Intro, Neuroscience, and Perception Flashcards
What is cognitive psychology?
the study of mental processes like memory, language use/comprehension, attention, reasoning, and perception
What is the mind?
the mind creates and controls mental functions such as perception, attention, memory, emotions, language, deciding, thinking, and reasoning
Explain the computer analogy
The brain is like a computer’s hardware, while the mind is like the computer’s software that uses the parts of the hardware to create our experiences.
Difference between cognitive psychology and neuroscience
neuroscience seeks to understand mental processes by describing the biological systems involved in cognitive processes
cog. psych. is focused on describing the cognitive processes (steps, how they work)
What makes studying the mind difficult?`
It cannot be directly observed, we have to rely on behavior or physiological responses to get information about mental processes
What is the Donders’ Decision Time Experiment?
Donders measured how long it takes a person to make a decision through two tasks:
-Simple RT Task: push button quickly after light turns on
-Choice RT Task: participant pushes one button if light is on right and one button is light is on left
He reasoned that the simple RT condition measured reaction time and choice RT condition measured reaction time PLUS decision time, making Decision Time = Average Choice RT - Average Simple RT
Significance of Donders’ Decision Time Experiment
showed that observable responses can provide insight into unobservable mental processes
What was the Ebbinghaus Memory Experiment?
Ebbinghaus was interested in the rate at which we forget and relearn information so he learned a list of “nonsense” syllables. He found that after learning the list once, he learned it faster the second time. He called this difference Savings. He tested the amount of savings he had at various time intervals
Conclusions of Ebbinghaus’ Memory Experiment
It takes less time to relearn a list because the original is still partly present in memory.
He found that the longer the interval between learning and relearning, the smaller the time savings.
Decline in savings was due to list slowly being lost from memory
Savings level off after 2 days
Significance of Ebbinghaus’ Memory Experiment
-demonstrated that memory could be measured and quantified
-proposed a general rule for forgetting
-gained insight into a property of the mind by measuring observable behavior
What is a scientific revolution?
when there is a shift in thinking from one scientific paradigm to another
What is a paradigm?
a system of ideas that dominates science at a particular time
What approach to psychology was dominant prior to behaviorism?
Structuralism - the idea that mental experience can be broken down into basic elements called sensations
What technique was used in structuralism?
analytic introspection, a technique where trained participants described their thought process in response to stimuli
Why were behaviorists uninterested in studying the mind?
-believed psychology should focus on observable behaviors
-believed observable behaviors should not be used to get insight into the mind
What factors led to the paradigm shift from Behaviorism to Cognitivism? (+ examples)
-behaviorism’s failure to explain complex human behavior (reinforcement and punishment couldn’t explain things like language acquisition
-introduction of the digital computer inspired new ways of thinking (flow diagrams depicted processing information in stages which related to the mind)
-neuroimaging
Flow Diagrams and Broadbent’s filter model
flow diagrams depict the way that computers process information in stages
provided inspiration for the idea that we can depict mental processes in a similar way
Broadbent: Input -> Filter -> Detector -> Memory
Levels of Analysis (and example in neuroscience)
we do not examine topics from a single POV but multiple angles and different points of view, each viewpoint adds info that can be combined for greater understanding
(understanding the function of individual neurons allowed us to understand higher order cognitive phenomena)
neurons
brain cells that specialize in communication, interactions give rise to words, actions, ideas, and psychological experiences
Cell body
center of neurons, builds new cell components
dendrites
branched extensions from the cell body that receive information from other neurons
axon
tail of the neuron, extends toward other neurons to transmit information. covered in myelin sheath.
