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Cognitive Psychology -midterm I

Terms

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association
the linking together of 2 events, objects, or ideas because they tend to occur together in experience.
attention
the mental process of concentrating effort on a stimulus or mental event; the limitied mental energy or resource that "powers" the mental system.
automatic vs conscious processing
the distinction between mental processes that happen with little or no awareness and those that consume attentional resources
automaticity
The distinction between mental processes that happen with little or no awareness and those that consume attentional resources. (Ch. 1,
3)
cognition
the collection of mental processes and activites used in perceiving, learning, remembering, thinking and understanding, and the act of using those processes; thought
cognitive science
the hybrid discipline that studies the mind and its processes, including cognitive psychology, artifical intelligence, the neurosciences, and a few related fields
computer analogy
the similarity between the unseen electrical events in a computer and the unseen mental events in the mind; a guiding analogy in early cognitive science.
data-driven vs. conceptually driven processing
the distinction between mental processes that rely very heavily or exclusively on incoming info and those that rely on info already stored in memory; also called bottom up verses top down processing.
empiricism vs. rationalism
the objective scientific approach based on observation versus the more philisophical, deductive approach to knowledge
encoding
bringing external information from the environment into the mental system and registering it there.
implicit vs. explicit memory
memory or memory processes that occur without any necessary involvement of consciousness versus those that occur with conscious awareness
inference
a general explanation for forgetting, in which other info competes with or disrupts memory for certain target info.
introspection
the method of having trained participants "look inward" and report their inner sensations and experiences
long term mmeory
Enduring memories about things, places, and events. Long-term memory circuit The brain circuit, including the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, which enables the brain to lay down and store memories in the cortex.
metacognition
Knowledge about one’s own cognitive processes and mental system. (Cli. 1)
on-line
occuring now; used to describe research tasks that measure a process as it happens.
reaction time
the time that it takes to respond to a stimulus, usually measured in milliseconds.
representation
a general term referring to the way info is stored in memory (eg storying info in an auditory or visual representation)
retrieval
the process of finding or accessing info from memory
sensory memory
a very brief memory system for sensory events
short term memory
The limited-capacity memory component .for temporary information storage arid manipulation; a memory system for information currently being attended or rehearsed; see also working memory.(Ch. 1,4)
tabula rasa
blank slate or blank wax tablet; refers to the idea that experience, rather than innate factors, accounts for behavior; a tennet of behaviorism
verbal learning
The tradition of research started by Ebbinghaus, in which the learning of verbal materials was studied. (Cli. 1, 5)
verbal reports
statements made by people about their thoughts, ideas, and strategies during cognitive processing
working memory
(I) Similar to short-term memory, but focusing more on the effort involved in mental activiries; the mental workbench. (2) Baddetey’s model of working memory, containing the central executive, the articuiatory rehearsal loop, and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. (Ch. 1,4)
audition
The sense of hearing. (Ch. 2)
auditory sensory memory
The component of sensory memory that holds auditory information for a brief interval; also called echoic mtmory. (Ch. 2, 3)
backward masking
Backward masking: A situation in which a later visual stimulus interferes backward in fime with the perception of the first. (Ch. 2)
conceptually driven/ top-down processing vs. bottom up
the distinction between mental processes that rely very heavily or exclusively on incoming info, and those that rely on info already stored in memory
connectionism
a computer based approach to modeling cognition, based on the ideas of simple units or nodes interconnected with weighted pathways or links, also called neural net modeling & parallel distributed processing modeling
connectionist model
modern, computer- based model of cognitive processing and the human mind; see also connectionism. (Ch. 2)
decay
A general explanation for forgetting, in which information is lost because of the passage of time. (Ch. 2, 4, 5)
echoic memory
aka auditory sensory memory
ecological validity
: The position that the research setting and task should resemble. situations in the teal world in order for the research to be meaningful or generalizable.
erasure
in sensory memory, when a later stimulus interferes with memory of an earlier stimulus. (Oh. 2)
conceptually driven/top-down processing
Data-driven versus conceptually driven processing: The distinction between mental processes that rely very heavily or exclusively on incoming information, and those that rely on information already stored in memory; also called bottom-up versus top- down processing. (Oh. 1, 2, 3)
data-driven/bottom-up processing
Data-driven versus conceptually driven processing: The distinction between mental processes that rely very heavily or exclusively on incoming information, and those that rely on information already stored in memory; also called bottom-up versus top- down processing. (Oh. 1, 2, 3)
ecoic memory
See auditory sensory memory-The component of sensory memory that holds auditory information for a brief interval; also called echoic mtmory.
feature detection
The theoretical approach that explains pattern recognition by the detect ion of features. (Oh. 2)
feature
A simple, elementary pattern or fragment that appears in combinations with other features. (Oh. 2)
Fixation
A pause in eye movements, during which the eye focuses on a visual stimulus and encodes it into the visual system. (Oh. 2)
focal attention
See visual attention; The mental process of directing mental attention to a portion of the information that was perceived visually, usually after the visual stimulus, is no longer present; also called focal attention, (Ch. 2)
fovea
Central region of the retina speciali:ed for acute, focused, color vision. (Ch. 2)
geons
in Biederman’s recognition by components model, the simpLe components (geometrica1 ion.s) of physical objects that the
recognition system detects and identifies. (Oh. 2)
iconic memory
The characteristic in which a language unit has a physical resemblance to its referent (e.g., the word buzz). (Oh. 8)
interference
A general explanation for forgetting, in which other information competes with or disrupts memory for certain target information. (Oh. 2, 4, 5)
neural net modeling
See connectionism; A computer-based approach to modeling cognition, based on the ideas of simple ,units or nodes interconnected with weighted pathways or lInks also called neural net modeling and parallel distributed processing (PDP) modeling, (Oh. 2, 6)
occipital lobe
The rearmost lobe of the brain, where visual stimuli are first projected in the cortex. (Ch. 2, 10)
Paralllel distributed processing
see connectionism. A computer-based approach to modeling cognition, based on the ideas of simple ,units or nodes interconnected with weighted pathways or lInks also called neural net modeling and parallel distributed processing (PDP) modeling, (Oh. 2, 6)
pattern recognition
The classification and identification of a pattern. (Ch. 2)
perception
The process of interpreting and recognizing sensory information. (Ch. 2)
problem of invariance
The sounds of speech (phonemes) are not invariant from one time to the next. (Cli. 2,8)
phoneme
The basic individual speech sounds that compose a language (e.g., the /b/ sound in beg). (Cli. 2, 8)
recognition by components
Biederman’s model of object recognition, in which we identify objects by breaking them down into their simple components, called geons. (Cli.2)
retina
The three basic layers of neurons in the eye, including the layer that contains the rods and cones that start the process of vision. (Oh. 2)
saccades
A voluntary rapid movement of the eyes. (Ch. 2)
sensation
Receiving or registering physical stimulation and encoding it into the nervous system. (Ch. 2)
shadowing
A task in which the participant repeats out loud the message heard in one ear but ignores the message in the other ear. (Oh.2,3)
span of apprehension
See memory span; The number of individual items recallable after any short display; also called span of attention, span of immediate memory, and span of apprehension. (Ch. 2, 4)
tachistoscope
A specialized instrument for presenting visual stimuli for controlled durations; referred to as a T-scope. (Ch. 2)
template matching
The theory of recognition that exact patterns (templates) are stored in memory and are then matched to a stimulus in order to recognize it. (Cli. 2)
visual attention
The mental process of directing mental attention to a portion of the information that was perceived visually, usually after the visual stimulus, is no longer present; also called focal attention, (Cli. 2)
visual persistence
The apparent persistence of a visual stimulus beyond its physical duration. (Cli. 2)
visual sensory memory
The memory system that receives visual input from the eyes and holds it for a brief amount of time; also called iconic memory. (Ch. 2)
whole-report/partial report condition
Testing conditions in which participants recall the entire display or are cued to recall only part of the display; used especially in visual sensory memory research. (Ch. 2)
Acoustic-articulatory code:
The mental code or format based on sound (acoustic) or pronunciation (arriculatory) characteristics of the stimulus. (Ch. 4)
Articulatory rehearsal ioop:
The component in Baddeley model of working memory responsible for temporary storage and manipulation of sound- or articulation-based information. (Ch.4)
Brown-Peterson task:
A task in which a triad of items, held in short-term memory while performing a distractor task, must then be recalled. (Ch. 4)
chunk
Especially in short-term memory, the grouping of information or the enriched item of information. (Ch. 4)
free recall
Recalling information in any order (Oh.4,5)
memory search
in short-term memory, how the contents of STM are searched, especially in the Stemberg task (e.g., parallel, serial self- terminating, and serial-exhaustive search). (Oh.4)
primacy
Elevated accuracy for items presented early in a list. (Ch. 4, 5)
proactive interference
When older information interferes forward in time with your recollection of the current, or newer, information. (Cli- 4, 5)
recency effect
Elevated accuracy for the final items in a list, usually in a free-recall task. (Ch.4,5)
recoding
The grouping of items together so that the newly formed group can be remembered (short-term memory); changing the mental format or representation of information. (Cli. 4)
rehearsal
Deliberate mental repetition, recycling, or practicing of to-be-learned material; (Ch. 4, 5)
release from PI
Release from P1: When proactive interference is reduced or eliminated due to a change in the stimuli. (Oh. 4, 5)
retroactive interference
When newer information interferes backward in time with your recollection of older information. (Ch. 4, 5)
serial position curve
A graph showing recall accuracy as a function of an item’s original position in a list. (Oh. 4, 5)
serial recall
Recalling information in its order of presentation. (Oh. 4,5)
Sternberg task:
: The task in which a probe item is mentally compared to the several items being held in short-term memory, to determine if the probe matches one of the items. (Ch.4)
visuo-spatial sketchpad
The component in’ Baddeley’s model of working memory responsible for temporary storage andmanipularion of visual and spatial information ch4
accesibility
The retrievability of information stored in memory. (Ch. 5)
Availability
The presence of some piece of information in memory (Ch. 5)
cued recall
A recall task in which cues are provided to assist retrieval. (Ch. 5, 7)
depth of processing
: The framework in which memory is conceived as a continuum, from a very shallow, sensory level to a deep, semantic level; also called levels of processing. (Ch.5)
dual coding hypothesis
Paivio’s hypothesis that words denoting concrete, as opposed to abstract, concepts can be encoded in memory twice, once as a word and once as an image, and thus are recalled better. (Ch. 5)
elaborative rehersal
Rehearsal based on mean-
- ing and other elaborative information intended to store the information at deeper levels in memory; also called type II rehearsal. (Oh. 5)
encoding specificity
: The principle that additional information that is present during encoding is stored in memory along with the target information itself. (Oh. 5)
episodic memory
That portion of long-term memory in which personally experienced events and episodes are stored—one’s autobiography. (Oh. 5)
forgetting
Formally, the genuine toss of inforraation from memory; colLoquially, the term also refers to difficulties of retrieval. (Oh. 5, 7)
Generation effect
Enhanced memory perforsnance for items or information generated by the participant rather than provided by the experimenter. (Oh. 5
maintenance rehersal
Rehearsal intended
only to keep or maintain information at a
particular level; also called type I rehearsal,
(Ch.5)
metamemory
Knowledge about one’s own memory system, how it works and how it fails to work. (Cli. 5)
method of loci
A mnemonic device based on. previously learned physical locations and visual imagery. (Ch. 5)
mnemonic
An active, strategic kind of learning device or recall method, a rehearsal strategy. (Cli. 5)
Modus ponens: In the conditi
organization
The structuring or restructuring of information as it is stored in memory (e.g., clustering or grouping, semantic hierarchies, subjective organization, etc.). (Ch. 5, 6)
peg word mnemonic
A mnemonic device based on previously learned rhyming pegs (e.g., one is a bun, two is a shoe, etc.). (Cli. 5)
Primacy effect
: Elevated accuracy for items presented early in a list. (Ch. 4, 5)
recognition task
Yes/no task in which the participant decides if the stimulus has been seen or studied before; contrast with recall and relearning tasks. (Cli. 5,6, 7)
rehersal
Deliberate mental repetition, recycling, or practicing of to-be-learned material; (Ch. 4, 5)
relearning task
The task, invented by Ebbinghaus, in which information is learned, set aside for a period of time, then relearned to the same criterion of accuracy. (Ch. 5)
retrieval failure
Loss of access to information still stored in memory. (Oh. 5)
savings score
In a relearning task, the amount (number of trials) saved during relearning compared to original Learning. (Ch. 5).
semantic memory
That portion of long-term memory in which general world (conceptual) knowledge is stored, including language; loosely speaking, the mental encyclopedia and dictionary. (Oh. 5, 6)
subjective organization
An idiosyncratic organizational scheme imposed by the subject during learning and recall, often on lists of unrelated words. (Ch. 5)
Tip of Tounge phenom
Momentary inability to recall information from long-term memory. (Ch. 5, 1
type I rehersal
maintenance
type II rehersal
elaborative
visual imagery
The mental picturing of a stimulus that then affects later recall or recognition; the mental activity of using a visual representation. (Ch. 5)
selective attention
The mental process .f selecting one message or stimulus for further processing and attention while filtering out or not attending to other stimuli. (Oh. 3)
priming
The activation of information in memory, making it more accessible for subsequent use. (Ch. 3, 6, 9)
pertinence
Importance, especially in Norman’s theory of selective attention. (Cli. 3)
limited capacity
The relatively small capacity or quantity of mental resources or attention that can be devoted to a task. (Oh- 3, 4)
filtering
See selective attention
The mental process .f selecting one message or stimulus for further processing and attention while filtering out or not attending to other stimuli. (Oh. 3)
dual task/dual message
A testing procedure in which two tasks are performed concurrently, or two messages are presented concurrently, such that both tasks/messages together exceed the individual’s attentional capacity. ,(Ch.3,4)
attenuation
An alternative explanation to filtering in attention, in which competing messages are reduced in strength (loudness, informational value) relative to the primary message. (Ch. 3)

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