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Questions and Answers
Which theory of sleep suggests that sleep patterns evolved primarily to avoid predation?
What physiological process is supported by deep sleep, particularly concerning muscle development?
What is a potential long-term effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive function?
Which of the following is NOT considered a reason why sleep is essential for our wellbeing?
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How does sleep influence memory according to the brain plasticity theory?
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What is the main focus of biological psychology?
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Which component is part of the peripheral nervous system?
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What term describes the process by which the body gathers and processes information?
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Which system is responsible for involuntary control of bodily functions?
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What is one role of hormones in relation to behavior?
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What is one of the main functions of the limbic system?
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Which of the following regions is primarily responsible for higher cognitive functions?
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How do neurons primarily communicate?
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What process involves transferring information from short-term memory to long-term memory by making meaningful connections?
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Which type of long-term memory involves conscious recall of factual information?
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What is the term for combining separate bits of information into larger, meaningful units to enhance memory capacity?
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Which of the following types of memory does NOT require conscious recall?
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Where in the brain is procedural memory primarily processed?
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Which of the following best describes Miller's magic number 7?
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What phenomenon occurs when recalling earlier experiences aids the retrieval of new information?
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Which type of memory facilitates recalling personal experiences such as the first day of school?
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Which sleep disorder is characterized by periodic interruptions in breath that can last 10 seconds or longer?
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What is the main physiological effect of psychoactive drugs on the nervous system?
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Which term describes the minimum stimulus energy needed to consciously detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time?
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What is the primary function of the vestibular senses?
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Which of the following best describes 'operations' in cognitive processes like problem solving?
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What does sensory adaptation refer to?
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Which type of nerve cell is primarily involved in detecting taste sensations?
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What best explains the phenomenon of night terrors?
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Which of the following represents a significant effect of heavy drug use?
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The function of the cilia on hair cells in the ear is to:
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During which stage of sleep do individuals exhibit involuntary movements and actions related to their dreams?
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What type of memory is typically assessed through IQ tests?
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Which of the following statements reflects a psychological dependence on a drug?
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In the context of psychological testing, what does the term 'difference threshold' refer to?
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What is the primary function of the Semantic Network Model in memory storage?
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How does priming influence memory retrieval?
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What describes the serial position effect in memory recall?
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What is a key characteristic of recognition in memory retrieval?
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What does the misinformation effect describe?
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What distinguishes anterograde amnesia from retrograde amnesia?
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Which dietary component is noted for enhancing memory cell communication?
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What impact does sleep deprivation have on memory function?
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What is a significant risk factor for developing Alzheimer's Disease?
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Which of the following is, NOT, a technique suggested to improve memory?
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What does psychogenic amnesia involve?
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Which term describes the tendency to believe one would have predicted an outcome after it has occurred?
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What role does aerobic exercise play in mental performance?
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What can be a result of false positive recognition?
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Study Notes
Thinking
- Thinking, also known as Cognition, encompasses the brain's mental activities involved in processing, organizing, understanding, and communicating information.
Cognitive Processing
- Problem Solving refers to the brain's process of finding a solution for a problem or reaching a goal.
- Decision Making involves selecting between two or more alternatives, from simple to complex, using cognitive processes.
Problem Solving Methods
- Trial and Error involves trying different solutions until one works.
- Algorithms are methodical step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution for a specific problem. Algorithms are slower but more accurate than heuristics.
- Heuristics are mental shortcuts based on prior experiences, suggesting a course of action without guaranteeing an optimal solution.
Barriers to Problem Solving
- Functional Fixedness: Difficulty in perceiving a new use for an object originally intended for a different purpose.
- Mental Set: Tendency to persist in using problem-solving patterns that worked in the past, even when they are no longer effective.
Types of Thinking & Reasoning
- Convergent Thinking: Thinking towards a single, correct answer.
- Divergent Thinking: Thinking that explores multiple possible solutions to a problem.
Intelligence
- Intelligence encompasses a set of cognitive abilities, including the ability to learn, reason, understand, and adapt to new situations.
Measurement of Intelligence
- Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is used to measure intelligence. It is obtained by dividing mental age by chronological age and multiplying by 100.
- Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales and Wechsler Scales are standard IQ tests.
Principles For Development of Intelligence Tests
- Standardization: Test must be given and scored in a consistent way.
- Reliability: Scores should consistently reflect true ability.
- Validity: Test should accurately measure what it intends to measure.
Intelligence Extremes
- Giftedness: IQ score above 130.
- Intellectual Disability: IQ score below 70, associated with significant limitations in cognitive functioning and adaptive skills.
Influences on Intelligence
- Heredity: Genetic factors play a significant role in intelligence.
- Environment: Early childhood experiences and educational opportunities are important for cognitive development.
Memory
- Memory is the mental process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information.
Key Processes of Memory
- Encoding: Transforming information into a form that can be stored.
- Storage: Maintaining encoded information over time.
- Retrieval: Accessing stored information when needed.
Information Processing Model of Memory
- Information flows through three memory systems:
- Sensory Memory: Briefly holds sensory information.
- Short-Term Memory (STM): Limited capacity; temporarily holds information for processing and transfer to long-term memory.
- Long-Term Memory (LTM): Relatively permanent and limitless repository of information.
Sensory Memory
- Iconic Memory: Brief visual memory lasting less than a second.
- Echoic Memory: Brief auditory memory lasting less than 4 seconds.
Short-Term Memory (STM)
- Capacity: Can hold about 7 items (Miller's Magic Number 7).
- Duration: Information lasts within 15-30 seconds unless actively rehearsed.
- Maintenance Rehearsal: Repeating information to keep it in STM.
Long-Term Memory (LTM)
- Capacity: Virtually limitless.
- Duration: Information potentially lasts a lifetime.
- Elaborative Rehearsal: Transferring information from STM to LTM through meaningful connections.
Types of LTM
-
Explicit/Declarative Memory: Consciously recalled information ("knowing that").
- Semantic Memory: General knowledge.
- Episodic Memory: Personal recollections.
-
Implicit/Non-declarative Memory: Does not require conscious recall, but is reflected in actions ("knowing how to").
- Procedural Memory: Motor skills and habits.
- Conditioned Memory: Automatic conditioned responses.
- Priming: Retrieval based on previous experiences.
Retrieval
- Retrieval: Process of accessing information from LTM.
- Recall: Retrieving information without cues.
- Recognition: Retrieving information with cues.
Memory Conditions
-
Amnesia: Serious memory impairment.
- Retrograde Amnesia: Inability to recall past events.
- Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new memories.
Healthy Memory Requirements and Techniques
- Sleep: Essential for memory consolidation.
- Stress Management: Stress can impair memory.
- Exercise: Physical activity can improve memory.
- Active Learning Techniques: Engaging in activities that promote deep processing of information.
Semantic Network Model
- Information stored in connected fashion, related concepts closely located.
- Parallel Distributed Processing Model: simultaneous access of connected information across multiple networks.
Retrieval
- Process of accessing information stored in Long-Term Memory.
- Retrieval Cues: prompts to remember stored information.
- Priming: activation of particular associations in memory (e.g., smelling something triggers memory of something we thought we had forgotten).
- Context-dependent: memory improves by being in similar location to when memory was formed (e.g., eyewitnesses taken to scene of crime).
- State-dependent: memory improves by being in similar mood/state to when memory was formed (e.g., recalling happy memories when feeling happy).
Recall
- Retrieving information not currently in conscious awareness but learnt previously (e.g., essay exam).
- Tip of the tongue: Being aware of knowing something and confident of being able to remember it eventually, but not being able to retrieve it at that point in time.
- Serial position effect: tendency to recall more easily the first items (primacy effect) and last items (recency effect) when learning a long list of information.
Recognition
- Identifying previously learnt items from a list (e.g., MCQ).
- False positive: falsely recognizing some stimulus that is not actually in memory.
- Accuracy of eyewitness testimony (Elizabeth Loftus & Eyewitness study).
LTM Reconstruction
- Memory is not a recording – it is a constructive process.
- Constructive processing: retrieval of memories in which those memories are altered, revised, or influenced by newer information.
- Repetition increases vividness of constructive memories.
- Hindsight Bias: tendency to believe after learning an outcome that one would have foreseen it ("I knew it all along").
Misinformation Effect
- Incorporation of inaccurate information into actual memory.
- False Memory Syndrome: creation of inaccurate memories usually through suggestion of others (e.g., child testimony), but also hypnosis.
- Events must be plausible and could have happened to them personally to be incorporated.
Memory Conditions
- Organic amnesia: physical damage to the brain causing memory loss.
- Retrograde: loss of memory for events that occurred before the injury or onset of disease.
- Anterograde: inability to form new memories after the injury or onset of disease.
Alzheimer's Disease
- Irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually the ability to carry out the simplest task.
- Starts as anterograde amnesia but as the disease progresses retrograde amnesia can occur as well.
- Worldwide, nearly 44 million people are affected (only 1 in 4 diagnosed).
- No cure, but various drugs for slowing or stopping progression.
- Risk factors include: ↑cholesterol, ↑blood pressure, smoking, obesity, Type II diabetes.
Infantile Amnesia
- Inability to remember clearly or accurately the first years of life (prior to age of 3).
- Relates to explicit memories.
- Explicit memories are retained after development of one’s personal story (autobiographical memory) and language acquisition.
Psychogenic Amnesia
- Loss of memory and important personal information due to a traumatic event (abuse in childhood, witnessing murder as an adult).
- Brain blocks ability to recall the event.
- No physiological basis for disruption (not organic).
- Retrograde amnesia.
- Example: Woman witnessing a murder forgets her name, identity, and how she got to that place.
Healthy Memory: Sleep
- Sleep deprivation severely interferes with hippocampal function and memory.
- New information is better consolidated while sleeping.
Healthy Memory: Diet
- Food rich in:
- Omega-3 fatty acid helps memory cells communicate (e.g., salmon, tuna, walnuts).
- Antioxidants (e.g., blueberries, spinach, green tea).
- Vitamin B (e.g., spinach, broccoli, soybeans).
Healthy Memory: Exercise
- Improves learning and mental performance.
- Higher cardiovascular activity ↑verbal memory (Guadagni et al., 2020).
- Aerobic training ↑ brain connectivity (Voss et al., 2020).
- Helps prevent and treat dementia, Alzheimer's & brain aging.
- Reduces sensitivity to stress, depression and anxiety (Anderson & Shivakumar, 2013).
Healthy Memory: Behavioural Techniques
- Rehearse and test new material.
- Make material meaningful (form stories).
- Activate retrieval cues to jog your memory.
- Use mnemonics (chunking, acronyms, rhymes).
- Minimize interference (study before sleep).
- Interleaving (avoid back-to-back study of the same subject/s).
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Description
Explore the essential cognitive processes involved in thinking, problem solving, and decision making. This quiz covers methods like trial and error, algorithms, and heuristics, as well as barriers such as functional fixedness that can hinder effective problem solving.
