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Cognitive Psychology Concepts
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Cognitive Psychology Concepts
Cognitive Psychology Concepts
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1
Question
What is perception in cognitive psychology?
Answer
Perception is the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to understand the environment.
2
Question
What are the two types of processing in perception?
Answer
Bottom-up processing and top-down processing.
3
Question
Describe bottom-up processing.
Answer
Bottom-up processing begins with stimulation of the receptors, crucial for determining vision.
4
Question
Describe top-down processing.
Answer
Top-down processing involves knowledge to bring on the perceptual problem of seeing and recognizing, relying on a person's prior knowledge.
5
Question
What is the Interactive Activation Model proposed by Rumelhart & McClelland (1982)?
Answer
The Interactive Activation Model sends activation through three levels: feature level (straight/curved lines), letter level (units for each letter), and word level (units for known words).
6
Question
What is the word superiority effect?
Answer
The word superiority effect is the phenomenon where letters are easier to recognize when they are contained in a word compared to when they appear alone or in a non-word.
7
Question
What is feedback activation in the context of the Interactive Activation Model?
Answer
Feedback activation refers to the activation sent from word units back to each of the letter units for that word.
8
Question
What are the key characteristics of the Interactive Activation Model?
Answer
1. Proposes a mechanism consistent with current knowledge of neural firing. 2. Includes a role for inhibition between letter units and word units. 3. Takes into account both top-down and bottom-up processing.
9
Question
What is Feature Integration Theory (FIT) and who developed it?
Answer
Feature Integration Theory was developed by Anne Treisman and suggests two stages of perception: a preattentive stage (automatic, requires no effort) and a focused attention stage (features combine to form perceptions of whole objects).
10
Question
What is Balint's syndrome?
Answer
Balint's syndrome is a condition where an individual, such as patient R.M. in the study, is unable to focus attention on individual objects due to parietal lobe damage.
11
Question
What is the recognition-by-components (RBC) theory?
Answer
Recognition-by-components theory posits that the features of objects are 3D volumes called geons, developed by Irving Biederman in 1987.
12
Question
What are geons and their properties according to the RBC theory?
Answer
Geons are 3D volumes that can be identified from different angles, are easily distinguished from one another, and can still be perceived under noisy conditions.
13
Question
What does the Gestalt approach to perception emphasize?
Answer
The Gestalt approach emphasizes perceptually organizing parts into wholes and uses laws of organization as heuristics to interpret sensory information.
14
Question
What is selective attention?
Answer
Selective attention is the ability to focus on one message while ignoring others.
15
Question
What is the filter model of attention proposed by Broadbent (1958)?
Answer
The filter model holds that sensory memory retains incoming information briefly, then a filter identifies the attended message based on physical characteristics.
16
Question
What are the stages of the modal model of memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)?
Answer
The stages include sensory memory (holds incoming information for seconds), short-term memory (holds 5-7 items for 15-30 seconds), and long-term memory (can hold large amounts of information for years or decades).
17
Question
What is the serial position effect?
Answer
The serial position effect is a phenomenon where people remember the first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) items on a list better than the middle items.
18
Question
What is the capacity of short-term memory as proposed by Miller (1956)?
Answer
The capacity of short-term memory is approximately 7 ± 2 items.
19
Question
What is the difference between proactive interference (PI) and retroactive interference (RI)?
Answer
Proactive interference occurs when previously learned information interferes with new learning, while retroactive interference occurs when new information interferes with the recall of old information.
20
Question
Define working memory (WM) and its components.
Answer
Working memory is a limited capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks. Its components include the central executive, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad.
21
Question
What is Korsakoff syndrome?
Answer
Korsakoff syndrome is a condition resulting from prolonged deficiency of vitamin B1, often due to chronic alcoholism, leading to an inability to form long-term memories.
22
Question
What is semantic coding in long-term memory?
Answer
Semantic coding refers to the encoding of information based on its meaning, which is predominant in long-term memory.
23
Question
Differentiate between episodic memory and semantic memory.
Answer
Episodic memory is for personal experiences and involves mental time travel, while semantic memory consists of facts and knowledge without mental time travel.
24
Question
What is implicit memory and how does it differ from explicit memory?
Answer
Implicit memory occurs when prior experiences improve performance on a task without conscious recollection, whereas explicit memory involves conscious recall of information.
25
Question
What is the role of sleep in problem-solving according to cognitive psychology?
Answer
Sleep aids in insightful problem-solving by allowing for mental restructuring, similar to processes involved in memory consolidation.
26
Question
What are the components of language as defined in cognitive psychology?
Answer
Language consists of sounds or symbols that create a system for communication, including components like phonemes, morphemes, semantics, and syntax.
27
Question
What is the goal of psycholinguistics?
Answer
The goal of psycholinguistics is to discover the psychological processes involved in acquiring and processing language.
28
Question
Describe the concept of fixation in problem-solving.
Answer
Fixation is the tendency to focus on specific characteristics of a problem, which can hinder the ability to find a solution.
29
Question
What is the difference between well-defined and ill-defined problems?
Answer
Well-defined problems have clear solutions and procedures, while ill-defined problems lack a definite solution path and may not have a correct answer.
30
Question
What is the tower of Hanoi problem in cognitive psychology?
Answer
The tower of Hanoi problem is a classic example of a problem-solving task with specific initial and goal states that requires strategic movement of disks.