Cognitive Processes

Networks

Interconnected mental structures that facilitate the processing and retrieval of information in the brain. (Describe knowledge as a kind of “map”)

Node

A specific point within a network that represents a particular piece of knowledge or concept, linking various information and facilitating access to related ideas.

Spreading Activation

A cognitive process where activating one node in a network triggers the activation of related nodes, facilitating the retrieval of connected information.

Context-specific learning

If you learn something in a specific context, what you learn becomes linked to things in that context

Priming

A psychological effect where exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, often without conscious awareness.

Meyer and Schvaneveldt

Discovered that spreading activation influences performance in a lexical decision task (ex: cherries-pears, cherries-bus, cherries-fire)

Fan Effect

Activation is divided across association, there is a cost for spreading your activation thinly

Anderson’s Experiment (1974)

A study that demonstrated the fan effect by showing that increasing the number of associations for a concept leads to slower retrieval times. (ex: The doctor is in the bank, etc.)

Perceptual Input Layer

The initial layer of a neural network model where sensory information is received and converted into a format suitable for processing.

ACT

A cognitive model that describes how attention and working memory function together to influence tasks such as problem-solving and decision-making.

Connectionism

A theoretical approach in cognitive science that models mental processes using artificial neural networks, highlighting how interconnected nodes can simulate learning and information processing.