COgnitive Psych. Exam 1

Contrast the Philosophical Approach to studying the mind with the scientific approach.

•            Which approach is used by cognitive psychologists?

Philosophical Approach → This is the older of the two approaches, tracing back to thinkers like Plato and Aristotle and continuing through the Renaissance. It relies on reasoning, reflection, and argument to understand the mind

Scientific Approach → This approach emerged later (with figures like Fechner and Wundt in the 1800s) and relies on the scientific method and empirical studies instead of pure reasoning. It follows a specific sequence:

1. Develop a theory about some aspect of the mind

2. Derive predictions from that theory

3. Test those predictions through observation — i.e., empirical data collection

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGISTS - use the SCIENTIFIC APPROACH!!!!

Define Empirical Studies

based on logical deduction

studies based on data collected through direct observation or experimentation, rather than through pure reasoning, speculation, or argument alone.

A few key features:

• Evidence-based: Conclusions are drawn from actual data — measurements, observations, or experimental results — not just logical argument.

• Testable: Empirical studies are grounded in the scientific method: a researcher develops a theory, derives specific, testable predictions from it, and then tests those predictions by gathering observable data.

• Systematic: The data collection typically follows a structured, replicable procedure (e.g., a controlled experiment, a survey, an observational study) so that others could, in principle, repeat the study and check the findings.

1) Who was Gustav Fechner?

2)What is psychophysics?

3) What was Fechner’s key contribution to empirical psychology?

1.) Gustav Fechner - Father of psychophysics

2.) Psychophysics - a field of study that looks at the relationship between physical stimuli and the experiences we have.

3.) Key Contribution to empirical psych. - quantifying the mental process by creating a mathematical formula once before said impossible

Who was Wilhelm Wundt? What was his key contribution to empirical psychology?

• Father of experimental Psychology

• Created a lab for the purpose of doing psychology experiments

• Method of Introspection – to look inward; how it can be a way to conduct scientific research

• His approach was the dominant approach until the early 1900’s

Explain the method of introspection and identify at least two problems with this method.

Method - to look inward; how it can be a way to conduct scientific research

PROBLEMS: relying on the judgment of the participant; participants may not be truthful; can’t generalize information to others

^^^^^^not a method you see practiced often today –

Who was Franciscus Donders? Be able to explain his 1879 experiment on simple vs. choice reaction time, specifically the method and results.

Donders compared two conditions:

• Simple reaction time: participants pressed a key as soon as a light appeared (e.g., "press J when the light goes on")

• Choice reaction time: participants had to choose between two responses depending on which of two lights appeared (e.g., "press J for the left light, K for the right light")

Donders 1879 Study:

Simple reaction time task – a light is going to flash; press the key as fast as you can

Participant sitting Infront of computer screen knowing when the light turns on, you need to press the key as fast as you can

Choice reaction time:

Participant told to look at the screen; there is a potential for a light to show up on one side of the screen, depending on which side you will press a specific key (Press J for left, K for right)

Choice reaction time test relative to simple – you could use that number to quantify a mental process. You can reasonably assume it will take you longer to react to the choice reaction time because the decision of which key requires thinking

Key takeaway:s CAN make inferences about the mind from observable behavior

In your own words, explain what it means to make inferences about the mind from observable behavior.

aking an inference about the mind from observable behavior means using something you can measure — a behavior, a response, a reaction time, an error — as evidence for something you can't directly measure: an internal mental process like a thought, a decision, or a memory

Who was Hermann Ebbinghaus? Be able to explain his 1885 experiment on learning and memory, specifically the method and results.

1885, published a landmark book on memory that provided the first quantifiable, objective measures of learning and memory - measured with numbers

Ebbinghaus Paradigm

16 nonexistent syllables/words to study; would have patient relearn until perfect recall

Test phase: would relearn the words in serial (order) and do it over and over again until he made zero mistakes.

-Trying to see how much information you can learn or remember for a given amount of time

By counting the number of trials it took him he is providing a quantifiable measure of learning (number of trials)

Quantifiable measure of memory (savings)

Inferences about the mind from observable behavior.

Ebbinghaus savings curve:

- He is measuring how much of the information he can save before he loses it.

- Even only 20 minutes after he’s finished, he is only able to remember about 60% of the information learned.

Who was William James? What were some of his contributions to cognitive psychology?

Principles of psychology in 1890

-  Turn to James for thoughts on things others have researched

-  Contributions come in the form of approach, theories from other people’s work

-  Lots of key areas of cognition; favorite topic was the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.

-  Very influential today – distinction between primary memory and 2ndary memory (short-term memory, long-term memory); types of memory that have to do with what I’m thinking about right now vs. what have I experienced in my past; information learned but I have to access it

In your own words, explain the fundamental principles of the school of thought known as behaviorism.

· School of thought focused strictly on observable behavior

What is S-R theory? Why did strict behaviorists like Watson adhere to this theory?

S-R Theory

Stimuli – CAN be observed

I can directly observe a stimulus such as food or the ringing of a bell

- I can’t directly observe what is happening in the mind after being exposed to that

SR THEORY – strictly looks at the relationship between stimuli and responses

John Watson

• Says that psychology should stop being so introspective, getting too close to not being taken seriously as a science

• Focus only on observable behavior – not speculating or making inferences about what’s going on in the mind.

•  Influenced by Ivan Pavlov – dogs reacting to a stimulus when paired with another

•  MOST INFAMOUS study – Little Albert study

 

Who was B. F. Skinner? How did his approach to language learning contribute to the fall of behaviorism?

- carried on and promoted the behaviorist approach

- 1957, publishing of verbal behavior

- he explained language learning through conditioning

- If a child says something grammatically correct, they get a reinforcement. Children learn language through reinforcement principles

- Skinner led to the reemergence of cognitive psychology even though he wasn’t interested in studying the human mind.

What was the cognitive revolution? Explain each of the five factors that contributed to this (re)emergence of cognitive psychology.

(RE) Emergence of Cognitive Psychology:

-              Re-emerged in the 1950’s

-              Often called the “cognitive revolution”

What led to the re-emergency?

1.)   Behaviorist views questioned

Strict behaviorists and radicals said the mind could not be studied as a science nor be directly observed but people started to question that view and believe we were limiting ourselves.

2.)   Tolman, 1948: cognitive maps

Trained rats to run through a maze; in one condition, rats run through a maze and get rewarded every time they find an end; those rats were exposed to continuous reinforcement

Thinking that the rats rewarded will get better and better at navigating the maze

Condition 2 – rats run around the maze without getting rewarded, but after many trials Tolman adds a reward to the maze; those rats get to the reward as fast as the rats in condition 1.

Conclusions do not align with the behaviorist approach – rats formed a cognitive map, which is triggered by reward.

3.)   Chomsky, 1959; Language learning

Argued conditioning & reinforcement principles, arguing that children demonstrate behavior that cannot be explained by conditioning and reinforcement.

 

4.)   Work in human factors (40s,50s) WW2

Rapid advancement in technology, funding & time into research

Technology advancing so fast that people designing technology aren’t thinking about the humans that will have to interact with the technology (EX: pilots crashing because they don’t know how to use the technology)

Researchers are trying to help us understand how humans work and understand technology to help people adjust to newer developments.

 

5.)   Invention of Computers (40s, 50s)

The human brain has been around longer than computers. However, a lot of cognitive psychologists adopt computation analogies to understand mental processes

Early computer:

Input processor  Memory Unit  Arithmetic Unit  output

Human Sensory:

Sensory Register  (attention)  Short term memory  (rehearsal)  Long term memory

Define artificial intelligence (AI). Explain the difference between weak AI and strong AI.

The capability of machines to manifest such processes as perception, cognition, and learning much as humans do

Historical perspective: back to Alan Turing and the Turing test

Alan Turing:

-              Raised question about whether machines could think the same way humans think

-              If we can interact with a machine in a way that is indistinctable with how we interact with a human, the machine is showing intelligence

Other researchers have suggested the concept of weak AI and strong AI

 

What is the Turing test?

Historical perspective: back to Alan Turing and the Turing test

Alan Turing:

-              Raised question about whether machines could think the same way humans think

-              If we can interact with a machine in a way that is indistinguishable from how we interact with a human, the machine is showing intelligence

Other researchers have suggested the concept of weak AI and strong AI

 

In your own words, explain John Searle’s argument against strong AI. Consider the “Chinese Room” thought experiment in your answer.

 

John Searle:

Argument against strong AI

Distinguishes between syntax manipulation of symbols

Semantics – what are the words I’m saying, what do they mean?

Syntax -

 

Consider a language you don’t understand,

Imagine you are placed in a room containing baskets of Chinese symbols and you have a rule book written in English telling you how to match certain Chinese symbols with other Chinese symbols. The rules instruct you that you have to match the symbols entirely based on shapes and put them together based on how they look. Imagine further that there are people outside the room who understand Chinese, and they are slipping hints into the room.

The rule book acts as the computer program, and the people who wrote the rule book are the computer programmers

 

Does this mean we are also machines?

Are humans machines?

The question reintroduces important philosophical questions into modern times, such as what is the nature of human nature?

Explain the differences between cognitive psychology, cognitive science, and cognitive neuroscience.

Modern Cognitive Psychology - Well-established field - Countless programs, journals, conferences, Interdisciplinary

Cognitive science

Cognitive neuroscience – interested in the processes but also what’s happening physiologically (EEG, pet scan, etc.)

  Who is considered to be the father of psychophysics?

Gustav Fechner

Which individual from cognitive psychology’s early history is well known for suggesting that we have two different types of memory, short-term and long-term?

William James

Cognitive psychology is an empirical science. What does this mean?

It is based on logical deduction

 

Although behaviorism pushed the study of mind into the background for several decades, which of the following is a positive influence of behaviorism on cognitive psychology?

 

Answer: All of the answers shown here are correct

-              Behaviorism stressed the importance of control over extraneous factors

-              Behaviorism stressed the use of quantifiable measures

-              Behaviorism stressed the use of experimental methods

Which of the following contributed to the emergence of cognitive psychology as a major subdiscipline of psychology in the middle part of the 1900s

The view that computers may serve as a good model for human information processing

Ebbinghaus’s research using nonsense syllables demonstrated that it is possible to develop quantifiable measures of both ……… and ………

learning; memory

Although the method of introspection is flawed, in what way did it have a positive influence on the field of psychology?

Researchers who employed introspection held the view that psychology should be promoted as a science.

Francisus Donders’ experiment that involved simple and choice reaction time tasks helped demonstrate that one can?

Make inferences about the mind from observable behavior

what best describes the field of cognitive psychology?

It is the study of the mind

Searl’s “Chinese Room” supports the position that

Strong AI is fake

Which school of thought made the argument that we can not study the mind scientifically because the mind is not directly observable?

Behaviorism

The field of artificial intelligence (AI) investigates

The extent to which machines can replicate the mental powers of humans

Explain the difference between studying the mind versus studying the brain

Study of the Brain vs. Study of the Mind:

Study of the brain:

·      Study of physiological processes – biology

·      Changes in brain structure

 

Study of the mind:

·      Mental processes that emerge from underlying biology

·      Abstract – concepts like attention, memory

·      Largely looking at behaviors that emerge from these abstract characterizations

Explain the differences between cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience

Neuroscientist:

• Focused on mechanisms of the brain; how different neurons firing affect the brain

Cognitive Neuroscience:

• looks at both circuits and abstract concepts

Cognitive Psychology:

• Uses behavioral methods and measures

• Involves directly observable responses

Give examples of non-experimental research methods

Non-Experimental methods:

• Really good for generating hypothesis

• Henry Molaison (HM) – a lot of tissue was surgically removed from his brain which later impacted his memory.

What sets an experiment apart from other research methods?

Experiments:

Manipulate Independent variable(s) (IVs) – variable that the researcher manipulates,

Half of the class listens to white noise the other half listens to music while taking an exam, does the type of noise (noise = independent variable, test score = dependent variable) impact the test score?

Examine Effect on dependent variable(s)

Control Extraneous Factors:

Trying to zero in on the IVs and eliminate other variables as possible factors – if time of day is a worry, maybe test all participants at the same time.

EX: researchers interested in if violent video games would increase violent behavior – manipulated whether the video game was violent; after finishing the video game, the participants would play another game where they could blast loud white noise into another participant's earphones. Everyone was playing A video game; everyone did the same competitive game at the end. They RANDOMLY assigned participants to each beginning group helps to avoid situation of already having a preferred video game type, which impacts white noise blasts.

NOT EXPECTED TO MEMORIZE CITATIONS

Why is it good to seek converging evidence?

Seeking converging evidence in psychology means using multiple independent methods, studies, or sources of data to test the same theory.

• Because individual studies always have flaws or unique biases, matching results across different approaches helps cancel out individual errors and build strong scientific confidence.

Define the following terms:

1. o   Independent variable

2. o   Dependent variable

3. o   Extraneous variable

1.) Independent Variable (IV):

• True IVs → The thing the experimenter is changing to see whether effects independent variable

• Independent variables are measured or observed

• Dependent on research design

• Whatever our independent variable is, is dependent on our research: what effect if any, does our independent variable have on our dependent variable

2.) Dependent Variable:

• NEVER MANIPULATED

• They are ONLY measured

3.) Extraneous Variable:

• any factor other than the independent variable that could plausibly influence the dependent variable — and therefore needs to be controlled so it doesn't confound the results.

• Trying to zero in on the IVs and eliminate other variables as possible factors

 

What are some key criteria to infer causation?

Criteria to Infer Causation:

·Change in IV corresponds to change in DV

·Potential cause precedes the effect

·Control of other plausible factors

What is a quasi-experiment?

 Quasi-Experiments:

• Still comparing different decisions but falls short of a true experiment because usually the independent variable isn’t something they can manipulate.
  Looking at smokers vs. non-smokers, can’t allow random people to be sorted into a smoking group and force them to smoke

• Also compare different conditions

• Falls short of a true experiment

 

Demographics – differences between age and memory, sex/gender, general attendance scores – things that can’t be controlled 

Briefly describe and/or give an example of each of these outcome measures (i.e., dependent variables):

1. o   Accuracy

2. o   Reaction time (RT)

3. o   Judgment

Outcome Measures:

Different types of dependent variables in Cognitive Psychology

1.)   Accuracy (e.g., list-learning demo) – looked at the number (or percentage)

·      Ceiling Effects – made the task too easy; now won’t be able to notice differences

·      Floor Effects – give a list of 500 words (way too hard); the task is so difficult that it's too hard, and still can’t see meaning behind decisions

 

2.)   Reaction Time (EX: Stroop Demo – word vs color)

Less interested in accuracy, more interested in speed

Outcome measure: Reaction Time

 

3.)   Judgments – participants making a rating of something or choice

Can look at how ratings match up with actual memory performance

Can look at whether ratings differ for different types of materials

Outcome measure: Judgement

What are ceiling effects? What are floor effects? Why are these effects problematic if we are measuring accuracy?

• Ceiling Effects – made the task too easy; now won’t be able to notice differences

• Floor Effects – give a list of 500 words (way too hard); the task is so difficult that it's too hard, and still can’t see meaning behind decisions

What is a dissociation?

Dissociations – when two related mental processes function independently of each other (EX: Serial Position Effect – how is memory for words based on position on the list). Enhanced memory for items usually at the beginning and end of the list.

If I have you learn a list of words and then distract you afterwards by making you do something unrelated, you will remember items at the beginning of the list but not at the end. Eliminates the recency (most recent words) effect but not the primacy (original, beginning words) effect

What is an association?

Associations – word from list prior that started with a P, write down as many things as you can remember; practice tests help with memory development.

Explain the neuropsychological approach for studying mind/brain relationships.

Neuropsychological Approach:

• Examine mind/brain relationships by studying individuals with brain injuries/abnormalities

• Physiological data: location of injury

• Behavioral data: how they perform on a cognitive test

• Assumption: If a cognitive task depends on processing within a certain brain structure, then damage to this structure should disrupt performance

What are the strengths and weaknesses of EEG?

Electroencephalogram (EEG):

• Physiological data: electrical activity of neurons

• Behavioral data: performance on cognitive task(s)

• Scalp electrodes – pick up the synchronous activity of many neurons; the signal is dominated by activity near the surface.

• REALLY TIME SENSITIVE GOOD FOR QUESTIONS OF WHEN

• Electrodes pick up signals that get put through an amplifier; individual rows represent electrode sites, and the signals you end up with reflect all brain activity

What is an ERP?

Event-Related Potential (ERP)

In a study with someone re-reading the word dog over and over again, you can look at the EEG data and take a snapshot of what it looks like at that exact moment, and average it out.

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF EEG:

Strength: Excellent time resolution

Weakness: limited spatial resolution

Can tell when a participant responds to a stimulus, but NOT where an event is occurring within the brain!

 

Explain the basics of PET and fMRI scans. What are their strengths and weaknesses?

Pet and fMRI

More neural activity = greater use of oxygen and glucose

More blood will flow to the area that needs more energy

Depletion causes greater blood flow

PET and fMRI essentially measure blood flow

fMRI AND PET ARE GOOD FOR ANSWERING WHERE QUESTIONS

Differentiate between sensation and perception. Consider some examples from class when explaining how the two processes are distinct.

Sensation vs. Perception

Sensation: referring to the ways in which our sensory systems detect stimuli

·      Detection of a stimulus via a sensory system

·      A physical event – physical stimulus (taste something, eyes receiving information from light waves to see color)

·      An UNCONSCIOUS process – don’t have to tell my eyes “That looks blue”; the brain computes the information that we see

Perception:

·      Cognitive/psychological interpretation of a sensation

·      A MENTAL event – brain is interpreting information received by the sensory receptors

·      A CONSCIOUS PROCESS

EX: Dreaming – is this more an example of sensation or perception?

Dreaming is perceiving, NOT sensing; our eyes are not actually giving us information. It is all happening within the brain.

EX: Visual illusions – perception

 

Prosopagnosia - “face blindness” – this is an example of sensation functioning typically while perception functions atypically.

-       Not the sensory itself, more an issue with perception (issue with the brain)

What is naïve realism? Why is this approach insufficient to understand perception?

Naïve Realism:

States that there is a 1:1 relationship between our perceptions an the physical world (“What you see is what you get”)

Why is this a problem?

Does not account for:

• Visual illusions

• Existence of energies that human sensory systems cannot detect (UV light, infrared, ect.)

• Variability in the perception of the same object at different times

• Don’t be a Naïve Realist

Explain how the dualist and monist perspectives approach the mind-body problem.

 

What are perceptions made of?

Dualist perspective (Descartes)

The Physical (body) and mental (mind) are separate

These two interact to give rise to all human experience

 

Monist Perspective (Hobbes)

All mental events arise from physical processes

There is no “mind” – there is only the brain

What are perceptions made of?

·      How do physical processes yield mental events?

·      Once a sensory system detects a stimulus, there is a cascade of physical events that occur, culminating in a perceptual experience.

·      This DOES NOT mean that the only things that exist are the ones that our sensory receptors can detect.

EX: Ultraviolet light, it exists but our sensory systems cannot pick up on it

What is bottom-up processing? What is top-down processing?

Bottom-Up Processing:

·      Build from smaller parts to perceive a whole object

·      EX: times you’ve looked at something and try to make sense of what it is. Might add all the fundamental elements and individual components.

·      EX: someone learning to read might learn various letters by learning the lines that make them up and combine them into words.

·      Type of processing that uses features within a stimulus to try and identify it

Top-Down processing:

·      Driven by prior knowledge and expectations

·      EX: Prior knowledge, expectations, context

·      Uses information AROUND a stimulus to identify it

 

EX: Fido 15 (is) Drunk

14, 157, 393

We do both

Can’t all be bottom-up – too slow (Child thinking a kitty is a dog because of prior knowledge)

Can’t all be top-down – couldn’t build new knowledge

 

Be able to explain the method and results from the Müller-Lyer Illusion CogLab.

Muller -Lyer Illusion

• Task: Choose which line was longer

• IV: Length of comparison line (i.e., line without wings)

• DV: Proportion of trials in which you reported that the Müller-Lyer line was longer than the comparison line

What does the Müller illusion reveal about the nature of perception?

The Müller-Lyer illusion reveals that perception is not a direct, veridical copy of physical reality — it's a constructed interpretation.

What is Gestalt psychology? How does the Gestalt perspective on sensation and perception differ from the structuralist perspective?

Gestalt Psychology

• Originated as a reaction to structuralism

• Structuralists say that

• Gestalt psychologists rejected the idea that perceptions were formed by adding up our sensations

• Perceptions can also result from relationships between stimuli

• “The whole is different than the sum of its parts.” When I perceive something I’m not just looking at all of the individual elements

Structuralist Perspective:	Gestalt perspective:
Sensation: Elementary building blocks of perception	Structuralism ignored the relationship between the stimuli   The relationship among the sensory building blocks affects perception

The idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts led the Gestalt psychologists to propose several principles of perceptual organization 

Explain each of the principles of perceptual organization that we covered.

Grouping Principles.

1.)   Proximity – we group nearby figures together

2.)   Continuity – we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones

• (EX: tree having sticks assumed in an X pattern)

3.)    Closure – we fill gaps to create a complex, whole object

• EX: slide has a white triangle, but there’s actually nothing there just Pacman symbols)

4.)   Simplicity – we perceive the simplest version of the stimulus

• EX: Olympic rings as different colors

Explain the method and results of the Palmer (1975) study. What was the key takeaway from this experiment?

Environmental Effects:

Palmer (1975)

First presented a context scene

Then participants were briefly flashed a target picture

(EX: A bread, B mailbox, C drum)

Asked if they saw the images after being flashed: yes or no.

Role of scene Schema, mental frameworks

How do environmental effects (e.g., light-from-above assumption, schemas) affect our perception?

How did Blakemore and Cooper’s (1970) study explore the physiological mechanisms present in visual perception? What did they find?

• Rearranged kittens in a space where they only saw vertical black and white stripes on walls

• Later, these kittens would bat at a vertical stick but ignored horizontal objects

• Neuron recordings showed that the visual cortex had been reshaped

• No neurons that responded to horizontals

Experience-dependent plasticity

What is experience-dependent plasticity?

Explain the “Greebles” study by Gauthier (1997). What does this study reveal about human facial recognition processes?

Gauthier (1997) – used fMRI

Subjects studied faces of “Greebles”

After training, FFA responded almost as well to Greebles as to faces

* Greebles are fake little creatures

Participants were trained to identify Greebles and sort them into groups/families

FSA facial processing area of the brain seemed to respond almost as well to make-believe Greebles as it did to human faces.

How does the action-based approach to perception differ from the traditional approach to perception?

Effects of Action on perception:

• Traditional approach to perception

• Purpose of perception is just to create a mental representation of something in the environment.

• Action-based approach to perception

• The purpose of perception is to guide actions in the environment, enabling survival

Where are the “what” and “where” pathways located in the brain? Explain the different processes that these pathways are involved in concerning perception.

Be able to summarize the key takeaways from the studies on action-based perception by Witt (and others).

Witt et al. (2012)

• Had participants on a putting green try to hit the goal but placed smaller circles around the goal as an illusion to see how they would hit the golf ball.

• Their ability to perform better was being influenced by their perceptual abilities

Effects of Action on Perception:

• An Affordance is a relation between an object or an environment

• Relates to the different ways you can use or interact with an object

• EX: a table affords the behavior of sitting, but it also affords the ability to rest things on it

What is an affordance?

An Affordance is a relation between an object or an environment

• Relates to the different ways you can use or interact with an object

• EX: a table affords the behavior of sitting, but it also affords the ability to rest things on it

What are the affordances inherent in a Coffee cup?

-       Affordance of drinking out of it

Can of soda?

-       Affordance of opening it, which results to a pop sound

Plant

-       Affords Watering the plant

-       Affords smelling the plant

The affordances always exist, but we do not always perceive them

Which of the following fields of study is best characterized as studying brain anatomy and physiology?

Neuroscience

Explain template matching theory. Identify at least one strength and one weakness of this approach to studying pattern recognition.

1.)   Template matching theory:

·      Proposing that what we have stored in our LTM’s are templates that recognize patterns, and imagine that you, as a person with many lived experiences, have a lot of cookie cutters in our brain; when we see something new, we measure the degree of

·      Matching process

·      What is stored? – cookie cutter

·      What is compared? –

·      Image projected onto the retina

·      Compare projected image to stored images in memory – ability to recognize stimulus depends on the match between observed pattern in environment and the template stored in long term memory.

 

R – writing changed depending on how a person writes it

 

Template Matching Theory:

·      Like a puzzle, the observed pattern must fit the template exactly

·      In letter recognition, the letter Q would not fit the template for letter O

·      Templates must perfectly match the stimuli you encounter within your environment

·      EX: check numbers are very distinctive to ensure accuracy

Problems with template matching theory:

·      So many different templates stored in memory

·      Not the most cognitively efficient thing to sort through all the templates

·      Does not account for stimulus variability

·      Different stimuli can be interpreted in different ways 

·      Cannot account for different interpretations of the same stimulus

Explain feature detection theory. Identify at least one strength and one weakness of this approach to studying pattern recognition.

Feature Detection Theory:

·      Matching process – matching features of stimuli we see in the world to stored features that are in long-term memory

·      EX: preschooler trying to learn difference between P and R instead of focusing and storing the whole letter they might focus on the outline when writing it – not comparing whole template but instead smaller features

·      What is stored

·      What is compared

·      Detect features in a presented stimulus

·      Compare list of stimulus features to stored lists

 

Explain the method and results from the Neisser (1964) study. Do the results support template matching theory or feature detection theory?

Study by Neisser:

Had participants find the letter Q in different letter arrays

The array with more letter O’s is harder because of feature-similar background compared to the feature with a dissimilar background

We have a harder time doing so if letters around the target have similar features outlines

*Also known as Feature analysis

Explain how Hubel and Weisel’s (1962) research provided physiological support for feature detection theory.

 

Physiological standpoint: Study by Hubel and Weisel (1962)

·      In this study, the researchers presented their subjects with stimuli (looking at lines at different orientations: horizontal, diagonal, and vertical). The box next to that shows a single-cell recording (one neuron and how much it’s firing when it sees each stimulus)

·      Maximum firing for vertical lines

·      Certain neurons are reserved for vertical lines and other may respond to horizontal

What is recognition by components (RBC) theory? How did it seek to explain how we perceive more complex stimuli (i.e., 3-D objects)?

Recognition by components theory

• How we might understand more complex stimuli than by just lines

• (made-up geons – fake)

• RBC theory says that all objects are comprised of individual geons (3 dimensional shaped)

• 36 different geons; most objects we encounter are made up of geons, you can also use this line of thinking for something more complex than just a line

• Viewpoint invariance

What are context effects and how do they affect perception?

Context Effects:

Pattern recognition is influenced by context

Pattern recognition is faster when objects are shown in appropriate contexts (Palmer study)

Context can change what an object is identified as

Context can also determine if an object will be recognized at all

What is the word superiority effect (Reicher, 1969)? Discuss how top-down processing can explain this effect.

Word Superiority Effect:

• People are more accurate at identifying a letter in the context of a word (EX:, Ring) as compared to when the letter is contained in a non-word (e.g; WXRG) Reicher, 1969

• Procedure:

• Briefly presented letter strings that either spell a word or don’t spell a word

• Asked participants to identify a letter as either present or not in the letter string they just saw

What is the interactive activation model? Explain how it incorporates both bottom-up and top-down processing.

Interactive Activation Model:

·      Includes bottom-up processing

·      Can explain feature analysis data (which feature detection theory can handle)

·      Includes top-down processing:

·      Can explain context effects (which feature detection theory cannot handle)

·      The information is stored in units that we call “nodes.” The nodes are arranged in different layers; these different layers are connected with arrows. The nodes can activate one another through these lines.

 How do cognitive psychologists attempt to determine how the mind works?

Using observation and experimentation

Simon recently suffered from a stroke and now struggles to speak and enunciate clearly. If we assume that his difficulties with language are connected to the area of his brain that has been damaged, we are utilizing the

     Answer: Neuropsychological approach

•    Correlated damage to a region with impaired behavior

Dr. Doty wants to know which areas of the brain are active when someone experiences déjà vu. Which of the following techniques would be the most useful for her if she wants to approach this question from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience?

     Answer: fMRI

• fMRI is very location-centered, while ERP and EEG are more time-sensitive

  _______________ uses information within a stimulus to perceive it, whereas _______________ uses information around a stimulus to perceive it.

Answer:

• Bottom-up processing;

• Top-down processing

The Gestalt principle of _______________ helps us perceive a coiled rope as a single strand rather than several separate pieces

Continuity - follow it to it’s end without thinking

The finding that the fusiform face area (FFA) can be trained to respond almost as well to "Greebles" as to human faces supports the concept of..?

    Answer: Experience-dependent plasticity

• This area can also change based on exposure, which is why Experience-dependent plasticity is the answer.

If your where pathway gets damaged, it would likely affect one’s ability to….?

Answer: determine an objects location.

Top-Down vs. Bottom Up

Bottom-Up Processing:

·      Build from smaller parts to perceive a whole object

·      EX: times you’ve looked at something and try to make sense of what it is. Might add all the fundamental elements and individual components.

·      EX: someone learning to read might learn various letters by learning the lines that make them up and combine them into words.

·      Type of processing that uses features within a stimulus to try and identify it

 

Top-Down processing:

How can top-down processing explain the word superiority effect?

You must recognize letters to recognize the word (bottom-up), but then the context of the word aids in identifying the letter (top-down)

·      Driven by prior knowledge and expectations

·      EX: Prior knowledge, expectations, context

Explain the difference between overt attention and covert attention.

Overt attention:

• Occurs when you move your eyes from one place to another; involves looking directly at the attended object

Covert attention:

• Occurs when you shift attention without moving your eyes; refers to attention without looking

Give examples of situations that illustrate selective attention and divided attention, respectively.

Characteristics of attention:

Selective attention – the focusing of attention on one specific location, object, or message

Divided attention – attending to two or more things at once

Selective attention task:

• Participants respond to one source of information while ignoring another source

Example: dichotic listening

• Participants shadow one message

Divided Attention Example -

• Tasks: tracking and solving math problems

• Assume the combined tasks exceed capacity

• Assume participants track with 80% accuracy

• while simultaneously adding with 80% accuracy

• What happens if you instruct participants to

• increase their accuracy at adding?

How was the dichotic listening procedure used to determine how well people can focus on the attended message and how much information can be taken in from the unattended message?

In the dichotic listening procedure, participants wear headphones and hear two different messages at once — one in each ear. They're told to attend to only one message (the attended channel) and ignore the other (the unattended channel).

Measuring the attended message: Participants are asked to shadow it — repeating it out loud, word for word, as they hear it. This shows how accurately and completely they can process information they're actively focusing on.

Measuring the unattended message: Afterward, participants are asked what they noticed about the ignored message. The results showed:

• They could report physical features (e.g., male vs. female voice, pitch, loudness).

• They could not report the semantic content (the actual meaning/words) of the unattended message.

Conclusion: This showed that attention acts like a filter — people can successfully focus almost all their processing on the attended message, while only very basic, surface-level information from the unattended message gets through, with meaning largely blocked out.

What is the cocktail party effect and what does it demonstrate?

The cocktail party effect:

• the phenomenon where a person can be deeply focused on one conversation in a noisy environment (like a party with many overlapping conversations), successfully tuning out all the other unattended chatter — yet if their own name is spoken somewhere in that unattended background noise, they will often notice it immediately and their attention will snap to it.

What it demonstrates:

• It shows that selective attention is not an all-or-nothing filter. If attention worked like a strict on/off switch that completely blocked all unattended information (as early models like Broadbent's Filter Model suggested), then personally relevant information like your own name should never break through — since it's part of the "ignored" message and its meaning shouldn't be processed at all.

Describe Broadbent’s model of selective attention.

• Why is it called an early selection model?

Broadbent's Model of Selective Attention:

• Broadbent proposed that incoming sensory information from both ears enters a sensory buffer, and then passes through a selective filter. This filter identifies one message (based on physical characteristics like pitch, voice, or which ear it's coming from) and allows only that attended message through for further processing. The unattended message is blocked at the filter and does not get processed for meaning — it's filtered out early, before any semantic analysis occurs.

Why it's called an "early selection" model:

• It's called early selection because the filtering happens early in the information-processing sequence — right after basic sensory/physical analysis, but before semantic (meaning-based) processing. Only physical features (like whether it's a male or female voice) are used to select which message gets through; the unattended message's content or meaning is never analyzed at all.

(Note: This model was later challenged by findings like the cocktail party effect, since people sometimes notice meaningful content — like their own name — in the unattended channel, suggesting selection isn't always this early or absolute.)

What were the results of experiments by Moray (1959), Treisman (1960), and Gray and Wetterburn (1960)?

• Why are the results of these experiments difficult to explain based on Broadbent’s filter model of attention?

Moray (1959):

• Participants shadowing an attended message often noticed their own name if it appeared in the unattended message, even though they couldn't recall anything else from it.

Treisman (1960):

• When the attended and unattended messages were swapped between ears mid-sentence (with the attended message's content continuing in the other ear), participants would briefly follow the meaning into the "wrong" ear, showing they were tracking meaning, not just physical location.

Gray & Wetherick (1960):

• Similar to Treisman — participants sometimes shifted to shadowing the unattended channel when it contained content that semantically completed the sentence from the attended channel.

Why this is hard to explain with Broadbent's model:

• All three studies show that meaning from the unattended message was processed, even though Broadbent's model claims the filter blocks unattended information before it reaches semantic analysis. If the unattended channel is truly filtered out early, participants shouldn't be able to detect meaningful content (their name, sentence continuations) in it at all.

Describe Treisman’s attenuation model.

Treisman proposed that the filter doesn't completely block the unattended message — it just attenuates (weakens) it, rather than eliminating it entirely. So unattended information is processed at a lower intensity, but meaning can still get through, especially for salient or highly relevant content (like your own name), which has a lower threshold for grabbing attention.

Describe the experiment by McKay (1973).

• Why does his result provide evidence for late selection?

What is visual salience and how does it affect attention?

Describe the experiment by Võ and Henderson (2009), specifically explaining the role of scene schemas.

Describe the Egly et al. (1994) experiment. What is the same-object advantage, and how was it demonstrated in this experiment?

What is the load theory of attention?

Load Theory of Attention:

• Theory of divided attention that focuses

• We all have a general pool of attentional resources

• Applied: you have a fixed limit – you must CHOOSE how you are going to allocate that attention

• Tasks vary in how demanding they are and how many resources they need

 Total demands don’t exceed capacity; no problem

EX: executing both tasks without error because they did NOT exceed capacity

Explain the relationship between practice and attentional demands.

• Consider the classic experiment by Hirst et al. (1976) in your explanation.

Attentional Demands & Practice:

Hirst et al. (1976):

• Task 1: Participants read passages and were told to read for comprehension because they would be tested on it

• Task 2: They had them do a dictation task while reading for comprehension at the same time

• 14 weeks of practice doing both simultaneously

• No interference

 

Reduction in attentional resources

Task (or aspects) become automatic

Controlled processing to automatic processing

Define both controlled processes and automatic processes, with at least one example of each.

 

Automatic vs. Controlled

Controlled processes:

o   Process or task that requires a lot of mental resources

o   Difficult to combine with other tasks

o   As the name states – under a person’s control

o   EX: learning & memorizing vocabulary from a new language, learning how to play a new sport, learning how to play specific instruments, or learning how to read sheet music

Automatic Processes:

o   Require little or no mental resources

o   Can easily do with other tasks

o   May not have conscious knowledge of each step

o   EX: Walking & talking at the same time, driving a familiar route, the act of painting for an artist, the noticing of sensation

What is inattentional blindness? What is change blindness?

Inattentional blindness – a broader, overarching topic

• Participants can be unaware of clearly visible stimuli if they aren’t directing their attention to them

Change blindness – an example of it – failing to detect a change in the environment

• Refers to our difficulty seeing changes in a scene. Observers were shown a picture with and without a missing element in an alternating fashion with a blank screen

• Results showed that the picture had to alternate several times before the change was detected

• When a cue is added to show where to attend, observers noticed change more quickly

Perceiving and analyzing information from the environment is not only dependent on our sensory receptors picking up the information. Explain what this means in your own words.

What conclusions can be reached from the results of experiments like Strayer and Johnston (2001) testing the ability to drive while using a cell phone?

Strayer and Johnston (2001)

• Missed more red lights

• Increased time to apply brakes

• 1993: worse than at the legal limit of alcohol use