Module 1- Introduction Flashcards
How much does the brain approximately weigh?
Around 3 pounds
What is the most sophisticated computing device in the known universe?
A- human brain
B- Google car
C- calculator
D- Deep blue (chess playing computer)
A = the human brain
What is a basic definition of cognition?
The sum of all intelligent mental activities + the acquisition and processing of sensory information about the world in order to make behavioural decisions.
Why is the study of cognition made up of multiple fields and subfields of scientific research?
Because cognition encompasses many different kinds of abilities
+
Intelligent behaviour itself is multifaceted.
Name the many areas of cognition we will study this semester.
- Perception
- Attention
- Short-term memory
- Long-term memory
- Language
-Problem solving - Decision making
What is the primary concern of the field of cognition?
Understanding the processes that allow things to go right.
Which of these would not be considered part of cognition?
A - memory
B - language
C - digestion
D - perception
C - digestion
What are the two major disciplines to understand brain functioning?
- Experimental psychology
- Neuroscience
What is basic research?
Scientific research whose goal is to try to understand the world and its phenomena without regard to a specific end-use of this knowledge.
What is the goal of basic research?
To understand who we humans are as a species and what makes us tick
What is applied research?
Research concerned with the end goal of developing an application or solution to a problem.
What is a motivation for cognition that is connected to machines and what is this field called?
Try to build machines that can do the same types of cognitions as humans
Artificial intelligence
What can be said about the progress of artificial intelligence?
It has made a lot of progress since the 1950’s when it was first attempted, but there are still many tasks that artificial intelligence cannot do as well as humans. It is no where close to the complicated processes made by the human brain.
Historically, artificial intelligence has been least successful at tasks that require what kind of capability?
A. Fast performance
B. Many calculations
C. Large memory
D. Flexible thinking
D. Flexible thinking
What changed in ai development that created a revolution in the field?
They are no longer programmed based on a human writing the computer code to decide what it should do, it is now programmed to learn.
What is called the new programming approach in ai?
Machine learning
What is neuroscience?
The study of the physical brain and related systems
What is the field of cognitive psychology?
Studying intelligent behaviour itself
What does cognitive psychology use to study intelligence?
Behavioural experiments
Method in which researchers observe the behaviour of people or other organisms in their natural habitat, without any experimental intervention.
Naturalistic observation
What are the results of experiments in cognitive psychology often open to interpretation and debate?
Because the methodology is kind of indirect
What is one limitation of cognitive psychology?
The complexity of each of the individual fields is such that they can become relative islands of research without making much direct contact with the other fields.
What is the goal of computational modeling?
Understanding the brain based on simulating brain processes or functions using computer-based models.
A field of psychology concerned with applying scientific findings to the design of systems that people interact with.
Human factors