PSY 280 EXAM ONE

What is retrieval practice?

Actively recalling information from memory.

Why is retrieval practice more effective than rereading?

It strengthens memory traces and makes future recall easier.

What is distributed practice?

Spacing study sessions over time instead of cramming.

Why does distributed practice work?

It forces the brain to re-encode information multiple times.

What is successive relearning?

Combining retrieval practice and distributed practice across multiple sessions.

Why is successive relearning effective?

It prevents forgetting and leads to stronger learning.

How is cognition defined?

The scientific study of mental processes.

What do cognitive science researchers aim to understand?

How the mind works and processes information.

What was the introspection technique?

Observing and reporting one's own thoughts and experiences.

Why was introspection criticized?

Mental processes are subjective and not directly observable.

Who is associated with introspection?

Wilhelm Wundt.

What is behaviorism?

A psychological approach focusing on observable behavior.

How does learning occur in behaviorism?

Through reinforcement of responses to stimuli.

What is Thorndike's Law of Effect?

Behaviors followed by rewards are more likely to be repeated.

Why was the cognitive revolution necessary?

Behaviorism could not explain complex mental processes.

What was William James known for?

Functionalism.

What did Hermann Ebbinghaus contribute?

He studied memory and discovered the forgetting curve.

What was the focus of Gestalt psychology?

How perception is organized into meaningful wholes.

What is the Information Processing Approach?

The mind works like a computer, processing information in stages.

What is sensation?

Detection of physical stimulation from the environment.

What is perception?

Organizing and interpreting sensory information.

What is bottom-up processing?

A data-driven process that builds perception from sensory input.

What is top-down processing?

A concept-driven process using expectations to interpret sensory information.

How do bottom-up and top-down processing interact?

They usually work together in perception.

What is the Word Superiority Effect?

Letters are recognized more accurately within real words.

What is Template-Matching Theory?

Objects are recognized by comparing them to stored mental templates.

What is a major weakness of Template-Matching Theory?

It cannot explain recognition from new viewpoints.

What is Feature-Analysis Theory?

Objects are recognized by analyzing individual features.

What is a weakness of Feature-Analysis Theory?

It struggles with complex object recognition.

What is Recognition-by-Components (RBC) Theory?

Objects are recognized by breaking them down into geons.

What is change blindness?

Failure to notice changes in a visual scene.

What is inattentional blindness?

Failure to notice visible objects due to focused attention.

What is prosopagnosia?

Inability to recognize faces despite normal vision.

What does the Thatcher Illusion demonstrate?

Face perception relies on holistic processing.

What is the Bottleneck Theory of attention?

There is a limit to how much information can be processed.

What is the dichotic listening task?

A task where participants focus on one auditory message presented to each ear.

What is the cocktail party effect?

Attending to one conversation while noticing meaningful information.

What is the Stroop effect?

Slower responses when naming ink colors that conflict with word meaning.

What is Feature Integration Theory?

Features are processed automatically and then combined through attention.

What is unilateral spatial neglect?

Ignoring one side of space due to brain damage.

What is stimulus-based priming?

Fast, automatic priming caused by recent exposure to a stimulus.

What is expectation-based priming?

Slower, controlled priming based on conscious expectations.

What happens during divided attention?

Performance decreases because attentional resources are limited.

Can perception occur without attention?

Basic perceptual processing can occur without attention, but conscious awareness requires focused attention.

What are the most effective ways to learn information?

Practice testing and distributed practice; active engagement strengthens long-term memory better than passive rereading.

Why does retrieval practice work?

Retrieving information strengthens memory traces and improves future recall more than passive exposure.

What is cognition?

The scientific study of mental processes, including how knowledge is acquired, represented, stored, and used.

What is the shared goal of cognitive science researchers?

To understand how the mind works and how information is processed and used.

What is introspection?

A method involving observing and reporting one's own thoughts by looking inward.

What is a limitation of introspection?

Mental processes are subjective and cannot be observed or tested objectively.

Who is Wilhelm Wundt?

Early psychologist associated with introspection.

What is stimulus-response (S-R) learning?

Learning occurs by forming associations between environmental stimuli and behavioral responses.

What was the reason for the cognitive revolution?

Behaviorism could not explain complex mental processes like memory, language, and reasoning.

Who is William James?

Founder of functionalism; focused on how mental processes help individuals adapt.

Who is Hermann Ebbinghaus?

First to scientifically study memory; discovered the forgetting curve using nonsense syllables.

What is the forgetting curve?

Shows how information is lost over time without continued practice.

What is Gestalt psychology?

Emphasized perception and how people organize sensory information into meaningful wholes.

What are the laws of perceptual organization?

Principles such as proximity and closure that explain how perception is organized.

What did the Rueckl and Oden study demonstrate?

Context influences the perception of ambiguous stimuli (bears/beans).

What is a weakness of Template-Matching Theory?

Cannot explain recognition from new viewpoints or variations.

What is the Thatcher Illusion?

Demonstrates that face perception relies on holistic processing and orientation.

What is apperceptive agnosia?

Difficulty forming a complete percept of an object.

What is associative agnosia?

Able to perceive objects but unable to identify or name them.

What is Bottleneck Theory?

There is a limit to how much information can be processed at one time.

What is a dichotic listening task?

Different auditory messages are presented to each ear while attention is focused on one.

What is preattentive processing?

Automatic processing of basic features without focused attention.

What is focused attention?

Combines features into a coherent object.

What is unilateral spatial neglect?

A perceptual condition, resulting from brain damage to the parietal region, in which a person ignores part of his or her visual field.

What is stimulus-based priming?

Prior presentation of a stimulus influences performance on another stimulus.

What is expectation-based priming?

Slower, controlled priming based on conscious expectations.

What is divided attention?

Decreased performance when attention is split between tasks.

What is perception without attention?

Basic perception can occur without attention, but conscious awareness requires focused attention.