D570 Keywords

Analytic Introspection

A technique used by Wilhelm Wundt that involved trained participants describing their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli

Artificial Intelligence

A field of study aiming to make machines behave in ways that would be considered intelligent if a human were behaving that way, as defined by John McCarthy during the Dartmouth conference

Behaviorism

An approach to psychology founded by John Watson that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and rejects introspection and the investigation of unobservable mental processes

Classical Conditioning

A form of learning introduced by Ivan Pavlov and associated with John Watson, wherein a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus, resulting in a learned response

Cognition

All mental abilities, including perceiving, learning, remembering, thinking, reasoning, and understanding

Cognitive Psychology

The study of mental processes, encompassing characteristics and properties of the mind and how it operates

Cognitive Revolution

A shift in psychology from behaviorism to a focus on understanding mental processes, which occurred during the 1950’s and was marked by events such as conferences on artificial intelligence and information theory

Cognitive Paradigm

The approach of focusing on understanding mental processes and the operation of the mind, which emerged during the cognitive revolution

Decision-making process

The mental process involved in making choices, as inferred from behavior in Donders’ experiment

Filter model of attention

A flow chart proposed by Donald Broadbent in the 1950s that depicts the operation of the mind in terms of processing stages, particularly in directing attention to stimuli in the environment

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

A brain imaging technique introduced in 1990 that allows the observation of activated areas in the human brain during cognitive activity without radioactive tracers

Higher mental processes

The complex cognitive functions, such as thinking, problem-solving, and long-term remembering, considered in the study of cognitive psychology

Operant conditioning

A form of learning introduced by B.F Skinner that focuses on how behavior is strengthened by the presentation of positive reinforcers or the withdrawal of negative reinforcers

Stimulus-response relationships

The association between a stimulus and the resulting behavior, a central focus on behaviorism

Scientific Revolution

A significant shift in scientific thinking from one paradigm to another, marked by changes in dominant ideas and approaches

Sensory memory

A stage at Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model of memory that holds incoming information for a fraction of a second

Short-term memory

A stage in Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model of memory with limited capacity, holding information for seconds

Biological Milestones

Universal developmental events, such as puberty

Cognition

All mental abilities, including perceiving, learning, remembering, thinking, reasoning, and understanding

Cognitive Development

Development of thinking and reasoning abilities

Developmental Milestones

Normative events marking stages in development

Fluid Intelligence

Information processing abilities, such as logical reasoning, spatial ability, and reaction time

Genotype

Genetic makeup influencing traits

Learning

The improvement of organism’s response to the environment through the acquisition of new information

Memory

The study of the capacity and fragility of human memory, focusing on acquisition, storage, and retrieval

Neuroplasticity

The brain’s capacity to reorganize and adapt

Normative Approach

Study of age-related averages for developmental milestones

Object Permanence

Understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of sight

Psychosocial development

Development related to emotions, personality, and social relationships

Action Potential

Propagated electrical potential responsible for transmitting neural information and for communication between neurons. Action potentials typically travel down a neuron’s axon

Broca’s area

in the frontal lobe, identified as specialized for language production

Cerebral Cortex

a layer of tissue about 3 mm thick covering the brain, responsible for many cognitive functions

Connectome

the structural description of the network of elements and connections forming the human brain, often referred to as the wiring diagram of neurons in the brain

Default Mode Network (DMN)

a network of brain structures that respond when a person is not involved in specific tasks. The DMN is associated with mind wandering and becomes active during rest

Distributed Processing

the idea that different areas of the brain are involved in a particular type of cognition and are interconnected, allowing communication between them

Distributed Representation

cognitions activate several areas of the brain, which is evident in responses to faces, memories, and language processing

Experience-dependent plasticity

a phenomenon where the structure of the brain is changed by experience, leading to alterations in neural connections

Hierarchical Processing

a progression from lower to higher areas of the brain, where neurons at higher levels respond to more complex stimuli

Localization of function

principle of brain organization where specific areas of the brain serve specific functions

Neurotransmitter

a chemical released at the synapse of a neuron, facilitating the transmission of signals across the gap to another neuron

Brain Imaging

a technique that measures brain activity by capturing images of the brain, often using methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Dissociations

cases in which there is a separation or difference between two cognitive functions, such as imagery and perception.

Frontal lobe

the front part of the brain, which is involved in various cognitive functions, including perception and imagery.

Imagery

mental representation of visual or sensory experiences; a central element in the cognitive revolution.

Imageless Thought Debate

a discussion arising from Wundt's proposal linking imagery and thinking, debating whether thought can occur without mental images.

Method of Loci

using familiar spatial layouts (e.g., house or campus) to remember events. Pick five to seven things, create an image for each, and place them at locations. Follow a specific order or path to encounter images in the correct sequence.

Paired-associate learning

a method employed by Paivio, wherein participants recall words paired during a study period, revealing differences in memory for concrete and abstract nouns.

Pegword Technique

a technique involving imagery and associating items with concrete words. Create a list of nouns rhyming with numbers, forming a retrieval cue.

Perception

the process of interpreting and understanding sensory information from the environment.

Propositional Representations

representations in which relationships can be depicted using abstract symbols, not necessarily corresponding to spatial layouts.

Spatial Correspondence

The idea that there is a spatial relationship between imagery and perception, supported by experiments involving mental scanning.

Working Memory

The system responsible for temporarily holding and manipulating information for cognitive tasks.

Anaphoric Inference

an inference that involves connections between words or phrases in different sentences. For example, inferring that pronouns like "he" or "she" in one sentence refer to a specific person or object mentioned earlier

Causal Inference

the process of inferring that events described in one clause or sentence were caused by events that occurred in a previous sentence

Comprehension

understanding spoken and written language, including processing language sounds; understanding words, sentences, and stories; and engaging in conversations

Heuristic

a rule that is rapidly applied to make a decision, such as those involved in parsing during sentence processing

Lexical ambiguity

a condition in which words can have multiple meanings

Lexical priming

a method involving the presentation of words with similar meanings to observe the priming effect on response times

Parsing

the process of grouping words into phrases while reading or hearing a string of words

Psycholinguistics

the field concerned with the psychological study of language, focusing on cognitive mechanisms, such as comprehension, representation, speech production, and language acquisition

Representation

how language is represented in the mind, involving grouping words into phrases to create meaningful sentences and making connections between different parts of a story

Semantic Segmentation

the process of perceiving individual words in speech, often achieved through contextual cues, statistical regularities, and knowledge of word meanings

Statistical regularities

patterns or recurring sequences in the speech signal that aid in speech segmentation, showcasing the role of statistical properties of language in understanding spoken words

Syntactic Coordination

the tendency of individuals in conversation to use similar grammatical constructions, leading to coordination of syntactic form; this is influenced by syntactic priming

Syntactic Priming

the phenomenon where hearing a statement with a specific syntactic construction increases the likelihood of producing a sentence with the same construction; this reduces the computational load in conversation

Visual world paradigm

a technique measuring eye movements to understand how information in a scene influences sentence processing

Articulatory Suppression

A phenomenon that occurs when a person is prevented from rehearsing items to be remembered by repeating an irrelevant sound, such as “the, the, the”

Central executive

the control center of the working memory system; coordinates how information is used by the phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad

Chunking

the process of grouping small units of information into larger, meaningful units, increasing the capacity of STM

Control Processes

a dynamic processes associated with the structural features of the modal model of memory that can be controlled by the person and may differ from one task to another

Delayed-response task

a memory task used in animal research, such as with monkeys, where the subject is required to hold information in working memory during a delay period before retrieving and responding based on that information

Echoic memory

the persistence of sound in the mind for a few seconds after the presentation of the original auditory stimulus

Encoding

the process of transferring information into long-term memory, illustrated in the modal model when Rachel memorizes the phone number for Mineo's Pizza

Episodic Buffer

an additional component proposed by Baddeley to address the abilities of working memory to hold more than expected and to facilitate interchange between working memory and LTM

Event-related potential (ERP)

a measured brain response recorded using electrodes placed on the scalp that reflects neural activity associated with cognitive processes such as working memory

Iconic memory

a short-lived sensory memory for visual stimuli that registers all or most of the information hitting visual receptors but decays within less than a second

Information Processing Approach

an approach to cognition that views the mind as a computer-like system that processes information through attention, perception, memory, and problem-solving

Long-term memory (LTM)

the stage of memory that can hold a large amount of information for years or even decades, as proposed in the modal model of memory

Modal model of memory

introduced by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968, this model illustrates the flow of information through three types of memory: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory

Neural dynamics of working memory

the processes involving neural activity that contribute to holding information in working memory, including continuous firing and short-term changes in neural networks

Persistence of vision

the continued perception of a visual stimulus after it is no longer present, lasting only a fraction of a second.

Phonological loop

holds verbal and auditory information; consists of the phonological store and the articulatory rehearsal process

Recall

a memory task in which participants are presented with stimuli and, after a delay, asked to report back as many of the stimuli as possible

Rehearsal

a control process involving the repetition of a stimulus, such as repeating a phone number to keep it in STM, as depicted in the modal model

Adaptive process

a process that contributes to an organism's ability to adjust to its environment and enhance its chances of survival

Auditory Coding

the representation of information in the mind in the form of sound, observed in both STM and LTM

Autobiographical Memory

memory for specific experiences from one's own life, containing both episodic and semantic components

Double Dissociation

the phenomenon where two functions, STM and LTM, are affected independently, demonstrating their separation

Episodic memory

memory for events in your life (like what you did last weekend)

Episodic long-term memory

the part of LTM that stores personally experienced events and episodes

Explicit Memory

memory that involves conscious awareness and the ability to articulate memories, such as episodic and semantic memories

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

a neuroimaging technique that measures and maps brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow

Hippocampus

a brain structure involved in the formation of new long-term memories, also showing activity during the maintenance of novel information in short-term memory

Primacy effect

the phenomenon where participants are more likely to remember words presented at the beginning of a sequence, often associated with long-term memory

Procedural memory

memory for physical actions (such as how to ride a bike or play a piano)

Repetition Priming

a type of priming where the test stimulus is the same as or resembles the priming stimulus, leading to an increased response or processing speed

Recency Effect

the phenomenon where participants are more likely to remember words presented at the end of a sequence, often associated with STM

Semantic coding

the representation of information based on meaning, observed in both STM and LTM

Visual viewpoint

the perspective from which a person "sees" or observes an event, whether from above, at eye level, or below eye level

Working memory

a system that involves dynamic processes and is responsible for complex cognitive functions, such as language comprehension, problem-solving, and decision-making