Cognition - Chapter 1

What is the primary focus of cognitive psychology?

the scientific study of mental processes such as perception, memory, attention, language, and decision making

The mental process of identifying sensory information from the environment is known as ______.

perception

What are the two types of attention discussion in everyday cogniton?

selective attention and divided attention

How does Information Processing Approach view the mind?

uses computer analogy where information is processed in a series of stages using programs and rules

Which branch of psychology studies the relationship between brain damage and its effect on cogniton?

cognitive neuroscience

In the “Aristotle hands” complexity example, what is the first cognitive step performed?

the perception of individual letters and words

In the “Aristotle hands” complexity example, what follows the comprehension of words?

the retrieval of relevant knowledge from memory

Accessing the knowledge of arithmetic procedures is a step in which cognitive task example?

solving a multiplication problem

ex) 417 × 3

Cognitive processes can be categorized as occurring in ____ or ____.

serial; parallel

Which philosopher proposed “Innateness,” the idea that mental processes arise from the brain?

Plato

What is the core tenet of Aristotle’s Empiricism?

knowledge is not innate but comes entirely from experience

Which philosopher is associated with the concept of mind-body dualism?

René Descartes

What is the significance of the phrase “I think therefore I am” in early psychology?

it represents a rational and skeptical approach to understanding the mind as distinct from the body

John Locke’s idea that the mind starts as a “blank slate” is known as _____.

Tabula Rasa

According to John Locke, what are the two primary sources of knowledge?

sensation and reflection

Who is known as the “Father of mental chronometry”?

F.C. Donders

Donders used the ____ method to estimate the time taken by specific mental processes.

subtraction

In Donders’ subtraction method, what does “Reaction Time” measure?

the duration between the presentation of a stimulus and the participant’s response

If a simple reaction task takes 200 ms and a choice reaction task takes 350 ms, how long does the decision process take according to Donders?

150 ms

Who pioneered the scientific study of memory and forgetting?

Hermann von Ebbinghaus

The Ebbinghaus ____ shows that memory loss is most rapid immediately after learning and then levels off.

Forgetting Curve

Term: Savings Score (Ebbinghaus)

Definition: a measure of the amount of information retained in memory based on the time saved during relearning

What is the formula for Ebbinghaus’ Savings Score?

The phenomenon where learning is more effective when sessions are spaced out over time is called the _____.

Spacing Effect

Who established the first psychology laboratory in 1879?

Wilhelm Wundt

What was the primary goal of Wundt’s “Structuralism”?

to break down conscious experience into its basic mental elements

Concept: Introspection

Definition: a methodology where trained participants describe their own internal mental experiences in response to stimuli

In introspection, the error of describing the physical stimulus rather than the mental experience is called ____.

Stimulus-Error

What is the major limitation of introspection as a scientific methodology?

it is subjective and susceptible to experimenter bias

William James is associated with ____, an approach focusing on how mental processes help people adapt to their environment.

functionalism

What is the title of William James’ seminal 1890 textbook?

Principles of Psychology

Behaviorism emerged in the early 1900s as a reaction against which methodology?

introspection

John Watson, the founder of Behaviorism, argued that psychology should only study _____.

observable behaviors

What did Behaviorists exclude mental processes from scientific study?

they believed mental processes were not objectively observable or measurable

Ivan Pavlov’s research on stimulus-response associations led to the discovery of ____.

classical conditioning

The term Pavlov used to describe a learned response to a previously neural stimulus is ____.

conditioned reflex

Which Behaviorist developed the “conditioning chamber” to study reinforcement and punishment?

B.F. Skinner

Term: Operant Conditioning

Definition: a type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences such as reinforcement or punishment

What did Edward Tolman’s 1938 mouse maze experiment demonstrate that challenged Behaviorism?

it showed that rats developed internal “cognitive maps” of the maze without immediate reinforcement

Noam Chomsky’s 1959 critique of Skinner’s book “Verbal Behavior” focused on the development of ____.

language

What was Chomsky’s main argument against Behaviorism’s explanation of language?

language is too complex to be learned through reinforcement alone and involves internal mental rules

The 1950s shift from Behaviorism back to the study of the mind is known as the ____.

cognitive revolution

In the computer analogy of the mind, mental representations are compared to ____.

data structures

In the computer analogy of the mind, cognitive processes are compared to ____.

programs or rules

What was the name of the first electronic computer, completed in 1945, that influenced cognitive anaolgies?

ENIAC

According to the Information Processing approach, how does information move through the mind?

it moves through a series of discrete processing stages

What is the correct chronological order of the major movements in psychology’s history?

Philosophy → Structuralism/Functionalism → Behaviorism → Information-Processing

Term: Neural Representation

Definition: the specific way information is coded and stored by the brain’s activity

In Donder’s Choice Reaction Time demo, participants tap their right hand for a red circle and left for green; this tests ___.

decision making

What was the primary goal of the Gestalt movement in relation to introspection?

it highlighted the limitations of breaking down mental processes into small parts

In Behaviorism, a “consequence of prior experience” that increases the likelihood of a behavior is called ____.

reinforcement

The cognitive process of deciding which stimulus to focus on in a noisy concert environment is ____.

selective attention

How does Behaviorist psychology view "reflexes”?

as automatic responses produced by specific stimuli in the environment

B.F. Skinner argued that all human behavior is a function of ____ and ____.

learning; associations

What transition made the scientific study of mental constructs possible after Behaviorism?

advances in technology and the development of the computer analogy

Information processing models often represent the mind using diagrams with ___ and ___.

inputs; processing units

Which movement emphasize objective, observable scientific methods above all else?

Behaviorism

Which early approach to the mind claimed that knowledge comes from experience (Empiricism)?

Aristotle

The idea that “mental processes arise from the brain” was an early philosophical view held by ___.

Plato

Why did Ebbinghaus use nonsense syllables in his memory experiments?

to ensure that prior associations with meaningful words did not interfere with the study of memory

In the subtraction method formula: “Behavior = Process A + Process B”, what does Process B represent?

the specific mental process being isolated (e.g., decision making)

True or False: Behaviorism is no longer used as a research methodology today

False; it remains a valuable research methodology

What did the development of Artificial Intelligence in the 1950s provide for psychologists?

a framework for viewing the human mind as an information processor

A mental shortcut used to solve problems in everyday life, like shopping, is a part of ____.

decision making

The process of “mental imagery” involves which aspect of cogniton?

representing information visually in the mind without external stimuli

Which psychologist is credited with starting the first psychology course in the US?

William James

According to the slides, what is one question Cog Psych inquires about object recognition?

How do you recognize an object?

In the Donders demo, what is the typical reaction time for a simple stimulus detection task?

approximately 200 ms

The “Skinner Box” is primarily used to study ___ behavior in animals

operant

Who wrote the 1957 book “Verbal Behavior”?

B.F. Skinner

The “Cognitive Revolution” was heavily influenced by the emergence of which technology?

the digital computer

Structuralism used introspection to find the “periodic table” of the mind’s ____.

elements

Which movement followed Philosophy but preceded Behaviorism in the history of psychology?

structuralism and functionalism

What cognitive process is tested when you try to solve 417×3 in your head?

working memory and problem solving

What does a “Choice Reaction Time” task require that a “Simple Reaction Time” task does not?

a decision between two or more different responses

What is the primary difference between Plato's and Aristotle's views on knowledge?

Plato believed knowledge was innate, while Aristotle believed it was learned through experience

In information processing models, what follows the 'Filter' stage in a simple model of attention?

the “Detector” stage

Which branch of British Empiricism is mentioned alongside John Locke?

David Hume (or George Berkeley/John Stuart Mill).