Exam 1

Question 1

What is cognitive psychology?

Answer 1

the study of how people learn structure, store, and use knowledge; attention, perception, higher mental processes

Question 2

Where did the study of cognition begin?

Answer 2

With Greek philosophers

Question 3

What is behaviorism?

Answer 3

restricted psychology to observable behavior and stimulus-response associations

Question 4

What is 1 pro and 1 con for behaviorism?

Answer 4

+ rigorous methods

- impeded cognitive psych

Question 5

What are the 3 ways behaviorism lost its hold on psychology?

Answer 5

1. “cognitive maps” rather than learned sequences
   - ex. coming up with different routes even if you’ve never used them
2. Verbal behavior
   - kids say things they’ve never heard, use incorrect grammar
3. Misbehavior of Organisms
   - behavior reflects evolution, not simply learning or reinforcement

Question 6

Who wrote the 1st cognitive psychology textbook and when?

Answer 6

Neisser, 1967

Question 7

What are the 3 ways psychology has changed since the 1980s?

Answer 7

1. cognitive approach dominates
2. development of connectionist models & cognitive neuroscience
3. replacement of IP approach w/ ideas of embodied cognition and evolutionary psychology

Question 8

What is the information processing approach?

Answer 8

our brains are like computers, we take in and process information

Question 9

What do we assume when taking the (serial) computer analogy?

Answer 9

1. serial processing: one thing at a time, steps to figure out a problem
2. limited capacity ‘CPU’
3. passive reception of information

Question 10

What is reaction time?

Answer 10

Response time

Question 11

What does a consistent difference in RT reflect?

Answer 11

difference in cognitive processing - could be difficulty or # of steps

Question 12

What is Donders’ subtractive method?

Answer 12

estimation of a time required for a particular process - add that process to a task, measure increase in RT

Question 13

What is a simple reaction time and an example?

Answer 13

one reaction to one thing

ex. one button, one light. see the light, press the button as fast as you can.

Question 14

What is choice reaction time and an example?

Answer 14

must respond differently to two different things

ex. 2 buttons, 2 lights. see red light, press left button; see green light, press right button

Question 15

What did Donders predict? Was it correct?

Answer 15

choice RT would be longer than simple RT - yes, correct

Question 16

What is an example of priming?

Answer 16

does a ___ have wings?
-sentence verification test
say vulture first, robin second - robin was primed by vulture, you’re already thinking about birds

Question 17

What is serial processing?

Answer 17

processing one thing at a time

Question 18

What is parallel processing?

Answer 18

simultaneously processing 2 or more things at a time (multitasking)

Question 19

What is intentional processing?

Answer 19

fully conscious

ex. playing an oboe - we know nothing about it and have to put effort into learning

Question 20

What is automatic processing?

Answer 20

something well-practiced; like driving on a familiar road - you don’t remember much about your trip or where you are

Question 21

How is bottom-up/data-driven processing determined?

Answer 21

sensory processes

Question 22

What is top-down/conceptually driven processing?

Answer 22

understanding or perception is guided by stored knowledge (memory) or other internal events; you are generating this yourself
ex. thinking about a unicorn, reading a sentence with the letters jumbled

Question 23

Where does most thinking lie within top-down or bottom-up?

Answer 23

Somewhere in between the two extremes

Question 24

What is explicit knowledge?

Answer 24

knowledge you can verbalize

Question 25

What is tacit knowledge?

Answer 25

implicit; you have the knowledge but can't fully explain it - ex. riding a bike - most procedural knowledge is tacit

Question 26

What is cognition?

Answer 26

The mental processes and activities used in perceiving, thinking, and remembering ex. remembering a string of numbers

Question 27

What is metacognition?

Answer 27

knowledge and beliefs about cognition, including awareness, understanding, and monitoring of one's own cognitive state and cognitive activities ex. thinking about how difficult this exam will be

Question 28

T/F: | Cognition is inactive

Answer 28

False- cognition is active, we selectively seek out information ex. scoping out the environment subconsciously

Question 29

T/F: cognitive processes are efficient and accurate and have been shaped by evolution

Answer 29

True

Question 30

T/F: | Positive information is easier to deal with than negative information

Answer 30

True - "what is" v "what is not"

Question 31

T/F: cognitive processes are not interrelated and highly interdependent

Answer 31

false

Question 32

T/F: | cognition uses only top-down processes

Answer 32

false- uses both top-down and bottom-up processes

Question 33

What are the two theories for object and pattern recognition?

Answer 33

template matching model, feature analysis theory,

Question 34

What is the template matching model?

Answer 34

Claims a stimulus must be compared with a set of specific patterns (templates in memory) - like a stencil, miniature copies

Question 35

What are the problems with template matching model?

Answer 35

``` size matching orientation matching (alignment) configuration matching memory load (huge # of templates required) incomplete figures ```

Question 36

What are the 4 steps of the feature analysis theory?

Answer 36

1. register sensory input 2. detect features 3. compare detected features to stored info (memory) 4. decide on best match

Question 37

What is evidence for feature analysis theory?

Answer 37

letters have distinctive features confusion errors - C vs. G vs. H "feature detectors" in visual cortex - cells that respond most strongly to one feature results of some visual search tasks - like trying to find your car in the parking lot

Question 38

What are some problems with feature analysis theory?

Answer 38

1. strictly bottom-up theory, but top-down is important | 2. global (Gestalt) effects - not holistic, don't involve detection of pieces

Question 39

What are complexity effects?

Answer 39

when we make features more complex and the task gets easier

Question 40

What is the word superiority effect?

Answer 40

letters are identified more quickly and accurately when they appear as part of a word

Question 41

What are context effects?

Answer 41

you will categorize things differently based on context alone, not features ex. A 13 C, 12 13 14

Question 42

What is a perceptual set?

Answer 42

a readiness to perceive things in a certain way, usually due to expectations ex. pictures of animals > rat pictures of heads > man

Question 43

What is subjective contour?

Answer 43

illusory contour - background color/lighting makes you see different images

Question 44

What three words could be used to describe attention?

Answer 44

conscious, selective, limited

Question 45

What are the three benefits of attention?

Answer 45

accuracy, speed, memory

Question 46

What gets your attention?

Answer 46

Goal-directed selection | Stimulus-driven capture

Question 47

What is goal-directed selection? | - what type of processing does it take?

Answer 47

top-down processing, intentionally deploy attention to specific objects or spatial regions - voluntary and requires effort - can have long duration, required for vigilance (sustained attention in monitoring low-frequency events) - featural distinctiveness: easier if something sticks out

Question 48

What is stimulus-driven capture?

Answer 48

bottom-up "surprise" - involuntary, rapid response - quickly dissapates * abrupt onset * change

Question 49

What is the "Cocktail-party phenomenon?"

Answer 49

we have the ability to selectively attend one conversation, but not to several at once

Question 50

Dichotic Listening Technique

Answer 50

came from people listening to 1 story while reading another do not comprehend both

Question 51

What is shadowing?

Answer 51

repeating message immediately and accurately

Question 52

What are the + and - of attended (shadowed) message?

Answer 52

+ often easy to shadow one message | - couldn't follow 1 of 2messages presented to the same ear unless presented with the same voice and loudness

Question 53

What are the + and - of unattended (unshadowed) message?

Answer 53

- could report almost nothing about 'rejected' message + could notice if sex of speaker was changed or if voice was replaced by a tone in the middle - didn't notice language changes like English to German + often notice their name in unattended message (we can notice physical properties, but not meaning

Question 54

What are the theories of selective attention?

Answer 54

1. Filter (bottleneck) 2. Neisser's 2-stage model 3. Feature integration

Question 55

What is the Filter (bottleneck) theory of attention?

Answer 55

assume limited capacity 'CPU' - one process at a time | - sensory inputs are selected on basis of physical properties (loudness, pitch)

Question 56

What are the problems with the filter theory of attention?

Answer 56

1. how do we switch "channels" if we're unaware of the content (meaning) of unattended inputs (how do we hear our name in unattended conversation) 2. words in unattended messages can intrude on shadowed message if they fit (left and right ear different sentences)

Question 57

What is Neisser's 2 stage model of attention?

Answer 57

proposed that attention/perception involved both - preattentive (rapid & parallel) processes - attentive (controlled & serial) processes

Question 58

What is the feature integration theory?

Answer 58

Triesman - current theory of attention and pattern recognition that involves 2 successive processes - feature detection - focused attention (feature integration)

Question 59

(Feature Integration Theory) | What is feature detection?

Answer 59

"distributed attention" - automatic and rapid parallel process of detecting features (breaking it down into parts) - certain features are more salient than others (color; orientation) - supports "global attention" - can segregate scenes into discrete areas, select targets for later ID, and monitor for salient and unexpected events ex. go to supermarket for avocado, search for avocado-like features

Question 60

(Feature Integration Theory) | What is Focused Attention?

Answer 60

Feature integration - required to identify objects and correctly detect combos of features - requires serial processing and time - can be influences by stored knowledge (ex bananas are yellow) ex. put together which features go with which (avocados are green and round)

Question 61

What evidence supports the Feature Integration Theory?

Answer 61

1. pop-out research: targets that differ from surrounding distractors by a single dimension are spotted effortlessly and detection time does not depend on # of distractors - ex. at a football game see someone on away side wearing orange 2. illusory conjunction - "binding problem," insufficient attention - incorrect impression about features that go together ex. seeing what you expect to see, fruit: red banana, yellow apple - will report normal color

Question 62

What is inattentional blindness?

Answer 62

unattended events/objects are not consciously registered - often go unnoticed ex. gorilla basketball video

Question 63

What is change blindness?

Answer 63

- brief blanks cannot be seen - gradual change often missed (ex. rock appearing in scenery video) - "lost" person asks for directions, helper staring at map doesn't notice when "lost" person switches

Question 64

What is attentional blink?

Answer 64

when 2 targets are presented in rapid sequence, later target is often missed

Question 65

What is mindless reading

Answer 65

Reading without attention

Question 66

What is divided attention and dual-task performance? | - what are the effects

Answer 66

We think we can multitask, but we can't - pseudo-multitasking - performance decrements noticed on both tasks - insufficient practice

Question 67

Many well-practiced skills are ___ - seem to require no effort or attention

Answer 67

automatic | Ex. reading

Question 68

What are the three main factors that affect dual-task performance?

Answer 68

1. practice 2. task similarity 3. task difficulty

Question 69

What is the cognitive unconscious?

Answer 69

some cognition occurs without conscious awareness

Question 70

What is blindsight? (cognitive unconscious)

Answer 70

vision without awareness - patients w/brain damage couldn't see part or all of visual field, yet they are able to respond appropriately - can answer questions about what's in front of them

Question 71

What are "automatic" processes?

Answer 71

ex. driving a long way but not realizing where you've gone/what you've seen

Question 72

What is subliminal perception?

Answer 72

behavior and physio responses can be influence by stimuli below threshold of awareness ex. movie theaters slipping in clip of popcorn

Question 73

What are four responses of subliminal perception?

Answer 73

- responses in dichotic listening tasks - bank interpreted as river or money depending on ear - very brief of low intensity stimuli, or masked stimuli can have effects - effects seem limited to weak but significant changes in arousal, positive or negative affect and other non-specific responses - subliminal perception of complex messages ex rock music