P+C 2/2 Flashcards
What is cognition?
The experimental study of mental life
What theory did William James propose?
Behaviourism
- clarified foundations of the empiricist tradition
- claimed the newborn mind was a ‘tabula rasa’
- everything is learnt (not nativist)
What is associationism?
- Learning on the basis of contiguity (co-occurrence of things in space and time)
- Learning on the basis of frequency (how often things occur together)
Is behaviourism physical or abstract? What does this mean?
Physical - established laws of behaviour and learning
What was Thorndike’s law of effect?
Animals can learn responses to things that are rewarded
What is operant conditioning?
Animals learn responses to things that are punished
Why does the law of effect work?
It strengthens/weakens the stimulus-response (S-R) bond
What is Watson’s Law of exercise?
The more often a given situation is followed by a specific response the association becomes stronger - rote learning
What were Skinner’s 3 main proposals?
all explanations of behaviour are descriptions of environmental histories
operant conditioning shapes behaviour
wait for responses then reinforce if appropriate - positive reinforcement
What is constructivism?
People construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through their experiences and reflections on them
How did Tolman explain animal behaviour?
It is ‘goal directed’
emphasis on molar achievement rather than molecular movements
learning does not necessarily depend on S-R bonds
Reinforcement is not necessary for learning
What is latent learning?
rats in a maze ‘learnt’ the layout (determined by decreased entrance in to dead ends) with and without a food stimulus
What is a cognitive map?
spatial knowledge of an area represented in one’s mind that is not measurable or observable
What does Experimental Psychology use to test its theories?
IVs –> intervening variables –> DVs
What does Cognitive Psychology use to test its theories?
Biological + environmental conditions –> psychological states + traits –> behavioural manifestations
What does behaviourism use to test its theories?
causes –> outcomes
What is Chomsky’s Poverty of Stimulus argument?
There is not enough exposure to language in everyday life for language learning to be done wholly through the environment
What is universal grammar?
The assumption that we have a language acquisition device that is innate
What is generative grammar?
innate phrasing and grammar rules
What did Miller (1956) determine?
The ‘magic number’ of items one can keep in their working memory is 7 (+-2)
What did Newell and Simon (1958, 1960) create?
A General Problem Solver (GPS) that was a simulation of mental processes