cogsci c100 OKAY

What is neurological mind reading?

Using fMRI brain activation patterns to identify thoughts or mental states

Which neuroscientist led the Carnegie Mellon mind-reading studies?

Marcel Just

In the Shinkareva et al. study what could researchers identify from fMRI scans?

Which tool participants were viewing like a hammer or screwdriver

What kinds of abstract ideas could researchers identify from brain activity patterns?

Ideas like gossip forgiveness and spirituality

How were emotions identified in neurological mind-reading studies?

Participants imagined emotional scenarios while researchers analyzed activation patterns

How did people with autism process social words differently in fMRI studies?

They showed less activation in self-related brain regions

How did suicidal participants respond differently to death-related words?

They showed more activation in self-related brain regions for death-related words

What percentage of U.S. teens reported being online “almost constantly”?

About 45%

According to research how can heavy internet use affect attention?

It may impair the ability to sustain attention

How can internet use negatively affect memory?

People rely on remembering where information is instead of remembering the information itself

What is transactive memory?

Storing information externally such as relying on the internet or another person

How can social media increase depression risk?

Through upward social comparison to idealized portrayals

What brain region showed gray matter reduction after heavy online gaming?

The orbitofrontal cortex

What does the orbitofrontal cortex help control?

Decision-making impulse control and executive function

Why is intermittent reinforcement addictive online?

Unpredictable rewards strengthen compulsive checking behavior

What neurotransmitter is heavily involved in phone-checking reward loops?

Dopamine

How does media multitasking affect attention?

It weakens attentional control and sustained focus

What is cognitive outsourcing?

Delegating memory functions to technology

How can constant online switching affect concentration?

It fragments attention

What is one concern about excessive virtual-world engagement?

It may reduce real-world cognitive engagement

What is savant syndrome?

Severe disability paired with extraordinary skill in one area

What abilities do musical savants often show?

Replaying long pieces of music after hearing them once

What abilities do artistic savants often show?

Reproducing detailed scenes or people from memory

What can human calculators often do?

Instantly determine dates or perform complex calculations

What brain area was disrupted to temporarily induce savant-like skills?

The left anterior frontal lobe

According to the savant connectivity model what type of connectivity is reduced?

Global connectivity

According to the savant connectivity model what type of connectivity is enhanced?

Local connectivity

What kinds of abilities are often impaired in savants?

Executive function and social cognition

In the Standing et al. study how accurately did participants recognize 2500 images?

Around 90% accuracy

What do extraordinary memory studies suggest about human memory capacity?

It may be much larger than commonly assumed

What are the three stages of memory processing?

Encoding storage and retrieval

What is encoding?

Getting information into memory

What is storage?

Retaining information over time

What is retrieval?

Accessing stored information

What is encoding failure?

Information never entering long-term memory

What classic example demonstrates encoding failure?

People failing to accurately draw a penny

What did the Apple logo study show?

Most people cannot accurately draw the Apple logo despite seeing it often

What is storage decay?

The gradual fading of stored memories over time

What did Bahrick’s foreign-language study find?

People retained substantial language knowledge even after decades

What is interference theory?

Forgetting occurs because memories compete with one another

In the Jenkins and Dallenbach study what improved memory retention?

Sleeping during the retention interval

Why do similar memories interfere more?

Similar material is harder to distinguish during retrieval

What is retrieval failure?

Inability to access stored memories

What did the Wagenaar diary study demonstrate?

Strong retrieval cues can recover many “forgotten” memories

What is savings during relearning?

Forgotten material is relearned faster the second time

What does the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon suggest?

The memory is still present but inaccessible

What kinds of details can people often remember during tip-of-the-tongue states?

First letter syllable count or sound

Why are children vulnerable eyewitnesses?

They are highly suggestible

What factors reduce reliability in child testimony?

Emotional questioning and suggestive interviewing

In the salsa-factory case what distorted the child’s testimony?

Pressure from adults and assumptions about the suspect

What is déjà vu?

A strong feeling that a new experience has happened before

Who experiences déjà vu more often?

Younger educated stressed or fatigued people

What is the attentional explanation of déjà vu?

A briefly distracted first perception creates false familiarity later

What is the dual-processing explanation of déjà vu?

Slight timing differences make one experience feel repeated

What is the memory explanation of déjà vu?

Implicit familiarity without explicit recollection

Why are emotions important in decision-making?

They guide adaptive choices

What does the somatic-marker hypothesis propose?

Emotional signals help guide decisions

What happened to patients with damage to the prefrontal-amygdala circuit?

They made poor real-life decisions

Who was Elliott?

A patient who could reason logically but made disastrous choices

What role does the orbitofrontal cortex play in decision-making?

It integrates emotion and reasoning

What did Dijksterhuis et al. find about simple purchases?

More deliberation improved satisfaction

What did Dijksterhuis et al. find about complex purchases?

Overthinking reduced satisfaction

Why might intuition help with complex decisions?

The unconscious may integrate more information efficiently

What is analysis paralysis?

Overthinking that prevents effective decisions

According to Freud where should important life decisions come from?

Deep unconscious needs

What is Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?

Cognitive growth occurs through developmental stages

What characterizes formal operations?

Abstract and hypothetical reasoning

What did the tilted-water-line task test?

Formal-operational reasoning

What criticism emerged from the water-line study?

Many adults fail formal-operational tasks

How did Piaget underestimate infants?

He confused motor limitations with cognitive limitations

What is object permanence?

Understanding that hidden objects still exist

At what age did Piaget think object permanence emerged?

Around 8 months

What did Baillargeon’s research suggest about object permanence?

Infants understand it much earlier than Piaget thought

What method did Baillargeon use?

Violation-of-expectation studies

What indicates object permanence in infants?

Surprise when objects seem to disappear impossibly

What did Vygotsky emphasize in development?

Social interaction

What is the zone of proximal development?

What a child can do with assistance but not alone

What is scaffolding?

Temporary support that helps learning

What is a more knowledgeable other?

Someone more skilled who guides learning

How did Vygotsky differ from Piaget?

He emphasized social interaction over rigid stages

What is the rouge test?

A self-recognition test using a hidden red mark

Around what age do children pass the rouge test?

Around 18–24 months

What does passing the rouge test indicate?

Self-recognition

Which animals besides humans can pass the rouge test?

Some apes dolphins elephants magpies and wrasse

What is theory of mind?

Understanding that others have their own mental states

Why is theory of mind important?

It enables social coordination and understanding

What developmental activity supports theory of mind?

Pretend play

What is object substitution in pretend play?

Using one object symbolically as another

Around what age does pretend play emerge?

Around 14 months

What did the Still Face Experiment show?

Infants are highly sensitive to caregiver emotional responsiveness

Why can praising intelligence be harmful?

It promotes fear of failure and performance anxiety

What is a fixed mindset?

Believing intelligence is unchangeable

What kind of praise is most effective?

Specific effort-based praise

What is a growth mindset?

Believing abilities can improve through effort

How can excessive praise contribute to narcissism?

It creates entitlement and fragile self-esteem

What did Lori Gottlieb argue about constant praise?

It can produce insecurity and dependence on validation

What is a cohort effect?

Generational differences affecting study results

Why do longitudinal and cross-sectional aging studies differ?

Older generations had different educational and life experiences

What kind of older adults show the least decline?

Those with strong verbal abilities

What predicts decline better than age itself?

Proximity to death