PSY Exam 2 Flashcards
How does brain activity change from waking states to sleeping states?
The brainwaves in stage 1 sleep are smaller and more uniform than in the awake state, which is referred to as alpha and theta waves.
What state is REM sleep most similar to?
Brain waves during REM sleep are similar to brain waves that occur during wakefulness. In fact, REM sleep is the stage of sleep that most closely resembles being awake.
How do circadian rhythms relate to sleep?
The body’s circadian rhythms control the sleep-wake cycle.
What does sleep have to do with our waking memories?
Lack of sleep affects a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is key for making new memories. You accumulate many memories, moment by moment, while you’re awake. Most will be forgotten during the day.
Why do we dream?
organize knowledge and form brain connections, which helps with memory recall
-Helps you consolidate and analyze memories
What happens to our bodies and our brains when we do not get enough sleep?
Sleep deprivation leaves your brain exhausted, so it can’t perform its duties as well.
What are the clinical sleep-problems?
Insomnia- chronic problems getting adequate sleep
Sleep apnea- breathing problems, usually associated with snoring
Somnambulism- sleep walking
RBD- acting out violent dreams
Describe the theories about dreams.
Freud-Wish fulfillment
-creative thinking /problem solving
-Activation synthesis
What is ‘mind-wandering’ and how often do we do it?
Thinking about something other than the current task & task goals
-Up to 50% of the time (Killingsworth & Gilbert 2010)
In what situations is mind-wandering problematic and when can it be beneficial?
Problematic: slower responses & problem-solving
Beneficial: increased creativity & problem-solving
What is mindfulness and what can it help with?
a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
-Focused attention, Biological changes, cognitive improvement.
Name and describe the three key processes in memory.
Encoding is defined as the initial learning of information;
Storage refers to maintaining information over time
Retrieval is the ability to access information when you need it.
How is selective attention involved in encoding?
Selective attention to a task-relevant stimulus facilitates encoding of that stimulus into a working memory representation.
Name three levels of processing and describe the differences.
Shallow processing (Rehearsal) - Structural encoding: emphasizes the physical structure of the stimulus
Intermediate processing (Chunking, Rhyming) - Phonemic encoding. emphasizes what a word sounds like
Deep processing (Visual Imagery) - Semantic encoding: emphasizes the meaning of verbal input
Define the three types of storage.
Sensory memory- Less than 1 sec., large limit, short term
Short-term memory- Working memory, small limits
Long-term memory- Indefinite time, limits & capacity
Describe the Sperling (1960s) study. What does this tell us about sensory memory?
George Sperling performed experiments designed to demonstrate the existence of visual sensory memory
-Sperling suggested that because the participants were focusing their attention on the indicated row before their visual memory faded, they were able to recall the information.
-Brief display was stored in an iconic memory
What is the capacity of short-term memory according to Miller and Cowen?
Miller: 7 + or - 2
Cowen: 3 + or - 1
What is a chunk? How can chunking information expand the size of short-term memory?
Chunking: grouping related items together
-By separating disparate individual elements into larger blocks, information becomes easier to retain and recall.
What is the Stroop Effect?
the Stroop effect is the delay in reaction time between congruent and incongruent stimuli. The effect has been used to create a psychological test that is widely used in clinical practice and investigation.
Define the working memory and the components of working memory.
Working memory is a limited capacity store for retaining information for a brief period while performing mental operations on that information. Working memory is a multi-component system which includes the central executive, visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, and episodic buffer.
Define working memory capacity. Name and define three things linked to working memory capacity.
Working memory capacity is similar to short-term memory
-high-level cognitive abilities, such as reading comprehension, complex reasoning, and intelligence
Define working memory capacity. Name and define three things linked to working memory capacity.
Working memory capacity is similar to short-term memory
-high-level cognitive abilities, such as reading comprehension, complex reasoning, and intelligence
Define the two primary type of memory systems and subsystems
Declarative memory: semantics, facts & knowledge, retrospective & prospective
Non-declarative memory: procedural, action skills, implicit, priming
What is a semantic network?
A semantic network is a representation of memory that describes the organization of declarative facts and knowledge in the mind
What is a schema?
A schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information.
Describe the Loftus and Palmer (1974) study. What does this tell us about the misinformation effect?
They found that misleading information did not alter the memory of people who had witnessed a real armed robbery. This implies that misleading information may have a greater influence in the lab rather and that Loftus and Palmer’s study may have lacked ecological validity.
Name and describe four possible causes for forgetting. Define the two types of interference.
Lack of sleep, Alcohol, Stress and anxiety, Depression
Proactive interference occurs when past learning interferes with new learning
Retroactive interference is the attenuation of memory for previous learning as a result of new knowledge.
Which area in the forebrain plays a central role in memory?
the hippocampus and neighboring structures of the medial temporal lobe are essential to memory
What is the distinction between retrograde and anterograde amnesia? Which type did H.M. have after surgery to reduce the severity of his epileptic seizures?
Anterograde amnesia (AA) refers to an impaired capacity for new learning.
Retrograde amnesia (RA) refers to the loss of information that was acquired before the onset of amnesia.
-Split brain surgery
What is consolidation and which part of the brain plays a key role in this process?
Consolidation a process in which information is stored in various parts of the brain and then put together fairly quickly to “recall” an event or memory.
Hippocampus plays an important role in consolidation
Name and describe the three theories of language acquisition.
Behaviorist theories: focuses on the idea that all behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment. (limitation, reinforcement, conditioning)
Nativist theories: children are born with an innate ability to organize laws of language (language is ‘hard wired’)
Interactionist theories: individuals learn about society through interactions with other people, and that society as a whole is created by a multitude of individual interactions. (evidence for both nativist & behaviorist)
How does bilingualism affect cognition?
Increased activation in the brain region associated with cognitive skills like attention and inhibition.
What was a concern that has recently been unsupported regarding bilingualism in children?
Concern: Slower language development
Early evidence: Yes
More recently: No
Concern: Slower processing, lower fluency
Evidence: Yes
What aspects of cognition may be improved by bilingualism?
Attention control: mixed findings
-increased activation in the brain region associated with cognitive skills like attention and inhibition.
What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
Language shapes experiences of the world (color naming studies, snowy places)
suggesting that the structure of a language affects its speakers’ worldview or cognition
What evidence is there supporting or going against the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
Supporting evidence
List and describe the 3 types of problems.
Inducing structure: discover relations between parts of a problem (merchant > sell , customer> buy)
Arrangement: arrange parts in a way that satisfies some criterion
Transformation: carrying out a sequence in order to reach a goal
Describe the barriers to effective problem-solving.
Irrelevant information
-try to use unnecessary info
Functional Fixedness
-stuck on most common use
Mental Set
-keep doing what worked before even if you shouldn’t
Unnecessary constraints
-pressured rules
How do we overcome these barriers?
Trail & error heuristics
-keep trying
Forming subgoals
-divide problem into smaller goals
Search for analogies
-solutions more obvious in another context
Changing representation
-solution more obvious in another format
Incubation
-walk away
What is a heuristic?
A mental shortcut
Why do we use heuristics? When do they help and when might they be unhelpful?
allow people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently.
when we’re attempting to make judgments about the frequency with which a certain event occurs.
they can introduce errors
What is incubation and how does it help with problem solving?
Walking away from a situation, can help avoid conflict
What is a base rate and why is it important?
the naturally occurring frequency of a phenomenon in a population.
-allow you to better understand the likelihood of certain events occurring in your life
Describe the conjunction fallacy, why does this happen?
Probability of two things greater than the probability of one thing
when we assign a higher probability to an event of higher specificity.
-Linda effect
-Mathematically impossible
What is the representativeness heuristic?
estimating the likelihood of an event by comparing it to an existing prototype that already exists in our minds
Probability= similarity to prototype
-Stereotypes
-Gambler’s Fallacy
What is the availability heuristic and how is it different from the representativeness heuristic?
availability heuristic: Cognitive bias in which you make a decision based on an example
representativeness heuristic: estimating the likelihood of an event by comparing it to an existing prototype that already exists in our minds
Describe or give an example of the gambler’s fallacy.
occurs when an individual erroneously believes that a certain random event is less likely or more likely to happen based on the outcome of a previous event or series of events.
Why might we have evolved to use decision-making strategies that seem to yield
irrational results?
Avoid making assumptions or mistakes
What is a mental age and how is it different from IQ?
Mental age: behavior typical of chronological age
IQ: Mental age, chronological age *100
How is IQ calculated and how does that change with age?
the ratio of a person’s mental age to his chronological (physical) age, multiplied by 100.
How does IQ relate to job success and academic performance based on evidence
from scientific studies?
high IQs are comparably reliable in predicting academic success, job performance, career potential and creativity
What were Sternberg’s theorized 3 types of intelligence?
practical, creative, and analytical intelligence
What hereditary evidence is there for a genetic component of IQ?
Studies have not conclusively identified any genes that have major roles in differences in intelligence.
What role does environment play in IQ?
Flynn effect
Adoptee similarity to adoptive parents
Deprivation & enrichment
