Cognitive Processes Midterm 2

Front 1

memory

Back 1

the process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present (active anytime past experience has an effect on the way you think or behave now or in the future)

Front 2

modal model of memory

Back 2

1. sensory memory is an initial stage that holds all incoming information for seconds or fractions of a second

2. short term memory holds five to seven items for about 15-20 seconds.

3. Long term memory can hold a large amount of information for years or even decades.

Front 3

structural features

Back 3

sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory

Front 4

control processes

Back 4

dynamic processes associated with the structural features that can be controlled by the person and may differ from one task to another

Front 5

rehearsal

Back 5

(control process) repeating a stimulus over and over, as you might repeat a telephone number in your mind

Front 6

sensory memory

Back 6

the retention, for brief periods of time, of the effects of sensory stimulation

Front 7

persistence of vision

Back 7

continued perception of a visual stimulus even after it is no longer present (sparklers, flashing pictures in a movie theater)

Front 8

whole report method

Back 8

subjects were asked to report as many letters possible from the entire 12 letter display. Able to report 4.5-12 letters

Front 9

partial report method

Back 9

told to report the letters in a single 4 letter row. Correctly reported 3.3 out of 4 letters

Front 10

delayed partial report method

Back 10

letters were flashed on and off and then the cue tone was presented after a short delay. Immediately after a stimulus is presented, all or most of the stimulus is available for perception.

Front 11

iconic or visual icon

Back 11

brief sensory memory for visual stimuli

Front 12

echoic memory

Back 12

the persistence of sound (lasts for a few seconds after presentation of the original stimulus)

Front 13

short term memory

Back 13

string small amounts of information for a brief period of time

Front 14

proactive interference

Back 14

interference that occurs when information that was learned previously interferes with learning new information

Front 15

retroactive interference

Back 15

new learning interferes with remembering old learning

Front 16

digit span

Back 16

the number of digits a person can remember

Front 17

chunking

Back 17

small units (like words) can be combined into larger meaningful units, like phrases, or even larger units like sentences, paragraphs or stories

Front 18

chunk

Back 18

a collection of elements that are strongly associated with one another but are weakly associated with elements in other chunks.

Front 19

working memory

Back 19

a limited capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning

Front 20

phonological loop

Back 20

phonological store and articulatory rehearsal process. (holds verbal and auditory information)

Front 21

phonological store

Back 21

has a limited capacity and holds information for only a few seconds

Front 22

articulatory rehearsal process

Back 22

responsible for rehearsal that can keep items in the phonological store from decaying

Front 23

visuospatial sketch pad

Back 23

holds visual and spatial information

Front 24

central executive

Back 24

major work of working memory occurs. It pulls information from long term memory and coordinates the activity of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad by focusing on specific parts of a task and deciding how to divide attention between different task

Front 25

phonological similarity effect

Back 25

confusion of letters or words that sound similar

Front 26

word length effect

Back 26

memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words

Front 27

articulatory suppression

Back 27

repetition of an irrelevant sounds reduces memory because speaking interferes with rehearsal.

Front 28

visual imagery

Back 28

the creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a physical visual stimulus.

Front 29

mental rotation

Back 29

rotating image in your mind

Front 30

problem

Back 30

occurs when there is an obstacle between a present state and a goal and it isn't immediately obvious on how to get around the obstacle

Front 31

restructuring

Back 31

process of changing the problem's representation (associated with insight)

Front 32

insight

Back 32

the sudden realization of a problem's solution (suddenly identifying a crucial element that leads to the solution)

Front 33

fixation

Back 33

people's tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of the problem that keeps them from arriving at a solution

Front 34

functional fixedness

Back 34

focusing on familiar functions or uses of an object

Front 35

initial state

Back 35

conditions at the beginning of the problem

Front 36

goal state

Back 36

the solution of the problem

Front 37

operators

Back 37

actions that take the problem from one state to another.

Front 38

mental set

Back 38

a preconceived notion about how to approach a problem, which is determined by a person's experience or what has worked in the past

Front 39

intermediate states

Back 39

a sequence of choices of steps

Front 40

problem space

Back 40

the initial state, goal state, and all the possible intermediate states

Front 41

means-end analysis

Back 41

reduce the difference between the initial and goal states

Front 42

subgoals

Back 42

intermediate states that are closer to the goal

Front 43

analogy

Back 43

the process of noticing connections between similar problems and applying the solution for one problem to other problems

Front 44

analogical problem solving

Back 44

ex: Russian marriage problem and mutilated checkerboard

Front 45

analogical transfer

Back 45

the transfer form one problem to another

Front 46

target problem

Back 46

the problem the subject is trying to solve

Front 47

source problem

Back 47

another problem that shares some similarities with the target problem and that illustrates a way to solve the target problem

Front 48

structural features

Back 48

underlying principle that governs the solution

Front 49

analogical encoding

Back 49

the process by which two problems are compared and similarities between them are determined

Front 50

analogical paradox

Back 50

while it is difficult to apply analogies in laboratory research, people routinely use analogies in real world settings

Front 51

experts

Back 51

people who, by devoting a large amount of time to learning about a field and practicing and applying that learning have become acknowledged as being extremely knowledgeable or skilled in that particular field

Front 52

divergent thinking

Back 52

thinking that is open ended, involving a large number of potential solutions

Front 53

preinventive forms

Back 53

ideas that precede the creation of a finished creative product

Front 54

latent inhibition

Back 54

capacity to screen out stimuli that are considered irrelevant

Front 55

savant syndrome

Back 55

people with autism or other mental disorders are able to achieve extraordinary feats

Front 56

decisions

Back 56

the process of making choices between alternatives

Front 57

reasoning

Back 57

the process of drawing conclusions-because it involves coming to aconclusion based on evidence

Front 58

inductive reasoning

Back 58

reasoning based on observations or reaching conclusions from evidence.

Front 59

availability heuristic

Back 59

events that are more easily remembered are judged as beingmore probable than events that are less easily rememberedMore words with third letter as R

Front 60

illusory correlations

Back 60

occur when a correlation between two events appears to exist, but inreality there is no correlation or it is much weaker than it is assumed to be.

Front 61

stereotype

Back 61

an oversimplified generalization about a group or class of people thatoften focuses on the negative

Front 62

representativeness heuristic

Back 62

probability that A is a member of Class B can be determined by how wellthe properties of A resembles the properties we usually associate with class B.

Front 63

base rate

Back 63

the relative proportion of different classes in the population.

Front 64

conjunction rule

Back 64

the probability of conjunction of two events (A and B) cannot be higherthan the probability of the single constituents (A alone or B alone).

Front 65

law of large numbers

Back 65

the larger the number of individuals that are randomly drawn from apopulation, the more representative the resulting group will be of the entirepopulation

Front 66

myside bias

Back 66

the tendency for people to generate and evaluate evidence and test theirhypotheses in a way that is biased toward their own opinions and attitudes

Front 67

confirmation bias

Back 67

it holds for any situation (not just for opinions andattitudes) in which information is favored that confirms a hypothesis

Front 68

expected utility theory

Back 68

if people have all of the relevant information, they will make a decisionthat results in the maximum expected utility

Front 69

utility

Back 69

outcomes that achieve a person’s goals

Front 70

expected emotions

Back 70

emotions that people predict they will feel for a particular outcome.

Front 71

risk aversion

Back 71

the tendency to avoid taking risks

Front 72

incidental emotions

Back 72

emotions not caused by having to make a decision.

Front 73

opt in procedure

Back 73

requires the person to take an active step

Front 74

opt out procedure

Back 74

everyone is a potential organ donor unless you request not to be

Front 75

status quo bias

Back 75

the tendency to do nothing when faced with making a decision

Front 76

framing effect

Back 76

decisions are influenced by how the choices are stated or framed

Front 77

neuroeconomics

Back 77

combines psychology, neuroscience, and econ to study how brain activationis related to decisions that involve potential gains or losses

Front 78

ultimate game

Back 78

deciding to keep the money or split it

Front 79

deductive reasoning

Back 79

we determine whether a conclusion logically follows premises

Front 80

premises

Back 80

statements

Front 81

syllogism

Back 81

consists of two premises followed by a conclusion

Front 82

categorical syllogisms

Back 82

premises and conclusions are statements that begin with All, No, or Some.

Front 83

Validity (in terms of categorical syllogisms)

Back 83

a syllogism is valid when the form of the syllogism indicates that itsconclusion follows logically from its two premises. Doesn’t mean that the conclusion is true.

Front 84

mental model

Back 84

a specific situation represented in a person’s mind that canbe used to help determine the validity of syllogisms in deductive reasoningThey create a visual representation of the situation and thengenerate a tentative conclusion based on the model and then look for exceptionsthat might falsify the model. They modify the model based on exceptions and if they can findno more exceptions, then they can conclude that the syllogism is valid

Front 85

conditional syllogisms

Back 85

have two premises and a conclusion like categorical syllogisms, but hasthe form of “if…then”.

Front 86

permission schema

Back 86

if a person satisfies a specific condition (drinking age) thenhe/she gets to carry out an action (being served alcohol).(increases accuracy)

Front 87

evolutionary perspective on cognition

Back 87

we can trace many properties of our minds to the evolutionaryprinciples of natural selection. A Highly adaptive feature of the mind would, through thecourse of evolution, become a basic characteristic of the mind

Front 88

social exchange theory

Back 88

an important aspect of human behavior is the ability for two people tocooperate in a way that is beneficial to both people.

Front 89

dual systems approach

Back 89

there are two mental systems: a fast, automatic, intuitivesystem (System 1)Slower, more deliberate, thoughtful system (System 2)