Critical Thinking in Psychology

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from the lecture on animal cognition and critical thinking in psychology.

Anthropomorphism

Projecting human qualities onto animals.

Animal Thoughts

Studying the size of various structures in the animal brain gives us a window into how that animal thinks about the world.

Pain in Mammals

Mammals feel pain because they all have nociceptors and a thalamus.

Brain Wrinkles and Intelligence

The more wrinkled the brain, the higher the surface area of the cortex and thus the greater neuronal density.

Mammalian Emotions

All mammals are thought to experience the most basic of emotions, but no more than a 2-year-old human.

Human Crying

Humans are the only animals that cry as a sign of emotion or distress.

Animal Cognition Evolution

Animals evolved to respond to certain unique challenges they faced in their unique evolutionary histories.

Occlusion task

Using eye-tracking technology to determine whether the person anticipates the rolling ball to emerge.

Animal Mental Tools

All animals possess different mental tools for efficiently interacting with their environment