Cognitive Psychology Chapter I (1-8)

Question 1

Definition of cognitive psychology:

Answer 1

The science of mental functions (implies empirical research)

Question 2

Areas of cog psy:

Answer 2

Perception, attention, action, thinking, reasoning, memory, problem solving, decision making, language

Question 3

What was passed down from behaviorism to cognitive psychology?

Answer 3

Very rigor empirical methods.

Question 4

Cognitive Psychology as it is defined in the book:

Answer 4

Cognitive Psychology is the study of how people perceive, learn, remember and think about information.

Question 5

The progression of ideas often invloves a dialectic. What is meant by dialectic?

Answer 5

A developmental process:

Thesis - Antithesis - Synthesis

Question 6

The dialectical progress of ideas was first described by …

Answer 6

Hegel (1770 - 1831)

Question 7

A rationalist believes …

Answer 7

… that the route to knowledge is through logical analysis.

Question 8

A empiricist believes …

Answer 8

… that we acquire knowledge via empirical evidence.

Question 9

A famous French rationalist:

Answer 9

René Descartes (1596 - 1650)

Question 10

A famous British empiricist:

Answer 10

John Locke (1632 - 1704)

Question 11

Locke’s tabula rasa stands for which believe?

Answer 11

Humans are born without knowledge and therefore must seek knowledge through empirical observation.

Question 12

Who synthesized Locke’s empiricism and Descartes rationalism?

Answer 12

Kant (1724 - 1804)

Question 13

An example of an early dialectic in the history of psychology:

Answer 13

Structuralism vs. Functionalism

Question 14

A famous proponent of Structuralism:

Answer 14

Wilhelm Wundt (1832 - 1920)

Question 15

One of the methods Wundt used in his research:

Answer 15

Introspection

Question 16

A Wundt student that helped to bring Structuralism to the US:

Answer 16

Edward Titchener

Question 17

Structuralism seeks to …

Answer 17

… understand the structure of the mind and its perceptions by analyzing those perceptions into their constituent components.

Question 18

Functionalism focuses on _______ and seeks to …

Answer 18

Functionalism focuses on PROCESSES rather than content and seeks to understand how and why the mind works as it does.

Question 19

Did functionalists use a unifying method?

Answer 19

No!

Question 20

Pragmatism believes that knowledge is validated by its …

Answer 20

… usefulness! (What can you do with it?)

Question 21

Who was a leader in guiding functionalism toward pragmatism?

Answer 21

William James (1842 - 1910)

Question 22

William James’ landmark book:

Answer 22

Principles of Psychology (1890)

Question 23

Another early pragmatist (besided James) was …

He is remebered primarily for his pragmatic approach to …

Answer 23

… John Dewey (1859 - 1952).

.. thinking and schooling.

Question 24

Another influencial way of thinking was Ass…

Answer 24

.. Associationism.

Question 25

Associationism studies how events/ideas can become …

Answer 25

… associated.

Question 26

Example for an associationist (with E):

Answer 26

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850 - 1909)

Question 27

Associations may result from:

Answer 27

• contiguity (associating things that tend to occur together)
• similarity
• contrast

Question 28

One of Ebbinghaus findings:

Answer 28

Rehearsal fixes mental associations more firmly.

Question 29

Example for an associationist (with T):

Answer 29

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874 - 1949)

Question 30

Thorndike’s Law of Effect (1905):

Answer 30

A stimulus will tend to produce a certain response over time if an organism is rewarded for that respons.

Question 31

What is contiguity?

Answer 31

A contiguity is a continuous mass, or a series of things in contact or in proximity.