Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

Question 1

What is the definition of cognitive, psychology and science

Answer 1

cognitive
- The mental process and action of acquiring new knowledge and understanding through experience, thoughts and senses

psychology
- the scientific study of the human mind, especially how actions are influenced in a specific context

science
- the systematic study of the natural world through observations and experiments

Question 2

Explain the four types of attention

Answer 2

overt attention = directing attention to the object
covert attention = attention that is outside of the eyesight
divided attention = attending to more than one objects at a time
selective attention = focusing on one object

Question 3

what are the three steps of folk devil theory

Answer 3

symbolising
oversimplifying the stereotyped fashion

exaggerating
making up facts that are against the stereotyped

predicting
making predictions and assumptions that the stereotyped is going to act immorally in the future

Question 4

How can the Folk Devil Theory and selective attention explain the Memphis 3 and the HMS Sydney incident

Answer 4

since the Germans were already labelled as the enemies, evidence against the Germans are emphasised, and other evidence could be overlooked = selective attention

Question 5

Explain categorisation, attention and identification

Answer 5

type 1 stimulus:
- easiest to learn
- when identifying type 1 stimulus, other aspects not related to the categorisation (e.g., shape) = can be overlooked

type 6 stimulus:
- hardest to learn
- requires the identification of all aspects, therefore, all aspects are paid attention to

Question 6

Can categorisation be predicted by identification

Answer 6

No, it can’t. Most categorisation requires less attention than identification, since identification requires attention on all aspects of the figure. Therefore, categorisation may turns out to have a lower error rate than predicted

Question 7

Explain the Bartlett experiment and the results

Answer 7

Telling an American indigenous story to British, and have them come back to repeat the story at different timepoints

Results:
The general content and gist of the story remains
However,
the style is altered
some stereotyped items were added to the story (e.g., totem)
meanings are added to the story
Without frequent reproduction, the details were omitted or simplified

Question 8

Explain the method that indigenous people use to ensure the accuracy of oral traditions

Answer 8

the method of loci, which involves utilising environmental cues to encode and reinforce memories

Question 9

How was the account of the German sailors prove to be credible?

Answer 9

By comparing the German sailors’ accounts to the Zipf’s law (most frequent word = 2x second most frequent word = 2x third most frequent word)

Aligns with the law = credible