cognition Flashcards
cognition definition
a general term used to refer to the “higher” mental abilities. generally taken to include such forms of mental activity as thinking, conceptualisation, memory, representation, mental imagery, perception, attention, reasoning and decision making.
what are the three assumptions of the infomation processing approach?
- info is processed by a series of systems
- systems transform or alter the info
- the aim of research is to specify the processes and structures that underline cognative performance
- info processing in humans resembles computers
what are the three memory systems?
sensory memory, short term, long term
what does the multi store model of memory consist of?
capacity, duration and function
what is the information processing model?
attkinson and shiffrin suggested that memory is made up of a series of stores. explains how processes such as sensation, perception, attention and memory are controlled.
how is memory mentally represented?
memory is the psychological version of the original sound, though, subject or concept
what is encoding?
changing infor into a form in which the brain is able to store
must attend to the info for it to be encoded
what is storage?
refacing the info into memory
what is retrieval?
ability to locate and recover previously stored info
what is sensory memory?
memory retained for short periods of time (3-4 secs)
stores all five senses in specific registers
what are the two parts of sensory memory?
iconic and echonic memory
what is iconic memory?
temporarily stores sensory info of a visual nature
what is echonic memory?
temporarily stores sensory info of an auditory nature
what is short term memory?
thoughts, words, images available for decision making and problem solving
how long is info stored in stm? how much?
30 seconds
george miller - 7 +- 2
how can you transfer info from stm to ltm?
maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal and chunking
what is maintenance rehearsal?
meaningless rote repetition of material to be remembered
what is elaborative rehearsal?
applying meaning to new words in order to retain them in memory
what is chunking?
material is combined into a larger, meaningful group
who created the theory of working memory?
baddley and hitch 1974
what are the three parts of working memory?
central executive, phonological loop, visou spatial sketchpad
what is the central executive?
boss of the working memory
controls and coordinates the slave systems
controls attention, sends incoming info to the relevant components and stores all sensory info
what is the visou spatial sketchpad?
stores and manipulates info of a visual and spatial nature
what is the phonological loop
stores and manipulates info of an auditory nature
what are the predictions of the working memory model?
- if two tasks make use of the same component they cannot be performed together
- if two make use of different components they can be performed together
what is long term memory?
a relatively permanent storage facility for an infinite amount of information
what is the capacity of the ltm?
unknown but thought to be unlimited
what are the two areas of ltm?
procedural memory and declaritve memory
what is procedural memory?
the way you do things
unconscious
what is declarative memory?
the way of memory
conscious
what are the two areas of declarative memory?
episodic and semantic
what is episodic memory?
the memory of your own set of autobiographical events
what is semantic memory?
factual knowledge posessed about the outside world
what are the three r’s?
recall, recognition and relearning
what is recall?
being able to access the information without being cued
what is recognition?
identifying after experiencing it again
what is relearning?
involves retaining info that has been previously learned
what is the definition of forgetting?
a failure to access info that had previously been stored in memory
what is forgetting caused by?
a range of different deficiencies in encoding, storage and retrieval
what are the causes of forgetting?
retrieval failure theory, interference theory, motivated forgetting, decay and organic
what is the retrieval forgetting theory?
forgetting occurs because of a failure to use the right, correct or appropriate cues at a certain time
what is interference theory?
when two pieces of info are so similar it leads to a situation called interference causing us to forget the info
what are the two types of interference?
proactive interference and retroactive interference
what is proactive interference?
interference of old memories on the retrieval of new info
what is retroactive interference?
new info interfers with the ability to remember old info
what is motivated forgetting?
when there is a strong desire to forget because the memory is either too traumatic, disturbing, anxiety provoking or upsetting
what are the two types of motivated forgetting?
repression and suppression
what is repression?
keeping thought buried in the unconscious
what is supression
a deliberate effort to keep them out of the conscious mind
what is decay theory?
forgetting occurs because the memory trace tends to gradually fade or decay over time
what is the organic theory of forgetting?
forgetting occurs due to some brain damage
what is learning?
a relatively permanent change often of behaviour, that occurs as a result of experience
what is classical conditioning?
an association forming between two stimuli, one of which is not normally associated with the response, such that the appearance of stimulus alone results in the response behaviour
what is conditioning?
the association made by the learner between a stimulus and a response
what is stimulus?
any variable present that may trigger a response
what is a response?
any action or behaviour that is exhibited
what is the neutral stimulus?
any stimulus that produces no relevant responses prior to classical conditioning
what is the unconditioned stimulus?
any stimulus that consistently leads to a reflexive response
what is the conditioned stimulus?
a previously neutral response that has become associated with a stimulus by which it was not previously caused by the process
what is the unconditioned response?
unlearned, reflexive and involuntary response to a stimulus
what is the conditioned response?
a reflexive and involuntary response that has become associated with a stimulus by which it was not previously caused during classical conditioning
what is operant conditioning?
the changing of behaviour by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response
what are the three types of responses or operants?
neutral operants
reinforcers
punishers
what is positive reinforcement?
strengthens a behaviour by providing a rewarding consequence
what is negative reinforcement?
the removal of an unpleasant reinforcer to strengthen behaviour
what is punishment?
designed to weaken or eliminate a response
what are schedules of reinforcement?
different patterns had different effects on the speed of learning
what are the different types of reinforcement?
continuous fixed ratio variable ratio fixed interval variable internal
what is behaviour shaping?
principles of operant conditioning can be used to produce extremely complex behaviour
what is observational learning?
the environment causes behaviour and learning, and behaviour can change the environment
what are the factors involved in observational learning?
attention
retention
reproduction
innovation
what is behaviour modification?
application of classical and operant techniques
what are the techniques of modifying behaviour?
token economy
systematic desensitisation
cbt
positive or negative reinforcement
what are token economies?
artificial systems of reward and reinforcement where symbolic markers are used to reward behaviour
what is systematic desensitisation?
the fear response is replaced with a more relaxed response in a step by step process
what is cbt?
a type of psychotherapy that helps people to change unhelpful or unhealthy thinking, habits, feelings and behaviours
