cognitive psyc exam 1

empiricism

= experience, knowledge comes from experience, observation and sense

nativism

= nature/born with it, you are born with knowledge

structuralism

structure of the mind, breaks up parts of mind into basic parts

frontal lobe

executive functions, decision making, and reasoning

temporal lobe

memory, auditory functions, language, and face processing

pariental lobe

tactile information and position of objects in space

occipital lobe

vision

functionalism

focuses on what parts of the brain does

behaviorism

focuses on observable behavior and what you can learn from it

how has behaviorism helped psychology?

behaviorism pushed psychology towards measurable, observable evidence versus one’s thoughts

how does information processing approach and behaviorism differ?

information processing approach looks at what happens inside the mind (input —> processing —> output) and behaviorism focuses on observables (stimuli —> response)

reaction time

how long it takes you to respond to something after it happens

role of theoretical models in cognition

gives psychologist framework for explaining how mind works

electroencephalography (EEG)

measures brain electrical activity

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

show what parts of brain are functioning/active

position emission tomography (PET)

shows which areas of brain are using more energy and requires radioactive material

spatial and temporal resolution for EEG

low spatial and high temporal

spatial and temporal resolution for fMRI

moderate spatial and low temporal

spatial and temporal resolution for PET

high spatial and moderate temporal

divided attention

ability to pay attention to multiple things simutaneously

selective attention

focus on one object while ignoring other things around you

distraction

something takes your attention

attentional capture

something grabs your attention even when you aren’t trying to notice it

cognitive load

how much effort your brain uses to process information/ complete a task

single capacity theory

ONE limited pool of attention

multiple capacity theory

multiple pools/resources of attention

when would single and multiple capacity theory make different predictions about dual tasking?

when you have to do two task at once and want to know how much they interfere with one another

neuron

nerve cell that sends and receives messages from brain and body

action potential

quick electrical signal that travels along neuron to send a message

synapse

space between neurons where signals are sent and messages are received

hemispheric lateralization

idea that the two sides of the brain specialize in different functions

primary motor cortex

part of the brain that controls voluntary movement

somatosensory cortex

processes different sensations from the body like touch, temperature, pain

where is somatosensory cortex located?

parental lobe

sensory receptor

specialized cell that detects information from your environment or your body and sends that information to nervous system

cochlea

spiral shaped part of the inner ear that helps you hear

retina

layer at back of eye that detects light

rods

responsible for night vision

cones

responsible for color vision

bottom up information in perception

starts with sensory information/receptors to interpret sensory information

top down information in perception

brain uses knowledge and experience to interpret sensory information

gestalt principles of perceptual organization

rules the brain uses to organize sensory information into meaningful patterns or “wholes”

viewpoint invariance

the ability to recognize and object even when you see it from a different angle

unconscious inference theory of perception

idea that brain automatically uses past experiences and knowledge to interpret sensory information

template theories of perception

we recognize something by comparing what we see to a stored mental “template” or exact pattern in our memory

ex: you see letter A in diff fonts

feature matching theories of perception

perception occurs by analyzing INDIVIDUAL visual features to identify known objects and patterns

ex: to recognize letter A, your brain sees two horizontal lines

prosopagnosia

difficulty recognizing or identifying familiar faces

word superiority effect

we recognize letters more accurately when they are part of a word than when they are shown alone or in random letters

principle of likelihood

the brain uses sensory information from an object to determine what it is most likely to be based on what you already know

do behaviorist make inferences/speculate about mental processes?

no

localization of brain

major organizational principle throughout brain

left hemisphere

language and sequential information processing

right hemisphere

visuospatial attention and holistic information processing

transduction

converting information from environmental stimuli into electrochemical impulses interpreted by the brain

early findings from shadowing experiments

found that people mostly process unattended information only at the basic sensory level, not its meaning

ex: pitch, volume, gender change

early selection model of attention

unattended information was completely lost and not processed for meaning

attenuation model of attention

replaces the strict filter with an “attenuator” that weakens unattended messages instead of completely blocking them

how do the early selection and attenuation models differ?

early selection unattended information is completely lost and attenuation models unattended information is weakened

out of early selection and attenuation model, which can explain how someone might overhear their own name in a loud, crowded room even if they aren’t paying attention to the speaker?

attenuation since unattended information is weakened

late selection model of attention

ALL messages are accessed before the ‘attended’ message is selected for processing

what are the three neural networks associated with attention?

alerting, orienting, and executive control

alerting

vigilance; being ready

orienting

directing attention towards something specific

executive control

controlling your attention and deciding what to focus on