Perception & Cognition Learning Outcomes (Weeks 1-12)

What does expected utility theory propose about human behavior?

It proposes that people behave in a way that maximizes their expected utility, which helps them achieve their goals.

What are the components of expected utility theory?

The components include acts (available decisions), states (factors beyond an individual's control), and consequences (results of those acts).

How does expected utility theory relate to preference-based decision making?

It directs decision making towards achieving the greatest gain with minimal cost, functioning as a cost-benefit analysis.

Define risk aversion in the context of decision making.

Risk aversion is the propensity of an individual to avoid risk-taking behaviors.

What is loss aversion?

Loss aversion is the tendency to avoid behaviors that could result in resource loss, even if they could yield similar value gains.

What is the endowment effect?

The endowment effect is the tendency to overvalue possessions and undervalue items not owned.

Explain the framing effect.

The framing effect occurs when people make different decisions based on whether a scenario emphasizes potential gains or losses.

What is default option bias?

Default option bias is the tendency to select a default option over other available options, even if the alternatives are more effective.

How do emotions influence decision making according to the Affect Infusion Model?

Positive emotions increase weight on pleasant information, while negative emotions increase weight on unpleasant information.

What does the Affect Infusion Model predict about negative emotions?

It predicts that negative emotions will increase risk aversion.

How do positive emotions affect risk behavior according to the Affect Infusion Model?

Positive emotions are predicted to increase risk-seeking behavior.

What is the Mood Maintenance Hypothesis?

It states that people in pleasant moods want to maintain their mood, while those in unpleasant moods want to improve it.

According to the Mood Maintenance Hypothesis, how do positive emotions affect risk aversion?

Positive emotions increase risk aversion.

What does the Mood Maintenance Hypothesis predict about negative emotions?

It predicts that negative emotions will increase risk-seeking behavior.

What is attention in cognitive processes?

Attention refers to the cognitive processes that help us sustain focus on some things at the expense of others.

What are capacity limitations in attention?

Capacity limits refer to the maximum amount of items we can pay attention to at any given time.

What is external attention?

External attention is when the things that attention selects are in the external world (i.e., outside the mind).

What is internal attention?

Internal attention is when the things that are selected are in your internal world (thoughts, feelings, memories).

What is overt attention?

Overt attention is when external visual information is selected via movements of the eyes.

What is covert attention?

Covert attention is when external visual information is selected without eye movements.

What is voluntary attention?

Voluntary attention is when we direct attention to an object by conscious volition, which can be internal or external.

What is reflexive attention?

Reflexive attention is when something captures our attention because of unconscious processes, which can be internal or external.

What is sustained attention?

Sustained attention is when attention selects a single stimulus for subsequent processing.

What is divided attention?

Divided attention is when attention selects multiple stimuli for processing at the same time, often leading to reduced performance on tasks.

What is sensory attention?

Sensory attention is the phenomenon where we pay attention based on one sensory stimulus over another, such as visual over taste.

What is feature-based attention?

Feature-based attention is the phenomenon where we pay attention to select features over other features, like motion over spatial distance.

What is object-based attention?

Object-based attention is where we pay attention to a single object even if it overlaps another in space.

What is Broadbent's filter model of attention?

Broadbent proposed that attention is a filter that selects a single message and screens all other messages out.

What is Treisman's attenuator model?

Treisman's model proposes that we selectively decrease our attention to items in our environment rather than filtering them out completely.

What do late-selection models propose about attention?

Late-selection models place a filter after the extraction of semantic memory.

What is Nilli Lavie's load theory?

Lavie's load theory shows that semantic processing of unattended information depends on the cognitive load of the attended task.

What is feature integration theory?

Feature integration theory proposes that attending to a stimulus binds its various features together into a coherent percept.

What is an illusory conjunction?

An illusory conjunction occurs when features from two objects are erroneously bound together into a single item.

What is the difference between a feature search and a conjunction search?

A feature search involves finding a target based on a single, unique feature, while a conjunction search involves finding a target based on the combination of two or more features, which is more difficult.

What is distractibility in attention?

Distractibility is based on a stimulus's distinctiveness, personal sentiment, and association with threat or reward.

What is attentional blindness?

Attentional blindness involves situations where we don't attend to things we should or might want to notice.

What is inattentional blindness?

Inattentional blindness is a phenomenon where we are unconscious of visible stimuli unless we pay attention to them.

What is change blindness?

Change blindness is our incapability of detecting changes to stimuli unless we are paying attention to the relevant part of the stimulus.

Why do we study basic learning processes in non-human animals?

Human knowledge exists in a rich network of associations, making some things easier to learn than others. Animals lack this network.

What is habituation?

The process by which responses to a repeated or constant stimulus reduce in emotional magnitude over time.

What is sensitisation?

The process by which responses to a repeated or constant stimulus increase in emotional magnitude over time.

What is associative learning?

Making connections between different factors, often stimuli or responses, which includes classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

What is classical conditioning?

A simple form of learning that occurs through repeated association of two different stimuli (neutral stimulus + unconditioned stimulus), involving passive learning for involuntary behavior.

What is operant conditioning?

Learning through the use of rewards (reinforcement) and consequences (punishments), involving active learning for voluntary behavior.

What is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?

A stimulus that is capable of eliciting an automatic response.

What is an unconditioned response (UCR)?

The natural, automatic response that is unlearned.

What is a neutral stimulus (NS)?

A stimulus that does not elicit any response before learning has occurred.

What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?

A stimulus that, because of learning, will elicit a specific response.

What is a conditioned response (CR)?

A learnt response to a previously neutral stimulus.

What is acquisition in Pavlovian conditioning?

An increase in the strength of the conditioned response (CR) with repeated pairings between the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS).

What is extinction in Pavlovian conditioning?

The process where the conditioned response becomes weaker after the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus.

What is spontaneous recovery?

When the conditioned response occurs again, though usually not at its original strength.

What is generalization in Pavlovian conditioning?

When a conditioned response occurs to stimuli that are similar but not identical to the original conditioned stimulus.

What is overshadowing in associative learning?

When the associative learning of one stimulus in a compound conditioning procedure is weakened by the presence of another, more prevalent stimulus.

What is the ABC model in operant conditioning?

It stands for antecedent, behavior, and consequence.

What does the law of effect state?

Actions rewarded with satisfying or pleasant consequences are more likely to occur again, while actions with unpleasant consequences are less likely to occur again.

What is reinforcement?

Satisfying or pleasant consequences that make a behavior more likely to occur in the future.

What is punishment?

Unsatisfying or unpleasant consequences that make a behavior less likely to occur in the future.

What is positive reinforcement?

Reinforcement that occurs when a behavior causes a pleasant stimulus to occur.

What is negative reinforcement?

Reinforcement that occurs when a behavior causes an unpleasant stimulus to disappear.

What is positive punishment?

Punishment that occurs when a behavior causes an unpleasant stimulus to occur.

What is negative punishment?

Punishment that occurs when a behavior causes a pleasant stimulus to disappear.

What is shaping in instrumental learning?

Reinforcement is given for successively more complex behaviors that are increasingly similar to the target behavior.

What is secondary reinforcement?

When stimuli consistently associated with reinforcement acquire the capacity to reinforce behavior by themselves.

What is the partial reinforcement extinction effect?

Behaviors conditioned using reinforcement that is only occasionally given undergo extinction at a lower rate than those with full reinforcement.

What are cognitive maps in learning?

Animals learn a more complex representation of the world than mere stimulus-stimulus or stimulus-response associations.

What are the three components of the multi-store model of memory?

Sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

What is sensory memory?

A buffer that briefly holds all information arriving at our senses, with large capacity but short duration.

What is the capacity and duration of short-term memory?

Holds 5-9 items for 15-20 seconds.

How can the capacity of short-term memory be expanded?

By chunking information together.

What is long-term memory?

The storage of information encoded from short-term memory, retained for an extended period, ranging from minutes to a lifetime.

What is working memory?

A limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks.

What are the three components of working memory according to Baddeley's model?

Phonological loop, visuospatial sketch pad, and central executive.

How does working memory differ from short-term memory?

Working memory processes and manipulates information, while short-term memory merely holds it.

What is auditory coding in memory?

The process of forming memories based on what we hear.

What is visual coding in memory?

The process of forming memories based on what we see.

What is semantic coding in memory?

The process of bringing meaning to the things we remember, considered the deepest form of coding.

How is memory storage in the brain characterized?

It is a brain-wide process with no single part of the brain storing memories.

What is the difference between short-term and long-term memory storage?

Short-term memory storage is activity-dependent, while long-term memory storage is structural.

What is memory retrieval?

The process of bringing memories back from long-term storage into short-term memory.

What are retrieval cues?

Stimuli that enhance the retrieval of memories from long-term storage.

What is cued recall?

Retrieving information using retrieval cues.

What is free recall?

Retrieving information without any cues.

How does item complexity affect memory?

It influences the resources required to hold an item in memory over other items.

What is the role of rehearsal in short-term memory?

It extends the duration that information can be held in short-term memory.

What is the significance of chunking in memory?

It allows for the expansion of short-term memory capacity by grouping information.

What does it mean that memory retrieval is an active process?

It involves actively reconstructing memories rather than passively accessing them.

What is the role of heuristics in human judgement?

Heuristics play a role in human judgement by simplifying decision-making processes through mental shortcuts, such as availability, representativeness, and anchoring-adjustment.

What is the availability heuristic?

The availability heuristic is the tendency to judge event probabilities by recalling instances from memory and assessing how many instances of the event come to mind.

What is the representativeness heuristic?

The representativeness heuristic is the tendency to make judgements about category membership based on resemblance to a prototypical example of that category.

What is the anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic?

The anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic occurs when we make adjustments to an initial guess or offer.

What is probability distortion?

Probability distortion is the tendency to over-weight relatively rare events in decision making and under-weight relatively common events.

What are illusory correlations?

Illusory correlations occur when we perceive a relationship between two variables where no true relationship exists.

What is confirmation bias?

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out and interpret information in a way that confirms a statement or hypothesis.

What is base-rate neglect?

Base-rate neglect is the tendency to ignore the underlying probabilities of events when considering their likelihood.

What is a common error in judgement regarding sample sizes?

A frequent error is assuming that small sample sizes are representative of the population they are drawn from.

What can be concluded from a non-representative sample?

If a sample is non-representative, there is no guarantee that accurate conclusions can be drawn.

What is deductive reasoning?

Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions from premises by constructing valid arguments, applying a general rule to a specific case.

What are conditional syllogisms?

Conditional syllogisms are deductive reasoning problems where one premise has the form 'If P, then Q', allowing for affirming or denying the antecedent and/or consequent.

What makes a conclusion from deductive reasoning invalid?

Affirming the consequent or denying the antecedent makes the conclusions of deductive reasoning invalid.