Essay topics

Question 1

Perception

Answer 1

7 steps of perceptual process

Gestalt principles

Perceiving scenes

Object recognition (structuralism, illusory contours, apparent movement)

Stimulus on receptors is ambiguous

Question 2

Attention

Answer 2

Selective attention

Divided attention

What directs our attention

Cognitive factors of attention

Emotion and attention

Question 3

Memory

Answer 3

Sensory memory

Short term memory

Working memory

Long term memory

• Episodic, semantic, autobiographical
• Implicit/explicit

Control processes
-maintenance/elbaorative rehearsal

Proactive/Retroactive interference

Chunking

Memory errors

• false memories
• memory is constructive
• misinformation/
• eyewitnesses

Question 4

Language

Answer 4

Brain areas

• Prefrontal regions (broca’s)
• Temporal (wernicke’s)
• Parietal regions

Structure of language
-grammar, syntax, morphemes, phonemes, pragmatics

Mental lexicon/lexical recognition

Interpreting sentences

Variability of acoustic signal
-accents

Categorical perception

Uniqueness of human language

Question 5

Reasoning and Decision Making

Answer 5

Deductive/Inductive

Dual Process Framework

Everyday vs Lab

Heuristics
-availability/representativeness

Emotions and decision-making
-Incidental emotions

Choice presentation

Question 6

Learning and Cognition

Answer 6

Definition

Classical Conditioning

Thorndike’s law of effect

Operant Conditioning

Vicarious Learning

Social Learning Theory

Applied Behavioral Analysis

Cognitive Learning Theory/Latent Learning

Question 7

Problem solving

Answer 7

Definition of a problem

Getalt approach to problem solving

Wason-four card problem
-falsification principle

Obstacles to problem solving
-false constraint, insight problems, functional fixedness, mental set, intermediate states

Problem solving strategies
-say aloud

• use analogies (similar problem)
  - surface vs structural comparison