Cognitive Processes Flashcards
What is behaviourism?
It suggests that all behaviours are learnt from our interactions with the environment. As such, innate or inherited factors have very little influence on behaviour.
What are the main limitations of behaviourism seen in? ( broad categories)
Language
Need for internal mental representations
Concepts like attentional overloads and limits
How does language display a limitation of behaviourism?
Language suggests that behaviour can’t be adapted from environment because:
If not, children should say phrases/sentences the exact same way their parents and friends say it, but in reality they rephrase it and say different yet similar things
Also, the existence of the innate language acquisition device proposed by chomsky introduces a ‘nature’ aspect to behaviourism
How does need for internal mental representations pose a limitation of behaviourism?
behaviourists focus on observable behaviours and thus discount importance of internal mental processes and ignores environment. As such, this fails to explain complex behaviours that involve planning, problem solving etc which all require internal mental processes
What is attentional overload
Indiivdual exposed to more stimuli than they can process at one time –> decreased performance
What is attentional limit
Constraints on ability to process and focus on information. Suggests liited cognitive reserves
How does attentional overload and limits pose a limitation for behaviourism?
Ultimately, it neglects to account for the selective nature of attention where people pick certain things to focus on, based on internal goals or priorities.
This indicates a more complex system in the mind, than just behaviours due to whatever people do
What led to the Cognitive revolution? What is it?
Caused by the fall of the behaviourism movement. The movement rejected behaviourism, and suggests that mental processes such as perception, memory, language and problem solving were essential to understanding behaviours –> suggests mind functions as an info processing system
Explain Tolman’s perspective on internal mental representations and describe evidence he found in the maze navigation that supported this
Introduced concept of internal mental representation which are referred to as “cognitive maps”
Suggests behaviour isnt a simple S-R chain, but influenced by internal cognitive processes. His radical proposal is that rats form an internal map of their environment when placed in the maze
Evidence:
Tolman placed rats in a maze. Findings show that when food reward was introduced later, rats that had previously explored maze found the shortest path to food much faster than rats that weren;t allowed to explore as much - suggests that rats learnt layout of maze during unrewarded exploration, forming cognitiv map of the environment –> this shows latent learning, where rats had learnt about enviro without reinforcement, and counteracts the S-R idea
Explain what additive factors method is. What does it allow psychologists to draw inferences about?
Technique used to investigate internal states of cognitive processes by examining how diff variables affect reaction times
Ultimately suggests that if two experimental facotrs selectivey influence two different stages by increments, the factors will have additive effects on reaction time
For example, if we find that increasing a set size by 2 items adds 50ms to the reaction time, and reducing stimulus quality adds 30ms, if these effects are additive, then increased set size by 2 items and decreased stimulus quality together should add 80ms to reaction time
What is the memory scanning task?
GIven a set of numbers, the person needs to find out whether another number (it could be part of that set or not), is actually part of it
I.e. Remember the numbers 1 2 5 7
Was 3 in it?
What are the stages proposed in the memory scanning task?
Stimulus –> stimulus encoding (stimulus quality) –> serial comparison (size of positive set) –> binary decision (response type positive or negative) –> translation and response organisation (relative frequency of response type) –> response
What are the aims of technology?
Measure speed of mental events
Reduce cognitive and attention overload
Use of computers as metaphors
What are the aims of the cognitive revolution?
Understand internal mental processes
Explore differences in human cognition and artificial intelligence
Explain the cognitive model of memory (?!)
Sensory input –> sensory memory (here, unattended info is quickly lost) –> working short term memory (unrehearsed, info is quickly lost ) –> long term memory (some info is lost over time)
What is mental chronometry
Measures how long certain thoughts take
What are the key components of mental chronometry and how do they mean
Simple RT = time taken to do something basic (i.e. press button to any light)
The choice RT is the press one button to red light and another button to green light
Ultimately Choice RT - simple RT - estimate of stimulus evaluation time (i.e. the subtractive memory)
Only issue is that the whole task has changed, and thus people do them differently –> cant draw inferences by simply subtracting
What are the different ways of memory searches?
Serial and Parallel
What are the two ways to conduct a serial search?
Exhaustive
Self-terminating
What is an exhaustive serial search?
Involves checking every item, one by one, even if we have already found the target
What is a self-terminating serial search?
Involves checking every item, one by one. However, in this procedural method, it stops searching as soon as target is found
What is a parallel search
All items are explored at the same time to determine if the target is there
What do the graphs of the parallel self-terminating search look like? Why?
If there is a positive response, it should be flat, because the individual looks at the entire set siultaneously with no loss of efficiency –> YES responses are unaffected by how many items in the positive set
If there is a negative response, even tho subjects access all items simultaneously, If there is some variability in access times across items and if they have to wait until all have been accessed before they can deicde no, then the longer it should take for no responses. This explains a graph that increases at a decreasing rate for a negative response
If this isn’t clear, think of a horse race where we vary the number of horses running. The no. of horses corresponds to memory set size. As the osberver, we are seated at the finish line and can only tell a particular horse ran the race by whether they cross the finish line. A positive deicison that a particular horse was in the race can be made as soon as it crosses the finish line, and that speed is unaffected by the rest. Meanwhile, a negative decision can only be made when the slowest horse has crossed the finish line –>
What do the graphs of the serial self-terminating search look like? Why?
Here, the negative response and positive response are both increasing (diagonal line up), however the negativee response is above the positive response
For the positive response, it would increase, but as it could stop as soon as it finds the number, it has a lower curve than negative response which has to finish the whole thing before it can confirm a negative response.
However, the negative response is increasing greater than the positive response (so the lines aren’t parallel exactly)
What do the graphs of the serial exhaustive search look like? Why?
Here, the negative and positive response lines are parallel, but the negative response is above the other.
(Maybe - not confirmed), but the negative response kind of stimulates a double check? or once the positive response is identified, the rest is sped up, but we still do an exhaustive search (ykwim)
(I’m pretty sure that this is the one that humans use)
Why don’t we use introspection?
As we could tell from memory scanning tasks, introspection or simply reflecting isnt possible as its inaccurate, and things happen too quickly for us to process
We will also have cognitive biases involved when reflecting on ourselves
What is the certainty effect
Refers to peoples tendency ot give proportionate weight to outcoems that are certain, compared to those that are only probable (even if probabilistic outcome has higher expected value)
I.e. option A to guarantee $100 winning or option B to have a 50% chance of winning $300. Even though E(x) of B is $150, people still pick A
What is the pseudocertainty effect
When people mistakenly think they are making a certain choice in a situation where things are actually uncertain, Often occurs in multi step decisions
I.e. first stage = 75% chance of moving to second stage
Second stage = Option A - 100% chance to win $30
Option B - 80% chance to win $45
People choose Option A because it seems like a sure win, forgetting the first stage, so it isnt a sure win, but its only 75% likelihood
What is focussed attention?
Focused attention is when all of your cognitive resources are directed to completing a certain task, and ignoring everything else
I.e. reading a book in a quiet room
What is divided attention?
Divided attention is when your cognitive resources are split towards paying attention to multiple tasks/stimuli
Results in decreased concentration per task and could contribute to cognitive overload
What is inattentional blindness?
Failure to notice a fully visible but unexpected object because our attention was directed towards something else/another task
When we fail to see things in plain sight because we are focused on one thing
I.e. missing a person pass in a gorilla suit because of focussed on number of basketball passes in the video
What is change blindness?
Person fails to notice significant change in a visual scene, which would have been noticeable if we paid close attention, but because of the way the change was introduced, it goes unnoticed
Missing that a person’s shirt colour has gradually changed
What is the difference between inattentional and change blindness?
Key difference is that inattetional is because our attention was diverted, whilst change was that we weren’t having enough attention to notice something that was already in view
Explain what an early locus of attention is, and give an example
An early locus of attention suggests that attention filters info at an early stage of processing, before meaning is fully processed. It acts as a filter that selects which sensory input is processed further because attention filters it out early
For example, in a noisy room, but focussed on conversation with someone, we might not notice specific content of background, because attention is filtering it out early
Explain what an late locus of attention is, and give an example
A late locus of attention suggests that attention filters info at a later stage, after the information has been processed. Thus, it argues that attention filters out all the irrelevant information
I.e. hearing your name mentioned in a crowded room, we might only become aware of it after it has processed and then we direct our attention to it
Explain what an flexible locus of attention is, and give an example
Refers to ability to dynamically shift focus of attention based on context or task demands. This allows for adaptability as attention can be adjusted either way depending on the situation
I.e. switching between focussing on immediate details of a task (early selection), and broader context or implications of our attention (late selection)
What is exogenous attention, give an example
Attention which is automatically and involuntarily drawn to a stimulus due to its salient or distinctive features (i.e. driven by external stimuli, rather than conscious effort or intentions)
I.e. sudden noise or bright flash which occur when reading a book –> draws our attention
What is endogenous attention, give an example
Attention which is intentionally and consciously directed towards a specific stimulus or task based on internal goals, expectations and desires. Involves a voluntary, top-down central process
I.e. searching for a friend in a crowded room, or reading a book
What is a guided search
Form of endegenous attention, where attention si directed towards a specific stimuli based on goals, expectations etc. Involves focussing our attention
What is attentional capture
Occurs when external stimulus grab our attention automatically. Stimulus draws an automatic response
Form of exogenous attention
What is the Feature Integration Theory (what stages associated)
Pre-attentive stage: Involves taking in the basic feature of visual scene (such as colour, shape and orientation), and are processed indepdently and parallel across the visual fiel. Occurs automatically and no focused attention required
Focused attention stage: Attention required to combine basic features into a unified perception of an object. (Takes more effort). Attentional spotlight. This is a slow, serial process
What is the visual evidence supporting the Feature Integration Theory
Feature targets: Targets can be identiifed based on a single feature, such as colour or shape
I.e. finding a red circle among green circles because colour (feature) is sufficient to identify target
Conjunction targets: Targets that require the combination of two or more features such as a red circle among green squares and circles. Searching for these require focused attention ebcause search integrateds multiple features (like colour and shape) to identify target. Thus, the search is serial and attentionally demanding
I.e. finding a red circle among green circles and squares
The fact that we can identify feature targets immediately indicates an idea of the pre-attentive stage, whilst we struggle to find conjunction targets, it can indicate a focused attentional stage
Understand and give examples of situations where focussed visual or auditory attention leads to limited processing of other stimuli
The gorilla in the suit, and counting how many basketballs passed
Phone vibration influencing a student studying
Explain Galotti’s experiment and its significance
Involved participants participating in a dichotic listening task, and only have to listen to one message coming into one ear and repeat it (whilst the other is saying something else)
Here, the listener is only aware of voice, not language of sound –> crude physical differences indicating an early locus of attention
Another might lead participants to have the messages switched halfway through –> some participants swithced ears they were listening to, indicating a late locus of attention
What are the different ways memory could be classified (2 classifcations)
Iconic vs echoic/sensory memory
Short term/working memory vs long term memory
What are some important features of short and long term memory we should know
Capacity, rate of forgetting, type of code
What is the capacity of short term memory
7 +- 2
What is the capacity of long term memory
Unlimited (technically)
What is the rate of forgetting of short term memory
20 seconds
What is the rate of forgetting for long term memory
Not forgetting, but rather interference with memory
What is the type of code involved with short term memory
Phonological (i.e. how the words sound)
What is the type of code involved with long term memory
Semantic (i.e. what the words mean)
What are features of iconic memory (what is iconic memory)
Iconic memory refers to an individual’s visual memory. It typically lasts ~200ms, but has unlimited capacity
This is seen when we are flashed a lot of different letters on different rows, and we have to recite one of the rows, we are able to recite any row, but we can’t recite the whole thing —> because our memory lasts very short, but we have a lot of capacity
What are features of echoic memory (what is echoic memory)
Refers to an individual’s auditory memory (i.e. memory of what they hear)
People can normally remember the last 8 seconds of a conversation or speech etc
Has unlimited capacity as well (?! - depending on how much they hear)
QUite accurate
What are the potential reasons for differences in iconic and echoic memory
Could be because we evolved for language, and language requires holding auditory information
We have adapted to echoic memory lasting longer because if not, we can’t understand sentences or what people are trying to say
What is primacy?
tendency to recall info presented at the start of a list better than info at the middle
Why might primacy occur
Because of repetition - items at the beginning are encountered first, so we have more time to rehearse them and memrosie them
Limited attnetion span –> focused when we start reading something at the beginning
Memory is limited –> less effort to rehearse and recall the first item than the items later on in the list
What is recency?
Tendency to be able to remember the last few items in a serial list, and tend to ignore the middle few items
Why might recency occur
Could be because of memory limitations; our short term memory is more likely to retain and recall recent inforamtion, making recent info the most accessible –> overmphasis on recent events
What sort of amnesia did Clive Wearing suffer from
Retrograde and anterograde amnesia
