HL Cognitive approach to understanding behaviour

Cognitive Processing

Involves understanding how the human mind acquires knowledge about the world and utilizes this knowledge.

Cognitive Approach

Developed in the 1950s as a response to dissatisfaction with behaviorism, focusing on mental processes like perception, memory, and decision-making.

Cognitive Processing

Involves understanding how the human mind acquires knowledge about the world and utilizes this knowledge.

Cognitive Approach

Developed in the 1950s as a response to dissatisfaction with behaviorism, focusing on mental processes like perception, memory, and decision-making.

Information Processing

Cognitive psychologists view the mind as an information-processing system using sensory input, memory, and mental representations to produce behavior.

Schema Theory

Describes mental representations derived from prior experiences that help in predicting, organizing knowledge, guiding behavior, and simplifying the world.

Schema and Scripts

Schemas are used to interpret incoming information and predict outcomes, while scripts are learned patterns of behavior within a cultural context.

Memory Distortion

Memory is reconstructive and influenced by cultural schemas, leading to distortions in recalling information based on existing knowledge and expectations.

Cultural Expectations

Participants unconsciously change details of a story to align with the norms of their own culture.

Story Retelling

Participants tend to shorten the story, change its order, and add details/emotions to make it coherent and familiar.

Schema Theory

Bartlett's idea that schemas influence memory processes, explaining encoding, storage, and retrieval stages.

Memory Distortion

Participants recall schema-consistent details better, altering incongruent elements to match their schema.

Multi-store Model

Atkinson and Shiffrin's model suggesting separate memory stores (sensory, short-term, long-term) and sequential processes.

Declarative Memory

Memory of facts and events (episodic and semantic memory) that can be consciously recalled.

Procedural Memory

Unconscious memory of skills and how to do things.

Miller's Magic Number 7

The average memory span of 5 to 9 items in short-term memory, as proposed by Miller in 1956.

Cowan's Critique

Cowan argues that Miller's magic number 7 may not reflect real-life short-term memory usage accurately.

Running Span Procedure

Participants listen to a list of numbers without knowing its length in advance, recalling a range of 3 - 5 digits, challenging the belief of 5 to 9 digits in short-term memory.

Parietal Cortex

Brain region crucial for short-term memory, with activity correlating with memory capacity until four digits, supporting Cowan's findings.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

Conceptualized as an extensive storage of information with indefinite duration and potentially unlimited capacity, where memories are stored in an outline form and may be distorted upon retrieval.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to transfer new information to long-term memory, exemplified by HM in Milner's study, suggesting separate stores for short-term and long-term memory.

Primacy Effect

Ability to recall words at the beginning of a list due to transfer to long-term memory, contrasting with the recency effect for words still in short-term memory.

Multi-Store Model (MSM)

Early memory model explaining memory processes with separate stores for short-term and long-term memory, though criticized for oversimplification and lack of memory distortion explanation.

Working Memory Model

Development of the MSM, proposing multiple components like the central executive and phonological loop, emphasizing interaction between short-term and long-term memory.

Central Executive

Attention control system in the working memory model, coordinating processing and storage operations, with limited capacity and modality-free processing ability.

Phonological Loop

Auditory component of working memory, comprising the articulatory control system and phonological store, crucial for verbal information retention and cognitive tasks.

Articulatory Suppression

Technique involving repeating words while memorizing, supporting the working memory model by showing decreased recall accuracy due to overload on the phonological loop.

Visuospatial sketchpad

The visual component of short-term memory that stores and manipulates visual and spatial information.

Episodic buffer

A temporary storage system that integrates information from different sources in working memory, allowing for conscious awareness.

Case studies of brain damage and WMM

Research involving patients with brain damage, like KF, supports the idea of separate short-term memory stores for visual and verbal information.

Working Memory Model strengths

Supported by experimental evidence, brain scans, and case studies, explaining multitasking abilities and different STM stores.

Working Memory Model limitations

Unclear role of the central executive, lack of explanation for interactions among components, and focus only on short-term memory.

Dual Process Model

Proposes two modes of thinking - System 1 (fast, intuitive) and System 2 (slow, rational) - influencing decision-making and problem-solving.

Wason selection task

Demonstrates how people often rely on System 1 thinking, leading to errors in logical reasoning tasks due to matching bias.

System 1 and System 2 thinking

Both systems are used in addressing problems, with System 1 often interfering with the effectiveness of System 2 in decision-making.

Wason Selection Task

A task used to study reasoning and decision-making, where participants must determine which cards need to be turned over to test a rule.

Biological Evidence in Wason Task

Different types of processing may be located in different parts of the brain, as shown by Goel et al (2000) using fMRI.

Parietal Lobe

Brain region associated with spatial processing, active during abstract tasks in the Wason Selection Task.

Left Hemisphere Temporal Lobe

Brain region active during concrete tasks in the Wason Selection Task.

Reliability of Cognitive Processes

Refers to how consistent information is over time, as seen in memory studies by Bartlett and Brewer & Treyens.

Misinformation Effect

Influence of leading questions and post-event information on memory recall, demonstrated by Loftus & Palmer's (1974) study.

Schema Processing

Mental frameworks that shape our understanding of the world, influencing memory recall, as shown in Loftus & Palmer's (1974) study.

Ecological Validity

The extent to which research findings can be generalized to real-life settings, a concern in memory studies like Loftus & Palmer's (1974) and Yuille & Cutshall's (1986) experiments.

Leading Questions

Questions that suggest a particular answer, influencing eyewitness testimony accuracy, as studied by Loftus and Yuille & Cutshall.

Eyewitness Rehearsal

The level of rehearsal used by different eyewitnesses, which was not controlled in the study, making it difficult to determine its impact on memory accuracy.

Procedural Memories

Memories, like those seen in the case of HM, that involve learning skills or procedures despite the loss of declarative memories.

Autobiographical Memory

Memory related to personal experiences and events from one's own life, as studied by Bahrick et al (1975) in relation to names and faces of schoolmates.

Cross-Sectional Study

A study design used by Bahrick et al (1975) to compare different age groups at a single point in time, providing insights into memory reliability over time.

Flashbulb Memory

Highly detailed and vivid memories of emotionally arousing events, proposed by Brown & Kulik (1977) to have a special biological memory mechanism.

Amygdala

A brain structure critical in processing emotions and memories, believed to play a key role in the formation of flashbulb memories.

α2b-adrenoceptor

A genetic factor identified by Quervain et al (2007, which, when stimulated by adrenaline, promotes memory formation, potentially influencing the likelihood of having flashbulb memories.

Criticism of Flashbulb Memory

Neisser's (1982) skepticism towards the idea of flashbulb memories, suggesting that they may be well-rehearsed stories rather than accurate recollections of events.

Cultural Influence on Flashbulb Memory

Kulkofsky et al (2011) found that cultural dimensions, such as collectivism vs. individualism, can impact the formation and importance of flashbulb memories across different societies.

Flashbulb Memory

Memories formed in response to significant, emotionally arousing events, potentially influenced by cultural factors and rehearsal.

Cognitive Bias

Systematic patterns of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment, often influenced by heuristics and impacting decision-making.

Anchoring Bias

The tendency to rely heavily on the initial information received when making judgments or decisions, influencing subsequent evaluations.

Peak-end Rule

A heuristic where experiences are primarily judged based on their peak intensity and how they end, rather than the total sum of the experience.

Framing Effect

The phenomenon where people's choices are influenced by how information is presented or framed, impacting decision-making under risk.

Cultural Differences in Decision-Making

Understanding how individuals from individualistic and collectivist cultures differ in risk aversion.

System 1 and System 2 Thinking

Describing the intuitive, fast mode of thinking (System 1) and the slower, conscious, and rational mode of thinking (System 2).

Somatic Marker Hypothesis

Antonio Damasio's theory suggesting that emotions play a crucial role in decision-making by guiding choices based on somatic markers.

Iowa Gambling Task

A game developed by Bechara et al. to test decision-making in individuals with vmPFC damage, revealing the impact of emotions on choices.

Loss Aversion

The tendency to prefer avoiding losses over acquiring gains, influencing decision-making even when outcomes are objectively the same.

Emotion and Decision-Making

Exploring the influence of emotions on cognitive processes and decision-making, highlighting the interaction between emotional responses and choices.

Digital Learning Effects

Investigating the impact of technology on cognition, including the debate on the effectiveness of digital tools like laptops for note-taking in learning environments.

Emotional Contagion

The transfer of emotional states from one person to another, as tested in the study by Kramer et al (2014) on Facebook users.

Transactive Memory System

A form of memory where individuals rely on others or external sources to store and retrieve information, as discussed by Wegner et al (1985 and Sparrow et al, 2011).

Social Desirability Effect

The tendency for survey participants to provide answers that they perceive as socially acceptable or desirable, even if not entirely truthful.

Sampling Bias

A limitation in survey research where the sample may not be representative of the population, affecting the generalizability of the results.

Google Effect

The belief that people use the Internet as a personal memory bank, questioning the impact on individual memory storage.

Ecological Validity

The extent to which research findings can be generalized to real-life settings or situations, as discussed in the context of memory experiments by Sparrow et al and Storm et al.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, or remember information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, as cautioned in drawing conclusions about the impact of the Internet on memory.

System 1 thinking

Quick, automatic, and intuitive thinking process that is prone to cognitive biases and influenced by technology.

Cognitive biases

Consistent but mistaken beliefs about how the world works, influenced by heuristics and immersion in a digital world.

Self-concept

Individual's belief about oneself, including attributes, personality, skills, and preferences, without emotional judgment.

Self-esteem

Person's overall subjective evaluation of their own worth, reflecting emotional responses to self-concept.

Social Comparison Theory

Theory suggesting individuals determine personal worth by comparing themselves to others, influencing self-concept and self-esteem.

Availability heuristic

Mental shortcut where judgments are based on examples that come to mind easily, impacting self-esteem and social comparisons.

Positive influences of technology

Research indicating technology, like video games, can improve spatial reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.

Flashbulb memories

Vivid, detailed, and long-lasting memories of significant events, influenced by prior knowledge, emotion, and reception context.

Free Recall

Participants were asked to remember and report details about when they heard news about a terrorist attack at two different time points.

Immediate Viewing

Participants who saw the event live on television or shortly after hearing the news.

Delayed Viewing

Participants who saw the event on television hours after being informed.

Canonical Categories

Nine specific categories used to code participants' responses in the study.

Flashbulb Memories

Memories of significant events like 9/11, often influenced by media exposure and social identity.

Internal Validity

Concerns the control of variables in research studies to ensure accurate interpretation of results.

Media Exposure

The amount of coverage an event receives in the media, influencing memory accuracy and vividness.

Social Identity

Activation of one's social identity can enhance the significance and emotional reaction to an event, impacting memory.

Reception Context

The way in which individuals learn about an event, such as through television, social media, or personal communication, affecting memory accuracy and vividness.