Cognitive Psychology Terminology and Theories

Flashcards covering terminology, cognitive theory, and the information processing model (IPM).

Cognitive Theory

Theory that views learning as the acquisition of knowledge and cognitive structures due to information processing

Information Processing Model

A model that explains the mind’s activity of taking in, storing and using information

Learning

Process through which experience causes a relatively permanent change in knowledge, attitudes, skills or behaviour

SENSORY REGISTER

Component of system receiving external environmental stimuli and holding the data briefly in sensory form before transferring them to WM

ATTENTION

The process of selecting some environmental inputs for further information processing – achieved by focussing on a stimulus

PERCEPTION

Process of detecting stimulus to assign meaning for further processing

SHORT TERM MEMORY

Component of system that holds information temporarily. Limited capacity 5 – 9 items if schema is developed (2 – 4 for new items)

CENTRAL EXECUTIVE

Part of working memory CE is a ‘pool’ of mental resources for cognitive activities such as focussing attention, reasoning, and comprehension

Visuospatial sketchpad

Part of working memory CE, the visuospatial sketchpad provides short- term storage of active images and spatial information

Phonological Loop

Part of working memory CE, the phonological loop provides short-term storage of active sounds, words and verbal information. Retention lasts 1.5 – 2 seconds only

Episodic buffer

Combines information from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad and LTM to construct integrated information to create complex representations and knowledge/memories

WORKING MEMORY

Component of system that contains the information that is being focused on at any given moment (15 – 20 seconds) before fading of awareness as what one is conscious of is lost

Encoding

The process of putting new information into the IPM and preparing the content for storage in LTM

RETRIEVAL

Process of searching for, and finding, information in LTM

LONG TERM MEMORY

Stage of information processing corresponding to the permanent repository of knowledge

Schema

A cognitive structure that organises large amounts of information into a meaningful system

METACOGNITION

Knowledge of one’s own thinking processes – thinking about thinking

Automaticity

Cognitive processing with little or no conscious awareness – the ability to perform thoroughly learned tasks without much mental effort

Activation level

Extent to which information in memory is being processed – active state- or is capable of being processed quickly as information in an active state is quickly accessible

Spreading activation

Activation in the long-term memory of propositions that are associated/linked with material currently in one’s working memory

Executive control processes

Process such as selective attention, rehearsal, elaboration and organisation that influence the encoding, storage and retrieval of information in memory

Conditional Knowledge

Knowledge of when to employ forms of declarative and procedural knowledge and why doing so is important – the ‘when’ and ‘why’

Declarative knowledge

Knowledge that is demonstrated through words and symbols systems – ‘knowing that’ something is the case (e.g. acts, beliefs, organised passages, stories)

Procedural knowledge

Knowledge that is demonstrated when we perform a task. Knowledge of how to do something

Domain specificity

Discrete declarative and procedural knowledge structures

Domain specific knowledge

Information that is useful in a particular situation or topic

Episodic Memory

Memory of times, places, persons, events (personal/autobiographical)

Semantic memory

Memory of general information and concepts available in the environment and is not tied to a particular individual

Explicit memory

Deliberate recall of long-term memories

Implicit memory

Knowledge that one is not conscious of recalling but which influences behaviour or thought without one’s awareness

FORGETTING

Loss of information from memory or inability to recall information due to interference or improper retrieval cues

Decay

Weakening/fading of memories with the passage of time

Interference

Blockage of spread of activation across memory networks so remembering certain information is hampered by presence of other information

Retro-active Interference

New learning making recall of old knowledge and skills more difficult

Pro-active Interference

Old learning making new learning more difficult

Cognitive Load

The amount of cognitive processing required to mentally perform a particular task

Intrinsic cognitive load

Depends upon the unalterable properties of the information to be learned – eased when learners acquire an effective cognitive schema to deal with the information

Extrinsic cognitive load

Caused by the way the material is presented, or the activities required of the learner so how material is taught determines how material is retained

Extraneous cognitive load

Irrelevant to the subject being dealt with – external origin. U sing effective instructional methods decreases extraneous cognitive load so existing mental resources can be devoted to learning

Chunking

Combining individual units of information into a larger, more meaningful ‘block’ of content

Elaboration

The process of expanding upon new information by adding to, or linking to what one already knows

Elaborative rehearsal

Retaining information in WM by association with previous knowledge retrieved from schema

Maintenance rehearsal

Retaining information in WM by constant repetition of the information

Rehearsal

Repeating information to maintain cognitive engagement

Top-down processing

Pattern recognition of stimuli that occurs by forming a meaningful representation of the context, developing expectations of what will occur and comparing features of stimuli to expectations and to confirm or not one’s expectations

Bottom-up processing

Pattern recognition of visual stimuli that proceeds from analysis of separate defining features to building a meaningful representation

Concept

Labelled set of objects, symbols, or events sharing common characteristics

Stimulus

Event that activates behaviour

Script

A mental representation of an often-repeated event

Encoding Specificity

The idea that retrieval of information from long-term memory is maximised when retrieval cues match those present during encoding