Cognition and Human Mind Overview

Mental processes including perception, attention, memory, and decision-making.

The scientific study of the structures and processes of the mind and brain in information processing.

The process of recognizing and interpreting sensory information from the environment.

The smallest amount of stimulus energy needed for detection by the senses.

The minimum difference in stimulation that a person can detect 50% of the time.

A method presenting stimulus intensity in ascending or descending order.

Observers adjust stimulus intensity until they detect it themselves.

Presents stimulus intensity in random order for detection.

The phenomenon where a person's response varies depending on prior exposure to stimuli.

The principle that states the just noticeable difference (J.N.D.) is a constant ratio of the original stimulus intensity.

Psychology focusing on observable behaviors rather than mental processes.

Learning process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a significant stimulus.

Stimulus that naturally triggers a response without any conditioning.

Learning influenced by the consequences of behavior, like rewards or punishments.

Behaviorism can't explain complex behaviors like creativity or language.

The perception of differences is based on the ratio of differences to magnitude.

A method to measure the relationship between perceived magnitude and stimulus intensity.

A law that relates perceived intensity to physical intensity using logarithms.

An experiment measuring reaction time to infer decision-making duration.

A graphical representation of memory retention over time.

The belief that experience is formed by combining basic elements of experience.

The examination of one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings.

The study of how the mind organizes perceptions into wholes.

Phenomena describing how perceptions change with stimulus intensity.

Electroencephalography, a method to record electrical activity in the brain.

Event-Related Potentials, brain responses that are the direct result of a specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event.

The precision of a measurement with respect to time.

The precision of a measurement with respect to space.

Perception driven by external stimuli rather than prior knowledge.

Perception driven by our cognition and prior knowledge.

A type of sensory neuron receptive field organized to respond to stimuli in a specific way.

The theory that the whole of something is greater than its parts, influencing perception.

The process of converting external stimuli into neural signals.

The process of arranging components into a recognizable pattern or whole.

A period in the 1950s and 1960s focusing on mental processes over behaviorism.

Models mental operations as akin to information processing in computers.

An electrical signal that neurons send, occurring if the membrane exceeds a certain threshold.

The state of a neuron when it is not firing, typically around -70mV.

When a neuron's interior becomes more negative than its resting potential.

When the inside of a neuron becomes more positive than its resting potential.

The junction between two neurons where chemical communication occurs.

Chemicals that transmit signals across a synapse to bind to receptors.

A synapse that causes depolarization, making a neuron more likely to fire.

A synapse that causes hyperpolarization, making a neuron less likely to fire.

The study of brain processes underlying cognition using various methods.

Neuroimaging provides correlation, not causation; relies on slow responses.

A method measuring electrical activity of individual neurons.

Causation indicates one event causes another, while correlation shows a relationship without proving cause.

The process by which a neuron computes information based on signals received from its dendrites.