Topic 2.2 - The brain & mind Flashcards
Explain the concept of Cognitive Thinking
Mental activities that go on in the brain when processing, organising, understanding, or communicating information to others
Explain Cognitive Processing (Problem Solving and Decision Making)
Problem Solving: a cognitive process of the brain at the higher cognitive layer that searches for a solution.
Decision Making: refers to the cognitive process of choosing between two or more alternatives
What are the 5 methods of Problem Solving
- Trial & Error - trying several solutions until one works.
- Algorithm - a methodical, step-by-step procedure.
- Heuristic - rule of thumb (judgemental shortcuts) based on prior experiences.
- Insight - sudden realization of a problem’s solution.
- Intuition - effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought.
Explain the 4 types of Heuristic method.
(Representativeness, Availability, Working Backwards, Sub-Goals)
- Representativeness Heuristic: a rule of thumb for judging the probability of membership in a category.
- Availability Heuristic: estimating the frequency or likelihood of an event based on immediate examples that come to mind.
- Working Backward: attempting to solve a problem by working
from the goal backward to the starting point. - Sub-goals: breaking large problem into smaller, more manageable goals, so that as each sub-goal is achieved, the final solution is that much closer.
Explain the 3 Problem Solving Barriers
(Functional Fixedness, Mental Set and Confirmation Bias)
- Functional Fixedness: Fixated on thinking about objects only in terms of their typical functions resulting in a mental block
- Mental Set: tendency to solve problems using approaches that worked previously for similar problems
- Confirmation Bias: tendency to favour information that confirms one’s existing beliefs or theories, while ignoring any contradicting evidence
Explain the 3 types of thinking
(Convergent, Divergent and Critical)
- Convergent thinking: all thinking pointed to one solution.
- Divergent thinking: generating more than one solution
- Creative thinking: combination of flexibility in thinking and reorganization of understanding to produce innovative ideas and new solutions
What are the 4 stimulation of creative thinking.
- Brainstorming
- Writing a Journal
- Free writing
- Mind or Subject Mapping.
Explain “Reasoning” and the 3 types of reasoning
(Formal, Informal and Reflective Judgement)
Reasoning : purposeful mental activity that involves drawing conclusions.
- Formal reasoning: algorithms & formal logic.
- Informal reasoning: heuristics; problems often with no single correct solution that require evaluation of opposing points view.
- Reflective Judgement (Critical Thinking): ability to evaluate and integrate evidence, consider alternative interpretations and reach a defensible conclusion.
Explain “Intelligence”.
Intelligence: the ability to learn from experience, acquire knowledge, act purposefully, or adapt to new situations.
Explain “Social-Intelligence” and “Emotional Intelligence”
Social Intelligence: “know-how” knowledge in social situations and self-management.
Emotional Intelligence: the ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions.
What are the 4 abilities of Emotional Intelligence?
(Perceive, Evoke, Comprehend and Regulate)
- to perceive and appraise emotions accurately
- to access and evoke emotions when they facilitate cognition
- to comprehend emotional language and make use of emotional information
- to regulate one’s own and others’ emotions
Explain “Intelligence Test”, “Chronological age (CA)”, “Mental age (MA)” and “Intelligence Quotient (IQ)”
Intelligence Test: assessing person’s mental abilities, in comparison to others.
Chronological age (CA): person’s age in years.
Mental age (MA): age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance.
Intelligence Quotient (IQ): number representing a measure of intelligence.
- IQ= MA/CA x 100
What are the 3 Most influential intelligence tests
- Mental Ability Test
- Stanford-Binet Test - Assesses variety of verbal and nonverbal skills
- Wechsler Tests - Assess Verbal Comprehension (VCI), Perceptual Reasoning (PRI), Working Memory (WMI), and Processing Speed (PSI).
What are the 3 Criteria of Intelligence tests?
- Standardization
- Reliability
- Validity
Explain the 3 Criteria of Intelligence tests.
(Standardization, Reliability and Validity)
- Standardization: implies uniformity of procedure in administering and scoring test in large group of people.
- Reliability: test produces same results each time given to same people.
- Validity: test measures what it’s supposed to measure or predict.
What are the Low and High Extremes of IQ?
The Low Extreme: Intellectual Disability (<70)
The High Extreme: Giftedness (>140)
What are 2 main influences on intelligence?
- Environmental.
- Motivation and self-discipline.
Explain “Cognitive Fitness”
Cognitive fitness: a state of optimized ability to reason, remember, learn, plan, and adapt
Explain the 3 Memory Processes.
(Encoding, Storage, Retrieval)
- Encoding: transforming incoming information (sensory input) into a form that can be stored.
- Storage: holding information until it is needed.
- Retrieval: locating stored information in memory and getting it out so that it can be used.
What are the 3 models of memory?
- Information Processing Model
- Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) Model
- Levels-of-Processing Model
Explain “Sensory Memory”, “Short-Term Memory”, “Long-Term Memory”.
Sensory Memory: “split second” holding tank for all sensory information
1. Visual, <1s, 20 items
2. Auditory, <3s, 1-2 items
STM: memory’s “notepad”; holds information briefly (~30 secs)
LTM: Relatively permanent and limitless memory depot of well
learned and rehearsed information
Explain the 2 ways to Boosts STM.
(Chunking and Rehearsal)
- Chunking: combining information into meaningful bits (chunks) to improve STM capacity
- Rehearsal: repeating bits of information in one’s head to maintain it in STM.
Explain the 2 types of LTM.
(Explicit and Implicit)
- Explicit / Declarative: conscious recall of factual information
-Semantic Memory: General Knowledge
-Episodic Memory: personal recollections - Implicit / Non-declarative: does not require conscious recall, but implicit in action
-Procedural Memory: motor skills & habits
-Conditioned Memory: automatic conditioned responses
Explain “Retrieval” and its 3 Cues
(Priming, Context-Dependent and State-Dependent)
Retrieval: process of accessing information stored in LTM
- Priming: activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.
- Context-dependent: memory improves due to being in location similar to when memory was formed.
- State-dependent: memory improves due to being in a mood/state similar to when memory was formed.
