CogPsych Exam 3 Flashcards
conceptual knowledge
knowledge that allows us to recognize objects and events
concept
mental representation of a class or individual
categorization
the process by which things are placed into categorical groups
why are categories essential?
allow us to quickly understand/recognize things
3 ways we categorize things
definitional approach, prototype theory, and exemplar theory
hierarchical organization of categories
global (superordinate) —> basic —> specific (subordinate)
hierarchical organization is
relative for each person depending on their expertise in the subject
semantic networks
represent how concepts are organized in the mind; hierarchal w/ most general at the top
the part of a semantic network that represents a category/concept
node
cognitive economy
shared properties for different categories are stored at “higher level” more general nodes to conserve space
collins and quillion’s semantic network
reaction time to a stimuli should take longer depending on how many “nodes” you have to travel; was not supported from sentence verification studies
spreading activation
when a node is activated, the activity spreads among the connected links (essentially what priming is!)
prototype categorization
a typical category member represents an “average” case; we compare to our prototype
advantages to prototype categorization
verify things faster, better for large categories, shows stronger priming effects
exemplar categorization
an actual member of the category that a person has encountered in the past represents the exemplar
advantages to exemplar categorization
handles atypical cases better than prototypes; explains the same effects as the prototype approach
who hypothesized the hierarchal levels of categorization
Rosch
importance of basic level categories
they provide a good balance between being informative and still specific
critique of semantic network model
doesn’t predict typicality effects, there’s little evidence of cognitive economy, and “reverse distance effects” exist
reverse distance effects
“a cat is an animal” is verified faster than “a cat is a mammal” despite cat to animal being a further distance
connectionist model
computer models that simulate cognition in real brain networks
4 elements of a connectionist model
input (to receive), hidden units (to receive), output units, and connection weights (to determine if theres activity in the next unit)
back propagation
an error signal transmitted back through the circuit-changes connection weight until there is no more error signal
the connectionist approach also explains
the generalization of learning, and the “graceful degradation” of machines and the human mind
approaches to categories in the brain
multiple factor/property cluster, semantic category, hub and spoke model, sensory functional, and embodied
multiple factor (property cluster) approach
how concepts are differentiated from each other in terms of various kinds of properties (color, motion, action)
semantic category approach
we have specific neural circuits in the brain for specific categories
hub and spoke model
areas of the brain that are associated with specific functions are connected to the anterior temporal lobe, which serves as a hub that integrates the info from these areas
sensory functional approach
our ability to differentiate living things and artifacts depends on a semantic memory system; animals are categorized by sensory info and objects by function
embodied approach
our knowledge of concepts is based on reactivation of sensory and motor processes that occur when we interact with the object
what is mental imagery?
experiencing a sensory impression w/o sensory input OR having imagery in various sense modalities (hearing, taste, etc)
visual imagery
the most common/researched form of mental imagery (“seeing” in the absence of visual stimulus)
Wundt’s 3 basic ideas of consciousness
sensations, feelings, and images
imageless thought debate
-aristotle: thought cannot happen without imagery
-galton: thought CAN happen without imagery
-smallwood: people can have imageless thought
fundamental questions of imagery
do imagery and perception share the same mechanisms? can we “scan” visual images the same way we scan actual objects?
Pylyshyn’s thoughts
since it is unclear if imagery is spatial (image) or propositional (words to describe)- pylyshyn believed imagery is propositional bc ppl use tacit knowledge when doing imagery tasks
paivio’s early cognitive paradigm
ppl studied pairs of words & used one of the words as a recall cue
findings: did better if the words were concrete NOUNS (conceptual peg hypothesis)
shepard and meltzer mental rotation task
asking ppl to rotate objects in their mind and ask if they were the same
findings: reaction time increased linearly with the angle of rotation
kosslyn’s boat scanning
people were told to memorize a boat image and “look” for another part of the boat in their mind
findings: people took longer to scan further distances as if they were moving in real life
kosslyn island scanning
in response to criticism, kosslyn repeated his boat experiment with an island
findings: still took longer to scan between greater distances; supports that imagery and spatial perception are similar
finke and pinker’s dot display
4 dots were shown and people were asked if an arrow pointed towards the previously seen dots
findings: longer reaction time with longer distance between dots and arrows (supports spatial imagery idea)
kosslyn’s zooming study
an elephant next to a rabbit and a rabbit next to the fly; people could report more details if the rabbit was bigger
perky (1910)
an experiment where ppl confused imagined images with faintly projected images
farah (1985)
an H or T was faintly projected in front of people and they “imagined” what they saw
evidence for similar processes between perception and imagery
the same neurons respond to real and IMAGINED images, visual areas play a role in both processes
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
gives evidence for differences in areas for imagery and perception
2) activation for real stimuli is much stronger in visual cortex
3) less activity for sensory areas with imagined images
neuropsychological case studies
-patient with removed right occipital lobe had reduced the size of perceptual and image visual fields
-patient with neglect would also neglect visual imagery
patient dissociations between imagery and perception
-C.K impaired perception, but not imagery
-R.M impaired imagery, but not perception
behrmann (1944) conclusions
visual perception is a bottom up process, imagery is a top down process
perception is
automatic and stable; BOTTOM UP
imagery is
forgetful and fragile; TOP DOWN
what is a “problem?”
an obstacle between a present state and a goal that does not have an immediate solution
gesalt problem solving framework
1) represent the problem in the mind
2) restructure the problem
3) insight
what is insight
a sudden realization of a solution, compared to NONINSIGHT which is a gradual process
metcalfe and wiebe (1987)
insight problems should not produce a feeling of “getting warmer”
information processing approach (simon and newell)
uses operators to transform an initial state into a goal state (tower of hanoi)
problem solving experiments
-duncker’s candle problem (1945)
-maier’s 2 strings problem (1939)
-kaplan and simon mutilated checkerboard & the russian marriage problem (1990)
-water jug problem
fixation
focus on an aspect that prevents you from arriving at a solution
functional fixedness
restricting use of an object to familiar functions (aka a mental set); applying past solutions to current problems
duncker’s radiation problem
demonstrated analogous problem solving, if the were given the fortress story they came to a solution faster
gick and holyoak
youre more likely to solve the problem if you look at structural similarities
expert
an individual thats better at noticing structural similarities
experts tend to:
-possess more knowledge about their fields
-analyze problems using structural features more
-spend more time analyzing problems (but solve faster overall)
***are ONLY EXPERTS IN THEIR AREA though
creative problem solving involves
-innovative thinking
-novel ideas
-new connections between existing ideas
-divergent thinking
practical creativity often involves
analogical transfer (ex: the creation of velcro)
4 steps of practical creativity
-problem generation
-problem formulation
-problem solving
-solution implementation
how do we generate creative ideas
too much experience can actually hurt (limits divergent thinking), brainstorming!!
why are some ppl more creative?
maybe some forms of mental illness?? idk we don’t really know
judgement
calculating a target content along a given dimension
latent inhibition
the ability to screen out irrelevant stimuli; reduces creativity
decision
the process of making choices between alternatives
reasoning
the process of drawing conclusions based on evidence
judgements, decision, and reasoning all
happen concurrently
how do we make judgements
inductive and deductive reasoning
inductive reasoning
assuming something is true based on our past experiences
deductive reasoning
making an inference based on many pieces of evidence (think scientific method)
heuristics
rules of thumb we use bc we cant constantly check all our deductive inferences
2 classic heuristics (tversky ad kahneman)
availability and representativeness
availability heuristic
easily remembered events are seen as more probable
availability bias
we overestimate the likelihood of dramatic/newsworthy events
representativeness heuristic
a is assumed to belong to b if a has more properties associated with B
representativeness bias
ignores base rates (or what is more likely)
conjunction fallacy
you’re more likely to ignore the actual likelihood of something occurring based on given information (think linda the feminist bankteller)
confirmation bias
favoring info that supports our beliefs/hypothesis- to test our hypothesis we should actually look for DISPROVING info, not confirming info
myside bias
tendency to generate/evaluate evidence in favor of our own opinions and attitudes; when people are challenged on their views they just become more confident
dunning-krueger effect
the uninformed are overconfident, the well informed are underconfident
what is a decision
choosing a course of action between alternatives
classic approach to decisions: expected utility theory
assumes people are rational, predicts decisions are made based on maximum expected utility
expected emotions
also affect our decisions, we think we’ll feel happier when we win and awful if we lose
current context affects choices
-weather and admissions decisions
-judicial parole and lunch breaks
-organ donor opt in vs opt out
deductive reasoning includes what aspect of reasoning
determining weather a conclusion logically follows from premises (syllogism)
watson 4 card problem
an example of a syllogism, people did worse with abstract problems than they did with concrete terms
evolutionary perspective on cognition
there could be “everyday” watson tasks governed by built in cognitive programs to prevent cheating
dual systems of thinking (kanheman)
1) fast, intuitive, unconscious, automatic
2) slow, reflective, conscious, controlled
global workspace theory (baars and dehaene)
The theater of consciousness-everything is happening all at once “onstage” (cognitive processes you’re aware of) and “offstage” (cognitive processes you’re unaware of)
higher order thought theory (rosenthal)
originated in philosophy; thoughts are only conscious when you have a thought about being aware of it
integrated information theory (tononi)
consciousness is a product of being able to integrate information; suggests a quasi-panpsychist model; technically is a measure of intelligence and complexity, NOT awareness
tripartite theory (snodgrass)
argues 2 forms of consciousness: phenomenal (first order) and reflective (second order); allows for the study of different forms of awareness
