Chapter 1 Mastery Training

Chapter 1: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Theory that behavior is strengthened by presentation of positive reinforcers or withdrawal of negative reinforcers

SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

Occurs when there is a shift in thinking from one scientific paradigm to another

COGNITIVE REVOLUTION

Shift in psychology from the behaviorist approach to explaining behavior in terms of the mind

SAVINGS CURVE

Plot showing the amount remembered versus the time between initial learning and testing

WILLIAM JAMES (1890)

Psychologist who wrote the first psychology textbook; some of his observations are still valid today

FRANSCICUS DONDERS (1868)

Physiologist who performed the first cognitive psychology experiment

PARADIGM

System of ideas that dominate science at a particular time

ARITIFICAL INTELLIGENCE

Ability of a computer to perform tasks usually associated with the human mind

INFORMATION-PROCESSING APPROACH

Concept of psychology that describes the mind as processing data through a sequence of stages

PARADIGM SHIFT

Change of a system of ideas that dominate science at a particular time

NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Study of the behavior of people with brain damage

ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY

Measurement of electrical responses of the nervous system

REACTION TIME

Measurement of how long it takes to respond to presentation of a stimulus

CHOICE REACTION TIME

Measurement of how long it takes to react to one of multiple stimuli

BRAIN IMAGING

Technique that creates pictures of the brain

STRUCTURALISM

Approach to psychology that explained perception as the combination of small elementary units called sensations

ANALYTIC INTROSPECTION

Procedure in which trained participants described their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli

HERMANN EBBINGHAUS (1885)

Psychologist who studied the quantitative measurement of mental processes

COGNITION

Mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem solving, reasoning, and decision making

SIMPLE REACTION TIME

Measurement of how long it takes to respond to a single stimulus

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Scientific study of the mind and mental processes

MIND

System that creates mental representations of the world and controls mental functions

WILHELM WUNDT (1879)

Scientist who established the first laboratory of scientific psychology

COGNITIVE MAP

Mental conception of a spatial layout

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Pairing of a stimulus with a neutral stimulus changes the response to the neutral stimulus

BEHAVIORISM

Approach by John Watson stating that observable conduct provides the only valid data for psychology

SAVINGS

Measure used by Ebbinghaus to determine the magnitude of memory left from initial learning