Final Exam Flashcards
1
Q
Cognitive Psychology
A
The study of the mind: memory, perception, attention, etc.
2
Q
Socrates
A
Very interested in the nature of knowledge and belief. He created the Socratic method.
3
Q
Aristotle
A
Developed the first known model of how memory works. He compared memory it wax seals: how impressions mold your mind. Younger people have “hotter wax” and it’s easier to have them remember.
4
Q
Franciscus Donders
A
Ophthalmologist and physiologist. First to measure reaction time by flashing lights and having participants press a button when they saw the light.
5
Q
Simple Reaction Time
A
Flash ->(processing)-> button press
Perceive the light -> physical response
6
Q
Choice Reaction Time
A
Flash -> (processing) -> button press but 100 ms difference from Simple Reaction Time bc of choice between two buttons.
Perceive light -> identify location of it -> physical response
7
Q
Cognitive Research
A
Lets us measure cognitive processes, which requires inference and requires a model of the processes.
8
Q
Cognitive Models
A
Stimulus detection -> stimulus identification -> response organization
9
Q
Hermann Ebbinghaus
A
Focused on learning and forgetting by studying meaningless syllables bc they were independent from a meaning bc that would lead to contextual clues. He did research on himself. He also looked at retention and improvement. He was the first person to discover forgetting curve by learning words and testing himself to see how much he forgot.
10
Q
Savings
A
Being able to learn something a second time made it easier than learning it for the first time.
11
Q
Spacing Effect
A
Spread out your learning, which allows you to remember more.
12
Q
Wilhelm Wundt
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Founded the first psychology lab, which was in Germany. Created structuralism.
13
Q
Structuralism
A
Tried to break down the mind down into small pieces to see what it was made up like the table of elements. Wundt did this through introspection.
14
Q
Introspection
A
What goes on in your mind when you see something. Introspection is unverifiable, unreliable bc people are different and even the same person could be different, and most mental processes are unconscious.
15
Q
Behaviorism
A
All about the study of behavior and things that happen on the outside, which took the spotlight from the mind.
Stimulus -> response instead of stimulus -> mental processing -> response bc behaviorism only studies observable behavior. It was the dominant focus for a while. Can’t explain rats not going back to the same location on a maze.
16
Q
Classical Conditioning
A
Pavlov’s experiment with dog, bell, and food, which led to salivation. Also, with Little Albert and his fear of small white animals.
17
Q
Operant Conditioning
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B.F. Skinner said, “All we need to know in order to describe behavior: reward good behavior and not bad behavior.” This is how animals are trained.
18
Q
Cognitive Maps
A
Mapping out places in your mind.
19
Q
Instinctive Drift
A
Going back to their instinct behavior.
20
Q
Noah Chomsky
A
Famous linguist who argued that people understand the structure of language. A sentence can be grammatically correct but make no sense.
21
Q
The Cognitive Revolution and End of Behaviorism
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Made it okay to talk about how the mind works again like failure of conditioning animals, human language, developments in brain research, subjective experience, new models arose, bc behaviorism couldn’t explain this.
22
Q
Behavioral Approach
A
Overt, deliberate responses like response time, accuracy, recall, etc.
23
Q
Physiological Approach
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Bodily responses and often outside conscious control. Measuring your brain’s activity and eye tracking.
24
Q
Consolidation
A
Stabilization of a memory trace after its initial acquisition.
25
Cognitive Neuroscience
The study of the physiological basis of cognition.
26
Levels of Analysis
Refers to the idea that a topic can be studied in a number of different ways, with each approach contributing its own dimension to our understanding.
27
Neurons
Cells that are the building blocks and transmission lines of the nervous system.
28
Nerve Net Theory
A network believed to be continuous, like a highway system. It was proposed that signals could be transmitted throughout the nets in all directions by providing a complex pathway for conducting signals uninterrupted through the network. Discovered that it was not continuous by Ramon y Cajal.
29
Ramon y Cajal
A Spanish physiologist who was interested in investigating the nature of the nerve net. He discovered that the fact that the Golgi stain affects less than 1% of the neurons, made it possible for him to see that the nerve net was not continuous, but instead was made up of individual units connected together.
30
Neuron Doctrine
The idea that individual cells (neurons) transmit signals in the nervous system, and that these cells are not continuous with the other cells as proposed by the nerve net theory.
31
Microelectrodes
Small shafts of hollow glass filled with a conductive salt solution that can pick up electrical signals at the electrode tip and conduct these signals back to a recording device.
32
Nerve Impulse (Action Potential)
An electrical response that is propagated down the length of an axon (nerve fiber), which lasts 1 millisecond. APs travel all the way down the axon without changing its height or shape.
33
Neurotransmitters
Chemicals that make it possible for the signal to be transmitted.
34
Mind
System that creates representations (everything we experience is the result of something that stands for experience) of the world so that we can act within it to achieve our goals.
35
Principle of Neural Representation
Everything a person experiences is based not on direct contact with stimulus, but on representations in the person's nervous system.
How experience is determined by representations in the nervous system.
36
Quality Across the Senses
Different experience associated with each of the senses like perceiving light for vision, sound for hearing, smells for olfaction, etc.
37
Quality with a Particular Sense
Shape, color, or movement for vision, or recognizing different kinds of objects based on their shape or different people based on face.
38
Sensory Neurons (Receptors)
Firing based on light from the world in eye, touch based on pressure, etc. It's based on external stimulus instead of other neurons.
39
Brodmann's Area
Broke the brain down into thousands of pieces.
40
Single-Cell Recording
Placing an electrode right outside/next to a neuron and measure signals.
Disadvantages: Billions of neurons, but you can only measure one with this. Also, it's very intrusive and probably the only people who get this are the ones who are getting brain surgery.
41
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Measures electrodes externally using a cap and getting different brain waves.
42
Event-Related Potential (ERP)
Related to the particular stimulus given. For example, N400 refers to negative 400 ms in ERP which means that you'll have a high jump in the graph (when the meaning is wrong) or P600 means a low jump (when the grammar is off).
43
Feature Detectors
Neurons that respond to specific visual features, such as orientation, size, movement, or the more complex features that make up environmental stimuli.
44
Hierarchical Processing
Processing that occurs in a progression from lower to higher areas of the brain.
45
Problem of Sensory Coding
The problem of neural representation for the senses.
46
Sensory Code
How neurons represent various characteristics of the environment.
47
Specificity Coding
The idea that an object could be represented by the firing of a specialized neuron that responds only to that object, which is unlikely to be correct.
48
Population Coding
The representation of a particular object by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons.
Most or all neurons firing for everyone, but in different patterns.
49
Sparse Coding
Occurs when a particular object is represented by a pattern of firing of only a small group of neurons, with the majority of neurons remaining silent. This occurs when small groups of neurons are involved.
50
Localization of Function
Specific functions are served by specific areas of the brain.
51
Cerebral Cortex
A layer of tissue about 3 mm thick that covers the brain (wrinkled covering).
52
Neuropsychology
The study of the behavior of people with brain damage.
53
Wernicke's Area
Located in left temporal lobe and is specialized in language comprehension. Aphasia in this area leads to not being able to comprehend, but speak.
54
Broca's Area
Located in left frontal lobe and is specialized in speech production and grammar. Aphasia in this area leads to not being able to speak, but can comprehend.
55
Parietal Lobe
Responsible for perceptions of touch, pressure, and pain.
56
Prosopagnosia
An inability to recognize faces. Also known as face blindness.
57
Double Dissociation
Occurs if damage to one area of the brain causes function A to be absent while function B is present, and damage to another area causes function B to be absent while function A is present. This is used to conclude that functions A and B are served by different mechanisms, which operate independently of one another.
58
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Brain imaging technique that creates images of structures within the brain.
59
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Brain imaging technique that measures how blood flow changes in response to cognitive activity. Red and yellow indicate increases in brain activity and blue and green indicate decreases in brain activity.
60
Voxels
Small cube-shaped areas of the brain about 2-3 mm on a side. Units of analysis for fMRIs.
61
Fusiform Face Area (FFA)
An area in the temporal lobe that contains many neurons that respond selectively to faces. Damaged in prosopagnosia.
62
Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA)
Area in the temporal lobe that contains neurons that are selectively activated by pictures of indoor and outdoor scenes. Important for spatial layout and fires for places that you can easily navigate.
63
Extrastriate Body Area (EBA)
An area in the temporal cortex that is activated by pictures of bodies and parts of bodies, but not by faces or other objects.
64
Distributed Representation
The idea that specific cognitive functions activate many areas of the brain.
65
Neural Networks
Group of neurons or structures that are connected together.
66
Pain Matrix
Consists of a number of connected structures that are involved in the perception of pain.
67
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
Based on detection of how water diffuses along the length of nerve fibers. It's a fairly new technique that measures communication throughout the brain.
68
Episodic Memory
Memory for personal experiences.
69
Semantic Memory
Memory for facts.
70
Spatial Resolution
How small of an area of space you can zoom into.
71
Temporal Resolution
How small of a slice of time you can zoom into to see brain activity.
72
Table of Temporal and Spatial Resolution
SCR EEG PET fMRI
Temporal Resolution Good Good Not Pretty Good
Spatial Resolution Good Not Good Good
Convenience Not Good Not so good Good
What's most convenient always wins
73
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Injected with radioactive isotope and the tracer reflects glucose uptake. Very expensive and you have to avoid small children and pregnant women for a day and a half bc you're still radioactive. A PET scan shows that when a person listens to someone talk, the left temporal lobe is activated.
74
Subtraction Technique
Start off with full brain activated and compare to control brain and subtract them out to show what areas are more activated during specific activities.
75
Techniques That Can Change Brain Activity
TMS and Wada Test
76
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Change the magnetism on machine and mess with the electricity of someone's brain. Temporarily create brain damage.
77
Wada Test
Often used before brain surgery. Used to determine what side of your brain your language is on. Inject something to put one side of your brain to sleep. If language is severely impaired, then you know your language is on the side that's asleep.
78
Grandmother Cell
That one cell that fires every time you see your grandma and only her. Psychologists don't believe this is real, but that a Jennifer Aniston cell (a cell that responds to certain famous people) is.
79
Left vs. Right Hemisphere
Left: analytical, breaks things into parts
Right: holistic, "big picture"
Damage to the right, people would see the individual parts, but not whole picture.
Damage to the left, people would see the whole picture, but not the individual details.
80
Distributed Processing
Localized areas are spread out throughout the brain that gets combined to understand what happens.
81
Perception
Experiences resulting from stimulation of the senses. Perceptions can change based on added information and can involve a process similar to reasoning or problem solving.
82
Inverse Projection Problem
The task of determining the object responsible for a particular image on the retina. This involves starting with the retinal image and extending rays out from the eye.
83
Viewpoint Invariance
The ability to recognize an object seen from different viewpoints.
84
Bottom-Up Processing
Sequence of events from eye to brain that starts at the "bottom" or beginning of the system, when environmental energy stimulates the receptor. Starts with sensations and builds up into objects and then builds up into scenes.
85
Top-Down Processing
Processing that involves a person's knowledge or expectations, originating in the brain, at the "top" of the perceptual system.
86
Speech Segmentation
The process of perceiving individual words within the continuous flow of the speech signal.
87
Direct Pathway Model
Model of pain perception that proposes that pain signals are sent directly from receptors to the brain. Pain occurs when receptors in the skin (nociceptors) stimulated and send their signals in a direct pathway from the skin to the brain. This is a bottom-up process bc it depends on stimulation of the receptors.
88
Hermann Von Helmholtz
19th century physicist and physiologist that had an idea about how people use information.
89
Likelihood Principle
We perceive the object that is most likely to have caused the pattern of stimuli we have received bc of years of experience with the world.
90
Unconscious Inference
Our perceptions are the results of unconscious assumptions, or inferences, that we make about the environment. Happens automatically with no thought.
91
Scene Recognition
Computer being able to recognize different scenes.
92
Color Constancy
Our perception of the image changes based on the color of the scene.
93
Size Constancy
Adapt our perceptions to the context. You know that an object is farther in the scene, so your mind is compensating for the distance the object looks like it is: making it look bigger or smaller.
94
Gestalt Approach
The whole is more than the sum of its parts (opposite of bottom-up processing). He focused on objects having meaning + holistic image as a whole than all of the parts.
95
Apparent Movement
An illusion of movement perception that occurs when stimuli in different locations are flashed one after another with the proper timing. Movement is perceived, but nothing is actually moving.
96
Gestalt Psychologists
A group of psychologists who proposed principles governing perception, such as laws of organization, and a perceptual approach to problem solving involving restructuring.
97
Principles of Perceptual Organization
Used to explain the way elements are grouped together to create larger objects.
98
Principle of Good Continuation
Law of perceptual organization stating that points that, when connected, result in straight or smoothly curving lines are seen as belonging together. In addition, lines tend to be seen as following the smoothest path. Also, objects that are overlapped by other objects are perceived as continuing behind the overlapping object.
Lines that continue the same path are grouped together.
99
Law of Pragnanz, Principle of Good Figure or Simplicity
Every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible.
Go with the simplest interpretation instead of seeing an abstract object.
100
Principle of Similarity
Similar things appear to be grouped together. Grouping can occur because of similarity in color, size, shape, or orientation.
101
Regularities in the Environment
Characteristics of the environment that occur frequently.
102
Physical Regularities
Regularly occurring physical properties of the environment, such as physical features, the lines, and light.
103
Oblique Effect
The finding that vertical and horizontal orientations can be perceived more easily than other (slanted) orientations.
104
Light-From-Above Assumption
We assume that light is coming from above, because light in our environment, including the sun and most artificial light, usually comes from above.
105
Semantic Regularities
The characteristics associated with the functions carried out in different types of scenes.
Makes it easier to identify an object by its contextual clues or misguide your perception.
106
Scene Schema
Knowledge about what is likely to be contained in a particular scene. This knowledge can help guide attention to different areas of the scene.
107
Conceptions of Object Perception
Helmholtz's unconscious inference, the Gestalt laws of organization, and Regularities in the environment.
108
Theory of Natural Selection
States that characteristics that enhance an animal's ability to survive, and therefore reproduce, will be passed on to future generations.
109
Experience-Dependent Plasticity
Mechanism through which the structure of the brain is changed by its exposure to the environment/experience.
Ex. Kitten reared in horizontal environment only has neurons that fire for horizontal lines.
110
Brain Ablation
The study of the effect of removing parts of the brains in animals. Experiments using this wanted to determine the function of a particular area of the brain.
111
Neuropsychology
Th study of the behavior of people with brain damage.
112
Object Discrimination Problem
A problem in which the task is to remember an object based on its shape and choose it when presented with another object after a delay. Associated with research on the what processing stream.
113
Landmark Discrimination Problem
Problem in which the task is to remember an object's location and to choose that location after a delay. Associated with research on the where processing stream.
114
What/Perception Pathway
The pathway leading from the striate cortex to the temporal lobe. Responsible for determining an object's identity.
AKA Ventral stream and perception pathway.
115
Where/Action Pathway
The pathway leading from the striate cortex to the parietal lobe. Responsible for determining an object's location.
AKA Dorsal stream and action pathway.
116
Illusory Contours
When we think we see something, but other objects are just perfectly placed. We perceive normal objects.
117
Common Fate
Things that move together should be grouped together as one object.
118
Attention
The ability to focus on specific stimuli or locations.
119
Selective Attention
Attending to one thing while ignoring others.
During early processing, all stimuli comes in (parallel) and hearing it all, and during later processing, only one stimulus was processed (serial). Doing very little processing on everything you hear initially.
120
Distraction
One stimulus interfering with the process of another stimulus.
121
Divided Attention
Paying attention to more than one thing at a time.
122
Attential Capture
A rapid shifting of attention usually caused by a stimulus such as a loud noise, bright light, or sudden movement.
123
Visual Scanning
Movements of the eye from one location or object to another.
124
Filter Model of Attention
Model of attention that proposes a filter that lets attended stimuli through and blocks some or all of the unattended stimuli.
125
Dichotic Listening
Presenting different stimuli to the left and right ears and trying to focus on the stimuli from one of the ears.
126
Shadowing
Repeating a message out loud as it's heard. Used in conjunction with dichotic listening experiments.
127
Cocktail Party Effect
The ability to focus on one stimulus while filtering out other stimuli, especially at a party where there are a lot of simultaneous conversations.
128
Broadbent's Filter Model
Early selection model
Broadbent proposed that info passes through sensory memory, filter, and detector.
Filter by physical characteristics (gender, location, pitch), which are processed early.
1) Sensory memory holds all the incoming info for a fraction of a second and then transfers all of it to the filter.
2) The filter identifies the message that is being attended to based on its physical characteristics (things like the speaker's tone of voice, pitch, speed of talking, and accent) and lets only this attended message pass through to the detector.
3) The detector processes the info from the attended message to determine higher-level characteristics of the message, such as its meaning. Because only the important, attended info had been let through the filter, the detector processes all of the info that enters it. Processes the meaning.
4) The output of the detector is sent to STM and also transfer info into LTM.
Messages->->-> sensory store->->-> filter-> detector-> memory.
129
Bottleneck Model (Broadbent's Model of Attention)
Model of attention that proposes that incoming info is restricted at some point in processing, so only a portion of the info gets through to consciousness.
130
Treisman's Attenuation Model of Selective Attention
Early selection model.
Messages ->->->-> attenuator -->->->-> dictionary unit -> memory.
This changes the strength of the messages. All messages go through but filtered by physical properties.
131
Attenuator
Analyzes the incoming message in terms of: 1) its physical characteristics whether it's high-pitched or low-pitched, fast or slow; 2) its language (how the message groups into syllables or words); 3) its meaning (how sequences of words create meaningful phrases).
132
Dictionary Unit
Contains words, store in memory, each of which has a threshold for being activated. For example, your name has a low threshold, which means it's easily detected. It lets the message get through if it's strong enough.
133
Late Selection Models of Attention
Proposed that most of the incoming info is processed to the level of meaning before the message to be further processed is selected.
Messages->->-> physical analysis->->-> meaning analysis-> memory.
Meaning is processed later compared to the early selection models.
134
Processing Capacity
Refers to the amount of info people can handle and sets a limit on their ability to process incoming info.
135
Perceptual Load
Related to the difficulty of a task.
136
Low-Load Tasks
Tasks that use few resources, leaving some capacity to handle other tasks (easy tasks).
137
High-Load Tasks
Tasks that use most or all of a person's resources and so leaves little capacity to handle other tasks (difficult tasks).
138
Load Theory of Attention
Proposal that the ability to ignore task-irrelevant stimuli depends on the load of the task the person is carrying out. High-load tasks result in less distraction. For low-load tasks, there's still processing capacity left. So there are still resources available to process task-irrelevant stimulus, which slows down reaction time.
139
Overt Attention
Shifting attention from one place to another by moving the eyes. Attending where your eyes are looking.
140
Covert Attention
Shifting attention from one place to another while keeping the eyes stationary. Attending to where your eyes aren't looking.
141
Central Vision
Area you are looking at. Objects here fall on fovea, better detail vision than peripheral retina on which everything else falls.
142
Peripheral Vision
Everything off to the side.
143
Fixation
A pausing of the eyes on places of interest while observing a scene.
144
Saccadic Eye Movement
Rapid, jerky movements from one fixation to the next while scanning a scene.
145
Stimulus-Salience
The physical properties of the stimulus, such as color, contrast, or movement. This is a bottom-up process bc it depends solely on the pattern of light and dark, color and contrast in stimulus.
146
Saliency Map
Map of a scene that indicates the stimulus salience of areas and objects in the scene. Highlights visually salient info: contrast, color, brightness, movement, and depth.
147
Precueing
A procedure in which participants are given a cue that will usually help them carry out a subsequent task. Presented with cues that tells them where to direct their attention.
148
Same-Object Advantage
Occurs when the enhancing effect of attention spreads throughout an object, so that attention to one place on an object results in a facilitation of processing at other places on the object.
149
Split-Scan Experiment
Dichotic listening but letters of the alphabet, different letters at the same time in opposite ears, they have difficulty repeating the letters that were presented at the same time in the different ears.
150
Early Selection Models
Messages->->-> physical analysis-> meaning analysis-> memory.
Broadbent's filter model and Treisman's attenuation model.
151
Automatic Processing
A type of processing that occurs: 1) without intention (it happens automatically without the person intending to do it) and 2) at a cost of only some of a person's cognitive resources.
Doesn't require attention (mind does it on its own), unlimited capacity, very difficult to modify, can easily focus on movement, and everything is a benefit of automaticity.
152
Inattential Blindness
Not noticing something even though it's in clear view, usually caused by failure to pay attention to the object or the place where the object is located. Ex. paying attention to a cross and not noticing a small square off to the side.
153
Change Blindness
Difficulty in detecting changes in scenes. Easier when there is no gap between pictures.
154
Continuity Errors
Changes in some aspect of a scene that should remain the same changes from one shot to the next in films.
155
Binding
The process by which features such as color, form, motion, and location are combined to create our perception of a coherent object.
156
Binding Problem
The question of how an object's individual features become bound together. How our brain brings together features but binds them to the wrong object.
157
Feature Integration Theory
An approach to object perception, developed by Anne Treisman, that proposes a sequence of stages in which features are first analyzed and then combined to result in perception of an object.
Object-> preattentive stage-> focused attention stage-> perception.
158
Preattentive Stage
The first step in processing an image of an object where objects are analyzed into separate features. Without attention, all features are independent and free-floating.
159
Illusory Conjunctions
A situation, demonstrated in experiments by Treisman, in which features from different objects are inappropriately combined. This occurs bc in the preattentive stage, each free-floating feature exists independently of the others.
160
Focused Attentive Stage
The second stage in which attention causes the combination of features into perception of an object. These "free-floating" features get combined.
161
Balint's Syndrome
A condition caused by brain damage in which a person has difficulty focusing attention on individual objects, which causes more illusory conjunctions like with RM.
162
Visual Search
Something we do anytime we look for an object among a number of other objects.
163
Feature Search
Finding something based on one feature.
164
Conjunction Search
Search for a combination of two or more features.
165
Topographic Map
Spatial map of visual stimuli on visual cortex.
166
Cognitive Resources
An individual's resources for carrying out cognitive processing.
167
Cognitive Load
The processing demands of a particular cognitive task.
168
Controlled Processing
Requires attention, limited capacity, and can be used flexibly (conscious control over it).
169
Endogenous Attention
Consciously choosing where to direct our attention.
170
Exogenous Attention
Something grabs our attention.
171
Bottom-Up Determinants
Physical features of the stimulus (stimulus salience).
172
Top-Down Determinants
Knowledge, expectations, and the meaning of the scene.
173
Valid Cue
Draws attention to the location of the stimulus.
174
Invalid Cue
Draws attention to an irrelevant location.
175
"Spotlight" Model
Attention is like a spotlight and you can move it around to focus your attention on it. Sped and accuracy varies with distance.
176
Object-Based Selection/Attention
When you're able to direct your attention to the same object in which the cue was flashed on. You can see the target faster where the cue was flashed bc that's where your spotlight attention is.
177
Memory
Process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using info about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original info is no longer present. Memory is active anytime some past experience has an effect on the way you think or behave now or in the future.
178
Sensory Memory
The retention, for brief periods of time, of the effects of sensory stimulation. A brief persistence of an image, which is one of the things that makes it possible to perceive movies. Holds almost everything you experience, but very brief.
179
Short-Term/Working Memory
Information that stays in our memory for brief periods of about 10-15 seconds if we don't repeat it over and over.
180
Long-Term Memory
Responsible for storing info for long periods of time, which can extend from minutes to a lifetime.
Mostly not active (at any one time).
181
Episodic Memory
Memories of experiences, which are long-term memories. Involves mental time travel.
182
Procedural Memory
A type of LTM that allows us to remember how to ride a bike or any of the other things that involve muscle coordination.
183
Semantic Memory
Memories of facts such as an address, birthdays, or names of objects.
Knowing, with the idea that knowing doesn't involve mental time travel.
No personal experience recalled.
184
Modal Model of Memory
1) Sensory memory is an initial stage that holds all incoming info for seconds or fractions of a second, 2) Short-term memory (STM) holds 5-9 items for about 15-20 seconds, or as long as you want to, 3) Long-term memory (LTM) can hold a large amount of info for years or even decades.
Incomplete bc it doesn't capture everything with STM (like WM) and LTM.
185
Structural Features
Types of memory indicated by boxes in models of memory.
186
Control Processes
Dynamic processes associated with the structural features that can be controlled by the person and may differ from one task to another. Ex. Rehearsal.
187
Rehearsal
Repeating a stimulus over and over, as you might repeat a phone number.
188
Encoding
The process of storing a STM into LTM.
189
Retrieval
The process of remembering info that is stored in LTM.
| The process of transferring info from LTM to STM/WM.
190
Persistence of Vision
The continued perception of a visual stimulus even after it's no longer present. This persistence lasts only for a fraction of a second, so it isn't obvious in everyday experience when objects are present for long periods. Ex. moving sparkler.
191
Whole Report Methods
Sperling's letter grid experiments.
Subjects are asked to report as many letters as possible from the entire 12-letter display. Avg. of 4.5/12 reported to recall.
192
Partial Report Methods
Sperling's letter grid experiments.
Subjects saw the 12-letter display for 50 ms, as before, but immediately after it was flashed, they heard a tone that told them which row of the matrix to report. High to low pitched tones (one for each row). Avg. 3.3/4 letters reported.
193
Delayed Partial Report Methods
The letters were flashed on/off and then the cue tone was presented after a short delay of 1 second. Avg. 1 letter per row.
194
Iconic Memory/Visual Icon
Brief sensory memory for visual stimuli that corresponds to the sensory memory stage of the modal model.
195
Echoic Memory
Persistence of sound that lasts for a few seconds after presentation of the original stimulus.
196
Decay
Process by which info is lost from memory due to the passing of time.
197
Proactive Interference
Interference that occurs when info that was learned previously interferes with learning new info.
198
Retroactive Interference
Occurs when new learning interferes with remembering old learning.
199
Digit Span
The number of digits a person can remember.
200
Chunking
Small units (like words or numbers) can be combined into larger meaningful units, like phrases, or even larger units.
201
Chunk
A collection of elements that are strongly associated with one another but are weakly associated with elements in other chunks.
202
Working Memory
A limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of info for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning. Consisting phonological loop, visuospatial sketch pad, and central executive.
203
Phonological Loop
It consists of two components: the phonological store, which has limited capacity and holds info for only a few seconds; and articulatory rehearsal process, which is responsible for rehearsal that can keep items in the phonological store from decaying. The phonological loop holds verbal and auditory info.
204
Visuospatial Sketch Pad
This holds visual and spatial info, and spatial manipulation and planning. Ex. solving a puzzle or finding your way through campus.
205
Central Executive
Where the major work of WM occurs. It pulls info from LTM and coordinates the activity of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad by focusing on specific parts of a task and deciding how to divide attention between different tasks. AKA Traffic cop.
Used for manipulating contents of memory, focusing attention, and inhibition.
206
Phonological Loop Evidence
Phonological similarity effect, word length effect, and articulatory suppression.
207
Phonological Similarity Effect
The confusion of letters or words that sound similar and they're easier to confuse in STM.
208
Word Length Effect
Occurs when memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words.
Verbal STM = ~2 sec
The faster you read, the more you remember.
209
Articulatory Suppression
Interference with operation of the phonological loop that occurs when a person repeats an irrelevant word such as "the" or "bah," while carrying out a task that requires the phonological loop. This leads to poorer recall and eliminates the word length effect.
210
Visual Imagery
The creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a physical visual stimulus.
211
Mental Rotation
Rotating an image of an object in the mind.
212
Preservation
Repeatedly performing the same action or thought even if it's not achieving the desired goal.
213
Episodic Buffer
Can store info (thereby providing extra capacity) and is connected to LTM (thereby making interchanges between WM and LTM possible). It is a way of increasing capacity in WM.
214
Delayed-Response Task
Requires a monkey to hold info in WM during a delay period (and have to determine where the hole with food is after a delay).
This supports the idea that the prefrontal cortex is important for holding info for a brief period of time.
215
Neural Mind Reading
Refers to using a neural response, usually brain activation measured by fMRI, to determine what a person is perceiving or thinking.
216
Representation for STM/WM
Info is represented by largely auditory (even when presented visually, mistakes are for things that sound alike, often confuse a letter for similar sound and never for similar appearance). It's also visual for things that are hard to verbalize, also limited capacity and involves chunking. And semantic (interference from the meaning of the words and when the meaning is changed, interference has disappeared).
Mainly auditory coding, also some verbal and semantic coding.
217
Operation Span
Measure of WM that involves holding info and using it. Correlates to fluid intelligence. Have to do a math problem, remember a word, and do it again 2x.
218
Anti-Saccade Task
Eye tracking task where you have to ignore and look away from a certain target.
219
Anterograde Amnesia
Unable to form new long-term memories. Ex. Clive Wearing and HM.
Amnesia for events that occurred after the event.
220
Division
Refers to distinguishing between different types of memory.
221
Interaction
Refers to the fact that different types of memory can interact and share mechanisms.
222
Serial Position Curve
In a memory experiment in which participants are asked to recall a list of words, a plot of the percentage of participants remembering each word against the position of that word in the list.
223
Primacy Effect
The finding that subjects are more likely to remember words presented at the beginning of a sequence. This is maybe bc subjects had time to rehearse the words at the beginning and transfer it to LTM.
224
Recency Effect
The better memory for the stimuli presented at the end of a sequence. Most recently presented words are still in the STM and therefore are easier to remember.
225
Coding
Refers to the form in which stimuli are presented. Determining how a stimulus is represented by the firing of neurons is a physiological approach to coding. A mental approach to coding is asking how a stimulus or an experience is represented in the mind.
226
Visual Coding
In STM: Remembering a pattern by representing it visually in your mind.
In LTM: Visualizing a person or place from the past.
227
Auditory Coding
Coding in the mind in the form of a sound.
228
Semantic Coding
Coding in the mind in terms of meaning. Ex. Remembering what you read.
229
Release from Proactive Interference
A situation in which conditions occur that eliminate or reduce the decrease in performance caused by proactive interference.
230
Recognition Memory
The identification of a stimulus that was encountered earlier.
231
Mental Time Travel
The experience of traveling back in time to reconnect with events that happened in the past.
Self-knowing or remembering (Episodic memory).
232
Autobiographical Memory
Memory for specific experiences from our life, which can include both episodic and semantic components.
233
Personal Semantic Memories
Semantic components of autobiographical memories.
234
Autobiographically Significant Semantic Memories
Memories involving personal episodes.
235
Remember/Know Procedure
A procedure in which subjects are presented with a stimulus they have encountered before and are asked to indicate remember (episodic), if they remember the circumstances under which they initially encountered it, or know (semantic), if the stimulus seems familiar but they don't remember experiencing it earlier.
236
Semanticization of Remote Memories
Loss of episodic detail for memories of long-ago events.
237
Constructive Episodic Simulation Hypothesis
States that episodic memories are extracted and recombined to construct simulations of future events.
238
Explicit Memories
Memories we are aware of (conscious) such as facts and personal events in LTM.
Episodic and Semantic memory.
239
Implicit Memories
Occurs when learning from experience is not accompanied by conscious remembering.
Priming and Procedural memory.
240
Procedural/Skill Memory
Memory for doing things that usually involve learned skills. This is acquired gradually through practice and will eventually become an automatic process.
Ex. Tying your shoes and mirror reading and drawing.
241
Mirror Drawing
Involves copying a picture that is seen in a mirror.
242
Priming
Occurs when the presentation of one stimulus (the priming stimulus) changes the way a person responds to another stimulus (the test stimulus).
Associated with decreased brain activity bc you're used to seeing it.
243
Repetition Priming
Occurs when the test stimulus is the same as or resembles the priming stimulus.
Increased fluency for a stimulus after prior experience with it.
244
Propaganda Effect
Subjects are more likely to rate statements they have read or heard before as being true, simply because they have been exposed to them before.
245
Representation of LTM
Mainly semantic coding, some visual and auditory coding.
246
Maintenance Rehearsal
Rehearsal that involves repetition without any consideration of meaning or making connections to other info.
247
Elaborative Rehearsal
Rehearsal that involves thinking about the meaning of an item to be remembered or making connections between that item and prior knowledge.
248
Levels of Processing Theory
The idea that memory depends on how info is encoded, with better memory being achieved when processing is deep than when processing is shallow.
Deep processing involves attention to meaning and is associated with elaborative rehearsal.
Shallow processing involves repetition with little attention to meaning and is associated with maintenance rehearsal.
249
Depth of Processing
The idea that the processing that occurs as an item is being encoded into memory can be deep or shallow.
250
Paired-Associate Learning
A list of word pairs is presented to create connections that enhance memory.
251
Self-Reference Effect
Memory is better if you are asked to relate a word to yourself.
252
Generation Effect
Memory for material is better when a person generates the material himself, rather than passively receiving it.
253
Retrieval Cue
A word or other stimulus that helps a person remember info stored in memory.
More effective when created by the person whose memory is being tested.
254
Testing Effect
Enhanced performance on a memory test caused by being tested on the material to be remembered.
255
Free Recall
When a subject is simply asked to recall stimuli.
256
Cued Recall
When the subject is presented with retrieval cues (smell, images, sound, etc.) to aid in recall of the previously experience stimuli.
257
Encoding Specificity
The principle that we learn info together with its context. This means that presence of the context can lead to enhanced memory for the info.
258
State-Dependent Learning
Learning that is associated with a particular internal state, such as mood or state of awareness (drinking, coffee, smoking, illegal drugs, exercise).
259
Transfer-Appropriate Processing
Better performance when the type of processing matches in encoding and retrieval. Ex. when you have a rhyming test, the rhyme learning is better than semantic learning.
260
Consolidation
The process that transforms new memories from a fragile state, in which they can be disrupted, to a more permanent state, in which they are resistant to disruption.
261
Synaptic Consolidation
A process of consolidation that involves structural changes at synapses that happened rapidly, over a period of minutes.
262
Systems Consolidation
A consolidation process that involves the gradual reorganization of circuits within brain regions and takes place on a long time scale, lasting weeks, months, or even years.
263
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
Enhanced firing of neurons after repeated stimulation.
264
Standard Model of Consolidation
Proposes that incoming info activates a number of areas in the cortex.
The hippocampus is strongly active when memories are first formed and initially recalled, but becomes less involved as memories are consolidated, until eventually the connections between the cortical areas themselves are sufficient to retrieve remote memories.
265
Reactivation
A process in which the hippocampus replays the neural activity associated with a memory.
266
Retrograde Amnesia
Loss of memory for events that occurred before the injury.
267
Graded Amnesia
The amnesia tends to be most severe for events that happened just before the injury and to become less sever for earlier events bc they've been consolidated.
268
Remote Memories
Memories for events that occurred long ago.
269
Multiple Trace Model of Consolidation
The hippocampus is involved in retrieval of episodic memories, even if they originated long ago.
270
Reconsolidation
A process that occurs when a memory is retrieved and so becomes reactivated. Once this occurs, the memory must be consolidated again, as it was during the initial learning. This repeat consolidation is reconsolidation. When these memories are reactivated, they're suceptible to disruption.
271
Elaborative Encoding
Connecting new info to existing knowledge.
| Levels of processing: shallow processing (focused on surface) vs. deep processing (focused on meaning).
272
Circular Reasoning
Use two arguments to help prove something without having solid evidence.
Levels of processing idea can be circular.
273
Sentence Complexity
Using more info/extra elaboration in sentences allows you to remember the target word more.
274
Effects of Encoding
Rehearsal, elaborative ("deep") encoding, complex scenarios, imagery, self-reference, generation, organization, testing.
275
Mere Exposure Effect
If you ask someone which item they like more, they go for the one they’ve seen before but don’t remember.
276
Two Additional Characteristics of Autobiographical Memory
1) It's multidimensional bc they consist of spatial, emotional, and sensory components.
2) We remember some events in our lives better than others.
277
Reminiscence Bump
The empirical finding that people over 40 years old have enhanced memory for events from adolescence and early adulthood, compared to other periods of their lives.
278
Explanations for the Reminiscence Bump
Self-Image Hypothesis, Cognitive Hypothesis, and Cultural Life Script Hypothesis.
279
Self-Image Hypothesis
Proposes that memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person's self-image or life identity is formed.
Development of the self-image therefore brings with it numerous memorable events, most of which happen during adolescence or young adulthood.
280
Cognitive Hypothesis
Proposes that periods of rapid change that are followed by stability causes stronger encoding of memories. Adolescence and young adulthood fit this description because the rapid changes, such as going away to school, getting married, and starting a career, that occur during these periods are followed by the relative stability of adult life.
People who emigrated at a later age have a later reminiscence Bump.
281
Cultural Life Script Hypothesis
Distinguishes between a person's life story, which is all of the events that occurred in a person's life, and a cultural life script, which is the culturally expected events that occur at a particular time in a life span.
Events that fit our cultural "stories."
Events in a person's life story become easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script for that person's culture.
282
Amygdala
A subcortical structure that is involved in processing emotional aspects of experience, including memory for emotional events.
Emotions may trigger mechanisms in the amygdala that helps us remember events that are associated with the emotions.
283
Weapon Focus
The tendency to focus attention on a weapon during the commission of a crime, which is typically a high-emotion situation.
284
Flashbulb Memory
Refers to a person's memory for the circumstances surrounding shocking, highly charged events.
Surrounding how a person heard about an event, not memory for the event itself. We believe these are very true compared to other memories, based on the emotions.
Ex. 9/11 and JFK's assassination.
285
Repeated Recall
The technique of comparing later memories to memories collected immediately after the event. This is to determine whether memory changes over time.
286
Narrative Rehearsal Hypothesis
The idea that we remember some life events better because we rehearse them.
287
Constructive Nature of Memory
What people report as memories are constructed based on what actually happened plus additional factors, such as the person's knowledge, experiences, and expectations.
288
Repeated Reproduction
Same subjects try to remember the story at longer and longer intervals after they have first read it.
289
Source Monitoring
Process of determining the origins of our memories, knowledge, or beliefs. Influenced by biases we might have.
290
Source Monitoring Error/Source Misattributions
Misidentifying the source of a memory.
| The memory is attributed to the wrong source.
291
Cryptoamnesia
Unconscious plagiarism of the works of others.
292
Patient BP
Extremely rare disorder, damaging only his amygdala (bilaterally). Emotionally-charged things don't stick with him better than neutral things.
293
Pragmatic Inference
Occurs when reading a sentence leads a person to expect something that is not explicitly stated or implied by the sentence.
294
Schema
A person's knowledge about some aspect of the environment.
295
Script
Our conception of the sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience. Knowledge about stereotypic sequences of events (scripts are a kind of schema). Ex. Doing laundry.
296
Misinformation Effect
Misleading info presented after a person witnesses an event can change how the person describes that event later.
A person's memory for an event is modified by things that happen after the event occurred.
297
Misleading Post Event Information (MPI)
The misleading info from the misinformation effect.
One explanation for the MPI effect proposes that the original info is forgotten bc of retroactive interference, which occurs when new learning (misinformation) interferes with memory for something that happened in the past (actual events).
298
Eyewitness Testimony
Testimony by a person who was present at the crime about what he or she saw during commission of the crime.
299
Acceptance of Eyewitness Testimony
1) The eyewitness was able to clearly see what happened.
2) The eyewitness was able to remember his or her observation and translate them into an accurate description of what happened and accurate identification of the perpetrator(s).
300
Post-Identification Feedback Effect
Increase in confidence due to confirming feedback after making an identification.
301
Cognitive Interview
Based on what is known about memory retrieval. Involves letting the witness talk with a minimum of interruption and also uses techniques that help witnesses recreate the situation present at the crime scene by having them place themselves back in the scene and recreate things like emotions they were feeling, where they were looking, and how the scene might have appeared when viewed from diff. perspectives.
302
Truth Effect/Propaganda Effect
Thinking something is true because you heard it in the past, but forget the context in which you learned it in (source Monitoring).
303
Inferences
Assumptions made based on prior knowledge. Often happen without conscious awareness.
304
Elaboration
Introduced elements not in the original passage (based on schemas).
305
Why Are We Influenced by MPIs?
Memory trace replacement (replacing your original memory with the misleading info), retroactive interference (new learning is interfering with older info), source monitoring errors (making mistakes of sources from which you got this info).
306
Conceptual Knowledge
Knowledge that enables us to recognize objects and events and to make inferences about their properties.
307
Concepts
The mental representation of a kind of thing, class or individual / the meaning of objects, events, and abstract ideas. Ex. dog, chair, even number, crime.
308
Category
Includes all possible examples of a particular concept. Pointers to knowledge.
309
Categorization
The process by which things are placed in categories.
310
Definitional Approach to Categorization / Classical Approach
We can decide whether something is a member of a category by determining whether a particular object meets the definition of the category. Definitions work well for geometric objects, but not for many natural or man-made objects. Very tightly locked, you either have all the features from the definition or not.
311
Family Resemblance
Refers to the idea that things in a particular category resemble one another in a number of ways. Created to deal with the problem that definitions often do not include all members of a category. Ex. Chairs and sofas have a family resemblance.
312
Prototype Approach to Categorization
Membership in a category is determined by comparing the object to a prototype that represents the category.
Helps with all problems of the definitional approach. Classification is based on similarity to prototype.
Doesn't require a complete definition; members share most characteristics, but not all.
313
Prototype
A "typical" member of the category. An average of commonly experienced members.
314
High Typicality
A category member closely resembles the category prototype.
315
Low Typicality
A category member doesn't closely resemble a typical member of the category.
316
Sentence Verification Technique
A technique in which the participant is asked to indicate whether a particular sentence is true or false.
317
Typicality Effect
The ability to judge highly prototypical objects more rapidly.
318
Naming
People are more likely to list some objects than others when asked to name objects in a category. The most prototypical members of the category are named first.
319
Priming
Presentation of one stimulus affects responses to stimulus that follows. Prototypical objects are affected more by priming. The prime will facilitate the subjects' response to a stimulus if it contains some of the info needed to respond to the stimulus.
320
Exemplar Approach to Categorization
Involves determining whether an object is similar to other objects. The standard for this involves many examples, each called exemplars.
321
Exemplar
Actual members of the category that a person has encountered in the past.
322
Hierarchical Organization
Larger, more general categories are divided into smaller, more specific categories, creating a number of levels of categories.
323
Superordinate (Global) Level
The most general category level (ex. Furniture).
324
Basic Level
```
In between both levels; it is special because it's the level where above, much information is lost and where below, little is gained. Ex. Table.
Most common (first thing to pop up in your mind). Privileged because it's named first, learned earlier, have shorter names, easier to classify, and honestly depends on your expertise.
```
325
Subordinate (Specific) Level
The most specific category level (ex. Kitchen table).
326
Semantic Network Approach
Proposes that concepts are arranged in networks.
| Collins's and Quillian's Hierarchical Model. Disorganized.
327
Hierarchical Network Model
Consists of levels arranged so that more specific concepts are at the bottom and more general concepts are at higher levels. More organized.
328
Cognitive Economy
Way of storing shared properties just once at a higher level node. Makes the network more efficient, but creates a problem when something doesn't relate to all.
329
Spreading Activation
Activity that spreads out along any link that is connected to an activated node.
Reaction time decreases when two words were associated maybe bc retrieving one word from memory triggered a spread of activation to other nearby locations in a network, bc more activation would spread to words that were related, the response to the related words was faster than the response to unrelated words.
Asked to think of a term and spreads to connected words from the term.
330
Lexical Decision Task
Subjects read stimuli, some of which are words and some of which are not words. Their task is to indicate as quickly as possible whether each entry is a word or a nonword.
331
Collins and Quillian's Hierarchical Model
Semantic network that consisted of nodes that are connected by links. Each node represents a category or concept, and concepts are placed in the network so that related concepts are connected.
"Computer model of human memory."
332
Problems With Eyewitness Testimonies
Familiarity, source monitoring, weapons draw attention, suggestions can impact your decision ("good pick"), and reconsolidation.
333
Recovered Memories
Repressed memories from a long time ago (childhood) that are recovered and you're able to remember details you didn't remember.
334
Problems with Definitional Approach
Hard to define, some things are better members than others, and uncertain classifications (ambiguity).
335
Visual Imagery
Seeing in the absence of a visual stimulus.
336
Mental Imagery
The ability to recreate the sensory world in the absence of physical stimuli (also occurs in senses other than vision: auditory).
337
Imageless Thought Debate
The debate about whether thought is possible in the absence of images.
338
Paired-Associate Learning
A learning task in which participants are first presented with pairs of words, then one word of each pair is presented and the task is to recall the other word.
339
Conceptual Peg Hypothesis
Concrete nouns (ex. boat, tree, house) create images that other words can "hang onto."
340
Mental Chronometry
Determining the amount of time needed to carry out various cognitive tasks.
341
Mental Scanning
Subjects create mental images and then scan them in their minds.
342
Imagery Debate
A debate about whether imagery is based on spatial mechanisms, such as those involved in perception, or on mechanisms related to language, called propositional mechanisms.
343
Spatial Representation
A representation in which different parts of an image can be described as corresponding to specific locations in space.
344
Epiphenomenon
Something that accompanies the real mechanism but is not actually part of the mechanism.
345
Propositional Representation
One in which relationships can be represented by abstract symbols, such as an equation, or a statement. Like words, whereas spatial representation would involve a spatial layout of the statement or equation.
346
Depictive Representation
Representations that are like realistic pictures of an object, so that parts of the representation correspond to parts of the object.
347
Tacit Knowledge Explanation
An explanation proposed to account for the results of some imagery experiments that states that participants unconsciously use knowledge about the world in making their judgements. This explanation has been used as one of the arguments against describing imagery as a depictive or spatial representation.
Subjects unconsciously use knowledge about the world in making their judgements.
People are relying on their knowledge of how perception works, and imitating it (demand characteristics).
348
Mental Walk Task
Subjects were asked to imagine that they were walking toward their mental image of an animal and how close would they have to be that the animal is taking over their entire visual field.
349
Dual Coding Hypothesis
When you try to remember a concrete noun, you get to remember the word and a mental image.
350
Imagery Neurons
A type of category-specific neuron that is activated by imagery.
351
Unilateral Neglect
A problem caused by brain damage, usually to the right parietal lobe, in which the patient ignores objects in the left half of his or her visual field. Ex. shaving only just one side of your face.
352
Method of Loci
A method in which things to be remembered are placed at different locations in a mental image of a spatial layout. Ex. remembering to go to the dental office by imagining a humongous set of teeth in your living room.
353
Pegword Technique
A method for remembering things in which the things to be remembered are associated with concrete words. Like remembering heaven by rhyming it with seven.
354
Language
A system of communication using sounds or symbols that enables us to express our feelings, thoughts, ideas, and experiences.
355
Psycholinguistics
The field concerned with the psychological study of language. The study of psychological and neurological bases of language. The four major concerns are comprehension, speech production, representation, and acquisition.
356
Lexicon
A person's knowledge of what words mean, how they sound, and how they are used in relation to other words.
357
Phoneme
Refers to sounds. The shortest segment of speech that, if changed, changes the meaning of a word. Not the same as letters.
358
Morphemes
Refers to meaning. The smallest units of language that have a definable meaning or a grammatical function. Not syllables.
Ex. truck has many phonemes but 1 morpheme and trucks has 2 morphemes.
359
Phonemic Restoration Effect
Occurs when phonemes are perceived in speech when the sound of a phoneme is covered up by an extraneous noise.
360
Speech Segmentation
Our ability to perceive individual words even though there are often no pauses between words in the sound signal. Difficult bc there are no cues from the sound energy so it's hard to tell when there are breaks.
Solution: word familiarity, but words often can't be identified in isolation so we need to use context.
361
Word Superiority Effect
Refers to the finding that letters are easier to recognize when they are contained in a word than when they appear alone or in a nonword.
362
Corpus
The frequency with which specific words are used and the frequency of different meanings and grammatical constructions in a particular language.
363
Word Frequency
The frequency with which a word appears in a language.
364
Word Frequency Effect
Refers to the fact that we respond more rapidly to high-frequency words like home than to low-frequency words like hike. Nonwords are no frequency.
365
Lexical Ambiguity
The existence of multiple word meanings.
366
Meaning Dominance
The fact that some meanings of words occur more frequently than others.
367
Biased Dominance
When words have two or more meanings with different dominances.
368
Semantics
The meaning of words and sentences. Involved with Wernicke's area.
369
Syntax
Specifies the rules for combining words into sentences (grammatical structure). Involved with Broca's area.
370
Broca's Aphasia
A condition associated with damage to Broca's area, in the frontal lobe, characterized by labored ungrammatical speech and difficulty in understanding some types of sentences, but can also comprehend.
371
Wernicke's Aphasia
A condition caused by damage to Wernicke's area, in the temporal lobe, that is characterized by difficulty in understanding language, and fluent, grammatically correct, but incoherent speech.
372
Parsing
The grouping of words into phrases. Central process for determining the meaning of a sentence. Used to analyze the syntax and semantics of a sentence.
373
Garden Path Sentences
Sentences that begin appearing to mean one thing but then end up meaning something else. Useful in studying how parsing works.
374
Syntax-First Approach to Parsing
States that as people read a sentence, their grouping of words into phrases is governed by a number of rules that are based on syntax. Only uses semantics when syntax fails.
375
Late Closure
States that when a person encounters a new word, the person's parsing mechanism assumes that this word is part of the current phrase, so each new word is added to the current phrase for as long as possible, unless that doesn't work out grammatically.
376
Interactionist Approach to Parsing
The idea that info is provided by both syntax and semantics and is taken into account simultaneously as we read or listen to sentences.
377
Visual World Paradigm
Involves determining how subjects process info as they are observing a visual scene.
378
Phonology
The sounds of a language and the rules for combining those sounds. Units of sounds. English has 46 phonemes.
379
Morphology
Units of meaning.
380
Minimal Pair
Smallest change of sound you can make to change the meaning of a word.
Ex. pig -> dig.
381
Words
Meaningful units that can stand on their own.
382
Discourse
Sentences in a larger context.
383
Inferences
Determining what the test means by using our knowledge to go behind the info provided.
384
Coherence
The representation of the test in a person's mind so that info in one part of the test is related to info in another part of the text. Meaningful connections between sentences.
385
Anaphoric Inferences
Inferences that connect an object or person in one sentence to an object or person in another sentence.
Ex. Saying she (or other pronouns) in the following sentence instead of using her name.
386
Instrument Inferences
Inferences about tools or methods that occur while reading text of listening about the presence of it.
Ex. Inferring that Hamlet was written using a quill pen and paper instead of a computer.
387
Causal Inferences
Inferences that the events described in one clause or sentence were caused by events that occurred in a previous sentence.
388
Situation Model
A mental representation of what a text is about. Spatial and perceptual.
389
Given-New Contract
States that a speaker should construct sentences so that they include two kinds of info: 1) given info - info that the listener already knows; and 2) new info - info that the listener is hearing for the first time.
390
Common Ground
The speakers' mutual knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions. Used to say less for things that took you long to explain before and coordinate meaning.
391
Syntactic Coordination
The process by which people use similar grammatical constructions.
392
Syntactic Priming
Hearing a statement with a particular syntactic construction increases the chances that a sentence will be produced with the same construction.
393
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
The nature of a culture's language can affect the way people in that culture think. Language can affect cognition.
Strong form: language determines thought.
Weak form: language influences thought.
394
Categorical Perception
If two items are in the same category, we perceive them as more similar, whereas, if two items are in different categories, it'd be perceived as different.
395
Problem
Occurs when there is an obstacle between a present state and a goal and it is not immediately obvious how to get around the obstacle.
A problem has a difference between our current state and goal state, an obstacle between current state and goal state, and no immediately obvious way to overcome the obstacle.
396
Problem Solving According to Gestalt
All about:
1) How people represent a problem in their mind.
2) How solving a problem involves a reorganization or restructuring of this representation.
397
Restructuring
The process of changing the problem’s representation. The solution is obtained by first perceiving the object and then representing it in a different way.
398
Insight
The sudden realization of a problem’s solution.
399
Fixation
People’s tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of the problem that keeps them from arriving at a solution.
400
Functional Fixedness
One type of fixation that can work against solving a problem, focusing on familiar functions or uses of an object.
401
Candle Problem
A problem, first described by Duncker, in which a person is given a number of objects and is given the task of mounting a candle on a wall so it can burn without dripping wax on the floor. This problem was used to study functional fixedness.
402
Two-String Problem
The subjects’ task was to tie together two strings that hang from the ceiling.
403
Mental Set
A preconceived notion about how to approach a problem, which is determined by a person’s experience on what has worked in the past.
404
Water Jug Problem
Subjects were told that their task was to figure out in paper how to obtain a required volume of water, given three empty jars for measure.
B-A-2C.
405
Tower of Hanoi Problem
A problem involving moving discs from one set of pegs to another. It has been used to illustrate the process involved in means-end analysis.
406
Initial State
Conditions at the beginning of the problem.
407
Goal State
The solution of the problem.
408
Operators
Actions that take the problem from one state to another. Usually governed by rules.
409
Intermediate States
The various conditions that exist along the pathway between the initial state and goal state.
410
Problem Space
The initial, goal, and all the possible intermediate states for a particular problem.
411
Means-End Analysis
A way of solving a problem in which the goal is to reduce the difference between the initial and goal states. You have to work backwards to create subgoals to get to the ultimate goal, and then perform them from the last subgoal to the first.
412
Subgoals
Small goals that help create intermediate states that are closer to the goal.
413
Mutilated Checkerboard Problem
A problem that has been used to study how the statement of a problem influences a person’s ability to reach a solution.
Two corners are eliminated and you’re asked if 31 dominoes can fit on it. Not possible.
414
Think-Aloud Protocol
Subjects were asked to say out loud what they’re thinking while solving a problem. Not to describe what they’re doing, but new thoughts as they occur.
415
Analogy
Making a comparison in order to show a similarity between two different things that share abstract commonalities despite surface differences.
416
Analogical Problem Solving
Using the solution to a similar problem to guide a solution of a new problem. Only works if you notice the analogy between the situations and map the correspondences between them, then you use the mapping to generate an analogous solution.
417
Analogical Transfer
Transferring experience in solving one problem to the solution of a similar problem.
418
Target Problem
The problem the subject is trying to solve.
419
Source Problem
Another problem that shares some similarities with the target problem and that illustrates a way to solve the target problem.
420
Radiation Problem
A problem posed by Duncker that involves finding a way to destroy a tumor by radiation without damaging other organs in the body. Widely used in research in analogical problem solving.
421
Surface Features
Specific elements of the problem such as the rats and the tumor. Objects, context, and perceptual features. Leads to reminding.
422
Structural Features
The underlying principle that governs the solution. Doesn’t lead to reminding, but it does lead to reminding in experts in their field.
423
Analogical Encoding
The process by which two problems are compared and similarities between them are determined.
424
Analogical Paradox
People find it difficult to apply analogies in laboratory settings, but routinely use them in real-world settings.
425
In Vivo Problem-Solving Research
Involves observing people to determine how they solve problems in real-world situations.
426
Problem Solving
A “higher-order” cognitive process, complex (relies on many other processes such as perception, attention, memory, categorization, integrating and manipulating info) and deliberative (not automatic, requires conscious effort), and often slow.
427
Compound Remote Associates Problem
Give people three random words, such as pine, crab, and sauce, and ask what word relates all three of them. The answer is Apple. The right hemisphere is activated when people said they solved these problems with insight.
428
Experts
People who, by devoting a large amount of time to learning about a field and practicing and applying that learning, are know as being extremely knowledgeable or skilled in that field.
429
Why Experts Are Faster Than Novices
1) Experts possess more knowledge about their fields.
2) Experts’ knowledge is organized differently than novices’. Experts attend more to structural Features than novices in their field.
3) Experts spend more time analyzing problems. More qualitative evaluation of a problem. More time in the beginning, but usually less time overall.
430
Flexible Thinking Problem
A problem whose solution may involve rejecting the usual procedures in favor of other procedures that might not normally be used.
431
Divergent Thinking
Thinking that is open-ended, invoking a large number of potential “solutions”.
432
Creativity
Anything made by people that is in someway novel and has potential value or utility.
433
Problem Solving Process
Stage 1: 1) Problem finding and 2) Fact finding.
Stage 2: 3) Problem definition and 4) Idea finding.
Stage 3: 5) Evaluation and selection and 6) Planning.
Stage 4: 7) Selling Idea and 8) Taking action.
434
Group Brainstorming
When people in a problem-Solving group are encouraged to express whatever ideas come to mind, without censorship. Not the best method.
435
Creative Cognition
A technique developed by Finke to train people to think creatively.
436
Preinventive Forms
Ideas that precede the creation of a finished creative product.
437
Latent Inhibition
The capacity to screen out stimuli that are considered irrelevant.
438
Savant Syndrome
People with autism or other mental disorders are able to achieve extraordinary feats, such as being able to tell the day of the week for any randomly picked date, or exhibit great artistic talent or mathematical ability.
439
Information Processing Approach
Requires well–defined problems: know all possible moves and know when end state has been reached. Ex. Tower of Hanoi.
It describes a lot of behaviors well and it’s clean, systematic, but people often don’t think so analytically.
440
Measuring Creativity
Fluency (the number of answers generated), flexibility (the number of kinds of answers generated), originality (the novelty of the answers, relative to other participants).
441
Decisions
The process of making choices between alternatives. Based on judgments.
442
Reasoning
The process of drawing conclusions because it involves coming to a conclusion based on evidence. Using existing knowledge to generate new knowledge leading to conclusions.
443
Inductive Reasoning
Reasoning based on observations, or reaching conclusions from evidence. Conclusions we reach are probably, but not definitely, true. Starts with specific cases. Very common in daily lives.
444
Heuristics
“Rules of thumb” that are likely to provide the correct answer to a problem but are not foolproof.
445
Availability Heuristics
Events that are more easily remembered are judged as being more probable than events that are less easily remembered.
446
Illusory Correlations
Occur when a correlation between two events appear to exist, but in reality there is no correlation or it is much weaker than it is assumed to be.
447
Stereotype
An oversimplified generalization about a group or class of people that often focuses on the negative.
448
Representativeness Heuristic
States that the probability that A is a member of class B can be determined by how well the properties of A resembles the properties we usually associate with class B. Related to the idea that people often make judgements based on how much one event resembles another event.
449
Base Rate
The relative proportion of the different classes in the population. Base rate neglect is ignoring that number that defines a question and just paying attention to the other details.
450
Conjunction Rule
The probability of a conjunction of two events (A and B) cannot be higher than the probability of the single constituents (A alone or B alone).
451
Law of Large Numbers
The larger the number of individuals that are randomly drawn from a population, the more representative the resulting group will be of the entire population.
452
Myside Bias
The tendency for people to generate and evaluate evidence and test their hypotheses in a way that is biased toward their own opinions and attitudes.
Type of confirmation bias.
453
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to selectively look for info that conforms to our hypothesis and to overlook info that argues against it.
454
Deductive Reasoning
Reasoning that involves syllogisms in which a conclusion logically follows from premises. Determine whether a conclusion logically follows from statements called premises. Starts with general rules like “all dogs like bacon.”
455
Syllogism
Consists of two premises followed by a third statement called a conclusion.
456
Categorical Syllogisms
The premises and conclusion are statements that begin with “all, no, or some.”
457
Validity
A syllogism is valid when the form of the syllogism indicates that it’s conclusion follows logically from its two premises.
All A are B, All B are C, therefore, all A are C. Valid.
458
Belief Bias
The tendency to think a syllogism is valid if it’s conclusion is believable.
459
Mental Model Approach
Determining if syllogisms are valid by creating mental models of situations based on the premises of the syllogism.
460
Mental Model
A specific situation represented in a person’s mind that can be used to help determine the validity of syllogisms in deductive reasoning.
461
Conditional Syllogisms
Syllogisms that have two premises and a conclusion like categorical syllogisms, but the first premise has the form “if...then.”
462
Modus Ponens
The way that affirms by affirming. Type of conditional syllogism. The conclusion follows logically from the two premises.
463
Modus Tollens
The way that denies by denying. Second premise: not q, conclusion: therefore, not p. Valid.
464
Wason Four-Card Problem
A conditional reasoning task developed by Wason that involves four card (for ex. with numbers on one side and letters on the other). Various versions of this have been used to study the mechanisms that determine the outcomes of conditional reasoning tasks. You flip over the one that might go against the rule you’re trying to prove to see if it goes against it. Check the two that affirm the antecedent and deny the consequent to see if the rule is correct.
465
Falsification Principle
To test a rule, it’s necessary to look for situations that would falsify the rule.
466
Permission Schema
If a person satisfies a specific condition (being of a legal drinking age), then he or she gets to carry out an action (drinking alcohol). Better at answering in this form probably because of familiarity and concrete compared to abstract.
467
Social Exchange Theory
An important aspect of human behavior is the ability for two people to cooperate in a way that is beneficial to both people.
468
Dual Systems Approach
The idea that there are two mental systems: a fast, automatic, intuitive system (system 1) and a slower, more deliberative, thoughtful system (system 2).
469
Truth
Whether the conclusion reflects reality.
470
Expected Utility Theory
Assumes that people are basically rational. According to this theory, if people have all of the relevant info, they’ll make a decision that results in he maximum expected utility. Allows for variation between people, based on their situation and preference.
Picking the option that has the most value to you. Always moving up on the charts.
471
Utility
Outcomes that achieve a person’s goal.
472
Expected Emotions
Emotions that people predict they’ll feel for a particular outcome.
473
Risk Aversion
The tendency to avoid taking risks.
474
Incidental Emotions
Emotions that are not caused by having to make a decision.
475
Opt-In Procedure
Procedure in which a person must take an active step to choose a course of action such as choosing to be an organ donor.
476
Opt-Out Procedure
Procedure in which a person much take an active step to avoid a course of action.
477
Status Quo Bias
The tendency to do nothing when faced with making a decision.
478
Risk Aversion Strategy
A decision-making strategy that is governed by the idea of avoiding risk. Often used when a problem is stated in terms of gains.
479
Risk-Taking Strategy
A decision-making strategy that is governed by the idea of taking risks. Often used when a problem is stated in terms of losses.
480
Framing Effect
Decisions are influenced by how the choices are stated, or framed.
481
Neuroeconomics
Combines research from the fields of psych, neuro, and economics to study how brain activation is related to decisions that involve potential gains or losses.
482
Ultimatum Game
A game in which a proposer is given a sum of money and makes an offer to a responder as to how the money should be split between them. The responder must choose to accept the offer or reject it. Only one trial (either get some from accepting or nothing from rejecting it). Used to study people’s decision-making strategies.
483
Anchoring
Relying strongly on presented values to make estimates.
484
Adjustment
Making judgements by “adjusting” away from an anchor.
485
Declining Marginal Utility
The more of something you add like money, the less of a difference it makes. Ex. Adding $200 to a bank of $2M doesn’t make a big difference.
486
Endowment Effect
When you possess something, it automatically becomes more valuable to you. You resell things for more than what you bought it for.
487
Context Effects
The set of choices themselves can change your order of preference. Ex. When you can’t decide between two reasonable apartments, but then you see a dump apartment and go for the cheaper of the other two.
488
Sunk Cost Fallacy
Refusing to abandon a prior investment, even when it results in a worst outcome.
489
Empathy Gap
People have a hard time predicting the preference of others and predicting their own future preferences bc we underestimate the effects of context and we look at our current feelings, like hunger.
