Chapter 1 Flashcards
Definition of the mind according to processes
The mind creates and controls mental functions like perception, attention, memory, emotions, language, deciding, thinking, and reasoning
Definition of the mind according to how it operates
The mind is a system that creates representations of the world so we can act within it to achieve our goal
Cognitive psychology
study of mental processes involving the characteristics and properties of the mind, and how it operates
Cognition
set of processes by which sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used
What did Donders study?
how long it takes to make a decision by measuring simple reaction time and choice reaction time
Donders’ simple RT task
participants are tasked to push a button as quickly as possible as soon as they see a light turn on
Donders’ choice RT task
participants push the left button if the left light turns on and the right button when the right light turns on
How did Donders measure how long it took to press the correct button?
getting the difference between the reaction times in the simple and choice conditions
Significant finding in Donders’ experiment
mental responses (perceiving the light and deciding which button to push) cannot be measured directly but must be inferred from behavior
Wilhelm Wundt
developed the first scientific psychology lab at University of Leipzig, Germany
Structuralism
our overall experience is determined by combining basic elements of experience called sensations; “periodic table of the mind”
Wundt’s method of Analytic Introspection
participants are trained to describe their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli in terms of elementary mental elements
Ebbinghaus’ experiment on the nature of memory and forgetting
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)
Ebbinghaus’ measure of savings
determines how much was forgotten after a delay; original time to learn the list - time to relearn the list after the delay
Ebbinghaus’ findings
shorter break intervals = faster relearning = greater savings = better memory
William James
taught the first psyc course in Harvard and made observations based on the operation of his own mind in his textbook ‘Principles of Psychology’
Watson’s criticisms of analytic introspection
(1) extremely variable results per person (2) results were difficult to verify because they were interpreted in terms of invisible mental processes
Watson’s Behaviorism
(1) rejects introspection as a method (2) studies observable behavior, not consciousness (which includes unobservable processes like thinking, emotions, reasoning)
Classical conditioning
pairing one stimulus with another previously neutral stimulus causes changes in the response to the neutral stimulus
Skinner’s operant conditioning
how behavior is strengthened by the presentation of positive reinforcers or withdrawal of negative reinforcers
Cognitive map (Tolman)
a conception or representation of the maze’s layout within the rat’s mind
Verbal behavior (Skinner)
children learn language through operant conditioning by imitating speech that they hear and repeating correct speech that is rewarded
Chomsky counterargument to Skinner
language is developed by an inborn biological program that holds across cultures, not just by imitation or reinforcement
Cognitive revolution (1950s)
a shift in psychology from the behaviorist’s focus on stimulus-response relationships to focusing on the operation of the mind
Scientific revolution according to Kuhn
a shift from one paradigm to another or a paradigm shift
Paradigm
a system of ideas that dominate science at a particular time
Information-processing approach
traces sequences of mental operations involved in cognition; operation of the mind occurs in stages
Flow diagram of an early digital computer
information is received by an input processor, stored in a memory unit, processed by an arithmetic unit, which then creates output
Cherry’s experiment on attention
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
Broadbent’s filter model of attention
input is filtered by only letting through the attended message, which is then recorded by the detector and stored in memory
Artificial intelligence (Mccarthy)
making a machine behave in ways that would be considered intelligent if a human were so behaving
Logic theorist program (Newell and Simon)
a computer program that could create proofs of mathematical theorems that involve principles of logic and used humanlike reasoning processes to solve problems
Miller’s principle
there are limits to a human’s ability to process information; capacity of the mind is limited to about seven items
Gaps of knowledge in Neisser’s ‘Cognitive Psychology’ book
(1) the study of higher mental processes like thinking, problem-solving, long-term memory (2) physiology of mental processes
Atkinson and Shiffrin’s three-stage model of memory
sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory
Sensory memory
holds incoming information for less than a second
Short-term memory
has limited capacity and holds information for seconds; can be rehearsed through repetition
Long-term memory
a high-capacity system that can hold information for long periods of time; returned to STM when we remember something
3 components of long-term memory (Tulving)
episodic, semantic, procedural
Episodic memory
memory for life events
Semantic memory
memory for facts
Procedural memory
memory for physical actions
Techniques that dominated early physiological research on the mind
neuropsychology and electrophysiology
Neuropsychology
study of the behavior of people with brain damage; has been providing insights into the functioning of different parts of the brain
Electrophysiology
measuring electrical responses of the nervous system; made it possible to listen to the activity of single neurons
Positron emission tomography (PET)
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
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
replaced PET; measures neuronal activity through detecting changes in magnetic resonance
Pros and cons of fMRI
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
How is the brain’s magnetic signal affected?
when a brain region is active, blood flow increases in the region, thus oxygen supply increases, which then affects the blood’s magnetic properties
Electroencephalography (EEG)
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
Event-related potential (ERP)
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
ERP components
peaks and valleys associated with specific cognitive processes
Pros and cons of EEG/ERP
pros: high temporal resolution (in ms), inexpensive, non-invasive, direct measure of brain activity; cons: poor spatial resolution, correlational
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
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
Pros and cons of rTMS
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
Lesion
abnormality or injury to any part of the brain
Causes of lesions
congenital abnormalities (present from birth), epilepsy/surgery, stroke, injury, disease, etc.
Pros and cons of neuropsychology/lesion patients
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
Four assumptions of cognitive psychology
(1) mental processes exist; (2) mental processes can be studied; (3) humans are active information processors; (4) most processes are implemented in the brain
Five cognitive variables (techniques to study cognition)
response accuracy, reaction time, eyetracking, online studies, brain measurements
Response accuracy
measures whether or not a participant makes a correct response in a specified period of time when placed in a challenging situation
Reaction time (response time or latency)
measures the amount of time a participant takes to make a response; assumed to be filled with specific cognitive processes
Types of brain measurements
EEG, ERP, fMRI, TMS, transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS), lesion studies
Structural models
representations of the physical structure of the brain and how they’re connected; mimics the form or appearance of a given object
Process models
represents the processes that are involved in cognitive mechanisms e.g. flow diagrams
Empiricism
all science should be based on observation; “no one can learn anything at all in the absence of sense” (Aristotle)
Diogenes of Apollonia
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
Laws of association
contiguity, similarity, contrast
Contiguity law of association
if A and B appear together, the experience of A will elicit the recall of B
Similarity law of association
if A and B are similar, the experience of A will elicit recall of B
Contrast law of association
if A and B are opposites, the experience of A will elicit recall of B
Law of frequency
the probability that A elicits B increases with the frequency that they have appeared together before
Associationism
the mind uses frequency as an index of memory strength
Aristotle
tabula rasa empiricist, meaning he believes the mind is a blank slate at birth before the world is experienced
Saint Augustine
believed that memory may be external to the mind due to its inconsistency at times e.g. false memories
Ibn Sina
abstract universal concepts are formed from empirical familiarity with objects in this world or associations
René Descartes
mind-body dualism: mind and body are distinct but are closely related
