chapter 1 (intro)

Question 1

mind

Answer 1

system that creates mental representations of the world and controls mental functions such as perception, attention, memory, emotions, language, deciding, thinking, reasoning.

Question 2

cognition

Answer 2

mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem solving, reasoning, decision making.

Question 3

cognitive psychology

Answer 3

branch of psych concerned with scientific study of mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem solving, reasoning, decision making. scientific study of mind and mental processes.

Question 4

reaction time

Answer 4

time it takes to respond to stimulus. usually measured as time between stimulus presented and response.

Question 5

simple reaction time

Answer 5

reacting to presence or absence of single stimulus. no decisions.

Question 6

choice reaction time

Answer 6

time to respond to one of two or more stimuli.

Question 7

structuralism

Answer 7

approach to psych that explained perception as the adding up of small elementary units called sensations. wundt.

Question 8

analytic introspection

Answer 8

procedure used by early psychologists in which trained participants described their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli. wundt.

Question 9

savings

Answer 9

measure used by ebbinghaus to determine the magnitude of memory left from initial learning. higher savings indicate greater memory.

Question 10

savings curve

Answer 10

plot of savings vs time after original learning.

Question 11

behaviourism

Answer 11

watson’s approach to psych. states that observable behaviour provides the only valid data for psych. consequence is idea that consciousness and unobservable mental processes are not considered worthy of study by psychologists.

Question 12

classical conditioning

Answer 12

procedure in which pairing a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response causes the neutral stimulus to elicit that response.

Question 13

operant conditioning

Answer 13

skinner’s conditioning. focuses on how behaviour is strengthened by presentation of positive reinforcers, or withdrawal of negative reinforcers.

Question 14

cognitive map

Answer 14

mental conception of a spatial layout.

Question 15

cognitive revolution

Answer 15

shift in psych in 1950’s from behaviourist approach to approach where main thrust was to explain behaviour in terms of the mind. one outcome was introduction of info-processing approach to studying mind.

Question 16

information-processing approach

Answer 16

approach to psych developed in 1950’s in which mind is described as processing info through sequence of stages similar to computers.

Question 17

artificial intelligence

Answer 17

ability of a computer to perform tasks usually associated with human intelligence.

Question 18

neuropsychology

Answer 18

study of behavioural effects of brain damage in humans.

Question 19

electrophysiology

Answer 19

techniques used to measure electrical responses of nervous system. can listen to single neurons.

Question 20

brain imaging

Answer 20

technique that results in images of brain that represent brain activity. ex: fMRI.

Question 21

paradigm shift

Answer 21

shift in thinking from one paradigm to another.