Cognitive Psych: Exam #1

Question 1

Define Cognition

Answer 1

the study of mental operations that support acquisition and use of knowledge

Question 2

Broad applications for cognition

Answer 2

1) reading
2) learning
3) marketing
4) aging and dementia
5) eyewitness testimony

Question 3

What does cognitive psychology blend?

Answer 3

• emphasis on constructs (memory, language etc) and the scientific rigor of behaviorism

Question 4

What does cognitive psychology investigate about sensory input?

Answer 4

The processes in which it is:
1) transformed (ie change fonts in a reading study)
2) reduced (ie how we focus on important information (such as optical illusions where you can only see one thing at a time)
3) elaborated (use previous info to expand on something)
4) stored (memory processes but not specifically retrieval – may not be accessible)
5) recovered (retrieval processes)
6) used (real world application – the behavior produced and often what is measured)

Question 5

Structuralism overview

Answer 5

• based on introspection: participants are asked to report their process/strategies when performing a task
• Cons: relies on subjectivity, bias, availability of report (processes can be outside of our awareness)

Question 6

Behaviorism overview:

Answer 6

• based on observation: experimental approach where you manipulate something (IV) and measure the outcome (DV)
• they don’t care exactly what the process is (think a black box) - just how changing the input changes the output

Question 7

Pros of behaviorism

Answer 7

• can control input to very fine detail
• allows for designing interventions to fix problems

Question 8

Cons of behaviorism

Answer 8

• misses the WHY of the relationship between the IV and DV

Question 9

Study: recall vs. recognition in amnesiac patients

Answer 9

Findings: controls AND amnesiacs perform higher on recognition memory tests than recall tests but the benefit is more severe for controls
- amnesiac results are worse overall
- demonstrated the “stored” part of cog psych definition

Question 10

Study: degraded stimuli in amnesiac patients

Answer 10

when both groups (controls and amnesiacs) saw the original stimuli, they were quicker to decode the degraded stimulus
- signifies amnesiacs don’t have a problem with encoding but rather retrieving

Question 11

Common measures (DV) in psych research

Answer 11

Most common: accuracy and reaction time
Less common: reaching behavior and eye tracking

Question 12

What theories do

Answer 12

assume an underlying intervening construct between the IV and DV
- loop in many elements of the same thing: water deprivation, salty food, and consumption of dry food are all related to the underlying intervening construct of “thirst”

Question 13

Advantages of Theories

Answer 13

1) decrease number of relationships explained
2) gives you the ability to make predictions about future behavior
3) details something about the nature of the organism

Question 14

Disadvantages of theories

Answer 14

1) may be premature if data isn’t strong enough
2) can delay more applied breakthroughs

Question 15

Converging operations definition

Answer 15

used to discriminate amongst alternative theories
- usually multiple tests on one construct (for memory test all people on recall vs. recognition vs. implicit memory and see where the difference lies to figure out the correct theory

Question 16

Study with converging operations: swear words

Answer 16

hypothesis 1: visual thresholds are higher for taboo words due to emotional content
hypothesis 2: we have a learned inhibition of taboo words
- you would test this: by putting a swear word on the screen and you either a) have to say the word or b) say another word
- if it is inhibition, option a should take longer, if it is higher visual threshold, option b should take longer

Question 17

Cognitive Neuroscience Overview

Answer 17

combined methods and theories of cognitive psychology with methods from neuroscience
- usually looks at metabolic processes or brain structures to support different theories

Question 18

Neuroscience methods:

Answer 18

1) PET
2) fMRI
3) EEG

Question 19

PET imaging

Answer 19

-inject radioactive tracer in blood stream that binds to proteins in the brain and a scanner can pick up where concentrations are

Question 20

fMRI

Answer 20

measure hemodynamic changes in the brain
- pros: good spatial resolution
- cons: sensitive to movement, bad temporal resolution, noise protectors needed

Question 21

EEG

Answer 21

measures electrical potential charges
- pros: good temporal resolution (can measure fast processes), noiseless
- con: sensitive to movement, worse spatial resolution

Question 22

AI and cognitive psych

Answer 22

• can serve as theoretical models of human cognition

Question 23

Methods to conduct research

Answer 23

1) case studies (good for small unusual populations)
2) correlational studies (for variables you can not manipulate such as age, economic status etc)
3) experimental studies

Question 24

Pattern recognition definition

Answer 24

the study of how people identify the objects in their environment
- this is a very complex process

Question 25

Template theory of pattern recognition

Answer 25

an new pattern is matched against alternative patterns by using the degree of overlap as a measure of similarity
- we put a prior concept “over” the stimuli and see what matches

Question 26

Problems with template theory

Answer 26

1) doesn’t allow for differences in orientation
2) doesn’t allow for differences in size
3) doesn’t allow you to take the same stimulus and have different representations (ex: optical illusions where we can see two things from one stimulus)

Question 27

Feature theory

Answer 27

Add all the components to define the thing

Question 28

Evidence for feature theory

Answer 28

mapping receptive fields:
- they put a device that records a single cell in the brains of cats
- saw that there is a single cell important for recognizing the orientation of each line
- cells fire at a specific feature

Question 29

Criteria for a feature

Answer 29

1) features must be critical (present in some members of a set but not others - if you are trying to determine kind of tree, bark is not a feature)
2) features should remain unchanged under differences in brightness, size or perspective
3) different combinations of features should yield a unique pattern
4) number of features should be reasonably small

Question 30

How do we test for features?

Answer 30

1) rate similarity: use this to extract important features in defining an item
2) confusability ratings: more similar items are more confusable, suggesting they overlap in features

Question 31

Removal of important features

Answer 31

impairs recognition
with letters:
1) midsection deletion: harder than intact
2) vertex deletion: the hardest - suggests that vertices are the best identifying feature of letters

Question 32

Cued distinctive features

Answer 32

gave children a card with similar letters: some pointed out the distinctive feature others did not
- when a relevant cue is provided, children did much better in distinguishing between the letters
- even if you take this cue away on a next trial, results still hold

Question 33

Feature integration theory

Answer 33

feature are represented simultaneously and without need for attention (all features are available immediately at the same time)
- BUT attention is required to bind features

Question 34

How is feature integration theory tested?

Answer 34

adding more items - if you have 5 or 100 circles, it should not take you longer to decide if there is a red circle because all information is immediately available

Question 35

Conjuctive feature and attention

Answer 35

Attention is required to bind multiple feature into coherent objects
- ex: a green square, a yellow T
- you should down as more items are added showing attention is needed

Question 36

Structure Theories

Answer 36

built from feature theories but specify HOW features fir together (suggests the structure of the item is what is important)

Question 37

Evidence for structure theories

Answer 37

When you take away vertices and connecting features, identification time increases - it signifies is is the relationship of the features rather than the features themselves that is actually important

Question 38

Common methodology for studying word recognition

Answer 38

1) rapid identification: items are presented very quickly and you are asked to identify what you saw (measuring accuracy)
2) lexical decision task: is ___ a real word or not? (measuring reaction time)
3) pronunciation / naming: speak this word aloud as quickly as you can (measuring reaction speed)

Question 39

What is a visual integration field?

Answer 39

areas in the eye that are sensitive to certain fields - every feature contained with one field is put together and considered to be one thing (such as a letter)

Question 40

Evidence for OVERLAPPING integration fields

Answer 40

study:
- presented with one letter (A), two letters (AB or BA) or three letters (ABC) extremely quickly
- targets with two flanking letters (three letter condition) were less accurately identified – evidence for overlapping visual integration fields

Question 41

Evidence for different shaped integration fields

Answer 41

• presented with one letter (A), two letters (AB or BA) very quickly
• one flanker causes more errors than two flankers
• if the extra letter is on the left, accuracy decreases
• we read left to right and this evidence suggests that visual fields have adapted to become larger to the left as the first letter is most important when reading

Question 42

Receptive fields and symbols - same as letters?

Answer 42

• performance for one flanker did not matter which side it was on – (different from letters)
• we have elongated receptive fields for letters but NOT for symbols
• this did not adapt as the order of symbols does not have semantic meaning to us

Question 43

Serial processing definition

Answer 43

operations occur in sequence (one at a time)

Question 44

Parallel processing definition

Answer 44

all operations in the process occur all at one time

Question 45

Evidence for serial or parallel processing for words

Answer 45

Study 1: lexical decisions task
- 5-8 letters had very similar reaction time (suggest parallel processing for common lengthed words)
- but for 1-4 and 8-12, reaction time greatly increases (suggests usually serial processing but there is an exception for common lengthed words)

Study 2: words that differed by a single letter were presented very quickly
- manipulated where the letter was different and measured reaction time
- under serial processing, words with the last letter changed should be the least accurate (not enough time to see this change)
- under parallel processing, where the letter change was should not matter
- findings: at 24+ms you are better than chance for ALL conditions - suggests parallel processing

Question 46

Is meaning acquired through serial or parallel processing?

Answer 46

Study: asked if ___ letter occurred in a specific position
- word condition: presented with a word
- letter condition: one letter presented
- nonword condition: string of random letters presented
- we recognize letters better (when they are presented very quickly) if they occur in the context of a real word
- due to top down processing: knowledge of words influences what you perceive
- suggets operations occur in parallel

Question 47

Interactive Activation

Answer 47

the levels happen in parallel but also influence each other (meaning can influence letter recognition and vice versa)

Question 48

excitatory connection

Answer 48

give you evidence for something

Question 49

inhibitory connection

Answer 49

gives you evidence against something

Question 50

Neural network model definition

Answer 50

a theory in which concepts (nodes) are linked to other concepts through exciatory and inhibitory connections to approximate the behavior of neural networks in the brain

Question 51

Parts of the neural network model

Answer 51

1) nodes
2) pattern of connections
3) activation rule
4) state of activation
5) output functions
6) learning

Question 52

dorsal stream

Answer 52

controls object location and spatial attention

Question 53

Ventral stream

Answer 53

controls shape orientation and color
- features, lines, edges and shapes

Question 54

Midsection and vertex deletion when embedded in words

Answer 54

not as problematic for identification when they are presented within in words (parallel processing means that meaning can inform the missing info)

Question 55

Crowding effects and Dyslexia

Answer 55

• part of visual integration fields
• conditions: spaced out text vs. normal/ “crowded” text – measured accuracy
• findings: people with dyslexia had easier time reading with spaced words

Question 56

Goal of studying attention

Answer 56

understand what is selected, how is it selected, and what happens to selected/unselected information

Question 57

selection definition

Answer 57

you have many stimuli in your perception at all times - have to select a subset of them to process further

Question 58

Overt attention

Answer 58

actually moving eyes of head

Question 59

Covert attention

Answer 59

moving attention without any overt physical movements

Question 60

Posner cueing paradigm

Answer 60

task: press a button when you see an object appear
manipulation: was it precued and was the cue valid (measuring response time)
- valid cue: cue in the same place as target
- invalid cue: have to change attention as you have been directed to the wrong spot
- findings: a valid cue leads to a quicker response time than a neutral and invalid cue (have to reorient attention)

Question 61

Practical implication for posner cueing paradigm

Answer 61

texting and driving (anything with divided attention)

Question 62

Are attending and seeing the same (in posner cueing paradigm)

Answer 62

• posner cueing paradigm: eyes remain at fixation yet you still see the cueing effect
• seems like eye movement is not correlated directly to attention

Question 63

Driving simulator study: attention

Answer 63

task: have to move a cursor to follow a path and press break if you see a red light flash
conditions:
- no distraction
- talking on a phone or following a conversation on the radio (dual attention)
- measuring errors in detecting the red lights
findings: talking on the phone increased both the probability of missing the red light AND overall reaction time (radio 2nd then control)

Question 64

Inattention blindness

Answer 64

task: have to follow a path in a driving simulator
conditions: billboards are placed along the road and you either have a) no distraction b) talking on the phone or c) listening to the radio
measuring: eye fixations on the billboard in addition to later recognition of the content
findings:
- eye fixations are the same in both conditions (same probability and time)
- BUT recognition of billboard content greatly increased without distraction
- seeing does not equal attention
- cell phone use is the worse because it directs attention from external stimuli to an internal environment

Question 65

How do we study which features we pay attention to?

Answer 65

usually with conflict tasks (such as stroop task)

Question 66

Stroop test

Answer 66

congruent condition: green in the color green
neutral condition: a random word in the color green
incongruent condition: red in the color green
- these items compete for a response
findings:
- reaction time is longer in the incongruent task if you have to say the COLOR the words is written in (not the words itself) - difference even more severe for old people

Question 67

Evidence for inhibition of unselected information

Answer 67

tipper negative priming paradigm: have to respond where a target letter “O” is and ignore where the “X” is
conditions: measuring response time
- control: O is always in a new spot
- attended repetition: O is always in the same spot
- ignored repetition: O is in the spot you just had to ignore
findings:
- you are much slower in ignored repetition - suggests you inhibited this spot below baseline due to the previous presence of an X and then had to take longer to bring it back up to attend to the O (where the X was matters)

Question 68

Filter model

Answer 68

attention operated before pattern recognition (semantic understanding) takes place – EARLY SELECTION
- you are completely blocking out one stream of information thus it is lost from sensory store due to decay

Question 69

Evidence for the filter model

Answer 69

dichotic listening task: two streams of digits are put into each ear
manipulations: measuring accuracy
- order of recall: in any order or fixed order (had to say right and then left for each trial)
findings:
- the longer the delay between the next set of pairs, the more accurate you are - it is harder to flip back and forth between channels so the more time you are give the better you do

Question 70

Attenuation model

Answer 70

attention is still a filter but it doesn’t completely block one stimuli, it just lowers activity for it
- Still a model of EARLY SELECTION

Question 71

How do we test the attenuation model?

Answer 71

shadowing task: play two audio messaged and see what gets in from the channel you are not paying attention to

Question 72

Evidence for attenuation model through the shadowing task

Answer 72

when you have two streams of audio (one in each ear) and are asked to say what you hear aloud, you sometimes say words from the channel you are not supposed to be paying attention to - it is getting into perception without acutely attending to it
- volume, pitch, intensity and meaning (such as own name) can make you focus on different channels - it passes the threshold and thus is now attended to

Question 72

Evidence for attenuation model through the shadowing task

Answer 72

when you have two streams of audio (one in each ear) and are asked to say what you hear aloud, you sometimes say words from the channel you are not supposed to be paying attention to - it is getting into perception without acutely attending to it
- volume, pitch, intensity and meaning (such as own name) can make you focus on different channels - it passes the threshold and thus is now attended to

Question 73

Capacity definition + what effects capacity

Answer 73

anything that requires attention competes for capacity
- more difficult tasks require more capacity
- capacity is affected by arousal/ tiredness
- goals and events can affect where attention is allocated
- when capacity does not meet the demands of a task performance declines

Question 74

Late selection models

Answer 74

attention operates AFTER pattern recognition / meaning is identified

Question 75

Evidence for limited capacity

Answer 75

dual task or divided attention paradigm: vary the demands of the primary tasks and see what it “costs” the secondary task
- Study 1: study pictures and word OR do this plus another task (measuring accuracy) – performance on both decreases when you add another task

Question 76

Evidence for early and late selection related to capacity

Answer 76

Main task: shadow one of two information streams
- early selection condition: attend based on voice pitch
- late selection: attend based on meaning of channel
Secondary task: (measuring reaction time)
- monitor for a flash of light and press a button
Findings:
- late selection increased reaction time the most – late selection tasks take more capacity and increase error rate for future memory

Question 77

Multimodal theory

Answer 77

people’s intention and task demands determine where in the process information is selected (we can choose this)
- but late selection costs more to system

Question 78

Does everything require capacity?

Answer 78

No - automatic processing does not

Question 79

Automatic processes…

Answer 79

1) occur without intention
2) do not rise to conscious awareness
3) do not interfere with other mental operations

Question 80

STM definition

Answer 80

memory limited in capacity (amount) and duration (how long it lasts)

Question 81

Working memory (WM) definition

Answer 81

the use or manipulation of information to accomplish a task

Question 82

Atkinson and Shiffrin model of memory takeaways

Answer 82

We have to manipulate information in some way (rehearsal, coding, decisions, retrieval strategies) to keep it in short-term store

Question 83

How fast does forgetting occur?

Answer 83

exponential decrease - quick and then levels off
- but overall very quick if not rehearsal (less than 3 seconds)

Question 84

Is forgetting due to decay or interference?

Answer 84

Interference (specifically reactive interference)

Question 85

Evidence that forgetting is due to interference

Answer 85

Study: present many letters in a sequence and ask to recall a specific one
- decay hypothesis: items presented at a slower rate will forgotten more
- interference hypothesis: fewer interfering items should lead to better recall regardless of presentation rate
findings: more intervening digits, the less you were likely to recall - presentation rate did not matter

Question 86

Reactive interference

Answer 86

interference that comes from items encountered AFTER learning

Question 87

proactive interference

Answer 87

interference that comes from items that occurs BEFORE learning

Question 88

Release from proactive interference

Answer 88

task: participants studied 4 lists - 3 that were similar and a 4th that was distinct in content
- if all lists were similar content, accuracy decreases dramatically cross all trials BUT if the 4th list was distinct, accuracy increased to that of the first list
interference of prior items is greater when you are studying more similar items
- The degree of similarity matters: fruits vs. veggies is less accurate than fruits vs. professions

Question 89

STM capacity

Answer 89

7 items plus or minus 2

Question 90

Chunking

Answer 90

chunk: a cluster of items that has been stored as a single unit in LTM
-ex: a phone number – better remembered if you can tag the chunks and relate them to something meaningful to you

Question 91

Expertise and STM

Answer 91

if you are more experienced at something (such as chess) you are more likely to remember information about it in STM (chess experts can better recall the pieces on a board)

Question 92

How do we search through STM?

Answer 92

Serial exhaustive search

Question 93

Evidence for serial exhaustive searching in STM

Answer 93

task: study items and at the end, asked if you saw a probe item
- if we complete an exhaustive search, reaction time should increase with the number of items (as there is more to search through) and should be the same whether the answer is yes (positive) or no (negative)
- if we complete a self terminating search positive answers should be quicker than negative answer as we stop when we see it
findings:
- positive and negative searches take the same time and increase with list length: serial and exhaustive processing