Human information processing

Question 1

Input stage

Answer 1

senses stimulus

goes to sensory memory- held long enough for unconscious interpretation (whether to pay attention to it or not)

Question 2

processing stage

Answer 2

occurs at CDM(central decision maker)- only single channel processing
incoming info in working memory compared to past experiences in long term memory
can also decide to store new information in long term memory

Question 3

3 stages of information processing

Answer 3

input
processing
response

Question 4

response stage

Answer 4

physical or verbal form

could be thoughts, eye movements, doing nothing etc

Question 5

automatic processing

Answer 5

before its perceived, a decision is made by procedural memory (part of long term)
response follows

Question 6

selective attention

Answer 6

ability select from the many factors or stimuli and focus to any one you prefer or your brain selects
able to avoid internal & external distractions
cocktail party effect

Question 7

divided attention

Answer 7

ability to concentrate on 2 or more environmental factors, stimuli or activities simultaneously (multi tasking)
however CDM can only say attention to 1 piece of info at time consciously
can perform 1 conscious task and 1 unconscious task at the same time eg playing an instrument

Question 8

attention span

Answer 8

ability to maintain concentration on a piece of information

Question 9

vigilance

Answer 9

monitoring
sustaining attention on something so as to notice when a non-ordinary/ dangerous event happens
vigilance will change through the day(linked with circadian rhythm )

Question 10

hypo vigilance

Answer 10

low vigilance
occurs due to:
low lighting, heat, monotony, reduction of workload, fatigue

re-stimulate brain by:
doing a task 
read through you manual (in flight training)
sleep
caffeine(short term boost)
communicate with co worker

Question 11

perception

Answer 11

allows us to make sense of things
3 steps:
selection of stimuli
organisation of information
interpreting

Question 12

selection of stimuli

Answer 12

stuff we pay attention to influenced by motifs
perceptual expectancy- perceiving tings a certain way based on what you expect and assume based on the world
salient objects- stimuli that stand out, eg loud noise
cocktail party effect

Question 13

organisation of information

Answer 13

turn information into meaningful patterns to make sense of it
gestalts laws: brain wants to group things together where possible
grouping info can lead to misguided perceptions

mental schemas: mental representation of categories
allow us to think quickly however inaccurate. impressions on people based on appearance etc
stereotypes also help make sense of things, simplify and arrange info, dangerous when they no longer reflect reality

Question 14

Gestalt’s law of proximity

Answer 14

people see clusters of dots rather than large number of individual dots

Question 15

Gestalt’s law of similarity

Answer 15

see similar objects as clusters

Question 16

Gestalt’s figure ground law

Answer 16

objects in fore ground are more prominent and obvious

Question 17

Gestalt’s law of closure

Answer 17

our perception will complete incomplete objects such as the lines in the IBM logo

Question 18

interpreting

Answer 18

starting to categorise to better understand & react to it
interpretation is highly subjective, different people will interpret stimuli different ways
affected by: values, culture, needs, beliefs, experiences, expectations
perceptual constancy: tendancy to interpret familiar objects as having standard shape, size, colour or location regardless of changes in image on retina. eg snow being white no matter whether day or night
types:
size constancy
shape constancy
distance constancy
colour constancy
auditory constancy

Question 19

size constancy

Answer 19

perception of an objects size will not change regardless of changes in distance or size on the retina

Question 20

shape constancy

Answer 20

despite change in orientation we perceive the object as still being the same shape
eg. door opening. changes orientation but we know the door is still the same shape

Question 21

distance constancy

Answer 21

relationship between apparent distance and physical distance
eg- moon looks closer when lower near the horizon

Question 22

colour constancy

Answer 22

different shades and shadows show things as different but we see them as the same
colour of an object stays the same under varying conditions

Question 23

auditory constancy

Answer 23

can perceive sounds despite them sounding different
different guitars sound different but we still know they’re guitars
2 people sound different but they can both say the same word and we understand the word

Question 24

bottom up/ data driven processing

Answer 24

perceptual experience is based entirely on the data available from our senses
requires no previous knowledge or learning

Question 25

top down/ conceptually driven processing

Answer 25

perceptions influenced by expectation(perceptual set), beliefs and understanding
helps quickly make sense of environment around us
problem- hinders our ability to perceive things in a new and different way

Question 26

sensory store

Answer 26

stimuli above sensory threshold go into sensory store
stays long enough for perception

iconic memory: visual info lasts 0.5-1sec
echoic memory: audio info and playback facility - lasts 2-8sec
if info deemed important we can continue information processing model

Question 27

short term/ working memory

Answer 27

info held for 10-30 secs
max it can hold is 7 +or - 2 bits of info
only tend to remember last info- new replaces old
sensitive to interactions and distractions
spacial info held in visual code(visual spatial sketchpad)
verbal info in acoustic form in the phonological loop

Question 28

methods to improve short term memory

Answer 28

repetition and rehearsal

to improve amount we can store- chunking, chunk lots of bits into fewer chunks

Question 29

long term memory

Answer 29

unlimited- no limits, stored according to type

2 types: explicit and implicit

Question 30

long term implicit memory

Answer 30

implicit memory- unconscious recall, no declarative, procedural memory (skills)

Question 31

long term explicit memory

Answer 31

trying to intentionally remember something, consciously recall,
declarative - can consciously recall and explain information
2 types:
semantic- facts concepts
episodic- events, experiences

amnesia- affects episodic memory, can’t remember events that were previously permanently stored
expectations & desires - also affect episodic memory

Question 32

learning

Answer 32

changing our behaviour as a result of experience
natural part of life
can be positive or negative

Question 33

learning: classical conditioning

Answer 33

behavouralistic
learning through association
pavlov approach, new stimulus for an original response

Question 34

learning: operant conditioning

Answer 34

behavouralistic
consequences of actions
pos and neg reinforcement

Question 35

learning: observation/ imitation/ modeling

Answer 35

behavouralistic

learn through seeing what someone else does

Question 36

learning: insight

Answer 36

cognitive

use our brains & past experience to solve how to do something

Question 37

improving learning

Answer 37

repetition
mnemonics
memory training
rhymes, songs

Question 38

things affecting ability to learn

Answer 38

environment
motivation
hunger
tiredness

Question 39

mental schemas

Answer 39

representations of categories of objects, event and people
allow to think quick
can change how we interpret information

person schema- help understand certain people
social schemas- help us know how to act in social situations
self schema- how we view ourselfs
event schemas- what we expect at events- shake hands at an interview

influence what we want to pay attention to when learning
also impact how quick we relate/ learn new things

Question 40

Skills

Answer 40

coordinated pattern of actions allowing us to perform tasks well
3phases- Andersons model
cognitive- consciously thinking about each individual part
associative phase- separate actions of the skill become as one
autonomous phase- fully developed- can execute smoothly & completely automatically- stored in procedural

when stressed or overloaded skills become harder

Question 41

mental/ motor programmes

Answer 41

motor program- automatic - correct order of actions applied for a skill
can use it to allow brain to be used for something else
can make errors as not paying attention to it