Psychology Cognition Flashcards
What are the four pillars of information processing?
- Thinking requires sensation, emotion, and storage.
- Stimuli must be analyzed by the brain.
- Decisions in one situation can be extrapolated in order to help solve a different problem
- Problem solving is not only dependent on a cognitive level, but also on the context and complexity of the situation.
What was Jean Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive theory?
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete Operational
Formal Operational
What is accommodation vs assimilation in terms of Piaget’s cognitive theory?
Assimilation is classifying new information to preexisiting schemas.
Accommodation is schemas being modified to fit new information.
Describe the Sensorimotor Stage.
Age: First two years of life.
The child learns to manipulate the environment around him/her. Sucking thumb , or throwing objects in order to get a physical response.
The end of this stage occurs when Object Permanence develops.
Describe the Preoperational Stage
Age: 2- 7 years.
Characterized by egocentrism, symbolic thinking, and inability to understand conservation.
Describe Concerete Operational
Age: 7-11 years.
Child has gained the ability to understand conservation. Child will begin thinking logically.
Describe Formal Operational
Age: 11 +
Child has gained the ability to think abstract thoughts.
Relate Culture and Cognitive Developement
Vygotsky claimed one’s culture was the driving force behind cognitive development. The ideas, thoughts, roles passed down from one generation to the next determines how a child will develop.
Compare fluid and crystallized intelligence.
Fluid intelligence is problem solving.
Crystallized intelligence is using learned skills.
What might be the solution to being “stuck” on a problem?
The framing of the problem may need to be altered.
What is functional fixedness?
The inability to consider solutions to a problem in a nontraditional way.
What some types of problem solving techniques?
Trail & Error
Inductive Reasoning: create theory via generalizations
Deductive Reasoning: use rules to solve a problem.
Algorithms
Describe availability heuristics.
Using our own knowledge to classify information, but this might not always be correct.
Describe representative heuristics.
Representativeness heuristic involves categorizing items on the basis of whether they fit the prototypical, stereotypical, or representative image of the category.
What is disconfirmation principle?
Tendency for people to extend critical scrutiny to information which contradicts their prior beliefs and accept uncritically information that is congruent with their prior beliefs. Leads to overconfidence.
Describe Intuition.
The ability to act of perception that may not be supported by evidence.
What are Gardner’s 7 types of intelligence?
Linguistic, Logical-Math, Musical, Visual, Bodily, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal.
Describe Alertness:
Alertness is the state of consciousness in which we are awake. We can perceive, process, and communicate.
Describe Alpha, Beta, and theta waves
Beta waves occur during high levels of concentration.
Alpha waves in a state of relaxation before sleep.
Theta waves start after you begin Stage 1 of sleep.
Describe the different stages of sleep
Stage 1: immediately when you begin to sleep.
Stage 2: characterized by k complex and spindles.
Stage 3 & 4: considered deep sleep with delta waves.
1-4 are NON REM Sleep.
Contrast Dyssomnia and Parasomnias
Dyssomia are disorders that prevent sleep, stay asleep, or avoid sleeping.
Parasomnia are abnormal movements in sleep.
Describe different dyssomias
insomnia: inability to fall asleep due to stress, anxiety, etc.
narcolepsy: lacking control of sleep.
sleep paralysis: can’t move during sleep, but you’re awake.
sleep apnea: not breathing while you’re sleeping.
How can you remember the different between hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations?
Hypnagogic hallucinations occur when one is going to bed. Hypnopompic hallucinations occur when one is popping up out of bed.
What are night tremors?
Occur in children, intense anxiety in deep sleep.