exam 1 cog psych chapter 1

cognition

the acquisition, storage, transformation, and use of knowledge

• remember the acronym ASTU

cognitive psychology

subdiscipline of experimental psychology focused on investigating the mental processes that give rise to our perceptions and interpretations of the world around us

cognitive approach

emphasizes how thought biases and knowledge structures shape behavior

empirical evidence

scientific evidence from careful observation and experimentation. this was emphasized by aristotle

introspection

systematic analysis of our own sensations and reporting them as objectively as possible

recency effect

more likely to recall words at the end of a list

behaviorism

the concept that psychology must only study observable behavior

operational definition

precise description of the exact procedures or operations used to measure a specific variable in a study

gestalt psychology

emphasizes that humans actively organize what they see; the whole (context) is greater than the sum of its parts

gestalt

overall quality that transcends the individual elements

information processing approach

this approach argued that our mental processes can be compared to the operations of a computer. it also stated that information progresses through our cognitive system in series of one step at a time.

atkinson-shiffrin model

proposed that information flows through three sequential stages: sensory memory → short term memory → long term memory

sensory memory

large capacity storage system that records information from each of the senses with reasonable accuracy

short-term/working memory

capacity for holding a small amount of information

long term memory

where informative knowledge is held indefinitely

ecological validity

the extent to which research findings can be generalized to real life

wilhelm wundt

• considered the founder of experimental psychology

• believed in structuralism (breaking everything down to its most basic parts) through introspection

• would later fall out because his methods were deemed too subjective

ebbinghaus

• studied “pure” memory- how we encode and story novel information

• nonsense syllables

• “savings”: takes less time to learn old lists

• forgetting curve

forgetting curve

developed by Ebbinghaus- it stated that as time goes on, our memories decay. They decay at a fast rate immediately, but level off over time.

mary calkins

• first woman to serve as president of the APA

• focused on how we learn things in the real world

• paired associate learning

• recency effect

paired associate learning

developed by Mary Calkins- it stated that learning word pairs that shared meaning were easier to remember such as rainbow and cathedral

William James

• studied everyday psychological experiences

• wrote the Principles of Psychology textbook in 1890. studied how humans use perception

• viewed the human mind as active and inquiring, not passive

• critical of Wundt’s introspection and Ebbinghaus’s nonsense syllables

Frederic Bartlett

• used stories to show that our memory was an active, reconstructive process

• schema-based approach: people actively rebuild memories using schemas instead of replaying exact copies of experiences

• rejected Wundt and Ebbinghaus

2 components of an operational definition

• must be specific and precise

• able to be measurable and tested

operational definition of memory

how many words are recalled from a list

operational definition of intelligence

an individual’s score on an IQ test

operational definition of aggression

number of physical and verbal threats over a period of time

operational definition for attraction

how long someone looks at a target face in an experimental task

explain how organization is important to gestalt theory

organization is what transforms raw sensation into a world of meaningful objects, scenes, and relationships.

drawbacks of introspection

• can be inaccurate as people over and under exaggerate their feelings and thoughts

• subjective: leaves it open to mistakes and inaccuracies

each step of atkinson-shiffrin model

1. sensory memory: compared to the keyboard and mouse

2. short term memory: compared to the RAM

3. long term memory: compared to gigabytes

advantages and disadvantages of the atkinson-shiffrin model

it helped progress research and launch cognitive psych, but it was too simplistic to explain how complex the mind really is. It implied that our memory flows in one direction through fixed states rather than being flexible, active, and interactive.

why did Ebbinghaus learn non-sense syllables instead of actual words

he wanted to study pure memory without the extra influence of meaning. he did this to reduce prior associations and make memory research more controlled.

what are the factors that contributed to the emergence of cognitive psychology?

• memory research blossomed in the late 1950s

• growing dissatisfaction with behaviorism

• cognitive revolution: shift away from behaviorism toward studying organism-internal processes that give rise to conscious perception and action.

Think about why cognitive psychology research could have issues regarding ecological validity

most cognitive psychology research is conducted in highly controlled lab settings using artificial tasks that have little resemblance to how the mind actually operates in everyday life

cognitive neuroscience

combines cognitive psychology research techniques with methods for assessing brain structure and function

social cognitive neuroscience

studies cognitive processes involved in social interactions using neuroscience methods

brain lesions

destruction of a brain area by stroke, tumor, or accident.

PET scan

a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a task

fMRI

imaging technique used to examine changes in the activity of the working human brain by measuring changes in the blood’s oxygen levels

even-related potential technique

procedure for recording the very brief, small fluctuations in the brain’s electrical activity in response to a stimulus

single cell recording technique

positioning a rod near an individual neuron to see how it reacts when presented with a stimulus

spatial resolution

where brain activity happens

temporal resolution

how fast brain activity change can be detected

all brain scanning methods have high spatial resolution except…

Event related potential (ERP)

all brain scanning methods have high temporal resolution except…

PET scan

Describe a situation where it would be preferable to use the event-related potential technique

when you want to measure the timing of brain activity in response to a specific event or stimulus

explain the computer metaphor in your own words

The idea that cognitive processes work analogously to a computer. both compare symbols, make choices, and have limited-capacity processing systems.

Computers process information serially, meaning the system completes one step before information proceeds to the next. The human brain operates through parallel processing, evaluating countless sensory inputs simultaneously.

theory

must describe a behavior and make predictions about future behaviors

hypothesis

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

correlational research

research that examines to what extent variables are associated with one another. it can be used to predict behavior

experimental research

method used to examine the causal relationships among variables under controlled conditions through the manipulation of independent variables and control over extraneous variables

independent variable

the experimental factor that is being manipulated

dependent variable

the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to the manipulations of the independent variable

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by change, thus minimizing pre-existing differences between those assigned to the different groups

limits of correlational research

1. direction of causality problem: do not know if X causes Y or if Y causes X

2. third variable problem: a third variable is causing a false relationship between two variable

advantages of correlational research

can study real world factors that cannot be manipulated in a lab

3 rules to draw cause

1. covariation- if there is a relationship between the IV and DV, you have established rule one

2. time precedence- the cause comes before the effect

3. no plausible alternative explanations- other explanations (third variables) have been ruled out

confound

extraneous variable that is not controlled that may influence the DV in a systematic way

explain how the two key factors of an experiment help establish time precedence and ruling out explanation

• manipulating the IV establishes time precedence- telling them to do a certain act first lets you know which came first

• controlling for extraneous variables rules out alternative explanation- random assignment and experimental control.

experimental control

keep everything in experiment as constant as possible so that only the IV’s vary between the groups

theme 1

cognitive processes are ACTIVE, not passive.

Ex: when reading, we are actively trying to anticipate what the next words will be

theme 2

the cognitive processes are remarkably EFFICIENT and ACCURATE

ex: at a busy restaurant, attention lets you focus on your friend’s speech and filter out background noise

theme 3

cognitive processes handle POSITIVE info better than negative

ex: we better understand “mary is honest” than “mary is not dishonest”

theme 4

cognitive processes are interrelated with one another; they do not operate in isolation

ex: decision making requires perception, memory, general knowledge, AND language

theme 5

many cognitive processes rely on both BOTTOM-UP and TOP-DOWN processing

ex: recognizing your aunt- bottom up (her physical features) + top down) stored knowledge of what she looks like

Jean Piaget

stated that children actively construct knowledge; cognitive development stages

• developed ideas like object permanence and the principle of conservation

Noam Chomsky

stated that language was too complex for behaviorism; humans have an inborn language ability that alone cannot be accounted for by reinforcement and conditioning

connectionist approach

cognitive processes involve networks or neuron-like units with many operations occurring simultaneously ( in parallel), not serially

cerebral cortex

outer layer of the brain, essential for cognitive processes

advantage of experimental research

can make causal claims due to experimental control

disadvantage of experimental research

studying behavior in unrealistic settings