Shared Flashcard Set

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Memory and Cognition
brain psychology
206
Psychology
Undergraduate 3
01/14/2008

Additional Psychology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
what is cognition?
Definition
how people perceive, attend (to) learn, remember, and think about info
Term
cognitive is the scientific study of
Definition

mental phenomena

 

Term
what is an example of a conscious process we use to interact w/ our environment
Definition
rehearsal
Term
what is an unconscious process we use to interact w/ our environment
Definition
pattern recognition
Term
what were 2 things ancient greeks were interested in
Definition

1. things of this world

2. mechanistic assumptions to explain phenomena

Term
what is things of this world (something greeks were interested in) opposed to
Definition
supernatural
Term
were the ancient greeks interested in the mind?
Definition
WHY OF COURSE
Term

what is epistemology

Definition
the study of knowledge
Term
what type of thinker was plato
Definition
rationalist
Term
what is a rationalist
Definition
reason is the source of all knowledge
Term
when was rationalism a dominant view
Definition
in dark and mid ages (400-1200 AD)
Term
who was a dualist
Definition
plato
Term

what is a dualist

Definition

immaterial mind, immortal

material body

Term
do dualists have more respect for mind or body?
Definition
mind
Term
what forms came from the mind, not the world?
Definition
ideal forms (perfect square, circle)
Term
plato's theory of knowledge
Definition
nature
Term
plato's methodology
Definition
reason
Term
where did plato think mind was
Definition
head
Term
what type of thinker was aristotle
Definition
empericist
Term
what is empiricist?
Definition
observation and experience is source of all knowledge
Term
aristotle's theory of knowledge
Definition
nurture
Term
aristotles methodology
Definition
make observations
Term
where does aristotle think mind is?
Definition
heart, always in motion, most vulnerable
Term
is empiricist or rationalist more consistant w/ science today?
Definition

empiricist

Term
what kind of thinker was sir francis bacon
Definition
empiricist
Term
what 2 thoughts rose in renaissance (1200-1600 AD)
Definition

humanism (human nature, things of this world)

rise in empiricism

Term
4 renaissance thinkers
Definition

copernicus- heliocentric

galileo

kepler

harvey

Term
who was the first to apply empir methods to topic of mind
Definition
john locke
Term
what is contiguity and who believed in it?
Definition

objects occur together are associated

locke

Term
what is locke's method?
Definition
informal introspection
Term
what makes visual perception hard?
Definition

pattern of light that falls on your eye is consistent w/ many diff scenes out in the world

Term
how does the vis system resolve ambiguities?
Definition
 unconsious assumptions
Term
what is one assump of the vis system?
Definition
objects are unlikely to be oriented at improbable angles
Term

what are the 2 goals of vision

 

Definition

1. identify objects

2. help us navigate the world

Term
what is the chief prob of the visual system
Definition
inverse projection prob
Term
what is inverse projection prob
Definition
way light from the world falls on retina (world outside is 3 diminsional, our image is 2-dimension and an infinite number of scenes are consistent w/ this)
Term
what is luminance
Definition
amt of light the eye receives
Term
3 factors that contrib to luminance
Definition
amt of illumination (100 watt bulb, sun), reflectance of the object (white, black, gray), whether object is in shadow
Term
everything you know about objects in the world comes from
Definition
image the object projects onto the retina
Term
the main, indeterminate things that make vis perception difficult
Definition
shape and orientation indeterminacy/ light source, reflectance, and shadow ind, and size and distance indeter
Term
are assumptions made by exec part of vis system, or built into the way its engineered
Definition

built into

 

Term
likelihood principle
Definition
suggestion that among the many ways of interpreting an ambiguous visual stimulus, the vis system will interpret it as the stim most likely to occur in the world
Term
frame of reference
Definition
position or orientation of motion of object is always defined relative to something else.
Term

common frame of reference in perceptual system indep of viewer's position?

Definition
gravity
Term
what plays big role in shape disambiguation and perception of orientation?
Definition
frame of reference and likelihood
Term

vis system's assumptions about light

Definition

1. surfaces are uniformly colored

2. gradual changes in brightness could be caused by shadows

3. light comes from above object (usually sun)

Term
local contrast
Definition
dependence of perceived surface lightness on ratios of lightness of areas that are next to one another and in the same place
Term
2 important cues to shadows
Definition
fuzzy borders and movement (if shadow moves in association w/ object)
Term
3 cues to depth/distance based on properties of vis. system
Definition

accommodation

convergence

stereopsis

Term
accommodation
Definition
depends on sensing how much the lens of the eye has changed shape in order to focus the image on the retina/ shape change varies w/ distance of the object
Term
when is the accommodation cue most important?
Definition
close ranges (less than 1 m or so)
Term
convergence
Definition
as an object gets closer, your eyes "cross" increasingly more to gaze at it. you point your eyes at an object so the light reflecting from it falls on the fovea
Term
fovea
Definition
center of the retina, most accurate at seeing small details
Term
when is convergence most useful
Definition
when objects are fairly close, (less than 20 ft)
Term
stereopsis
Definition
eyes get slightly diff views of object
Term
different view of left and right eye
Definition
retinal disparity
Term
cues in the enviro
Definition

familiar size

pictoral cues

Term
what is familiar size, and example
Definition
experience, we assume car is normal size even if far away and appears small
Term
which is more reliable, familiar size or stereopsis?
Definition

stereopsis

Term
familiar size influences the perception of:
Definition
size and distance
Term
relative height
Definition
things lower in visual field are closer
Term
pictoral cues
Definition
cues to distance, can be used in pictures
Term
what are some pictoral cues
Definition

occlusion

texture gradient

linear perspective

relative height

atmospheric perspective

Term
2 classes of answers to determine true size and distance of object?
Definition
visual system and enviro
Term
occlusion
Definition
object in front of another will partly overlap it
Term
texture gradient
Definition
we can make out more detail when things are nearby
Term
linear perspective
Definition
lines that are parallel in 3-dimensional space converge in 2-dimen space if you extend them far enough (although they will still look parallel if theyre short)
Term
atmospheric perspective
Definition
objects in distance look indistinct and often have hazy, bluish appearance
Term
knowing distance helps us decide on
Definition
size
Term

what did bill epstein do? (1965)

Definition

show importance and limits of familiar size as cue to distance (made diff coins same size)

view monocularly and binocularly

Term
what did stephen palmer do (1975)
Definition
presented participants w/ complex scenes and had to identify contextually appropriate object
Term
what did palmer call a situation in which, for some ambiguous figures, it seems impossible to identify the figure w/o knowing its parts, but its parts cannot be identified  unless one knows the figure
Definition
parsing paradox
Term
resolution to parsing paradox?
Definition
we do both top-down and bottom-up processing simultaneously and each helps the other
Term
two points of view on prob of vision
Definition

top-down processing

ecological approach

Term
computation approach
Definition
assumes that info in the enviro is impoverished- all the retina has to work with is a series of lines and retina must do lots of compuing to recover 3-dimen shapes and movements in enviro
Term
founder of ecological approach
Definition
J. J. Gibson
Term
ecological approach
Definition

enviro contains variety of cues that specify what is out in the world (it isnt composed of lines)

Term
2 sorts of information sources from ecological approach
Definition

object size (eyeheight of the observer)

distance for navigation (if you run in a direction that makes the ball appear to travel in a straight line, you will go directly to the spot where the ball will land

Term
who did an experiment on eyeheight?
Definition
Maryjane Wraga
Term
we combine attributes in the vis field to achieve one of 2 goals:
Definition

identity of objects around us

locations of objects around us

Term
what is the most obvious characteristic we use to identify objects?
Definition
shape
Term
what type of theory is template theory?
Definition
viewer-centered
Term
template theory
Definition
we recognize an object by comparing its retinal image to a rep of the object in memory
Term
prob w/ template model?
Definition

if something is seen from a diff direction

Term
what DOES use template matching?
Definition
vending machines
Term
what type of theory is feature matching theory?
Definition
viewer-centered
Term
feature-matching theories
Definition
proposes memory rep of objects features
Term
feature matching advantages over template theories
Definition
letters can still be recognized even after diff transformations
Term
probs w/ feature matching
Definition

cant break down many environmental things into features

cant recognize rotated letters

Term
object centered answer to viewer centered
Definition
features of object are relative to one another
Term
geons
Definition
obj recog is supported by 36 simple shapes that look like bricks, cylinders, and so on, complex obj can be built from them
Term
biedermans contention about line intersections
Definition
they are crucial for correctly interpreting geometric solids
Term
what are geons, according to biederman
Definition
building blocks of vis object identification
Term
what can biederman model not account for/
Definition
some common objects like shoes w/o parts that look like any geon
Term
multiple view theory
Definition
we store multiple viewer-centered reps of objects (about 40) and then apply some transformations
Term
waht do the diff types of theories say about seeing the same object from diff views
Definition

viewer-centered- the brain activiation will drop

object- it will not

Term
prosopagnosia
Definition
selective deficit in recog faces
Term
where is activation for face recog?
Definition
fusiform gyrus
Term
where is fusiform gyrus located?
Definition
ventral part of temporal lobe
Term

3 possibilities for perceptual reps

Definition

localized representation (faces in 1 part of brain)

localized processing (visual expertise in one part of brain)

distributed rep (localized peaks of activation for faces, but contrib from large areas of cortex)

Term
what are 2 vis pathways in brain
Definition

identifies objects

determines the location of objects

Term
nonmatching to test
Definition
object identification test
Term
landmark task
Definition
object location task
Term
visual agnosia
Definition

damage to the border of the temporal and occipital lobes

have difficulty recognizing objects using vision but can do so using other senses

Term
which system suports perception for movment
Definition
dorsal system
Term
which system supports object recognition and conscious perception
Definition
ventral system
Term
optic antaxia
Definition
damage to superior parietal cortex (dorsal sys)
Term

2 properties of attention

Definition
limited and selective
Term
2 attention assumptions w/o evidence
Definition

attention can be distrib to more than 1 task at a time, in parallel

performance of particular task requires particular amt attention consistent across situations

Term
dual task paradigm
Definition
participant must perform 2 tasks at once (continuous rather than discrete)
Term
2 assumptions w/ evidence about attention
Definition

a person can allocate attention to each task in the proportions that he/she desires

with sufficient practice, a task will come to demand fewer attentional resources

Term
response to stim interval
Definition
the period of time after the participant has responded but before the next stimulus appears
Term
can people divide attention b/t 2 tasks
Definition
hard to be sure
Term
can we say that a task demands a particular amt. of attention independent of other tasks?
Definition
no
Term
multiple research approach to attention
Definition

diff types of attention

Term
an auditory task will tend to interfere more with an auditory task or a visual task?
Definition
auditory
Term
chief criticism of multiple resource theory
Definition
its not clear how much of these attentional pools are supposed to exist or how they are related to tasks
Term
2 properties of attention
Definition

we can allocate attention to different tasks as we see fit

attentional demands shrink as we practice a task

Term
how did David Somers (2004) decide that people can divide the attentional beam?
Definition
participants were as successful w/ the stimuli separated as they were with them adjacent
Term
automatic
Definition
taking no or few attentional resources and happening w/o intention
Term
2 characteristics of automaticity
Definition

requires little or no attention

happens w/o intention

Term
targets
Definition
memory set items
Term
nontarget items
Definition
distractors
Term

what is the key condition for automaticity to dvlp

Definition

consistency in the task, esp in responses required for stimuli.

 

ex. shiffrin and schneider- a particular letter ALWAYS target other ALWAYS distractor

Term
describe theory that there are multiple pools of attention
Definition
multiple resource theory claims this, perhaps divided by modality (one pool for vision, audition, etc) this idea is difficult to prove.
Term
2 categories of early filter theories and late filter theories (aka where the filter operates in the processing stream)
Definition

early filter (right after sensory characteristics are processed)- all stimuli are processed so their sensory characteristics are determined before they hit the filter

late filter- stimuli processed to determine physical and semantic characteristics before stimuli hit filter

Term
what characteristics of a stimulus are processed first?
Definition
physical
Term
dichotic listening task
Definition
listen to materials on headphones w/ diff material on each ear and shadow (repeat) message aloud
Term
what happens in primary memory?
Definition
awareness, meaning is assigned to stimuli
Term
which is correct, early or late filter theories?
Definition
early
Term
what effect does attention have on sensory cortical processing
Definition

processing increases, either due to a boost from attention or because attention inhibits cortical processing of other stimuli that might compete

Term
galvanic skin response (GSR)
Definition
detects nervousness
Term
both shadowing performance and performance on the 2ndary task are worse when
Definition
one is told to process words at semantic level as they performa  secondary task b/c there is higher attentional cost to doing so relative to processing only at phys level
Term
does attention select objects or spatial locations
Definition
objects
Term
2 predictions of beam metaphor might not be true
Definition

amt of time require to shift attention from one location to another should be proportional to distance attention must travel

experiments conducted that directly compared whether attention was directed to spatial locations or to objects, and objects won.

Term
when experimenters varid distance b/t T and L, results showed that
Definition
attention moves ballistically from one location to another and doesnt sweep along in space as a beam would (judgement did not vary as distance b/t letters changed)
Term
if 2 objects are in overlapping spatial locations
Definition
participants find it easy to attend to just one object of 2
Term
participants are reliably slower in making judgement (30 ms) when instruction led them to compare angles of
Definition

2 objects rather than 1

Term
parts of brain that respond to faces
Definition

fusiform place area (on the ventral aspect of temporal lobe)

Term

parts of brain that respond to places

Definition
parahippocampal place area (ventral aspect of temporal lobe, but diff from fusiform face area)
Term
place in brain where motion is detected
Definition
area MT (mid of temporal lobe)
Term
disjunctive search
Definition
target differs from distractors on just one feature
Term
conjunctive search
Definition
more than 1 feature differentiates the target from the distractors
Term
disjunctive searches are parallel or serial?
Definition
parallel
Term
conjunctive searches are parallel or serial?
Definition
serial
Term
increasing number of elements in array affects reaction time to find target in disjunctive or conjunctive search
Definition
conjunctive
Term
preattentively
Definition
the way in which individ features (color, shape, etc)  are loaded; attention is not needed to know if one of these features is present in the enviro, and a search for a single feature can be conducted in parallel
Term
a conjunctive search requires knowing more than one feature
Definition
belongs to an individual object, which requires attention
Term
2 classes of reasons for attention failure
Definition

due to properties of attention itself

the way attention interacts w/ other components of cognition

Term
inhibition to return
Definition
if a signal appears more than 300 ms after the flicker, there is a cost to reponse time b/c attention cannot return to box
Term
2 processes by which you seek to control the contents of your mental events
Definition

operating process- seeks mental contents consistent w/ what you want to think about

monitoring process- searches for mental contents that are inconsistent w/ what you want to think about

Term
key assumption of operating, monitoring process
Definition
operating process demands attentional resources, but monitoring process does not.
Term
vigilance
Definition
ability to maintain attention, usually in a search task to detect a target or smlal set of targets
Term
most important visual scanning task
Definition
ones in which target is rarely observed
Term
when targets are rare
Definition
participants spend less time searching than when they are frequent
Term

3 ways in which design of attention system causes probs in selection

Definition

1. bias not to return to recently attended object

2. attention will perversely select undesired object when resources are scarce

3. ability to select same type of stimuli repeatedly seems to dissipate after about half an hour

Term
structural explanation
Definition
posits that interference between 2 tasks is caused by competition for mental structures, not for attentional resources
Term
if 2 tasks require the same perceptual modality
Definition
there will be more interference than if they use diff modalities
Term
3 basic processes for performing any task
Definition

perception (seeing the light), response selection (choosing response of pushing the button), and response production (generating the muscle commands that move your finger)

CANNOT SELECT TWO OF THESE ACTIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY

Term

psychological refractory period

Definition
period of time after 1 response is selected during which a second response cannot be selected
Term
selection bottleneck
Definition
response for stim 2 cannot be started until response selection for stim 1 is complete
Term
according to selection bottleneck, as the interval b/t 1st and 2nd stimulus increases, response time to second stimulus gets
Definition
shorter
Term
source of the refractory effect
Definition
response selection for stim 2 cannot begin until the response selection for stim 1 is completed
Term
the attentional blink paradigm uses a procedure called
Definition
(RSVP): rapid serial visual presentation- participants watch a series of stimuli that appear briefly one at a time on computer screen and to name the 2 letters
Term
attentional blink refers to fact that
Definition
observers have trouble identifying the second target if it appears b/t 100 and 600 ms after 1st target
Term
attentional blink occurs with
Definition
words, orientation, color, and dot patterns
Term
will brain areas be active when stim is not perceived b/c of attentional blink?
Definition
yes, though not as much as when participant is aware of the stim (though parts of the lateral frontal corex were active only when the stim was consciously perceived)
Term
what properties of attention can cause selection failures
Definition

inhibition of return- harder to select recently selected object for attention

ironic processes of mental control- make you select something for attention that you dont want

attending to certain types of stim for more than 30 min leads to decreased sensitivity in detecting important features of stim

Term
sources of apparant attention limitations due to components of the cogn system
Definition
psychological refractory period and attentional blink are structural effects- due to competition for cognitive structures other than attention
Term
if you cant stop thinking about something, you are advised to
Definition
keep thinking about it
Term
apply terminology from signal detection theory to car alarms
Definition
ineffective b/c they go off all the time
Term
what to do to make people who screen carry-on baggage at airports more accurate
Definition
short shifts b/c vigilance declines rapidly
Term
secondary mem
Definition
repository for memories
Term
first, info must go from secondary to
Definition

primary mem

Term

primary mem

Definition
hypothetical buffer in which info can be briefly held and manipulated, where processes operate on representations from memory
Term
2 jobs of primary memory
Definition
retrieves info from secondary mem and takes in info from the enviro
Term
sensory memory
Definition
buffer that material perceived in the enviro goes through before ever getting to primary memory
Term
span of apprehension
Definition
how much info can get into consciousness at once
Term
tachistoscope
Definition
used by logician Jevons in his glance at beans experiment, usus a shutter like that of a camera to allow participant to see stimulus for precise amt of time
Term
partial report procedure
Definition
dvlped by sperlingn to examine iconic memory, it's a procedure whereby participants are shown stimuli briefly then given cue telling them which subset of stimuli to report... showed participants perceive most stimuli in complex array
Term
iconic memory
Definition
visual variety of sensory memory
Term
when prefields and postfields are dark, what happens to iconic mem?
Definition
bigger capacity and also lasts much longer (2 s as opposed to .5 s w/ bright fields)
Term
how much can iconic mem hold at briefest delay w/ dark fields
Definition
17 letters
Term
cause of loss of info from iconic mem
Definition
spontaneous decay (begins when stimulus FIRST APPEARS)
Term

second way, beside spontaneous decay, in which info can be lost from iconic mem

Definition
erase (mask) the icon
Term
mask the icon
Definition

present random vis stimuli that replace material currently in iconic mem

Term
partial report effect yielded when
Definition
phys location of stim (top, mid, bottom row) is cueing characteristic
Term
partial report effect not found when
Definition
info about stim category was used (report only the letters, not the digits)
Term
semantic info is partially available in
Definition
iconic mem
Term
echoic mem
Definition
auditory version of iconic mem
Term
if delay b/t target tone and masking tone is long, participants have higher or lower avgs than if delay is shorter
Definition
higher
Term
advantage of partial report procedure
Definition
unlike whole report procedure, does not underestimate span of apprehension b/c participants forget some stimulie apprehended, even as they are reporting others
Term
which is shorter lived, iconic or echoic mem?
Definition
echoic
Term
are retinal afterimages the same as iconic mem?
Definition
no, diff colors, also move with your eyes unlike iconic mem
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