Psych 1020-1 Exam 3

What area of psychology focuses on thinking, intelligence, and language?

Cognition

What is cognition?

The mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

Around what year did psychologists resume focus on the mind and mental processes? What prompted this?

Around the 1950’s. The first modern computer showed machines can perform logical function.

What can we use as a model of the mind/brain?

The modern computer.

What are the differences between computers and the human mind?

Computers use hardware and software, which act as memory components, meanwhile humans use brain, mind, and cognition.

What is thinking?

The mental manipulation of information— including concepts, images, and symbols to process experiences, solve problems, make decisions, and form judgements.

What are concepts?

Concepts are a mental representation of grouping similar things. A cognitive unit that classifies entities.

Why are concepts important? (Four Reasons)

Stability, Inherent Pattern, Differentiation, and unity in building knowledge.

What is the prototype model? How do we use this model?

Model is one way to determine whether something belongs in a certain concept. We use it to compare it to the most typical items in a category.

What is problem solving?

The cognitive process of identifying and analyzing and overcoming obstacle to move from a current state to a desired goal.

Four steps in problem solving?

Find and frame the problem, develop a good problem solving strategy, Evaluate solutions, rethink and redefine problems and solutions over time.

Good problem solving solutions?

Subgoals, algorithms, and heuristics

What are subgoals?

Breaking down a complex problem into smaller, manageable intermediate steps or “subgoals”

What are algorithms?

Step by step methodical procedure or set or rules followed to guarentee a correct solution to a problem.

What are heuristics?

Mental shortcuts, “good enough: mentality. Intuitive judgements.

Main difference between heuristics and algorithm?

Algorithms guarantee a correct solution through a systematic, step by step process, meanwhile heuristics are mental shortcuts that provide quick, however not always accurate, solutions.

Two problem solving obstacles.

Fixation: Using prior strat when a new one might be better.

Functional Fixedness: Fixation on an objects usual functions (ignoring unusual functions).

What is reasoning?

The cognitive process of drawing conclusions, making inferences, and evaluating information to solve problems or make decisions.

What is inductive reasoning?

DRIVEN BY DATA. Specific to general.

What is deductive reasoning?

DRIVEN BY LOGIC. General to specific.

What is decision making?

Evaluating alternatives and making choices among them.

How is decision making different than reasoning?

Reasoning follows established rules to reach sound conclusions. In decision making, rules may not exist.

What are the two systems for reasoning and decision making?

System 1: AUTOMATIC. Rapid heuristics, associative and intuitive.

System 2: CONTROLLED. Slower, effortful, and analytical.

What is loss aversion/sunk cost fallacy?

The paMan whatever

Confirmation Bias

Seeking information that proves only your claim and then relying on it.

Hindsight Bias

Percieve past events as having been more predicatble than they actually were before the outcome were known. AKA I saw that coming.

Availability Heuristic

Mental shortcut where people estimate probability and frequency.

Base Rate neglect

Ignores previous information objective in favor of new information.

Represenativeness Heuristic

Sterotpyes. Ex. assuming a quiet bookish person is a librarian rather than a sales person.

Bias Blind Spot

The cognitive tendency to recognize biases in others while failing to find them in oneself.

Fundamental attribution error

Making assumtions about people due to external circumstances.

Self serving bias

Attribute personal succeses to interal traits, and failues to external factors

False consensus

Assuming/overestimating that our beliefs are someone elses beliefs

Curse of knowledge

Mistakenly assume someone shares the same background, understanding, or mental state as them.

What is critical thinking?

Thinking reflectively and productiveley and evaluating the evidence

Mindfulness'

Openmindedness

What is creative thinking?

Cognitive Process of generating novel, useful, and original ideas or solutions to a problem.

Divergent vs Convergent

Divergent: Brainstorming

Convergent: Picking the best

What is Eugenics?

Selective intelligence breeding to better the human race.

Spearman’s G

The idea that a single underlying mental capacity drives performance across all types of cognitive tasks. Ex general intelligence.

Extremes of Intelligence

Giftedness: IQ equal or greater than 130.

Intellectual disability: IQ under 70

What are the two theories of intelligence?

Steinburg: Intelligence is not a single fixed thing, but a blend of three facets. Analytical, creative, practical.

Gardners: Challenges traditional IQ scores by proposing that humans have 9 distinct relatively independent intelligences.

What are the two theories used to explain basic survival?

Evolutionary Approach: Instincts, Sign stimulus

Drive reduction Theory: Drives, needs, homeostasis

What is optimum arousal theory?

Need to maintain certain arousal to work best.

What is Yerkes Dodson Law?

Too little or too much outs you out of pea performance area.

Eating Disorders discussed in class

Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating.

Intristic Motivation vs Extristic

In: Orgasmic needs

Ex: Incentives (Rewards and avoid punishment)

What is the main brain structure involved in emotion?

Limbic system: Persistence of emotional memories

James Lange Theory of emotion

Instead of feeling emotion first, bodily changes occur them emotional comes after.

Cannon bard thoery

You feel the emotion and the eact same time as your nervous system responds

Two Factory Theory of emotion

Similar physical sensations can provole different emotions based on how the situation is interpreteed.

Whorfs Linguistic relativity hypothesis

Differences in language shape how someone cognitively processes the world.