Cognitive Psychology: Memory, Reasoning, Language, and Decision-Making

Flashbulb memory

A vivid and detailed memory for the circumstances surrounding an emotional or surprising event.

Accuracy of flashbulb memories

They can become distorted over time despite feeling vivid.

Factors contributing to memory errors

Poor encoding, interference, schemas, source confusion, imagination, and post-event misinformation.

Schema

Background knowledge that influences memory encoding, storage, and recall.

Memory distortions caused by schemas

They guide interpretation and can fill in or alter missing details.

Source confusion

Misidentifying the origin of a memory.

Commonality of source confusion

Memory binds many features (who, where, when), making individual parts easy to confuse.

Misinformation effect

When post-event suggestions or wording alter memory for the event.

Concept

A mental representation used to group similar items.

Categorization

Classifying items into categories based on shared properties.

Categorical perception characteristics

Abrupt perceptual change and better discrimination across categories than within categories.

Definitional approach

Category membership defined by necessary and sufficient features.

When definitional approach works well

For mathematical or abstract concepts with clear definitions.

When definitional approach fails

For natural categories lacking strict defining features.

Family resemblance

Members share overlapping features without a single defining feature.

Prototype approach

Categorization via comparison to an abstract average.

Exemplar approach

Categorization via comparison to stored individual examples.

Support for prototype and exemplar approaches

Family resemblance.

Hierarchical organization in semantic networks

Concepts arranged at levels (superordinate, basic, subordinate).

Basic level in semantic networks

It contains the most useful information and is learned first.

Cognitive economy

Storing shared properties once at higher-level nodes.

Deductive reasoning

Determining what must follow logically from premises.

Categorical syllogism

A logical argument using quantifiers such as 'all' or 'some.'

Validity

Whether the conclusion logically follows from the premises.

Truth in syllogisms

Whether the premises and conclusion correspond to reality.

Conditional syllogism

A logical structure based on 'If P, then Q.'

Valid forms of conditional reasoning

Affirming the antecedent and denying the consequent.

Invalid forms of conditional reasoning

Affirming the consequent and denying the antecedent.

Falsification principle

To test a rule, seek evidence that could falsify it.

Wason Selection Task

Choose cards showing P and not-Q, because these can violate 'If P, then Q.'

Inductive Reasoning

Drawing likely conclusions from evidence.

Stronger Inductive Argument

Representativeness, number of observations, and quality of observations.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut for efficient decision-making.

Availability Heuristic

Judging frequency based on how easily examples come to mind.

Availability Occurrence

People rely on accessible examples rather than considering all possible cases.

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging category membership by similarity to a prototype.

Errors from Representativeness

It leads to neglect of base rates, prior probabilities, and conjunction rules.

Confirmation Bias

Seeking evidence that supports one's beliefs while ignoring contradicting evidence.

Normative Approach

Theoretical decision-making based on maximizing expected value.

Expected Value

Probability × value.

Descriptive Approach

How people actually make decisions, often irrationally.

Utility Theory

Decisions are based on subjective utility rather than objective value.

Loss Aversion

Losses have more psychological weight than equivalent gains.

Framing Effect

Different presentations of identical outcomes lead to different decisions.

Well-defined Problem

One with clear initial state, goal, and rules.

Ill-defined Problem

One lacking clear goals or solution steps.

Insight

Sudden realization of a solution.

Functional Fixedness

Seeing objects only in terms of their typical function.

Mental Set

Persisting in using familiar strategies even when ineffective.

Means-Ends Analysis

Solving a problem by creating subgoals to reduce differences between current and goal state.

Analogical Problem Solving

Using a known solution from one problem to solve a structurally similar one.

Language

A rule-governed system of symbols used to convey meaning.

Hierarchical Structure in Language

Phonemes → morphemes → words → sentences.

Skinner's View

Language learned through reinforcement.

Chomsky's View

Language ability is innate and based on universal grammar.

Phoneme

The smallest sound unit that changes meaning.

Categorical Perception

Perceiving speech sounds as distinct categories.

Phonemic Restoration Effect

Using context to fill in missing phonemes.

McGurk Effect

Visual speech information alters auditory perception.

Morpheme

The smallest meaningful unit of language.

Lexical Ambiguity

A word having multiple meanings.

Syntax

Rules for combining words into sentences.

Parsing

Grouping words into phrases during comprehension.

Garden-path Sentences

Sentences that initially lead to incorrect interpretations.