Cognitive Pysch Exam 2
Spring 2026 PSY 200 Introduction to Cognitive Psychology Exam 2 Overview
Exam Date: Thursday, March 5
Format: 50 multiple-choice questions
Total Points: 50
Most questions will be applied from class material and vocabulary terms.
Exam is paper-based (scantron), no electronic platforms.
Required: #2 pencil and PUID for scantron entries.
Study Materials:
Lecture notes (abbreviated textbook readings)
Attendance poll questions (at least one verbatim question per chapter).
Learning Objectives for Chapter 4
Attentional Blink
Definition: A brief period (200-500ms) after detecting one stimulus when a second stimulus in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) is often missed.
Gibson’s Ecological Approach/Direct Perception Theory
Definition: Perception of the environment is direct, not mediated by internal representations.
Quote: “Perception is the activity of getting information from the ambient array of light.”
Process: Involves looking around and understanding the environment through sensory input directly.
Parts of the Optic Array
Optic Array: All light patterns available at a point.
Optic Flow: The pattern of motion across the retina.
Focus of Expansion (FOE): The point from which motion radiates during forward movement.
Retinal Flow Field: The full pattern of motion perceived on the retina.
Heading and Steering
Heading: The future path of movement.
Gibson’s Global Radial Outflow Hypothesis for Visually Guided Action
Process: When moving forward, optic flow radiates outward from a central point (where you are heading).
Applications: Used in driving, walking, and avoiding obstacles.
Tau and Time to Contact Judgments
Definition of Tau: The size of an object's retinal image divided by its rate of expansion.
Limitations: Works best at constant velocity, less accurate during acceleration changes.
Glover’s Planning-Control Model
Components:
Planning System:
Conscious.
Uses stored representations.
Affected by visual illusions.
Control System:
Unconscious.
Uses real-time visual feedback to adjust actions.
Change Detection
Definition: Ability to detect changes in visual scenes.
Often related to:
Change blindness
Inattentional blindness.
Animate-Monitoring Hypothesis
Prediction: Greater sensitivity to changes in humans, animals, and biological motion.
Reason: Faster detection of animate motion changes due to evolutionary significance.
Expertise Hypothesis
Overview: Experts (e.g., dancers, athletes) exhibit better biological motion detection due to perceptual tuning developed through experience.
Differences in Processing Human vs. Non-Biological Motion
Human Motion:
Processed holistically.
Engages mirror neuron system.
Sensitive to intention.
Non-Biological Motion:
Processed mechanically.
Less social meaning.
Inattentional Blindness vs. Change Blindness
Inattentional Blindness:
Miss a visible object due to attention being focused on another task.
No memory comparison required.
Change Blindness:
Requires a memory comparison over time.
Key Terms and Topics for Chapter 4
Attentional Blink
Direct Perception
Optic Array
Optic Flow
Focus of Expansion (FOE)
Gibson’s Theory
Invariants: Constant properties of the optic array despite observer movement.
Affordances: Opportunities for action perceived directly.
Visually Guided Action: Movement informed by visual cues.
Efference Copy: Internal copy of motor commands for movement interpretation.
Time to Contact (Tau): Factor indicating remaining time before contact with an object.
Learning Objectives for Chapter 5
Attention
Definition: Selective allocation of cognitive resources for focus, filtering, and prioritization.
Types of Attention
Focused Attention: Ignoring distractions to respond to a single input.
Divided Attention: Performing two tasks simultaneously, known as multitasking.
Covert Attention: Mental focus shift without physical movement.
Endogenous (Voluntary): Controlled, goal-directed attention.
Exogenous (Stimulus-Driven): Automatically drawn by environmental stimuli.
Cocktail Party Problem
Laboratory Simulation:
Dichotic Listening Task: Different auditory messages in each ear.
Shadowing: Participants repeat the attended message.
Filter Models of Attention
Broadbent’s Early Selection Model: Filters out unattended information before meaning is processed.
Treisman's Attenuation Model: Unattended information is weakened, allowing important stimuli (like one’s name) to be perceived.
Deutsch & Deutsch Late Selection Model: All information is processed for meaning with selection occurring at the response stage.
Disorders of Visual Attention
Neglect: Often due to right parietal damage; unaware of items in opposing visual fields.
Types of Neglect:
Egocentric: Ignoring objects concerning one’s body.
Allocentric: Ignoring objects based on individual position.
Extinction: Reduced awareness with partial processing.
Ventriloquism Effect
Definition: Visual information shifts perceived sound location; influences timing perception (temporal ventriloquism).
Divided Attention
Definition: Performing two tasks at once with limitations posed by cognitive bottlenecks and the psychological refractory period (PRP).
Multiple Resource Theory
Overview: Performance improves when tasks use differing modalities, codes, or response types.
Threaded Cognition
Definition: Interleaving tasks across shared cognitive resources.
Automatic Processing
Overview: Developed through practice, characterized by being fast, unconscious, and efficient.
Learning Objectives for Chapter 6
Memory Span
Definition: Maximum number of items recalled in order; actual short-term memory capacity is about 4 items without rehearsal.
Multi-Store Model of Memory
Authors: Richard Atkinson & Richard Shiffrin (1968).
Components:
Sensory Memory: Iconic ~500ms, Echoic 2–5 seconds.
Short-Term Memory (STM): Limited capacity, information decays or displaces.
Long-Term Memory (LTM): Unlimited capacity, information lost via interference or retrieval failure.
Ways to Forget Information
Types:
Decay: Memory fades without rehearsal.
Interference:
Proactive interference: Old interferes with new learning.
Retroactive interference: New information interferes with old.
Baddeley and Hitch’s Working Memory Model
Components:
Central Executive: Directs attention and coordinates subsystems.
Phonological Loop: Rehearses verbal information.
Visuospatial Sketchpad: Holds and manipulates visual/spatial information.
Episodic Buffer: Integrates information and links to long-term memory.
Spaced Practice
Definition: Studying spread over time improves memory consolidation.
Retrieval Practice
Definition: Testing strengthens memory retention more effectively than restudying (testing effect).
Assessing Implicit Learning/Memories
Methods:
Serial reaction time tasks.
Process-dissociation procedure.
Forgetting Explanations
Causes:
Trace decay,
Interference (proactive/retroactive),
Retrieval failure,
Motivated forgetting,
Directed forgetting.
Levels of Processing Theory
Proposed by: Fergus Craik & Robert S. Lockhart.
Key Idea: Memory strength correlates with depth of processing (deep = strong retention).
Tulving’s Encoding Specificity Principle
Definition: Best retrieval occurs when encoding context matches retrieval context.
Quick Comparison Chart
Concepts & Definitions
Attentional Blink: Brief attention gap after first stimulus.
Change Blindness: Failure to notice scene changes.
Inattentional Blindness: Miss object due to attention elsewhere.
Early Filter: Meaning not processed.
Late Filter: Meaning processed.
ST Capacity: ~4 items.
Working Memory: Active manipulation of information.
Tau (Time to Contact): Critical for navigation and action.