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Mind

The mind can be understood in various ways, such as memory, problem-solving, decision-making, and normal functioning.

Cognitive Psychology

The study of mental processes like perception, attention, memory, emotions, language, deciding, thinking, and reasoning.

Representations

The mind creates representations of the world to help achieve goals and function effectively.

Donders's Experiment

An experiment by Franciscus Donders to measure reaction time and decision-making processes in the mind.

Structuralism

Wilhelm Wundt's approach in psychology that aimed to break down experiences into basic sensations through analytic introspection.

Savings Score

Hermann Ebbinghaus's measure of memory retention by calculating the time saved in relearning information after a delay.

Cognitive Topics

James considered various cognitive topics such as thinking, consciousness, attention, memory, perception, imagination, and reasoning.

Ebbinghaus's Savings Curve

Ebbinghaus plotted percent savings against time between learning and testing to show rapid forgetting in the first 2 days followed by slower forgetting.

Behaviorism

Watson's approach to psychology that focused on observable behavior rather than introspection and mental processes.

Operant Conditioning

Skinner's concept focusing on how behavior is strengthened by positive reinforcement or the removal of negative reinforcement.

Cognitive Maps

Tolman's idea of mental representations of spatial layouts, challenging behaviorism's focus on stimulus-response connections.

Cognitive Revolution

The shift in psychology from behaviorism to studying the operation of the mind, marked by a focus on understanding complex cognitive behaviors.

Scientific Revolution

Kuhn defined it as a shift from one dominant system of ideas (paradigm) to another, as seen in the transition from classical physics to modern physics in the early 20th century.

Behaviorism

A psychological approach that focuses on observable behaviors as the end result of learning.

Cognitive Approach

A paradigm shift in psychology that considers the role of the mind in creating behavior, emphasizing mental processes like memory and problem-solving.

Behavioral Therapies

Psychological treatments based on behaviorism principles, focusing on modifying behaviors through reinforcement and punishment.

Information Processing Approach

A method in psychology that studies mental operations as a sequence of stages, inspired by how computers process information.

Filter Model of Attention

Proposed by Broadbent, a model describing how the mind selectively processes information, filtering out irrelevant stimuli.

Artificial Intelligence

The concept of programming computers to mimic human-like intelligent behavior, as discussed in the 1956 Dartmouth conference.

Sensory Memory

The initial stage in the memory system that briefly holds incoming sensory information before passing it to short-term memory.

Short-term Memory

The memory system with limited capacity that holds information for a short period, like remembering a phone number temporarily.

Long-term Memory

The memory system with high capacity that stores information for extended periods, such as personal experiences and facts.

Model of Memory

Atkinson and Shiffrin's (1968) three-stage model describing the flow of information through sensory, short-term, and long-term memory.

Long-term memory components

Endel Tulving proposed that long-term memory is subdivided into three components:episodic memory, semantic memory, and procedural memory.

Physiological techniques in cognitive research

Neuropsychology and electrophysiology were two dominant physiological techniques used in early cognitive research to understand brain functioning.

Brain imaging techniques

Positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are brain imaging techniques used to observe brain activity during cognitive tasks.

Paradigm shifts in cognitive psychology

The introduction of fMRI marked a significant shift in cognitive psychology, leading to a new way of thinking and conducting research.

Real-world cognition

Modern cognitive psychology emphasizes studying cognition in real-world environments to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the mind operates.

Importance of knowledge in cognition

Knowledge plays a central role in cognitive processing, influencing perception and memory processes.

Encoding and retrieval

Encoding refers to learning new material, while retrieval involves remembering previously learned information; both are crucial processes in memory.

Mini-stories in cognitive psychology

Information in cognitive psychology is often presented as mini-stories, where basic ideas are supported by examples or experiments to aid in understanding and retention.

Paradigm shift

A fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline.

Reaction time

The time it takes to respond to a stimulus.

Savings

The amount of time saved when relearning information compared to learning it for the first time.

Savings curve

A graphical representation showing the amount of savings in relearning information over time.

Scientific revolution

A period of significant change in scientific thought and experimentation.

Simple reaction time

The time it takes to respond to a single stimulus.

Structuralism

An approach to psychology focusing on the structure of the mind and conscious experience.

early pioneers in cog psych