Cognitive Psychology Midterms

Cognitive Psychology

The study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information.

Memory

The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.

Attention

The mental process of concentrating on specific information while ignoring other stimuli.

Perception

The process of recognizing, organizing, and interpreting sensory information.

Reasoning

The cognitive process of looking for reasons for beliefs, conclusions, actions, or feelings.

Problem Solving

The process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues.

Decision Making

The cognitive process of selecting a course of action from multiple options.

Language

A system of communication used by a particular community or country.

Dialectic

A developmental process where ideas evolve over time through a pattern of transformation.

Thesis

A statement of belief or proposition in a dialectical argument.

Antithesis

A statement that counters a previous statement of belief.

Synthesis

The integration of the most credible features of two or more viewpoints.

Philosophical Antecedents

Foundational ideas that precede and influence contemporary thought in psychology.

Rationalist

A person who acquires knowledge through reasoning and logical analysis.

Empiricist

A person who acquires knowledge through empirical evidence and experience.

Plato

An ancient Greek philosopher known for his rationalist views.

Aristotle

An ancient Greek philosopher known for his empiricist views.

Wilhelm Wundt

The founder of psychology who established the first psychology laboratory.

Functionalism

An approach in psychology that examines mental processes in terms of their adaptive functions.

Structuralism

An approach that analyzes the structure of the mind and its perceptions.

Pragmatism

The philosophical belief that ideas are true if they work satisfactorily and have practical consequences.

Edward Lee Thorndike

An American psychologist known for his work on trial-and-error learning and the Law of Effect.

Associationism

The theory that mental processes operate by the association of one idea with another.

Hermann Ebbinghaus

A psychologist known for studying memory and the forgetting curve.

Behaviorism

A branch of psychology focused on observable behaviors rather than internal mental states.

John Watson

The founder of behaviorism who emphasized the study of observable behavior.

B.F. Skinner

A behaviorist known for his work on operant conditioning.

Gestalt Psychology

A psychological approach that emphasizes holistic processing of perception.

Cognitivism

A belief that human behavior can be understood by studying how people think.

Artificial Intelligence

The simulation of human intelligence processes by machines.

Modularity of Mind

The concept that the mind consists of distinct modules or systems that process different types of information.

Karl Spencer Lashley

A psychologist who studied the brain's role in complex behaviors.

Alan Turing

A pioneer in computer science known for developing the concept of algorithms and computation.

Neurons

The basic units of the brain responsible for transmitting information.

Cerebral Cortex

The outer layer of the brain involved in various cognitive processes.

Thalamus

The brain's primary relay station for sensory information.

Hippocampus

A brain structure important for learning and memory.

Amygdala

A brain region involved in emotion, particularly fear and aggression.

Hypothalamus

A brain region involved in regulating autonomic functions and behaviors related to survival.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that transmit signals across synapses between neurons.

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter associated with memory and muscle activation.

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter linked to attention, learning, and movement coordination.

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation and various behavioral functions.

Postmortem Studies

Research conducted on the brain after a subject's death to identify disorders.

Electroencephalograms (EEG)

A method of recording the electrical activity of the brain.

Functional MRI (fMRI)

A type of scan that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.

Stroke

A medical condition where the blood supply to the brain is interrupted, causing cognitive deficits.

Brain Tumors

Abnormal growths in the brain that can affect cognitive functioning.

Closed head injuries

Injuries where the skull remains intact but the brain is damaged.

Open head injuries

Injuries where the skull is penetrated, causing damage to the brain.

Intelligence

The ability to learn from experience, adapt to the environment, and utilize metacognitive processes.

Carroll's Three Stratum Model

A model of intelligence that organizes cognitive abilities into three levels.

Fluid Ability

The capacity for abstract reasoning and problem-solving.

Crystallized Ability

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills.

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

The hypothesis that intelligence consists of multiple independent constructs.

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

A theory proposing three types of intelligence: analytical, creative, and practical.

Controlled Laboratory Experiments

Studies that manipulate variables in a controlled setting to observe effects.

Independent Variable

The variable that is changed or manipulated in an experiment.

Dependent Variable

The variable that is measured in response to changes in the independent variable.

Correlational Studies

Research examining the relationship between two or more variables.

Psychobiological Research

Studies of the relationship between brain functions and cognitive performance.

Case Studies

In-depth examinations of a single individual to explore general conclusions about behavior.

Naturalistic Observation

Research method that involves observing subjects in their natural environment.

Cognitive Neuroscience

The field studying the relationship between brain processes and cognitive functions.

Visual Perception

The process of interpreting and organizing visual stimuli.

Depth Perception

The ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and determine distances.

Bottom-Up Theories

Perception theories suggesting that perception starts with sensory input.

Top-Down Theories

Perception theories suggesting that perception is influenced by expectations and prior knowledge.

Gestalt Principles

Rules describing how we perceive visual elements as organized patterns or wholes.

Prosopagnosia

The inability to recognize faces, despite normal vision.

Agnosia

The inability to recognize and identify objects or people despite having knowledge of them.

Color Perception Deficits

Variations in the perception of colors, often referred to as color blindness.

Monocular Cues

Depth cues that can be perceived with one eye.

Binocular Cues

Depth cues that require the use of both eyes to perceive depth.

Perceptual Illusions

Instances where perception diverges from reality, causing distortion of sensory information.

Optic Ataxia

A condition where individuals cannot use visual information to guide movement.

Simultanagnosia

A condition where individuals can perceive only one visual stimulus at a time.

Law of Prägnanz

The principle stating that people perceive complex images in the simplest form possible.

Fusiform Gyrus

A brain area involved in visual recognition, particularly of faces.

Cues for Depth Perception

Visual information that helps determine an object's distance from the viewer.

Cognitive Models

Frameworks for understanding cognitive processes and their underlying mechanisms.