cognitive psych Flashcards
1
Q
donder
A
- reaction time experiments
- first cognitive psych experiment
- how long it would take to make a decision
- experiment with the lights and two buttons
2
Q
wundt
A
- first psych lab (Germany)
- studied behaviour in cognition
- RT experiments
3
Q
structuralism
A
- wundt approach
- everything can be broken down into different parts
- our overall experience is determined by combining basic elements of experience the structuralists called sensations
4
Q
analytic introspection
A
- wundt method
- technique in which trained participants described their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli.
- participants’ goal was to describe their experience in terms of elementary mental elements
5
Q
simple reaction time
A
participants push button when they see a light
6
Q
choice reaction
A
participants push one button if light is on right side, other if its on left side
7
Q
Ebbinghaus
A
- first memory researcher
- how rapidly information that is learned is lost over time
- repeated lists of 13 nonsense syllables to determine how many repetitions necessary to repeat without errors
- after a delay, he relearned the list
- savings curve
8
Q
savings
A
Ebbinghaus
Savings = (Original time to learn the list) -
(Time to relearn the list after the delay
9
Q
James
A
- taught first psych course
- wrote principles of psych
- observations based on operation of his own mind, not experiments
10
Q
Watson
A
- behaviourism
- study observable behaviour rather than the brain
- everything is conditioned, learned through basic conditioning
- behaviour can be analyzed without any reference to the mind (classical conditioning)
11
Q
Watson’s criticisms of analytical introspection (wundt)
A
- results can vary from person to person
- results difficult to verify
12
Q
little albert experiment
A
- Watson and Rayner
- loud noise paired with rat, baby scared of rat because he is conditioned to loud noise which he is afraid of
- classical conditioning
13
Q
BF Skinner
A
- pavlov’s dog
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
14
Q
cognitive revolution
A
- behaviorism took over, but couldn’t explain everything
- Chomsky & linguistics challenged behaviourism, showed we have an innate ability to learn language, specifically, we are born with an innate grammatical structure, not everything is learned
- Tolman & cognitive maps – found that rats have a cognitive map (spacial map in their minds), tells you how to behave in certain circumstances, behaviourism can’t explain cognitive maps
15
Q
Information – Processing approach
A
- Model / analogy to computer
- an approach that traces sequences of mental operations involved in cognition
- a way to study the mind created from insights associated with the digital computer
16
Q
the scientific method
A
1 - begin with theory
2 - experiment
3 - compare behaviour to predicted behaviour
4 - make conclusions
17
Q
correlational research method
A
Exploring relationship between 2 or more variables
(Positive, negative, none)
18
Q
experimental research method
A
- Hold all other factors constant
- Random assignment into experimental group or control group
19
Q
Independent variable
A
what’s being manipulated (complexity of slides, amount of coffee) gender, race
20
Q
Dependent variable
A
what is being measured, varies depending on level of independent variable (the learning of students, test scores, quality of sleep) recall recognition, reaction time
21
Q
the scientific method
A
- Purpose (Hypothesis)
- Methodology (IV/DV)
- Results
- conclusion
22
Q
levels of analysis
A
a topic can be observed/studied in many different ways, different perspectives/angles
23
Q
neuron
A
cell specialized to send and receive info within brain
24
Q
each neuron has
A
cell body, axon, dendrites
25
cell body
metabolic center of the neuron
26
axons
transmits signals to other neurons
27
dendrites
branch out of cell body to receive signals from other neurons
28
synapse
small gap between end of neuron's axon and dendrites
29
presynaptic
cell that sends info
30
postsynaptic
cell that receives info
31
receptors
neurons specialized to pick up info from the environment (eyes, ears, skin)
32
resting potential
no signal in the neuron (-70 mV)
33
action potential
when neuron's receptor is stimulated (+40 mV)
34
neurostansmitter
chemical released when signal reaches synapse
35
Sensory Coding
how many neurons represent various characteristics of the environment
36
specificity coding
The idea that an object could be represented by the firing of a specialized neuron that responds only to that object
37
Population coding
representation of an object by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons
38
Sparse coding
a particular object is represented by a pattern of firing of
only a small group of neurons, with the majority of neurons remaining silent
39
Broca’s aphasia
- frontal lobe
- Slow, laboured, jumbled speech and sentence structure
40
Wernick’s aphasia
- left temporal lobe
- patients were able to speak fluently and grammatically correct, but was incoherent
41
Occipital lobe
vision
42
temporal lobe
language, auditory
43
parietal lobe
- integrating sensory information, putting information all together
- touch, pressure, pain, perception
44
frontal lobe
- coordination and higher cognitive function
- thinking, planning, remembering
45
limbic system
main processing happens
Emotions, memories, fight/flight, breathing
46
sensation
Acquiring info from environment or body
47
Perception
interpretation of sensation, giving it meaning
48
Sensory Register
Stores temporary sensory information
49
Characteristics of sensory registry
accurate, large in capacity, short in duration
50
sperling
determine how big sr is, Shows a set of letters really fast, record the letters down, concludes it is smaller
51
Auditory Sensory Register
Accuracy: harder to determine than visual
Capacity: approx. 50%, shorter
Duration: 2/3 seconds
52
Bottom-Up Processing
Data-driven, recognizing objects based only on the object itself
53
Top-Down Processing
Conceptually driven, Expectations, memories, contexts, surroundings can help recognition
54
agnosia
have problem recognizing/ naming objects
55
Apperceptive Agnosia
can sense object but cannot perceive well
56
Associative Agnosia
Recognize object but doesn’t know what it is, what to do with It, cannot retrieve info associated with object
57
Pattern Recognition Theories
Template Matching, Feature Theory, Structural Theory (geons), Helmholtz (2 squares), Gestalt (group things together)
58
selective attention
attending to one thing, ignoring others
59
divided attention
paying attention to more than one thing
60
Inattentional blindness
failure to notice something because it isn’t the focus of our attention (gorilla test)
61
Change blindness
failure to notice differences between the present and immediate past, even though we’re paying attention (Ringing phone, lost pedestrian)
62
Conjunction errors
failure to notice related/identical information between stimuli and concepts/memories
