Chapter 1: Introduction

Question 1

Folk Psychology

Answer 1

A broad term for assumptions and theories that are based off of everyday behaviour that are seen in ourselves and others

Question 2

Bit

Answer 2

i.e. “binary digit”, it is the most basic unit of information; it is a way to quantify and compare pieces of information in different situations.

Question 3

Information Theory

Answer 3

The more probable an event is, the less information you have on it, and the the less likely an event is, the more information you have on it.
(e.g. what contains more information: recalling a snowy day in December or recalling a hot day in December? - the latter, because it is more memorable, per se)

Question 4

Broadbent’s Filter Model

Answer 4

(1958): Information processing is restricted by channel capacity, i.e. we can only absorb as much as our channel capacity allows us: external information/stimuli enters input channels (ears, eyes, etc.) –> information enters sensory buffer which is temporary storage –> we filter out what is important and what to focus our attention on by extracting simple stimulus characteristics (e.g. colour, voice, location).

Question 5

Channel Capacity

Answer 5

The maximum amount of information that can be transmitted to an information processing device (e.g. human brain)

Question 6

Introspection

Answer 6

“Looking inward” in a structured way to observe one’s own thoughts and feelings

Question 7

Primary Memory

Answer 7

aka, short-term memory or immediate memory; what we are aware of in the present moment. Belongs in the PRESENT.

Question 8

Secondary Memory

Answer 8

aka, long-term memory; knowledge acquired at an earlier time that is stored in our memory forever that exists beyond the conscious level. Belongs in the PAST.

Question 9

Brown-Peterson Task

Answer 9

Participants are given a set of items to remember, and then they are given a number that they then must count backwards in threes (i.e. 100, 97, 94…etc.), and after a specific time interval (seconds) the participant would be asked to recall the set of items.

Question 10

Waugh and Norman’s Model of Information-Processing

Answer 10

(1965): You need to rehearse information in order for it to be saved into long-term memory. Recall memory decreases as the distractor duration increases.

Question 11

JJ Gibson’s Ecological Approach

Answer 11

(1950, 1966): Approaching psychology with “real-world” experiments rather than artificial, lab-based experiments; studying cognition in a way that reflect real-world situations.

Question 12

Affordances

Answer 12

The potential uses of stimuli in the real world, e.g. food affords the possibility of eating, stairs afford the possibility of climbing, ice affords the possibility of skating.

Question 13

Information Pickup

Answer 13

The process where we learn what can and can’t be done with what the environment affords us/gives us the potential to do (ex. how we learn that food can allow us to eat)

Question 14

Schema

Answer 14

A schema is a mental system that we all have that tell us what to expect from a experience; developed based on personal experiences and stored in our memories so we can use it later to make sense of future experiences.

Question 15

Perceptual Cycle

Answer 15

When our schemata guides us through life, and what new information we learn we add to our schemata

Question 16

Cognitive Ethology

Answer 16

A new research approach that links real-world observations with laboratory-based theories

Question 17

Metacognition

Answer 17

Understanding of our own cognitive processes and how they work.