Cognitive Psychology Concepts Quiz

Cognition

• Cognition is defined as thinking
• It encompasses processes like perception, knowledge, problem-solving, judgment, language, and memory.
• Scientists study how we integrate, organize, and utilize cognitive experiences, both consciously and unconsciously.

Cognitive Psychology

• This field of psychology targets how people think.
• It aims to explain the "how" and "why" of human thought.
• Cognitive psychologists study the interplay of thinking, emotion, creativity, language, problem-solving, and different types of intelligence.
• They also study the categorization and organization of thoughts and information.

Concepts and Prototypes

• The brain synthesizes and uses information from the external environment, memories, and emotions.
• Concepts are categories of information, images, ideas, or memories.
• A prototype is the most representative example of a concept.
• Natural concepts are shaped by personal experiences
• Artificial concepts are defined by specific sets of characteristics.

Schemata

• Schemata are mental frameworks made up of clusters of related concepts.
• They help organize information, promoting efficient brain function.
• Role schemas are assumptions about how people in certain roles will act.
• Event schemas, also known as cognitive scripts, describe routines of behaviors.

Language

• Language functions as a communication system.
• It relies on words and organized rules to convey information to others.
• Communication isn't always language.

Components of Language

• Language has two primary components:
• Lexicon: a given language's collection of words.
• Grammar: guidelines for using the lexicon to create meaning.

Purpose of Language

• Language serves to convey thoughts between individuals.
• It promotes creative and progressive social interactions.
• It facilitates the sharing of innovations, preserving them across generations.
• It is closely tied to thinking.

Language Structure - Phonology

• Phonemes are the smallest meaningful units of speech sounds.
• They don't always convey meaning in isolation.

Language Structure - Morphology

• Morphemes are the smallest units of language that carry meaning.
• They can be complete words or additions to existing words.

Language Structure - Semantics

• Semantics focuses on the meaning derived from morphemes and words.
• Meaning is not always literal (e.g., "raining cats and dogs").

Language Structure - Syntax

• Syntax dictates the rules for arranging words or phrases in a sentence.
• In English, adjectives typically come before nouns (e.g., "nice guy").
• Syntax usually doesn't affect meaning as significantly as semantics.

Language Development

• Prevocal learning (0-6 months): infants start recognizing speech sounds.
• Cooing (around 2 months) involves vowel-like sounds.
• Babbling (5-6 months) includes repetitive speech sounds.
• One word stage (12-18 months): single words carry meaning.
• Telegraphic speech (18-24 months): short sentences omit less important words.
• Sentence phase (2-3 years): basic grasp of sentence structure's rules.
• Complex sentences (3-5 years): mastery of grammatical rules.
• Overgeneralization: Applying grammatical rules to exceptions, demonstrating an understanding of rules.

Language Development - Critical or Sensitive Periods

• A sensitive period in childhood for language acquisition.
• Language acquisition is impaired after this time period.
• Brain development requires appropriate stimulation.

Theories of Language Development - Nature vs. Nurture

• Nature: pre-wired human brains for learning language.
• Nurture: language acquisition occurs through learning rather than being pre-programmed.
• Interactionist perspective: acknowledges both nature and nurture play a role in language acquisition.
• Language acquisition device (Noam Chomsky): a pre-wired biological program for language learning.
• Universal grammar: underlying rules of grammar that apply to all languages

Language and the Brain

• Distinct brain regions collaborate in language.
• Brain damage cases provide insights into brain functions.
• Aphasia encompasses various types of language impairments depending on the affected brain regions.

Broca’s Area

• This frontal lobe region is vital for speech production.
• Broca's aphasia features difficulties in speech output while maintaining word understanding.
• Problems primarily arise in sentence structure.

Wernicke’s Area

• Situated in the temporal lobe, this region is crucial for comprehending language.
• Wernicke's aphasia involves struggles in understanding and producing meaningful speech.
• Difficulty involves semantic, not syntactic, processing.

Do Animals Have Language?

• Communication exists in several animal species.
• Some animals (like chimpanzees) have showcased language-like abilities, but this remains contested.

Language and Thought

• Interconnectedness of language with thought processes.
• Mental imagery involves internal representations of stored experiences.
• Internal language is actively employed in many thinking processes.

Decision Making

• Everyday decisions are often made using mental shortcuts referred to as heuristics.
• Decision-making involves limitations (bounded rationality).
• Emotions impact our decisions.

Decision Biases

• Anchoring bias: focus on the initial information available.
• Confirmation bias: actively seeking information that confirms existing beliefs.
• Hindsight bias: the feeling that past events were predictable.
• Representativeness heuristic: assessment based on how well things fit existing mental categories.
• Availability heuristic: likelihood judgements based on memorability of events.

Reasoning

• Inductive reasoning: drawing general conclusions from specific observations.
• Deductive reasoning: applying general principles to derive specific conclusions.

Problem Solving

• Problems arise from a desire to achieve goals.
• Problem-solving entails finding a path from the initial (unsatisfactory) condition to the desired end state.
• Defining the problem involves clarifying its core issues.
• Strategies for solving include:
  • Trial and error
  • Algorithms
  • Heuristics, including working backward and forming subgoals.

Problem-solving Pitfalls

• Mental set: persistence of prior strategies.
• Functional fixedness: difficulty in thinking outside conventional uses of objects.