Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

PSYC 309 > Chapter 1 > Flashcards

Chapter 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Definition of the mind according to processes

A

The mind creates and controls mental functions like perception, attention, memory, emotions, language, deciding, thinking, and reasoning

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Definition of the mind according to how it operates

A

The mind is a system that creates representations of the world so we can act within it to achieve our goal

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Cognitive psychology

A

study of mental processes involving the characteristics and properties of the mind, and how it operates

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Cognition

A

set of processes by which sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What did Donders study?

A

how long it takes to make a decision by measuring simple reaction time and choice reaction time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Donders’ simple RT task

A

participants are tasked to push a button as quickly as possible as soon as they see a light turn on

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Donders’ choice RT task

A

participants push the left button if the left light turns on and the right button when the right light turns on

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How did Donders measure how long it took to press the correct button?

A

getting the difference between the reaction times in the simple and choice conditions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Significant finding in Donders’ experiment

A

mental responses (perceiving the light and deciding which button to push) cannot be measured directly but must be inferred from behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Wilhelm Wundt

A

developed the first scientific psychology lab at University of Leipzig, Germany

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Structuralism

A

our overall experience is determined by combining basic elements of experience called sensations; “periodic table of the mind”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Wundt’s method of Analytic Introspection

A

participants are trained to describe their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli in terms of elementary mental elements

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Ebbinghaus’ experiment on the nature of memory and forgetting

A

he repeated a list of nonsense syllables (CVCs) one at a time at a constant rate, determined how long initial learning took and how long relearning took after a break (wherein forgetting occurred)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Ebbinghaus’ measure of savings

A

determines how much was forgotten after a delay; original time to learn the list - time to relearn the list after the delay

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Ebbinghaus’ findings

A

shorter break intervals = faster relearning = greater savings = better memory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

William James

A

taught the first psyc course in Harvard and made observations based on the operation of his own mind in his textbook ‘Principles of Psychology’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Watson’s criticisms of analytic introspection

A

(1) extremely variable results per person (2) results were difficult to verify because they were interpreted in terms of invisible mental processes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Watson’s Behaviorism

A

(1) rejects introspection as a method (2) studies observable behavior, not consciousness (which includes unobservable processes like thinking, emotions, reasoning)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Classical conditioning

A

pairing one stimulus with another previously neutral stimulus causes changes in the response to the neutral stimulus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Skinner’s operant conditioning

A

how behavior is strengthened by the presentation of positive reinforcers or withdrawal of negative reinforcers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Cognitive map (Tolman)

A

a conception or representation of the maze’s layout within the rat’s mind

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Verbal behavior (Skinner)

A

children learn language through operant conditioning by imitating speech that they hear and repeating correct speech that is rewarded

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Chomsky counterargument to Skinner

A

language is developed by an inborn biological program that holds across cultures, not just by imitation or reinforcement

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Cognitive revolution (1950s)

A

a shift in psychology from the behaviorist’s focus on stimulus-response relationships to focusing on the operation of the mind

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Scientific revolution according to Kuhn

A

a shift from one paradigm to another or a paradigm shift

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Paradigm

A

a system of ideas that dominate science at a particular time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Information-processing approach

A

traces sequences of mental operations involved in cognition; operation of the mind occurs in stages

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Flow diagram of an early digital computer

A

information is received by an input processor, stored in a memory unit, processed by an arithmetic unit, which then creates output

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Cherry’s experiment on attention

A

participants listened to two different audio recordings in each ear and were told to pay attention to only one of them; they could hear the unattended message but were unaware of its contents

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

Broadbent’s filter model of attention

A

input is filtered by only letting through the attended message, which is then recorded by the detector and stored in memory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Artificial intelligence (Mccarthy)

A

making a machine behave in ways that would be considered intelligent if a human were so behaving

32
Q

Logic theorist program (Newell and Simon)

A

a computer program that could create proofs of mathematical theorems that involve principles of logic and used humanlike reasoning processes to solve problems

33
Q

Miller’s principle

A

there are limits to a human’s ability to process information; capacity of the mind is limited to about seven items

34
Q

Gaps of knowledge in Neisser’s ‘Cognitive Psychology’ book

A

(1) the study of higher mental processes like thinking, problem-solving, long-term memory (2) physiology of mental processes

35
Q

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s three-stage model of memory

A

sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory

36
Q

Sensory memory

A

holds incoming information for less than a second

37
Q

Short-term memory

A

has limited capacity and holds information for seconds; can be rehearsed through repetition

38
Q

Long-term memory

A

a high-capacity system that can hold information for long periods of time; returned to STM when we remember something

39
Q

3 components of long-term memory (Tulving)

A

episodic, semantic, procedural

40
Q

Episodic memory

A

memory for life events

41
Q

Semantic memory

A

memory for facts

42
Q

Procedural memory

A

memory for physical actions

43
Q

Techniques that dominated early physiological research on the mind

A

neuropsychology and electrophysiology

44
Q

Neuropsychology

A

study of the behavior of people with brain damage; has been providing insights into the functioning of different parts of the brain

45
Q

Electrophysiology

A

measuring electrical responses of the nervous system; made it possible to listen to the activity of single neurons

46
Q

Positron emission tomography (PET)

A

enables us to see which areas of the brain are activated during cognitive activity; expensive and involves injecting radioactive tracers into a person’s bloodstream

47
Q

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

A

replaced PET; measures neuronal activity through detecting changes in magnetic resonance

48
Q

Pros and cons of fMRI

A

pros: high spatial resolution and non-invasive; cons: expensive, poor temporal resolution, only correlational (can’t infer that activity causes behavior), indirect measure of brain activity

49
Q

How is the brain’s magnetic signal affected?

A

when a brain region is active, blood flow increases in the region, thus oxygen supply increases, which then affects the blood’s magnetic properties

50
Q

Electroencephalography (EEG)

A

oldest imaging method currently employed; electrodes on the scalp record the electrical activity of the brain; EEG waves reflect the total electrical output of columns of cortical neurons

51
Q

Event-related potential (ERP)

A

segments of EEG data; average wave time-locked to a certain stimulus or response which can be compared between groups and conditions; typically averaged over multiple trials that allows zeroing out of unrelated brain activity

52
Q

ERP components

A

peaks and valleys associated with specific cognitive processes

53
Q

Pros and cons of EEG/ERP

A

pros: high temporal resolution (in ms), inexpensive, non-invasive, direct measure of brain activity; cons: poor spatial resolution, correlational

54
Q

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

A

temporarily disrupts or enhances brain activity through repeated magnetic pulses over an area of a person’s head, which increases or decreases activity in the underlying cortex

55
Q

Pros and cons of rTMS

A

pros: can manipulate brain activity directly to see its influence on cognition, can infer causality, non-invasive; cons: relatively poor spatial resolution, only measures on surface-level

56
Q

Lesion

A

abnormality or injury to any part of the brain

57
Q

Causes of lesions

A

congenital abnormalities (present from birth), epilepsy/surgery, stroke, injury, disease, etc.

58
Q

Pros and cons of neuropsychology/lesion patients

A

pros: can demonstrate if a region is necessary for a particular function; cons: short supply of patients, damage isn’t limited to one region and can impact multiple cognitive processes

59
Q

Four assumptions of cognitive psychology

A

(1) mental processes exist; (2) mental processes can be studied; (3) humans are active information processors; (4) most processes are implemented in the brain

60
Q

Five cognitive variables (techniques to study cognition)

A

response accuracy, reaction time, eyetracking, online studies, brain measurements

61
Q

Response accuracy

A

measures whether or not a participant makes a correct response in a specified period of time when placed in a challenging situation

62
Q

Reaction time (response time or latency)

A

measures the amount of time a participant takes to make a response; assumed to be filled with specific cognitive processes

63
Q

Types of brain measurements

A

EEG, ERP, fMRI, TMS, transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS), lesion studies

64
Q

Structural models

A

representations of the physical structure of the brain and how they’re connected; mimics the form or appearance of a given object

65
Q

Process models

A

represents the processes that are involved in cognitive mechanisms e.g. flow diagrams

66
Q

Empiricism

A

all science should be based on observation; “no one can learn anything at all in the absence of sense” (Aristotle)

67
Q

Diogenes of Apollonia

A

pre-socratic thinker; believed that air is the essence of nature/reality and is intelligence, which is not a belief contained in the mind, but is the mind itself, thus all things are a mind of various intelligences

68
Q

Laws of association

A

contiguity, similarity, contrast

69
Q

Contiguity law of association

A

if A and B appear together, the experience of A will elicit the recall of B

70
Q

Similarity law of association

A

if A and B are similar, the experience of A will elicit recall of B

71
Q

Contrast law of association

A

if A and B are opposites, the experience of A will elicit recall of B

72
Q

Law of frequency

A

the probability that A elicits B increases with the frequency that they have appeared together before

73
Q

Associationism

A

the mind uses frequency as an index of memory strength

74
Q

Aristotle

A

tabula rasa empiricist, meaning he believes the mind is a blank slate at birth before the world is experienced

75
Q

Saint Augustine

A

believed that memory may be external to the mind due to its inconsistency at times e.g. false memories

76
Q

Ibn Sina

A

abstract universal concepts are formed from empirical familiarity with objects in this world or associations

77
Q

René Descartes

A

mind-body dualism: mind and body are distinct but are closely related

PSYC 309 (13 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions