Cog Psych Test 1

Cognition

The mental processes, such as perception, attention, and memory

Cognitive psychology

The study of mental processes, including the characteristics and properties of the mind and its operations

Reaction time

How long it takes to respond to the presentation of a stimulus

Simple reaction time

The reaction time involving one stimulus

Choice reaction time

The reaction time involving two different stimuli

Structuralism

The theory that our overall experience is determined by combining sensations

Savings

A method used to determine how much information is forgotten after a particular delay

Savings curve

A plot of percent savings versus time regarding information retention

Classical conditioning

A learning process in which one stimulus is paired with another neutral stimulus, causing a change in response to the neutral stimulus

Operant conditioning

A method that focuses on how behavior is strengthened by the presentation of positive reinforcers

Cognitive map

A mental representation of the layout of an environment

Cognitive revolution

A shift in psychology from behaviorist focus to understanding the operation of the mind

Information-processing approach

Describes the operation of the mind as occurring in a number of sequential stages

Artificial intelligence

The development of machines that behave in ways that would be considered intelligent if performed by humans

Neuropsychology

The study of the behaviors of individuals with brain damage

Electrophysiology

The measurement of electrical responses of the nervous system

Brain imaging

Procedures used to visualize which areas of the human brain are activated during cognitive activities

Perception

Experiences resulting from stimulation of the senses

Inverse projection problem

Task of determining the object responsible for a particular image on the retina

Viewpoint invairiance

Ability to recognize an object even when it is seen from different viewpoints

Bottom-up processing

Starts at the beginning of the system, when environmental energy stimulates the receptors (incoming data and stimulus pattern)

Top-down processing

Originates in the brain, at the top of the perceptual system (context and higher-level knowledge)

Speech segmentation

Ability to tell when one word in a conversation ends and the next one begins

Transitional probabilities

Likelihood that one sound will follow another within a word

Statistical learning

Process of learning about transitional probabilities and about other characteristics of language

Likelihood principle

We perceive the object that is most likely to have caused the pattern of stimuli we have received

Unconscious inference

Our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions that we make about the environment

Apparent movement

Movement is perceived while nothing is actually moving

Principle of good continuation

Points that, when connected, result in straight or smoothly curving lines are seen as belonging together

Principle of simplicity

Every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible

Principle of similarity

Similar things appear to be grouped together

Regulatiries in the environment

Frequently occurring characteristics

Physical regularities

Regularly occurring physical properties of the environment

Oblique effect

People can perceive horizontals and verticals more easily than other orientations

Semantic regularities

Characteristics associated with the functions carried out in different types of scenes

Scene schema

Knowledge of what a given scene typically contains

Brain ablation

Removing part of the brain

Ventral pathway

What pathway

Dorsal pathway

Where pathway

Mirror neurons

Neurons that respond both when one observes someone else doing something and when one does it themselves

Principle of perceptual organization

Explain the way elements are grouped together to create larger objects

Attention

The ability to focus on specific stimuli or locations

Selective attention

Attending to one thing while ignoring others

Distraction

One stimulus interfering with the processing of another stimulus

Divided attention

Paying attention to more than one thing at a time

Attentional capture

Rapid shifting attention usually caused by a stimulus such as a loud noise, bright light, or sudden movement

Shadowing

Repeating words as they are heard

Cocktail party effect

Ability to focus on one stimulus while filtering out other stimuli

Early selection model

Filter eliminates the unattended information right at the beginning of the flow of information

Processing capacity

Amount of information people can handle

Perceptual load

Related to the difficulty of a task

High-load tasks

Use more of a person's processing capacity

Automatic processing

Occurs without intention and at a cost of only some of a person's cognitive resources

Operant conditioning

Type of learning in which behaviour is controlled by rewards

Mind wandering

Thoughts coming from within

Inattentional blindness

Occurs when people are unaware of clearly visible stimuli if they aren't directing their attention to them

Inattentional deafness

Focusing on a difficult visual task results in impaired hearing

Change detection

One picture is presented followed by another picture, and the task is to determine what the difference is between them

Change blindness

Difficulty in detecting changes in scenes

Continuity errors

Changes in films

Binding

The process by which features such as color, form, motion, and location are combined to create out perception of a coherent object

Binding problem

Question of how an object's individual features become bound together

Pre-attentive stage

Before we focus attention on an object, this stage is automatic and unconscious

Focused attention stage

Attention is focused on an object and the independent features are combined, causing the observer to become consciously aware of it

Illusory conjunctions

Combination of features from different stimuli

Balnt’s syndrome

Inability to focus attention on individual objects

Ventral attention network

Controls attention based on salience

Dorsal attention network

Controls attention based on top-down processes

Effective connectivity

How easily activity can travel along a particular pathway

Executive attention network

Extremely complex and may involve two separate networks

Executive functions

Controlling attention, dealing with conflicting responses, etc.

Opinion of philosophy on the study of the mind

Everyone had different opinions but they all thought it was important to study

Introspection

The study of the contents of consciousness and of mental processes through inner observation

Positivism

All knowledge must be based on empirically verifiable facts (ultimately too hard to implement, failed as an idea)

Operationalization

To establish a clear relationship between the theoretical construct and its empirical basis in the operations producing scientific data

Behaviourism’s three assumptions about psychology

• Tabula rasa (blank slate)

• All learning stems from forming associations

• Theories about the mind are not needed in a complete explanation of psychology

Omission training

Negative punishment

Problem with tabula rasa

Instinct can get in the way of learning

Avoidance predispositions

Taste cues to internal ailments and tactile cues to external ailments

Computer

Device that manipulates information through the use of rules

Humans as computers

The mind is a program run on a computer that is your brain

Serial

Processing at one stage is dependent on the completion of processing at the previous stages

Four-stage process model for memory scanning

• Encode test item

• Scan and compare with memory set items

• Binary yes/no decision

• Execute motor response

Serial self-terminating scan

Look at the items one-by-one. Stop immediately if you find it

Serial exhaustive scan

Look at the items one-by-one. Go through the whole list before rendering a decision

Parallel scan

Process all the items at once and provide a decision

The brain

A network of highly interconnected neurons that process information in parallel and that learns by forming associations

Connectionist network

Input units → hidden units → output units

Hebbian learning rule

Any two cells that are repeatedly active at the same time will tend to become associated so that activity in one facilitates activity in the other

Sub-symbolic

There are no rules or symbols, only associations

Cognitive neuropsychology

Behavioural and neurological measures are employed to theorize about the mind

Embodied cognition

Understanding the consequences of the mind existing in a body, rather than as a disembodied computer

Advantages of cognitive neuroscience

Provides additional DVs to test psychological theories, develops our understanding of the brain

Disadvantages of cognitive neuroscience

Expensive, interdependence between behavioural and neurological measurement

Cognitive science

Multidisciplinary study of the mind

Template matching

The input is compared with memorized exemplars until a good fit is found

Problems with template matching

Parsimony, flexibility

Pandemonium

Data-driven recognition model based on feature analysis

Four demons of pandemonium

Image demons, feature demons, cognitive demons, the decision demon

Image demons

Record the initial image of the external signal (transduction)