week 2 Flashcards
scientific method
problem –> research –> hypothesis –> experiment –> data –> analysis
observation
5 senses (smell, sight, taste, touch and hearing)
qualitative experiment
data –> descriptions
quantitative experiment
data –> numbers
independent variable (IV)
thing you change/manipulate/control
dependent variable (DV)
thing you measure
experimental group
one independent variable altered
control group
normal group
falsification
- experimentally test the hypothesis
- test the limits of a theory
reaction time
1 stimulus detection
2 stimulus discrimination
3 response discrimination
4 execution of motion
Donder methodology
A simple RT
B Choice RT
C Go/no go
A simple RT
S detection + motor execution
B choice RT
S detection + S identification + R selection + motor execution
C go/no go
S detection + S identification + motor execution
stimulus identification
RT(C) - RT(A) = 30 ms
response selection
RT(B) - RT(C) = 55 ms
the Simon effect
responses are faster when stimulus and response are on the same side, compared to when they are on opposite sides
- compatible (same side) –> fast
- incompatible (opposite side) –> slow
Fitts law
movement time to a target depends on size of a target (W) and the distance to the target (A)
variabel error (VE):
how spread out the eindpoint are
Weber’s law
the smallest noticeable change in a stimulus is a constant proportion of the original stimulus intensity
psychophysics
measures the effect of the physical properties of sensory input on perception
absolute treshold
point where participant can detect presence of a stimulus
discrimnation treshold
point where participants can detect the presence of a difference between 2 stimuli
cognitive psychology
the study of mental activity as an information processing problem
1 information processing depends on mental representation
2 these mental representation undergo internal transformations
letter matching task by Micheal Posner
- 2 letters (2 vowels, both consonants or 1 vowel and 1 consonant)
- 5 categories (AA, Aa, AU, SC, As)
–> derive multiple representations of stimuli
–> base one representation on the physical aspects of the stimulus
–> physical representations are activated first –> phonetic representation –> category representation
Sternberg task
a set of letters to remember –> 1 letter appears –> was it on the list?
4 primary mental operations
1 encoding: identifying the visible target
2 comparing: compare representation with memory
3 deciding: does the target matches?
4 responding
parallel process
comparison process can be simultaneous for all items –> RT should be independent of the number of items in the memory set
serial process
comparison process in a sequential –> RT should slow down as the memory set becomes larger –> more time is required to compare on item to a large item list
word superiority effect
participants are more accurate in identifying the target letter when the stimulus is a word
Stroop task
a list of words –> name the color of each word
- easier when word match the colors
mental chronometry
measure the time course of mental operations in the human nervous system
event-related potential
related to sensory and motor stages of information processing
microelectrode stragedy
higher level brain areas involved in operations can effect earlier stages
dual-task studies
mimic real life, while multitasking
perceptual and motor stages
operate independently
decision stage
–> cognitive bottle neck –> RT independent
