Unit 5.1: The cognitive Domain

Question 1

What does it mean to perceive and what does this imply?

Answer 1

to interpret a stimulus from the individual experience
-> perceiving is different for each person

Question 2

What does our behavior largely depend on with regards to the environment?

Answer 2

how we perceive an event
the image we have of ourselves in relation to the world

Question 3

What do most people assume about their perception of reality and what is the actual truth?

Answer 3

representation of reality in our minds is a precise duplicate
perceiver contributes to mental representations (leading to differences between perceived and actual reality)

Question 4

Field dependence

Answer 4

difficulties in separating details from context
-> social sciences and education
more interested in people
sees connections between elements

Question 5

field independence

Answer 5

separates details from contexts
-> natural sciences, maths, engineering
more autonomy
good at finding patters

Question 6

Why are all people scientists according to Kelly?

Answer 6

people seek explanations in their lives and make predictions about events (like scientists)
mostly we are unaware of the implicit predictive process, but we become aware when predictions fail

Question 7

What is the fundamental postulate of Kelly’s personal construct theory?

Answer 7

a person’s processes are psychologically channelized (by ways he/she anticipates events)
-> purpose: anticipate events

Question 8

What are personal constructs?

Answer 8

templates people fit over events to make sense of them
mental representations/ interpretations of events
bipolar: similarities and differences can be recognized (e.g. cold vs. warm)
-> no meaning without contrast
Unique to each individual

Question 9

Anxiety

Answer 9

result of not being able to understand and predict life events
-> result of personal constructs failing to make sense of circumstances

Question 10

What is the locus of control?

Answer 10

a person’s interpretation of responsibility for events in their life

Question 11

Which role did generalized expectancies play for Rotter?

Answer 11

learning depended on degree to which person expected reinforcement
-> obtaining reward was under his/her control

Question 12

What is an attributional style?

Answer 12

tendencies some people have to frequently use certain explanations for the causes of events

Question 13

Which dimensions can attributional style tendencies be broken into?

Answer 13

1. internal vs. external
2. stable vs. unstable
3. global vs. specific

Question 14

Which types of attributional styles are there?

Answer 14

optimistic (external, unstable, specific)
pessimistic (internal, stable, global)

Question 15

What did a number of modern personality theories expand on in regards to goals?

Answer 15

personality is expressed in goals and how people think about themselves in relation to them

Question 16

Bandura’s self-efficacy

Answer 16

belief that one can execute specific course of action to achieve a goal

Question 17

Who came up with the theory of mastery orientation and what does it state?

Answer 17

Carol Dweck
if you feel like abilities can be increased through effort tend to seek out challenges (to further improve)

Question 18

What does the Cognitive-Affective Personality System (CAPS) see personality as?

Answer 18

the organization of cognitive and affective activities that influence individual responses to situations
-> mental abilities: construals (how one views a situation), goals, beliefs. etc.