Cognitive-Chapter 1-Studying The mind Flashcards
Cognition
Mental process, such as perception, attention, and memory, creates representations of the world that enable us to function
Reaction time
How long it takes to respond to presentation of a stimulus
Simple reaction time
Reacting to the presence or absence of a single stimulus as opposed to having to choose between a number of stimuli before making a response
Choice reaction time
EX:Asking subjects to push one button or another rapidly
time to respond to one or two more stimuli. for example in the Donders experiment subjects had to make one response to one stimulus and a different response to another stimulus
Structuralism
An approach to psychology that explained perception as the adding up of small elementary units called sensations
Analytic introspection
A technique in which trained subjects described their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli. One of the major methods that structuralist collected their data.
Savings
A measure used by Ebbinghaus to determine magnitude of memory left from initial learning. Higher savings indicate greater memory
Savings curve
The plot of percent savings after original time
Franciscus Donders
1868
Procedure: simple reaction time vs choice reaction time
Results/conclusions: choice reaction time takes 1/10 sec longer therefore it takes 1/10 second to make a decision
Contribution: first cognitive psychology experiment
Wilhelm Wundt
1879
Procedure: analytic introspection
Results/conclusion: no reliable results
Contribution: established first laboratory so scientific psychology
Herman Ebbinghaus
1885
Procedure: savings method to measure forgetting
Results/conclusions: forgetting occurs rapidly in the first 1 to 2 days after original learning
Contribution: quantities measurement of mental processes
William James
1890
Procedure: no experiments, reported observations of his own experience
Results/conclusions: description of a wide range of experiences
Contribution: first psychology text book Principles of Psychology;some of his observations are still valid today
Behaviorism
Approach to psychology that rejected introspection as a methods and observable behavior, not consciousness is main topic of study. Based on classical conditioning. invisible mental processes were not valid topics. Founded by John Watson early 20th century. a consequence of this Ida was that consciousness and unobservable mental processes are not considered worthy of study by psychologists
Classical conditioning
A procedure in which Pairing one stimulus with another causes changes in the response to the neural stimulus
Ex: Pavlov’s dog and the bell
Operant conditioning
B. F. Skinner, behaviorism, introduced that behavior is strengthened by presentation of positive reinforcers, such as food or social approval, focus on how behavior was controlled b stimuli. Began 1930’s and 40’s Behaviorism was dominant through 1950’s.
Cognitive map
Mental conception of a spatial layout
Ex: the rat created a cognitive map in order to find the cheese
Cognitive revolution
Period in the 1950’s where a shift in psychology occurred. From behaviorist’s stimulus-response relationships approach to the understanding of the operation of the mind
Information processing approach
An approach to psychology developed in 50’s in which the mind is described as processing information through a sequence of stages. The operation of the mind occurs in many stages.
Artificial intelligence
Coined by John McCarthy, prof of Mathematics in early 1950’s. The ability of a computer to perform tasks usually associated with human intelligence.
Structural models
Representations of a physical structure
Ex: plastic model of a brain
Process models
Represent the processes that are involve in cognitive mechanisms, with boxes usually representing specific processes and arrows indicating connections between processes
Ex: flow diagram
Events lead to cognitive psych revolution
- Chomsky’s critique of Skinner’s book Verbal Behavior
- Introduction of the digital computer and the idea that the mined processes in many stages like a computer
- Cherry’s attention to experiments and Broadbent’s intro of flow diagrams to depict processes involved in attention
- Interdisciplinary conferences at Dartmouth and MIT
Cognitive psychology
The branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of the mind
