Princeton Psych Ch 4 - Interacting with the Environment Flashcards
There are two unique components to attention. Describe what selective attention means.
Selection attention is the process by which one input is attend to and the rest are tuned out. We don’t have the capacity to pay attention to everything.
What is the Broadbent filter Model of Selective Attention?
Inputs from the environment first enter a sensory buffer. One of these inputs is then selected and filtered based on phys characteristics of the input (sensory modality). Other sensory info stays in the buffer briefly but quickly decays. The next step involves the info entering short term memory storage, and semantic ( meaning making) processes occur.
What’s the flow of attended + unattended messages for Broadbent filter Model of Selective Attention.
attended + unattended messages –> sensory store –> selective filter (where unattended messages decay –> higher level processing –> working memory
What is the cocktail party effect?
When information of personal importance from previously unattended channels catches our attention.
What is Anne Triesman’s Attenuation Model?
Rather than a filter, the mind has an “attenuator” that turns down unattended sensory input but doesn’t eliminate it.
What is the flow of attended + unattended messages for the Attenuation Model?
attended + unattended –> sensory store –> attenuating filter (unattended is attenuated) –> higher level processing –> working memory
What is selective priming?
People can be selectively primed to observe something, either by encountering it frequently or by having an expectation. See page 98 for examples.
What’s the binding problem?
A problem with visual processing is the binding problem. The problem of how all these different aspects are assembled together and related to a SINGLE object.
There are two unique components to attention. Describe what divided attention means.
Concerns when and if we are able to perform multiple tasks simultaneously, depending on the characteristics of the activies one is trying to multitask.
Resource model of attention.
We have a limited pool of resources on which to draw when performing tasks.
Which three factors are associated with multitasking?
Task similarity ( more similar = few resources required), task difficulty, task practice ( practice diminishes task resource demand so we may free up resources to allow for multitasking).
Describe Alan Baddely’s model or working memory (short term memory). See page 101 for clues.
4 components: 1) phonological loop: allows us to repeat verbal info to help us remember; 2) visualspatial sketchpad - use of mental images for visual spatial information; 3) episodic buffer - integrate info from the loop and sketchpad with a sense of time and to interface with long-term memory stores; 4) central executive - oversees entire process, orchestrates process by shifting and dividing attention.
What are Jean Piaget’s Schemas?
Schemas are mental frameworks that shape and are shaped by our experience. As we encounter new experiences, we either assimilate those experiences by conforming them into our existing schemas or we accommodate by adjusting our schemas to take into account the new experience. Think of the monster under bed example.
Piaget’s 1st stage of development.
Sensorimotor stage - from birth to 2. Babies experience the world through their senses and movement.
Object permanence is learned in which stage of Piaget’s stages of development?
Sensorimotor stage - from birth to about 2.
Piaget’s 2nd stage of development.
Preoperational stage - roughly 2 -7. Children learn things that can be represented through symbols such as words and images. Pretend play. Still lack logical reasoning. Egocentric.
Piaget’s 3rd stage of development.
Concrete Operational Stage - 7 -11. Children learn to think logically about concrete events.
The principle of conservation if learned in which stage of Piaget’s developmental stages?
Concrete operational. Conservation is the idea that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape. Think same amount of water and two vases with different shapes.
Piaget’s 4th stage of development.
Formal Operational Stage - 12 and through adulthood. People learn about reasoning ( eg. hypothesizing) and moral reasoning.
What cognitive changes occur during late adulthood (in terms of memory)?
When you old ass hell, you show memory decline in recall ( retrieving information from memory w/o any clues), while recognition remains intact. Recog = retrieving info from memory with clues.
Name 2 other cognitive changes that occur with the elderly, aside from memory deficits.
Time based tasks such as taking medication 3x a day; they also have slower information processing abilities as evidenced by slower reaction times and speech.
Biological factors affect cognition. Comment on the frontal lobe and hippocampus.
The frontal lobes play a role in executive functions, including organizing, inhibiting impulses and flexible thinking. The hippocampus = involved in formation of new memories.
List and describe the three approaches to problem solving.
1) Trial and error; 2) algorithm - a step by step procedure; 3) heuristics - mental shortcuts; sometimes we get a sudden flash of inspiration without actively thinking about a problem, an insight.
Explain confirmation bias.
Barrier to effective problem solving. A tendency to search only for information that confirms our preconceived thinking, rather than information that might not support it.
Explain fixation.
Barrier to effective problem solving. An inability to see the problem from a fresh perspective. Two types: mental set ( tendency to fixate on solutions that worked in the past but not apply to the current situation) and functional fixedness ( tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed)
Explain the two types of heuristics.
Availability - memory of specific instances (ex. who’s better: Beethoven or Haydn?); representative - our generalizations about people and events (ex.one bad incident with postal worker means everyone at USPS is bad).
Explain belief bias.
The tendency to judge arguments based on what one believes about their conclusions rather than on whether they use sound logic. We tend to accept conclusions that fit without beliefs. We assume doctors are good people and believe the person is innocent if charged with a heinous crime.
Define consciousness.
The awareness that we have of ourselves, our internal states, and the environment.
Explain alertness/arousal and which structures in the brain control them.
Alertness and arousal involve the ability to remain attentive to what’s gong on. They are controlled by structures within the brainstem known as the “reticular formation” or RAS. “activating system”
What does polysomnography test and what are its components?
Measures physio processes during sleep. 1) EEG - electrical impulses in brain; 2) EMG - skeletal muscle movements; 3) EOG - eye movement
Describe the “awake stage” in stages of sleep.
The person is awake, but sleepy and relaxed. EEG = alpha waves, which have low amplitudes and high frequencies. Indicates person about to drift to sleep.
Describe Stage 1 of sleep.
First stage of non-REM. EEG = theta waves ( low to moderate intensity and intermediate frequecy). EOG - slow rolling eye movements; EMG - moderate activity.
Describe Stage 2 of sleep.
EEG = theta waves mixed with K-complexes (large and slow) and sleep spindles ( bursts of waves that don’t last long. EOG - NO eye movement. EMG - moderate activity.
Describe Stage 3 and Stage 4 of sleep.
Person transitions to slow wave, deep sleep. EEG = delta waves ( high amp and low frequency). EOG - NO eye movement. EMG - moderate muscle movement. Pulse + digestion = slow; GH secreted.
