Cog Processess

What are the three main cognitive processes?

Acquisition, Storage, Retrieval.

Define cognition.

It's the mental process of gaining knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and senses.

What is cognition's main purpose?

Survival.

Who is the father of Structuralism?

Wilhelm Wundt.

How did Wundt study the mind's structure?

Through Introspection.

What is Introspection?

Looking inward to examine thoughts and feelings.

What is a limitation of Introspection?

Cannot reflect on subconscious ideas.

Who was Herman Ebbinghaus?

Pioneer of human learning and memory study.

What method did Ebbinghaus use for memory?

Nonsense syllables.

What are nonsense syllables?

Meaningless letter combinations used to study memory.

Define the Savings Method.

Measures how much less time it takes to relearn information.

What are William James’s principles?

The mind is active; we process, choose, and interpret information.

What is short-term primary memory?

Initial memory stage for info held briefly, under 30 seconds.

Explain the Law of Effect.

Pleasant outcomes lead to repeated behavior; unpleasant ones don't.

What is Sigmund Freud known for?

Psychoanalytic Theory focusing on the unconscious mind.

Define the unconscious mind.

Thoughts and feelings not currently in awareness influencing behavior.

What are Freud's three mind structures?

Id, Ego, Superego.

What does the Id do?

Seeks immediate pleasure and fulfills basic desires.

What is the Ego?

The rational part mediating between Id desires and reality.

What is the Superego?

The moral compass guiding behavior based on values.

What are Defense Mechanisms?

Unconscious strategies to cope with anxiety and protect the ego.

Give an example of a Defense Mechanism.

Rationalization, denial, or projection.

What is Unconscious Conflict?

Internal struggles from opposing desires in the unconscious.

What is Ivan Pavlov known for?

Classical Conditioning.

What is the Law of Contiguity?

Events close in time/space are associated.

Define Unconditioned Stimulus.

Stimulus triggering a response without conditioning.

Role of Neutral Stimulus in Classical Conditioning?

Initially elicits no response, paired with unconditioned stimulus.

What is a Conditioned Stimulus?

Previously neutral stimulus that elicits a response after pairing.

What is stimulus generalization?

Conditioned responses occur to similar stimuli.

What is Extinction in classical conditioning?

Reducing conditioned response by presenting conditioned stimulus alone.

What is Spontaneous Recovery?

Reappearance of conditioned response after extinction.

Define a non-congruent relationship.

Outcome does not depend on behavior.

What is Stimulus Control?

When a stimulus predicts a response.

What is Edward Thorndike known for?

Connectionism; forming connections between stimulus and response.

Explain Instrumental/Operant Conditioning.

Do something, get a result, learn from it.

What is Operant Conditioning?

Learning based on behavior consequences.

What is B.F. Skinner's behaviorism approach?

Focus on reinforcement and punishment for behavior change.

Define Discriminative Stimulus.

Indicates the right behavior for a reward.

Difference between Positive and Negative Reinforcement?

Positive adds a favorable outcome; negative removes an aversive one.

What is a Primary Reward?

Naturally rewarding items like food, water.

Define a Secondary Reward.

Initially not rewarding but becomes rewarding when paired with a primary reward.

What is an Aversive Stimulus?

Naturally harmful or unpleasant, can be used in negative reinforcement.

What is Punishment?

Removing rewards or introducing aversive stimuli.

What are schedules of reinforcement?

Patterns determining when reinforcement is given for behavior.

Explain Continuous Reinforcement.

Faster learning, faster extinction.

What is Partial Reinforcement?

Slower learning, slower extinction.

Difference between Fixed and Varied Ratio?

Reward after a set or random number of responses.

Fixed and Varied Interval defined?

Based on set/random time between behavior and reward.

What does Little Albert experiment show?

Classical conditioning in humans using a rat and noise.

What is Operant Conditioning placement?

Reward after behavior.

Classical Conditioning placement defined?

Reward before behavior (stimulus, then response).

What is Gestalt Psychology's focus?

The entire is greater than the sum of its parts.

What explains the Phi Phenomenon?

Perception of motion from a sequence of images.

Define Necker Cube.

A flat image interpreted as a 3D object.

What are Contextual Determinants?

Lines perceived differently despite being the same length.

What are The Laws of Perceptual Organization?

Law of Pragnanz, Figure-Ground, Proximity, Similarity.

What is the Law of Pragnanz?

We simplify complex images to their simplest form.

Define the law of Figure-Ground.

Figure is the focus object; ground is the surrounding context.

What is the Law of Proximity?

We group nearby things together.

What is the Law of Similarity?

Grouping similar-looking items together.

Define Emergent Property.

An experience perceived as a whole, not in parts.

What is the scientific method?

Systematic research approach: hypothesis, experiment, analyze results.

Define Independent Variable.

Manipulated variable to test a hypothesis.

Control vs. Experimental Group?

Control gets no treatment; experimental does.

Factors growing cognitive psychology?

Decline in behaviorism; rise in memory and cognition studies.

What did Noam Chomsky introduce?

The Language Acquisition Device concept.

Define Language Acquisition Device.

Innate ability to learn language without reinforcement.

What did Jean Piaget study?

Cognitive Development Theory through child stages.

What is Information Processing Model?

Compares the brain to a computer for processing information.

What are active cognitive processes?

Brain actively selects and interprets experiences.

What is cognitive accuracy?

Brain helps you make quick survival decisions.

Define cognitive observability.

Thoughts are inferred through behavior and brain imaging.

What's the cognitive learning approach to positive info?

Positive info is learned faster for motivation and balance.

Cognitive interrelation defined?

Perception, attention, memory, language work together.

Define Acquisition in cognition.

Taking in information.

What is Storage?

Putting info away in memory.

Define Retrieval.

Recovering info from memory.

What are the three memory systems?

Sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory.

Recall vs. recognition?

Recall is retrieving info without cues; recognition is IDing info previously encountered.

What is Paired-association?

Presenting two items; recalling one item leads to recalling the other.

What is Perception?

Using previous info to gather and interpret new sensory data.

What are the three perceptual processes?

Sensory memory, attention, pattern recognition.

What's the role of attention in memory?

Essential for focusing on relevant info and filtering distractions.

What is George Sperling’s tachistopic study?

Subjects see 12 letters briefly.

What is Full report procedure in Sperling's study?

Subjects report as many letters as possible.

Explain Partial report procedure in Sperling's study.

Subjects report a specific line after hearing a tone.

Define Iconic memory.

High capacity but fades quickly.

Explain Loftus study conditions.

Icon condition (72 slides with afterimage) vs. no icon (masked by neutral image).

What are Pattern Recognition models?

Template, Prototype, Feature models.

Define Template Model.

Matching info in memory using an existing template.

What is Prototype Model?

Associates info with a general representation, not an exact match.

Explain Feature Model.

Starts from features to build a whole concept; bottom-up processing.

What does 'bottleneck' mean in attention?

Point where attention decides which info to process.

Significance of the word superiority effect?

Words recognized faster and more accurately than random letters.

Difference between top-down and bottom-up processing?

Top-down uses prior knowledge; bottom-up builds from sensory input.

What is working memory?

Short-term memory used for reasoning and learning.

What is the serial position curve?

Better recall of first and last items than middle ones.

Define Divided Attention.

Focusing on multiple tasks at once.

What is Selective Attention?

Concentrating on what's relevant.

What is the Dichotic listening study?

Listening to different messages in each ear.