Cognitive Psych: Cognitive Revolution lecture vocab

Analytic introspection:

Trained participants described their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli.

Artificial intelligence:

The ability of a computer to perform tasks usually associated with human intelligence.

Behaviorism:

Founded by John B. Watson, this approach states that observable behavior provides the only valid data for psychology. A consequence of this idea is that psychologists do not consider consciousness and unobservable mental processes worthy of study.

Choice reaction time:

Time to respond to one of two or more stimuli. For example, in the Donders experiment, subjects had to give one response to one stimulus and a different response to another stimulus

Classical conditioning:

A procedure in which pairing a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response causes the neutral stimulus to elicit that response.

Cognition:

The mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem-solving, reasoning, and decision making.

Cognitive map:

Mental conception of a spatial layout.

Cognitive psychology:

Study of the mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem-solving, reasoning, and decision making. Concerned with the study of the mind and mental processes.

Cognitive revolution:

A shift in psychology, beginning in the 1950s, from the behaviorist approach to an approach in which the main thrust was to explain behavior in terms of the mind. One of the outcomes of the cognitive revolution was the introduction of the information-processing approach to studying the mind.

Electrophysiology

Techniques used to measure electrical responses of the nervous system.

Information-processing approach:

Developed in the 1950s, this approach describes the mind as processing information through a sequence of stages

Mind:

A system that creates mental representations of the world and controls mental functions such as perception, attention, memory, emotions, language, deciding, thinking, and reasoning.

Operant conditioning:

A type of conditioning championed by B.F. Skinner, which focuses on strengthening behavior by presenting positive reinforcers, such as food or social approval, or withdrawal of negative reinforcers, such as a shock or social rejection.

Paradigm:

A system of ideas that guide thinking in a particular field.

Paradigm shift:

A shift in thinking from one paradigm to another

Reaction time:

The time it takes to respond to a stimulus. It is calculated by measuring the time between the stimulus presentation and reaction.

Savings:

Ebbinghaus’s measurement to determine the strength of memory left from initial learning. Higher savings indicate greater memory.

Savings curve:

A plot of savings vs. time after original learning

Scientific revolution:

The change in scientific thought when a paradigm shift occurs

Simple reaction time:

Reacting to the presence or absence of a single stimulus (as opposed to having to choose between several stimuli before responding).

Structuralism:

Explains perception as the sum of small units called sensations.