Glossary 6

Question 1

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 judgments. This explanation has been used as one of the arguments against describing imagery as a depictive or spatial representation. (10)

Answer 1

Tacit knowledge explanation

Question 2

A problem to be solved. In analogical problem solving, solution of this problem can become easier when the problem-solver is exposed to an analogous source problem or story. See also Source problem. (12)

Answer 2

Target problem

Question 3

The lobe on the side of the brain that contains mechanisms responsible for language, memory, hearing, and vision. (2)

Answer 3

Temporal lobe

Question 4

A situation in which the meaning of a sentence, based on its initial words, is ambiguous because a number of meanings are possible, depending on how the sentence unfolds. “Cast iron sinks quickly rust” is an example of a sentence that creates temporary ambiguity. (11)

Answer 4

Temporary ambiguity

Question 5

Enhanced performance on a memory test caused by being tested on the material to be remembered. (7)

Answer 5

Testing effect

Question 6

Darwin’s theory that characteristics that enhance an animal’s ability to survive and reproduce will be passed on to future generations. (3)

Answer 6

Theory of natural selection

Question 7

A procedure in which subjects are asked to say out loud what they are thinking while doing a problem. This procedure is used to help determine people’s thought processes as they are solving a problem. (12)

Answer 7

Think aloud protocol

Question 8

Processing that involves a person’s knowledge or expectations. This type of processing has also been called knowledge-based processing. (3)

Answer 8

Top-down processing

Question 9

Each point on a visual stimulus causes activity at a specific location on a brain structure, such as the visual cortex, and points next to each other on the stimulus cause activity at points next to each other on the structure. (4)

Answer 9

Topographic map

Question 10

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. (12)

Answer 10

Tower of Hanoi problem

Question 11

A procedure in which magnetic pulses are applied to the skull in order to temporarily disrupt the functioning of part of the brain.(9)

Answer 11

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

Question 12

When the type of task that occurs during encoding matches the type of task that occurs during retrieval. This type of processing can result in enhanced memory. (7)

Answer 12

Transfer appropriate processing

Question 13

A problem first described by Maier in which a person is given the task of attaching two strings together that are too far apart to be reached at the same time. This task was devised to illustrate the operation of functional fixedness. (12)

Answer 13

Two-string problem

Question 14

The ability to judge the truth or falsity of sentences involving high-prototypical members of a category more rapidly than sentences involving low-prototypical members of a category. See also Sentence verification technique. (9)

Answer 14

Typicality effect

Question 15

A game in which a proposer is given a sum of money and makes an offer to a responder as to how this money should be split between them. The responder must choose to accept the offer or reject it. This game has been used to study people’s decision-making strategies. (13)

Answer 15

Ultimatum game

Question 16

Helmholtz’s idea that some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions that we make about the environment. See also Likelihood principle. (3)

Answer 16

Unconscious inference

Question 17

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. (10)

Answer 17

Unilateral neglect

Question 18

“Neuronlike processing units” in a connectionist network. See also Hidden units; Input units; output units. (9)

Answer 18

Units

Question 19

Outcomes that achieve a person’s goals; in economic terms, the maximum monetary payoff. (13)

Answer 19

Utility

Question 20

Quality of a syllogism whose conclusion follows logically from its premises. (13)

Answer 20

Validity

Question 21

The ability to recognize an object seen from different viewpoints. (3)

Answer 21

Viewpoint invariance

Question 22

Area in the occipital lobe that receives signals from the eyes. (2)

Answer 22

Visual cortex

Question 23

A type of mental imagery involving vision, in which an image is experienced in the absence of a visual stimulus. (5, 10)

Answer 23

Visual imagery

Question 24

Movement of the eyes from one location or object to another. (4)

Answer 24

Visual scanning

Question 25

Occurs when a person is looking for one stimulus or object among a number of other stimuli or objects. (4)

Answer 25

Visual search

Question 26

In experiments on language processing, determining how subjects are processing information in a scene as they respond to specific instructions related to the scene. (11)

Answer 26

Visual world paradigm

Question 27

The part of working memory that holds and processes visual and spatial information. See also Central executive; Phonological loop; Working memory. (5)

Answer 27

Visuospatial sketch pad

Question 28

Small cube-shaped areas in the brain used in the analysis of data from brain scanning experiments. (2)

Answer 28

Voxel

Question 29

A conditional reasoning task developed by Wason that involves four cards. Various versions of this problem have been used to study the mechanisms that determine the outcomes of conditional reasoning tasks. (13)

Answer 29

Wason four-card problem

Question 30

A problem, first described by Luchins, that illustrates how mental set can influence the strategies that people use to solve a problem. (12)

Answer 30

Water jug problem

Question 31

The tendency for eyewitnesses to a crime to focus attention on a weapon, which causes poorer memory for other things that are happening. (8)

Answer 31

Weapons focus

Question 32

A condition, caused by damage to Wernicke’s area, that is characterized by difficulty in understanding language, and fluent, grammatically correct, but incoherent speech. (11)

Answer 32

Wernicke’s aphasia

Question 33

Area in the temporal lobe associated with understanding language. Damage to this area causes Wernicke’s aphasia. (2)

Answer 33

Wernicke’s area

Question 34

Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the temporal lobe, that is associated with perceiving or recognizing objects. Corresponds to the perception pathway. (3)

Answer 34

What pathway

Question 35

Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the parietal lobe, that is associated with neural processing that occurs when people locate objects in space. Roughly corresponds to the action pathway. (3)

Answer 35

Where pathway

Question 36

Procedure used in Sperling’s experiment on the properties of the visual icon, in which participants were instructed to report all of the stimuli they saw in a presentation. See also Partial report method; Sensory memory. (5)

Answer 36

Whole report method

Question 37

The relative usage of words in a particular language. For example, in English, home has higher word frequency than hike. (11)

Answer 37

Word frequency

Question 38

The phenomenon of faster reading time for high-frequency words than for low-frequency words. (11)

Answer 38

Word frequency effect

Question 39

The notion that it is more difficult to remember a list of long words than a list of short words. (5)

Answer 39

Word length effect

Question 40

The idea that letters are easier to identify when they are part of a word than when they are seen in isolation or in a string of letters that do not form a word. (11)

Answer 40

Word superiority effect

Question 41

A limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning. (5)

Answer 41

Working memory

Question 42

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. See also consolidation; synaptic consolidation. (7)

Answer 42

Systems consolidation