Exam 1 Flashcards
How did the early psychologists use reaction times to estimate the speed of a mental process? Describe how RTs can be used in this way, then go further and discuss a ZAPS lab that you completed that also used RTs
To estimate the speed of a mental process psychologists had participants do a simple task and record the reaction times (RTs) of how long it took the participants to complete the task. They then had the participants perform a more complex task and record the reaction times and took the difference between the two times. Lab number 4, participants were instructed to find a specific colored shape while having other various distractions on the screen and our reaction times were compared as the distractors got more intense.
What is the difference between bottom-up and top-down processing in pattern recognition? Discuss, citing research from perception that illustrates the concepts of bottom-up and top-down processes.
Pattern recognition of objects is influenced by the context in which the person encounters those objects. Using TAE CHT as an example, in bottom up processing our perception is guided by the sensory information, in this case we recognize these specific objects in our view form certain letters. In top down processing our perception is guided by our previous knowledge and experiences, we know that THE and CAT are words that are common to us and thus would recognize these objects as spelling out the words THE CAT, both processing’s happening at the same time.
Draw a picture and describe in words how a feature net might work to discriminate between two letters, say a capital letter K and a capital letter R. What elements of the feature net resemble a brain?
A feature net made up of nodes that resemble neurons in the brain and links that resemble axons, will discriminate between two letters, in this case an R and a K once the input nodes reach an activation level and fire into the output nodes.
Do we have a dedicated cognitive system for processing faces? Review the evidence on both sides of the issue, describing research where appropriate
The argument that there is a neurocognitive system specific for faces argues that face identification is highly orientation dependent, prosopagnosia is a face blindness condition, and that the fusiform face area may be a specific recognition site. However, evidence also suggests that the fusiform face area isn’t specific for face recognition but rather to distinguish between different categories of stimuli. Additionally prosopagnosic people have been found to have further perceptual differences.
What is the difference between an early selection model and a late selection model of attention? Describe research evidence that supports an early selection viewpoint, then describe research that supports a late selection viewpoint. How does task difficulty enter into the debate about whether attention is best understood as early selection or late selection?
An early selection model can be understood as how early the filter is placed within processing. In early selection the filter that restricts further cognitive processing, is placed upstream before semantic processing, whereas in late selection the filter is placed after semantic processing. Research backing up early selection involves having participants listen to two different sound streams and block one hearing channel while focusing on the other. This research demonstrated that both channels were processed in different ways, because of what the participants attention captured of the listening streams. Subliminal priming in lab research supports the late selection viewpoint, demonstrating that participants can be influenced by stimuli without consciously perceiving it. Such as in illusion tasks where they are asked which of two lines are longer or if they are the same length. Load theory only adds to the debate about whether attention is either understood as late or early selection, because our attention is limited.
What is the difference between domain-general and domain-specific cognitive resources? Is one of these viewpoints more accurate than another when considering how driving is affected by cell phone conversations, or are they both accurate? Describe research where relevant.
A domain general view refers to there being a single pool of cognitive resources, meaning if there were two tasks that needed to be completed and one demanded more mental resources than available there would be performance costs and both tasks would be impaired. In a domain specific view of cognitive resources there are many separate pools of resources that are specific to a process. If there are two tasks that are similar in the processes they use then they will interfere with one another that are in the same domain specify what kind of task and in what domain and produce performance costs, if there are two tasks that are dissimilar in the processes they use, they will not interfere with one another and will be carried out correctly. Cell phone conversations while driving leans towards the domain general view because cell phones and driving do interfere with each other, although they use different domains.
Why is it accurate to say that long-term memory can both help and hurt short-term memory? Describe relevant research that supports this assertion.
In Brewer and Treyens (1981) office room study, participants were instructed to sit in an office to wait for their experiment to begin. There wasn’t an actual experiment taking place, instead they had to try to remember what they had seen in that office room. The participants memory was heavily influenced by their prior knowledge of what is in typical office rooms. This demonstrates that the participants short term memory was influenced by their knowledge in long term memory of what a typical office has in its interior.
How does technology and mind-wandering affect learning in classroom environments? Describe a research paper that we read together that tried to answer this question.
Technology and mind wandering affects learning in classroom environments because Research conducted by Wammes et al. (2019) analyzed how media multitasking and mind wandering progressed throughout a lecture class. They measured media multitasking by having participants respond to thought probes that were presented at unpredictable times throughout a lecture class. The authors concluded that media multitasking was more harmful to learning than mind wandering.
The stage model developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin was an important theoretical advance in our understanding of memory, although it was not without limitations. Discuss at least two sources of research evidence that suggests that the model is inadequate.
Depth of processing effect emphasizes the importance of semantic associations between concepts that lead to deep processing, because deep processing is more effective at encoding compared to shallow processing demonstrating that rehearsal doesn’t always lead to long term memory as the stage model argues. Secondly, encoding specificity emphasizes that when we encode something into memory we also tend to encode the context it was learned in, something that the stage model doesn’t take into account.
Compare and contrast short-term memory (according to the stage model) with the concept of working memory. How do measures of working memory differ from those of short-term memory, and how does working memory relate to other aspects of cognition, like reading comprehension?
In the stage model short term memory can be understood as a single item on a path towards long term memory where information is held passively, whereas working memory is a system that can store information in an active state and manipulate that information. Short term memory can be measured through chunking whereas working memory is measured through operation span which can be done through reading span tests. Participants are given a sentence and asked to recall the last word, if they get it correct the sentences stack on themselves.
Do we have “executive control” over our memories? Describe an experiment that we read together that is relevant to this question. Be sure to include in your response a distinction between “same probe” and “independent probe” conditions.
Anderson and Greene (2001) analyzed the whether suppressing a learned word pair would block its later retrieval. By using the independent probe method
What is “levels of processing”? Describe an experiment that illustrates how levels of processing affects memory. Now go beyond levels of processing and discuss why we also have to consider the retrieval environment as a factor in memory ability.
Levels of processing theory argues that rehearsal alone doesn’t lead to long term memory an experiment where participants were tasked to learn words on either a superficial level or a deep level. The researchers concluded that shallow processing leads to poor memory whereas deep processing leads to much better memory. The context of encoding knowledge also affects your memory retrieval, because the memory may be dependent on the environment and certain cues may help you retrieve information, such as a path, without that path to guide you or cues you may not be able to retrieve the information.
What is the difference between declarative (explicit) and nondeclarative (implicit) memory, and how is each form of memory measured? How does damage to the brain affect declarative and non-declarative memory?
Explicit memory can test specific episodes and facts through direct memory testing, whereas implicit memory can test the non conscious realization that a previous memory is influencing our actions and tests through indirect memory testing. Damage to the brain that affects the medial temporal lobe can impair explicit memory, whereas in implicit memory it is usually intact.
What is recollection and familiarity, and how does this distinction relate to the distinction between controlled and automatic processing? Give an example of a memory distortion that occurs when recollection fails.
Familiarity is similar to an emotion and is an automatic process, and long lasting, whereas recollection is the retrieval of the contextual details and it is controlled and degrades quickly. When recollection fails we may feel as if something is familiar such as when an elderly person gets quoted a sum of money to get their lights fixed, however the handyman ends up charging more and the elderly person is familiar with having a conversation about a quote, but can not recall the exact amount and thus pays more than should have.
In a court of law, you’re asked to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Knowing what you know about eyewitness memory, do you think this is possible? Give research evidence to support your position.
Research involving asking participants to act as eyewitness after seeing pictures of a car collision were asked various questions about what had happened. The researchers used leading questions that ended up altering the eyewitness’ memory and ultimately the responses they gave depended highly on how increasingly severe the question had been. Knowing that eyewitness memory is not perfect, if I am asked to tell the truth I will tell the truth as I know it, however it may not be reliable.
