CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION TO COG. PSYCH Flashcards
name the 6 ways memory is used
in memory
as a problem solver
making decisions
something valuable
normal/abnormal functioning
define the mind
creates/controls mental functions
name 3 mental functions the mind is associated with
perception attention memory emotions language deciding thinking reasoning
define the mind (2)
a system that creates representations of the world with purpose to achieve goals
what does the mind (2) demonstrate
the mind’s importance for functioning and survival
what 2 words does cognition come from?
gnosco and cogito
define cognition
the mental processes like perception, attention, and memory
name the 3 components of cognition (philisopical)
structure/representation
process
knowledge
define structure/representation
the knowledge you possess
define process
using an existing memory representation and updating/reinterpreting/creating a new one
define knowledge
personal views/experiences
define cognitive psychology
the study of mental processes including determining characteristics of the mind and its operation
what type of processes does cognitive psychology refer to?
where sensory info is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used
what is performance?
the observable behaviour used as evidence as cognition
who’s method is performance-based?
Immanuel Kant
who shifted emphasis from sensation/perception to integration of sensory information?
Diogenes of Apollonia
who had a theory of air used as the vehicle of cognition?
Greek Philosophers
who worked under the idea of universals and particulars?
Plato
universals vs particulars
universals: are the real thing being the spiritual realm
particulars: the shadows/copies of the real thing being the physical realm
particulars were seen as..
lesser representations of reality
who worked under Plato?
Aristotle
what did Aristotle theorize?
tabula rasa: people start with nothing and have to learn everything from experience
what would Aristotle say about universals and particulars?
universals are part of particulars
what was Aristotle’s Doctrine of Association?
contiguity
similarity
conrtast
what is contiguity?
the idea that things happen at the same time
explain similarity
the idea that things are alike conceptually thus are grouped together
explain contrast
things that oppose each other conceptually are still grouped together
who were the 1800’s psychophysicists?
helmholtz, fechner, weber
define psychophysics
study of the relation between the physical characteristics of stimuli and sensations they produce
what was the goal of Franciscus Donder’s pioneering experiment?
to determine how long it takes to make a decision
what did Donder measure?
reaction time
what were Donder’s 2 kinds of reaction time
simple reaction time
choice reaction time
define Donder’s simple reaction time
asking participants to push a button as rapidly as possible in response to a light
define Donder’s choice reaction time
using 2 lights and asking participants to push a specific button corresponding to the light shown
how did Donder finalize reaction time/making decisions?
the difference between choice and simple reaction time
who founded the first psychology science laboratory and was involved in structuralism?
Wilhelm Wundt
define structuralism
the overall experience being determined by combining basic elements of experience sensations
Edward Titchener was involved in ___ to pursue what goal?
introspection
find the structural elements of the mind
define analytic introspection
when trained participants describe their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli
why does analytic introspection have issues?
requires extensive training
had unreliable results
what did analytic introspection contribute to psychology?
studying the mind under controlled conditions
What was Herman Ebbinghaus interested in?
determining the nature of memory/forgetting
Ebbinghaus used a ___ method and ___ as the participant
quantitative ; himself
what was the structure of Ebbinghaus’ experiment?
repeating 13 nonsense syllables to himself at a constant rate
what term did Ebbinghaus use to determine how much was forgotten after a particular delay?
savings
what is the formula for Ebbinghaus’ savings?
- Savings= [(original time taken to learn the list) – (time to relearn the list)]/original time
what would smaller savings values mean in Ebbinghaus’ experiment?
more forgetting
what did Ebbinghaus use to plot memory dropping data?
savings curve/forgetting curve
what was the takeaway in Ebbinghaus’ method?
memory can be quantified and functions could be used to describe a property of the mind
William James was apart of what school of thought?
functionalism
define functionalism
focuses on the functions of consciousness rather than its structure
what was William James’ observation on attention?
paying attention to one thing requires withdrawing from other things
what were William James’ 2 components of memory?
primary = short term secondary = long term
what was the James-Lange theory of emotion?
emotion does not cause physiological responses
explain what the James-Lange theory means
there is a physiological response that one has to interpret and make sense of
who was involved in behaviourism and the little albert experiment?
Watson
what were Watson’s issues with analytic introspection?
- the variable results from person to person
2. difficulty in verifying the results due to inner mental process interpretation
what was John Watson’s goal?
to portray connections between stimuli and responses and avoid mentalism
define classical conditioning?
pairing one stimulus with another previously neutral stimulus changing the response to the neutral stimulus
who coined the term operant conditioning?
B.F Skinner
define operant conditioning
strengthening or weakening a response using positive or negative reinforcers
what was Edward Tolman’s experiment that re-emerged the mind in psychology?
rat maze experiment
what was Tolman’s coined term that indicated the rat had a map of the maze in its mind
cognitive map
what was Skinners idea of verbal behaviour?
children learn language through operant conditioning by imitating speech they hear and repeating correct/rewarded speech
why did Noah Chomsky disagree with Skinner?
children are not rewarded for incorrect grammar or hateful speech
when and what was the cognitive revolution?
1950s; shift in psychology from the beahviourist’s focus of stimulus-responses to a focus on the operation of the mind
describe the information-processing approch
tracing sequences of mental operations involved in cognition
explain the diagram of the information-processing approach
input processor –> memory unit –> arithmetic unit –> computer output
describe Colin Cherry’s experiment based on William James’ observation of attention
asking participants to listen to 2 auditory messages simultaneously but focusing on only one
describe Donald Broadbent’s flow diagram of the mind
input
filter
detector
memory
define artificial intelligence
making a machine behave in ways that would be seen as intelligent
who created the artificial machine that was envisioned by John McCarthy
Herb Simon and Alan Newell
name and describe Simon and Newell’s machine
logic theorist ; used human-like processes to solve problems
the magical number seven plus or minus two is associated with who?
George Miller
what as George Miller’s takeaway?
there are limits to the human’s ability to process information and that the human mind’s limited capacity is about 7 items
when was the first cognitive psychology book published? by who?
1967, Neisser
what does Neisser address late in his book
higher mental processes
what was Neisser interested about in the mind’s operation?
how the mind operates but excluding the physiological mechanisms involved
name the components in Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model of memory
sensory memory
short-term memory
long-term memory
describe sensory memory
holds incoming info for a fraction of a second then passes info along
describe short-term memory
has limited capacity and holds information for seconds
what can occur in short term memory?
rehearsal, coding, decisions, and retrieval
describe long-term memory
high-capacity system that can hold information for a long period of time
where can information travel from the long-term memory? what is this considered?
back to short term memory ; remembering
who proposed long-term memory can be divided into 3 components?
Endel Tulving
name/describe Tulving’s 3 components of long-term memory
episodic - events
semantic- facts
procedural - physical actions
define neuropsychology
the study of behaviour of people with brain damage
what does neuropsychology proivde?
insights to the brain’s function
define electrophysiology
measuring electrical response of the nervous system
what does electrophysiology provide?
insight into the activity of single neurons
what injects radioactive tracers into the blood stream?
positron emission tomography
what allows us to see activated brain activity during cognitive task and is better/safer than PET
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
who illustrated how our knowledge about the environment can influence our perception?
Stephen Palmer
