Chapter 1 Flashcards
Cognitive Psychology
A more precise definition of
cognitive psychology is that it is the study of the way in which the brain
processes information. It concerns the way we take in information
from the outside world, how we make sense of that information and
what use we make of it.
stages of cognitive processing
- Perception
- Learning and memory storage
- Retrieval
- Thinking
experimental cognitive psychology
The scientific testing
of psychological
processes in human
and animal subjects.
Computer Modelling
The simulation of human cognitive processes by computer. Often used as a method of testing the feasibility of an informationprocessing mechanism.
cognitive neuropsychology
The study of the brain activities underlying cognitive processes, often by investigating cognitive impairment in brain-damaged patients.
cognitive neuroscience
The investigation of human cognition by relating it to brain structure and function, normally obtained from brainimaging techniques.
Behaviorism (and its downsides)
An approach to psychology which constrains psychologists to the investigation of externally observable behaviour, and rejects any consideration of inner mental processes.
Gestalt Psychology
An approach to
psychology which
emphasized the
way in which the components of perceptual input became grouped and integrated into patterns and whole figures.
The beginning of cognitive psychology; the first to break out of the behaviorist dogma
Schema
A mental pattern, usually derived from past experience, which is used to assist with the interpretation of
subsequent cognitions, for example by identifying familiar shapes and sounds in a new perceptual input.
suggests that our perception and memory of an input may sometimes be changed and distorted to fit our
existing schemas; our perception and memory of any
given stimulus will be unique to each individual
person;‘perception lies in the brain of the perceiver’
top-down processing
involves the generation of schemas
by the higher cortical structures, and these schemas are sent down
the nervous system for comparison with the incoming stimulus. Topdown
processing is also sometimes referred to as schema-driven or
conceptually driven processing.
bottom-up processing
is initiated by stimulation at the ‘bottom
end’ of the nervous system (i.e. the sense organs), which then
progresses up towards the higher cortical areas. Bottom-up processing
is also known as stimulus-driven or data-driven processing, because
it is the incoming stimulus which sets off some appropriate form
of processing.
feature detector
Mechanisms in an informationprocessing device
(such as a brain or a computer) which respond to specific features in a pattern of stimulation, such as
lines or corners.
The concept has also
had a major influence on cognitive psychology, as feature detectors
are thought to operate as ‘mini-schemas’ which detect specific shapes
and patterns
The limited capacity processor model
many inputs are
competing with one another for limited processing resources, and the
inputs must be prioritised and selectively processed if an information
overload is to be avoided. Broadbent referred to this process as ‘selective attention’, and his theoretical model of the ‘limited-capacity
processor’ provided cognitive psychology with an important new
concept
Case of HM
- could only remember things for a few seconds
- long term memory was damaged
- proof for double dissociation
double dissociation
A method of distinguishing between two functions whereby each can be separately affected or impaired by some external factor without the other function being affected, thus providing particularly convincing evidence for the independence of the two functions.
Hebb’s theory of information storage
modern theory suggesting that memories are stored by creating new connections between neurons
Cell assembly
A group of cells which have become linked to one another to form a single functional network. Proposed
by Hebb as a possible biological mechanism underlying the representation and storage of a memory trace.
long-term potentiation
A lasting change in synaptic resistance following the
application of electrical stimulation to living brain tissue. Possibly one of the biological
mechanisms underlying the learning process
controlled processing
Processing that is under conscious control, and which is a relatively slow, voluntary process (contrasts with automatic processing).
automatic processing
Processing that does not demand attention. It is not
capacity limited or resource limited, and is not available
for conscious inspection (contrasts with controlled
processing). Another feature of automatic processing is that it is not a voluntary process, and it will take place
regardless of the wishes and intentions of the individual
supervisory attention system
automatic processes can provide adequate control of our neural functions in most routine situations without needing to use up our attention, but they must be overridden by the conscious supervisory attention system when more complex or novel tasks require the flexibility of conscious control. What it actually is is debated. There is some evidence that this override system may be located in the frontal lobes of the brain
blindsight
The ability of some functionally blind patients to detect visual stimuli at an unconscious level, despite having no conscious awareness of seeing them. Usually observed in patients with occipital lobe lesions.
functions of consciousness
-having a theory of mind
-allows us to use information from the past and the present to make plans for possible events in the
future
-addition: we have no real understanding of what consciousness is
