85110 exam 1

Cognitive Psychology

The scientific study of cognition. Covers how we perceive objects remember events attend to the environment make decisions communicate and solve problems and how humans differ from other animals in these processes

Independent Variable (IV)

The factor the experimenter manipulates in a study

Dependent Variable (DV)

The outcome measure the experimenter records to see if it changed because of the IV

Testing a Prediction

Keep everything the same except the factor being studied. Manipulate the IV and measure the DV. If there is a difference it must be due to the IV

Explanation vs Prediction

A theory must both explain existing data and generate testable predictions. Illustrated by the "CO2 vs Pirates" example showing correlation is not causation

Task Switching Paradigm

A method from Rogers and Monsell (1995) in which participants alternate between two simple tasks such as odd/even judgments and high/low judgments to study the cost of switching attention

Switch Cost

The finding that reaction times are slower and error rates are higher on trials where the task switches compared to trials where the task repeats

Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff

The tendency for faster responding to come at the cost of more errors and vice versa. Must be considered when interpreting reaction time data

How to Use AI to Learn

The course philosophy that says do not let AI think for you. Let it think with you. Do not ask AI for the answer. Produce your own work first then ask AI for feedback. Always ask AI to double-check its answers

ICAP Framework

A framework by Chi and Wylie (2014) describing engagement modes called Interactive Constructive Active and Passive. Used to justify treating an AI tutor as a Socratic peer rather than an answer-giver

Socratic AI Prompting

Instructing an AI to ask guiding questions probe assumptions and require the student to make connections themselves rather than supplying answers directly

Levels of Analysis in Cognitive Science

Four levels move from general to specific. Frameworks are high-level meta-theories like Information Processing. Theories are mechanisms generating phenomena. Models are instantiations for specific situations. Cognitive Architectures are the most concrete level

3 Tenets of Science

Objectivity. Empirical observation and experimentation. Law-like generalizations

Behaviorism

A theory that behavior including language is acquired entirely through imitation association and reinforcement from external input with no need for internal mental structures

Karl Popper's Critique

The idea that observation itself requires prior hypotheses or theories. You cannot make theory-free observations

Noam Chomsky's Critique of Behaviorism

Argued language acquisition cannot be explained by behaviorism because children generate and understand infinitely novel sentences never modeled by adults. Illustrated by the sentence "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously"

Overregularization Errors

Errors like "feets" or "wented" that show children apply abstract grammatical rules rather than simply imitating adult speech

Wug Test

A demonstration that children apply abstract morphological rules such as pluralizing a novel word "wug" to "wugs" rather than learning by rote imitation

Information Processing (IP) Approach

A framework viewing the human mind as a computer. The brain is the hardware and cognitive tasks are the software

Bottom-Up Processing

Processing driven by incoming sensory stimuli

Top-Down Processing

Processing driven by prior knowledge expectations or concepts

Production Rules

Cognition modeled as condition-action pairs stored in memory using an IF-THEN structure. When input matches a condition the rule fires and produces an output

Declarative Programming

Programming such as Prolog where knowledge is represented as logical facts and relations rather than step-by-step procedures. Considered classic Symbolic AI

Information Processing Model of Memory

Environmental input flows through Sensory Memory then Attention then Short Term Memory aided by Rehearsal and via Consolidation and Retrieval into Long Term Memory

Levels of Processing (LoP) Theory

Craik and Lockhart's (1972) theory that memory retention depends on depth of processing rather than on separate structural memory stores

Shallow Processing

Structural or physical processing of a stimulus such as judging if a word is printed in capital letters. Leads to weaker memory

Intermediate (Phonemic) Processing

Processing based on sound such as judging if a word rhymes with another word. Produces moderate memory strength

Deep (Semantic) Processing

Processing based on meaning such as judging if a word fits in a sentence. Leads to the strongest memory

Orienting Task Paradigm

A method where the question asked of a participant orients them to shallow intermediate or deep processing during incidental learning followed by a surprise memory test

Critiques of Levels of Processing

Processing time confound means deeper processing simply takes longer. Circularity of definitions means depth is defined by the memory outcome it is supposed to explain

Connectionist Models

Theories modeling cognition as networks of neuron-like units summarized by "things that fire together wire together." Emphasize powerful learning mechanisms over innate knowledge

Hidden Layer

In a connectionist network a layer that is not part of the input or output but is assumed to exist between them

Large Language Model (LLM)

A massive scaled-up neural network with billions of parameters that processes sequences of input in parallel and is trained on vast amounts of human text

Distributed Cognition

The idea that human-AI interaction can be considered an extended cognitive system with AI acting as a dynamic scaffold for human cognitive modules

Raven's Progressive Matrices

A test of fluid intelligence in which participants must determine the rule governing a matrix of shapes and select the missing entry

Hestenes Force Concept Inventory

A physics test designed with intuitively appealing but incorrect answer choices that require a true understanding of Newtonian force to solve correctly

AI Collaboration and Fluid Intelligence Study

A course research finding that AI collaborative commentary during a think-aloud protocol increased brain activation in Executive Spatial and Working Memory networks and improved performance on Raven's Matrices and the Force Concept Inventory

Toolbox of Cognitive Psychology

Six categories of research tools. Behavioral Chronometry. Memory and Accuracy Metrics. Metacognitive and Verbal Reports. Peripheral Physiology and Kinematics. Neuroimaging. Causal Neurostimulation and Lesions

Reaction Time (RT)

The foundational metric of cognitive speed measured as the time from stimulus onset to a response

Lexical Decision Task (LDT)

A task where participants judge as quickly as possible whether a letter string is a real word or a non-word. Used to study priming and interference

Voice Onset Time

A reaction time measure using spoken responses instead of button presses. Removes motor planning and button-decision processes but shows smaller effects

Semantic Priming

Faster or easier processing of a word when preceded by a meaning-related word. For example shirt speeds recognition of pants

Phonological Interference

Slower or less accurate responses to items that sound similar to real words such as GHBUN resembling ghost

Masking

A neutral filler stimulus such as a row of plus signs used between trials to reset attention and prevent carryover effects

Free Recall

Remembering items from memory with no retrieval cues. A difficult task that only captures items that were fully stored

Cued Recall

Providing a retrieval cue such as a category name to help retrieve stored information

Recognition

Identifying whether an item was previously presented. Can succeed for items that are only weakly stored or reactivated

Think-Aloud Protocol

A method where participants verbalize every thought while solving a problem in order to track conscious reasoning and problem-solving strategies

Retrospective Protocol

Reconstructing a person's cognitive sequence of thoughts immediately after completing a task

Galvanic Skin Response

A measure of sweat gland activity used to infer autonomic nervous system arousal and mental workload

Pupillometry

Measuring pupil dilation as an index of mental workload or emotional and cognitive response

Eye-Tracking

A method mapping fixations and saccades to study visual attention

fMRI

A neuroimaging method with high spatial resolution that measures blood oxygen level dependent signal called BOLD to show where brain activity occurs

Cognitive Subtraction

Subtracting baseline brain activity such as staring at a crosshair from task-related activity to isolate the neural network specific to a cognitive process

Hemodynamic Delay

The four to six second lag between neural firing and the peak BOLD signal measured by fMRI since fMRI tracks blood flow rather than neurons directly

Event-Related Potentials

A neuroimaging method measuring electrical voltage changes on the scalp. Offers flawless temporal resolution but poor spatial resolution

N400 Component

A negative-going ERP wave peaking around 400 milliseconds after a word is processed. Reduced when a word is semantically primed such as PANTS after SHIRT

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

A method emitting a safe magnetic pulse to temporarily disrupt a focal brain region creating a virtual lesion to test whether that region is necessary for a function

Neuropsychological Lesion Studies

Examining people with localized structural brain damage to identify which cognitive faculties are lost. Reveals what a brain area is needed for

Why Use Multiple Cognitive Methods

Behavioral methods map functional architecture indirectly. fMRI shows where a process occurs through high spatial resolution. ERP shows when a process occurs through high temporal resolution. TMS and lesions establish causality

Short-Term Memory

A system that temporarily holds a small amount of information roughly seven items in an active state through rehearsal typically for seconds up to about thirty seconds

Long-Term Memory

A passive storage system using abstract codes with no known capacity limit lasting days to years

Serial Position Curve

The finding that recall is better for items at the beginning called primacy and at the end called recency of a list than for items in the middle

Primacy Effect

Better recall of early list items because they receive more rehearsal time and are transferred to long term memory

Recency Effect

Better recall of the last few list items because they are still active in short-term memory

Proactive Interference

Forgetting new information because older previously learned information interferes with it. Example is giving out an old phone number by mistake

Retroactive Interference

Newer information overwrites or interferes with retrieval of older information. Example is forgetting last semester's schedule after learning this semester's schedule

Decay Theory of Forgetting

The idea that memory traces fade or weaken passively over time regardless of interference

Jenkins and Dallenbach Sleep Study

A 1924 study finding that participants who slept retained more nonsense syllables than those who stayed awake suggesting waking mental activity called interference drives forgetting more than passive decay

Penfield's Neurosurgical Stimulation

A 1959 study where direct electrical stimulation of temporal cortex in conscious patients produced vivid "memories" but findings were criticized as rare unverified and possibly dream-like reconstructions rather than literal memory playback

Explicit Memory

Conscious effortful memory for facts and events. Also called declarative memory. Includes semantic and episodic or autobiographical memory

Implicit Memory

Unconscious memory expressed through performance rather than conscious recollection. Also called nondeclarative memory. Includes procedural skills priming and conditioning

Episodic Memory

Memory for specific personal events with spatiotemporal context and sensory detail such as remembering your first college lecture

Semantic Memory

General knowledge and facts about the world extracted as generalities without re-experiencing a specific moment such as knowing CMU is in Pittsburgh

Autobiographical Memory

Memory for one's own life experiences that blends episodic mental time travel with semantic personal facts

Bahrick Bahrick and Wittlinger Fifty Years Study

A 1975 study finding that free recall of high school classmates' names declined steeply over decades but recognition of names and photos stayed nearly ninety percent accurate for fifteen to thirty five years. Shows autobiographical memories persist but become harder to access rather than decaying

Semanticization of Remote Memories

The process by which autobiographical memories lose vivid perceptual and episodic detail over time and become generalized semantic or personal knowledge

First-Person Perspective in Memory

Remembering an event as if seen through one's own eyes

Third-Person Perspective in Memory

Remembering an event as an outside observer would see it including seeing oneself in the scene

Multi-Voxel Pattern Analysis

A machine-learning method applied to fMRI data to decode mental states such as recognition memory from distributed patterns of brain activity

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories after the onset of amnesia

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to recall memories formed before the onset of amnesia

Korsakoff Syndrome

An amnesic syndrome often caused by thiamine deficiency and alcoholism where patients reason normally and retain old semantic knowledge but cannot learn new facts

Patient HM

A famous case described by Scoville and Milner in 1957 of dense anterograde amnesia following brain surgery for epilepsy with little retrograde amnesia. Could not form new conscious memories but retained childhood memories and some procedural learning

Hippocampus

A structure buried in the temporal lobe that is critical for forming new explicit episodic and semantic memories and for encoding and consolidation

Clive Wearing

A neuropsychological case study with severe combined anterograde and retrograde episodic amnesia due to hippocampal and widespread cortical damage while non-contextual knowledge such as language and arithmetic remained intact

Mirror Drawing Task

A procedural learning task by Corkin in 1968 showing amnesic patients like HM could improve motor skill performance over time despite having no explicit memory of practicing

Priming Study by Graf Squire and Mandler

A 1984 study showing prior exposure to a word improves performance on implicit tasks like word-stem completion even when explicit free recall and recognition are impaired in amnesics

Classical Conditioning

Learning simple associations between a neutral stimulus such as a tone and an unconditioned stimulus such as an air puff so the tone alone eventually triggers the response. Can occur even in amnesics without explicit memory of the pairing

Squire's Memory Taxonomy

A 1987 model dividing Long-Term Memory into Explicit memory covering semantic and episodic or autobiographical memory and Implicit memory covering procedural skills priming and conditioning

Maintenance Rehearsal

Simple repetition of information to keep it active in memory without deeper processing

Elaborative Rehearsal

Rehearsal that creates meaningful connections between new information and existing knowledge and improves long-term retention

Visual Imagery Effect

Using mental imagery roughly doubles the number of words a person can remember

Self-Reference Effect

Information is remembered better when related to oneself such as judging whether adjectives describe you

Generation Effect

Actively generating information such as producing the second word of a pair improves memory more than passively reading it

Organization and Concept Maps

Organizing information into categories increases recall because retrieving a category cue spreads activation to related items through priming

Bransford and Johnson Balloon Passage

A 1972 demonstration that a confusing passage becomes far more memorable and comprehensible once given a meaningful framework such as a title that links the sentences into a story

Chess Expertise and Memory Study

A study by Chase and Simon in 1973 showing chess experts recall meaningful board positions far better than novices but show no advantage for random non-meaningful piece arrangements. Shows organization rather than raw memory capacity drives expert recall

Testing Effect

Repeated testing through retrieval practice improves long-term recall more than repeated studying alone

Mnemonics Acrostics

A memory technique using the first letter of each word in a phrase to cue a sequence such as "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" for musical notes E G B D F