Introduction to Cognition and Dual-Process Theory Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key cognitive concepts, working memory, dual-process theory (System 1 and System 2), chunking, and related psychological experiments from the lecture.

Academic Skills

The dimension of cognition organized primarily into reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Social Cognition

The aspect of cognition that focuses on social aspects and interactions with another person.

System 1 (Gun)

The fast, automatic brain system that processes sensory information continuously without conscious awareness, powered by long-term memory.

System 2 (Drew)

The slow, conscious, and deliberate brain system that executes steps and fixes mistakes, operating entirely within working memory.

Working Memory Capacity

The limited mental capacity that allows an individual to hold and manipulate only four or five novel items in mind at one time.

Chunking

The process of grouping pieces of information together according to prior knowledge, allowing working memory to hold four or five larger units of information.

Learning

The process of building larger chunks by storing and connecting information in long-term memory, effectively passing automated tasks from System 2 (Drew) to System 1 (Gun).

Add One Task

A mental exercise where four digits are read out and spoken back on the beat with one added to each digit, forcing System 2 to actively manipulate items held in memory.

Hard-to-Read Font Effect

The phenomenon where presenting a test in a disfluent, hard-to-read font lowers student error rates from 85% to 35% because System 1 cannot jump to an answer and hands the task off to System 2.

Un Campaign

An Australian insurance ad campaign that used confusing words like "unstress" and "unhassle" to bypass System 1's automatic ad-filtering and engage System 2's attention.