Cognitive Psychology (Ch.1)

Front 1

research method of the mind that measures relationships between stimuli and behavior

Back 1

behavior approach

Front 2

research method of the mind that measures relationship between physiology and behavior

Back 2

physiological approach

Front 3

what do cognitive psychologists look at to understand complex cognitive behaviors?

Back 3

-Measure observable behavior
-Make inferences about underlying cognitive activity
-Consider what this behavior says about how the mind works

Front 4

a mental representation of a spatial layout

Back 4

cognitive map

Front 5

Shift from behaviorist’s stimulus-response relationships to an approach that attempts to explain behavior in terms of the mind (mind= mental processes that we cannot see)

Back 5

information-processing approach

Front 6

what is the problem with looking at the mind in terms of a computer?

Back 6

-too narrow, mind can be more complicated
-puts limit on ways to view the mind

Front 7

what were the results of Tolman's rat experiment?

Back 7

the rat made a cognitive map of the maze...led to cognitive revolution

Front 8

what approach did Tolman's experiment disprove?

Back 8

behaviorism

Front 9

what was the behaviorist's interpretation of the rat's behavior in the maze?

Back 9

Behaviorism predicts that the rats learned to “turn right to find food”

Front 10

what was Tolman's interpretation of the rats behavior in the maze?

Back 10

Tolman believed that the rats had created a cognitive map of the maze and were navigating to a specific arm-> verified

Front 11

who was the first to test the mind experimentally?

Back 11

donders

Front 12

what was the goal of donders' experiment?

Back 12

to measure how long a cognitive process takes

Front 13

what type of experiment did donders perform? and what does it measure?

Back 13

Reaction-time (RT) experiment-> Measures interval between stimulus presentation and person’s response to stimulus (how quickly a person makes a decision)

Front 14

what were the two components of donders experiment?

Back 14

-Simple RT task: participant pushes a button quickly after a light appears
-Choice RT task: participant pushes one button if light is on right side, another if light is on left side

Front 15

what did donders propose about his experiment?

Back 15

He proposed-> Choice RT – Simple RT = Time to make a decision

Front 16

who was the first to study memory?

Back 16

ebbinghaus

Front 17

what were the implications that came from ebbinghaus' experiment?

Back 17

Forgetting curve: forgetting function over time: steep decline at first, then slower loss (levels out)

Front 18

what did ebbinghaus' experiment involve?

Back 18

Read list of nonsense syllables (CVCs (consonant, vowel, consonant); e.g. DAX) aloud many times to determine number of repetitions necessary to repeat list without errors

Front 19

what were the results/findings of ebbinghaus' study?

Back 19

-Short intervals= fewer repetitions to relearn and better recall
-Long intervals= more repetitions to relearn and less accurate recall
-Learn material better and take less time to relearn material if you use short intervals

Front 20

who is credited with being the father of psychology?

Back 20

wundt

Front 21

who was the first person to create a psychology laboratory?

Back 21

wundt

Front 22

what is structuralism?

Back 22

What are the simplest, essential elements of the mind? How do they combine to produce complex mental phenomena?

Front 23

what type of experiment did wundt use and what method did he use?

Back 23

-RT experiments
-Analytic introspection: participants trained to describe experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli

Front 24

who was a structuralist?

Back 24

wundt

Front 25

what is functionalism?

Back 25

Functionalism: Why does the mind work the way it does? The operation of the mind reveals its function or purpose.

Front 26

who was a functionalist?

Back 26

james

Front 27

what was james' method?

Back 27

nonw-> James did not conduct experiments, but did write Principles of Psychology, and many of his ideas are still generation discussion and research questions

Front 28

who noted problems with introspection and what were they? (2)

Back 28

-Watson
(1) Extremely variable results from person to person
(2) Results difficult to verify-> invisible inner mental processes

Front 29

who is a behaviorist?

Back 29

watson

Front 30

what is behaviorism?

Back 30

an approach to psychology that states observable behavior provides the only valid data for psychology; mental processes are unobservable and psychologists shouldn’t attempt to study them

Front 31

what did watson want to establish with his new approach to psychology?

Back 31

Eliminate the mind as a topic of study; instead, study directly observable behavior

Front 32

what are the differences between donders' and watson's method?

Back 32

-Donders was testing a behavior in order to know something about the mind-> Means to an end;
-Watson says psychology needs to focus on observable behavior; Watson wanted to study mind for the sake of behavior

Front 33

who conducted the little albert experiment?

Back 33

watson

Front 34

what is classical conditioning?

Back 34

-Pair a neutral event with an event that naturally produces some outcome
-After many pairings, the “neutral” event now also produces the outcome

Front 35

which psychologist was credited with coming up with classical conditioning?

Back 35

watson

Front 36

who proposed operant conditioning?

Back 36

skinner

Front 37

what was skinner interested in?

Back 37

Interested in determining the relationship between stimuli and response

Front 38

what is operant conditioning?

Back 38

-Shape behavior by rewards or punishments
-Behavior that is rewarded is more likely to be repeated
-Behavior that is punished is less likely to be repeated

Front 39

what led to the decline of behaviorism?

Back 39

a controversy over language acquisition

Front 40

what did skinner believe was the reason for the development of language?

Back 40

-Argued children learn language through operant conditioning
-Children imitate speech they hear
-Correct speech is rewarded

Front 41

what did chomsky believe was the reason for the development of language?

Back 41

-Argued children do not only learn language through imitation and reinforcement
-Children say things they have never heard and can not be imitating
-Children say things that are incorrect and have not been rewarded for
-Language must be determined by inborn biological program