Unit 2– Cognitive Psychology

Perception

Interpretation of sensory signals (sensation)

Top-Down Processing

Applying prior knowledge and experience to interpret sensory stimuli as is

Internal Factors that Filter Perceptions

Schema and perceptual set

Schema

Mental frameworks that help us organize reality. Past experiences creates frameworks and those frameworks help us interpret the world.

Perceptual Set

Schemas we get stuck using (costs and benefits)

External Factors that Filter Perceptions

Context, experiences, cultural expectations

Gestalt Psychology

Whole is greater than the sum of its parts in term of perception. By perceiving a whole image, instead of parts of it, our perception is altered.

Closure (Gestalt)

Filling in missing info

Figure-Ground (Gestalt)

We tend to separate elements into background and foreground

Proximity (Gestalt)

We tend to group things together when they are close together

Similarity (Gestalt)

We tend to group things together that are similar

Attention

State of consciousness where you are focused on something

Selective Attentioin

We can only focus on a small # of elements

Inattentional ‘Blindness’

We miss elements we aren’t paying attention to

Change ‘Blindness’

We miss changes in our environment if we are not paying attention to them specifically

Cocktail Party Effect

Our name ‘pops out’ even when we don’t seem to be listening

Binocular Depth Cues

2 eyes see depth better than one eye

Retinal Disparity (Depth Cues)

With 2 eyes, an image is projected slightly differently to each eye, giving us more info about its location

Convergence (Depth Cues)

Inward movement of eyes when focusing on objects close to the face

Monocular (Depth Cues)

What allows us to perceive depth with one eye

Relative Clarity (Monocular Cues)

Nearby objects are clearer

Relative Size (Monocular Cues)

Give we know the approximate size of objects, when they are smaller our brain assumes they are farther away, and vice versa.

Texture Gradient (Monocular Cues)

When we see less texture, our brain assumes objects are farther away, and vice versa

Linear Perspective (Monocular Cues)

Parallel lines appear to converge in the distance

Interposition (Monocular Cues)

Objects that are blocked appear farther away than objects that are blocking them

Visual Perception Constancy

These appear to be consistent across contexts because the brain is making adjustments

(Size, Color, Shape)

phi phenomenon (apparent movement)

when objects blink in a particular order, it creates an illusion of movement

concept

mental representation of a general idea (type of schema)

prototype

ideal example of a given concept

assimilation

taking in new information about the same schema

accommodation (cognition)

Taking in new information and forming a new schema

algorithm

problem-solving methods that guarantee the correct answer if done correctly

heuristics

mental shortcut, faster but more prone to error

representativeness heuristic

judge likelihood of something belonging to a category based on its similarity to your schema for that category

availability heuristic

using most available info to draw conclusions

mental set

tendency to approach problem solving in habitual ways

priming

influence of one stimulus impacts the interpretation of future stimuli

framing

the way we present info impacts the way people see it

gambler’s fallacy

bias where people believe that random future events are affected by past ones

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

People keep doing things b/c they already invested a lot in it

executive functioning

organizing, planning, setting goals (CEO of Brain)

creativity

generating novel ideas or solutions that are relatively useful

divergent thinking

thinking creatively

convergent thinking

using logic and rules to find a single answer

functional fixedness

seeing an object only for specific purposes (thinking convergently)

memory

store, encode, and retrieve information

explicit memories

conscious memories (facts, events, experiences)

episodic memory (type of explicit memory)

memories of specific events and associated details

somantic memory (explicit memory)

memories of facts, concepts, meanings of words

implicit memories

type of memory that is unconsciously recalled (time, location, people)

procedural memory (implicit memory)

memory of a motor skill/doing a task (walking)

long-term potentiation

neurons that fire together wire together to form neural networks (how we develop procedural memories)

multi-store model of memory

human memory is made of sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Begins with external stimuli

sensory memory (multistore model)

immediate memory for sensory stimuli of all types

iconic memory (sensory memory)

sensory memory for seeing

echoing memory (sensory memory)

sensory memory for hearing

short-term memory (multistore model)

holds limited items (5-9) for limited time (20-30 sec). Need attention

long-term memory

unlimited capacity and unlimited duration. Need rehearsal.

working memory model

dynamic interaction among multiple memory systems. Beings with central executive.

central executive (working memory model)

controls and coordinates what you’re attending to

phonological loop (working memory model)

processes and stores auditory information for a few seconds

visuospacial sketchpad (working memory model)

processes and stores visual and spatial info

episodic buffer (working memory model)

weaves together sensory info from other systems

long-term memory (working memory model)

stores info over extended periods of time

autonomic processing

working with cognitive material in an automatic way. Requires little effort but is error prone.

effortful processing

cognitive processes require sustained effort and attention. most things that are automatic were once effortful.

memory encoding

acquiring info, interpreting info in order to move it into memory storage

memory storage

retaining the memory (different levels of encoding leads to different levels of memory)

memory retrieval

process of accessing the info (retrieval cues)

levels of processing theory (model)

the deeper we process material, the better we remember it.

shallow processing (levels of processing theory)

superficial way of encoding info (structural)

deep processing (levels of processing theory)

making sense of material in a deep, meaningful, elaborate way

processing at phonemic level

way the item sounds (tone/volume/pronunciation) tends to be mid-level processing

processing at structural level

way the item looks (color/shape/size). tends to be more shallow processing

processing at semantic level

meaning of the item, connecting it to yourself. Tends to be deep processing

encoding

forming the memory

mnemonic devices (encoding)

memory tricks/devices that use the nature of our memory to improve it

method of loci (mnemonic)

memory palace method: using memory of a space to memorize something else that you associate with the space

improving encoding by “chunking”

taking advantage of the relatively small size of short term memory by forming groups

improving encoding by “categories”

breaking items into categories to remember them better

improving encoding by “hierarchies”

combination of chunking and categorizing

spacing effect

learning is more effective when study sessions are spread out, as opposed to cramming. typically the faster you learn the faster you forget

massed practice

cramming

distributed practice

spacing out your study

serial position effect

position of items influences how much we remember

primacy effect (serial position effect)

we remember items at the beginning due to rehearsal

recency effect (serial position effect)

we remember items at end, typically due to length of short-term memory

maintenance rehearsal

repetition to remember, “drill and kill”

elaborative rehearsal

rehearse while making info meaningful

autobiographical memory

we tend to remember things better when they are connected to our lives

anmesia

problem with memory

retrograde amnesia

forgetting old things

anterograde amnesia

can’t form new long term memory

infantile amnesia

scientific evidence suggests we have very few, if any, accurate autobiographical memories from before the age of 4.

Alzheimer’s Disease

chronic brain disorder that negatively impacts memory

recall

remembering without cues pertinent information

recognition

remembering with reliance on retrieval cues

context-dependent memory

memory tends to be better when learning and testing happen in the same context

mood-congruent memory

memory tends to be better when learning and remembering happen in the same mood

state-dependent memory

memory tends to be better when learning and remembering happen in the same physiological state