Cog Psych Ch. 1 Key Terms

Question 1

Behaviorism

Answer 1

study of observable responses and their relationship to observable stimuli

Question 2

Cognitive Psychology

Answer 2

scientific study of cognitive processes through observable behaviors

Question 3

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 3

What is the brain doing when the mind is thinking?

Question 4

Connectionism

Answer 4

Inspired by neuroscience, uses brain for modeling cognitive processes instead of computers
describes cognitive processing in terms of connections between simple unit nodes

Question 5

Electroencephalograph (EEG)

Answer 5

recording of electrical activity in brain

Question 6

Forebrain

Answer 6

Higher order, cognitive functions (memory, planning)

Question 7

Forgetting Curve

Answer 7

rate of forgetting is rapid at first and gradually slows

Question 8

Functionalism

Answer 8

emphasis on the purpose or function of the mind

Question 9

Gestalt Approach

Answer 9

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, organizational guide mental processing

Question 10

Hind brain

Answer 10

Basic life sustaining functions (breathing, heartbeat)

Question 11

Information-processing model

Answer 11

inspired by computer science, says computers and brains take info in, process info, and produce output

Question 12

Introspection

Answer 12

method of investigating the elements of experience through reporting subjective experience using laboratory conditions. Too subjective to be reliably reproduceable

Question 13

Latent learning

Answer 13

form learning that is not immediately expressed in an overt response

Question 14

Law of association

Answer 14

when one thing brings up a similar thing. i.e. “dog” makes you think “cat”, “thunder” makes you think “lightning”

Question 15

Limbic system

Answer 15

learning, memory, processing emotion, made up of hippocampus and amygdala

Question 16

Midbrain

Answer 16

Sensation and arousal

Question 17

Psychophysics

Answer 17

how physical stimuli produce perception. took physiology a step further

Question 18

Memory Savings

Answer 18

takes less time to relearn something than initial learning

Question 19

S-R Psychology

Answer 19

stimulus-response psychology. rejects idea that conscious experience can be meaningfully studied

Question 20

Structuralism

Answer 20

perception is not a passive process, subjective to interpretation

Question 21

Transcranial magnetic stimulation

Answer 21

electromagnetic induction to induce weak electrical currents by using rapidly changing magnetic fields

Question 22

Unconscious inference

Answer 22

mind exerts itself on perceptions, helped pave way for cognitive revolution, Gestalt

Question 23

Mental Map

Answer 23

mental representation of a spatial layout