Cognitive Psychology Overview Quiz

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Questions and Answers

What did Donders' reaction time experiments primarily aim to measure?

The rate of memory decay over time.

The duration of various cognitive processes. (correct)

The changes in neural activity during task performance.

The influence of stimuli on observable behavior.

Which tool is NOT mentioned as a technological advancement that shaped brain function research?

Single-neuron recording.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).

Electroencephalography (EEG). (correct)

Positron Emission Tomography (PET).

What is the primary limitation of the behaviorist approach to studying the mind?

It is incapable of measuring brain activity.

It relies too heavily on reaction time experiments.

It ignores the contribution of internal mental processes. (correct)

It fails to consider overt actions.

What concept did Ebbinghaus introduce to the field of cognitive psychology?

The forgetting curve. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What key idea from computer technology influenced the cognitive revolution?

The information-processing model. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What was the primary focus of early pioneers in cognitive psychology, prior to the cognitive revolution?

To explore internal mental processes indirectly using behavioral measures. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What significant change in research approach resulted from the introduction of PET and fMRI?

A movement toward mapping brain activity underlying complex cognitive processes. (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements best describes how advances in technology and research on the physiology of cognition are linked, as described in the text?

Technological tools have enabled more detailed and direct exploration of cognitive physiology. (D) Signup and view all the answers

How do individual differences affect perception according to prior experiences?

Past experiences and knowledge shape how individuals interpret stimuli. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What role does knowledge of environmental characteristics play in perception?

It influences recognition in scenes with ambiguous or incomplete information. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is meant by experience-dependent plasticity in relation to perception?

The brain adapts to respond to commonly occurring stimuli based on experience. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the relationship between perception and action?

Perception influences actions in everyday activities. (D) Signup and view all the answers

Why do neurons in the visual cortex show sensitivity to certain line orientations?

These orientations are frequent in natural and human-made environments. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What does the concept of 'semantic regularities' refer to in perception?

Relying on knowledge that influences perception of scenes, such as a kitchen likely containing food. (D) Signup and view all the answers

How does evolutionary selection influence perception?

It selects for species that can process stimuli that improve survival. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What can be concluded about the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli?

Individuals use their knowledge and experiences to make sense of ambiguous stimuli. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of perception does Crystal’s change in identifying the object from driftwood to an umbrella illustrate?

Perception is influenced by reasoning and problem-solving (D) Signup and view all the answers

How does perception extend beyond merely identifying objects?

It is essential for interacting with the environment (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is a primary challenge recognized in the development of computer-vision systems since the 1950s?

The complexity of designing systems for human-like perception (A) Signup and view all the answers

In the perceptual puzzle demonstration, what is necessary to distinguish between a shadow and a solid object?

Interpreting context and visual information accurately (B) Signup and view all the answers

What characteristic of perception is illustrated by Crystal recognizing the coiled rope as a continuous strand?

Perception is guided by past experiences (A) Signup and view all the answers

What role does reasoning play in the perceptual puzzle demonstration?

It enhances the interpretation of visual contexts (A) Signup and view all the answers

What initial perception did Crystal have about the object before getting closer?

It was clearly a piece of driftwood (D) Signup and view all the answers

Why is it challenging for computer-vision systems to accurately identify objects?

They often miss crucial context and visual clues (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is one reason why it is challenging to design a perceiving machine?

Machines struggle with recognizing partially obscured or unclear objects. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What does bottom-up processing begin with?

Raw sensory input, such as light hitting the retina. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best illustrates top-down processing?

Inferring information from a partially obscured object. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following demonstrates the ambiguity of visual information in perception?

Seeing a blob as either a shoe or a car based on context. (C) Signup and view all the answers

How do infants demonstrate sensitivity to transitional probabilities, according to Saffran’s experiment?

By distinguishing patterns in a stream of speech. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is a limitation of computer-vision systems compared to human perception?

Machines struggle with viewpoint invariance. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What indicates that perception involves more than just bottom-up processing?

Recognition of words within a continuous stream of sounds. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What role does context play in human perception?

Context helps integrate background information into recognition. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which of these is not a visual perceptual phenomenon mentioned in the text?

Transduction (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary reason for the occurrence of change blindness?

The shift in attention between different objects in the scene. (B) Signup and view all the answers

Based on the text, what does the 'Multiple View Theory' suggest about object recognition?

We recognize objects based on a collection of learned views from different angles. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What does the 'Oblique Effect' refer to?

Humans being less sensitive to oblique angles than vertical or horizontal angles. (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes Bayesian Inference as it relates to perception?

A process of interpreting ambiguous stimuli based on prior knowledge and current evidence. (C) Signup and view all the answers

In Tarr & Gauthier's (1998) study, what did the results suggest about the storing of different views of an object?

Different views of an object are stored separately, representing a set of learned viewpoints. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of 'prior probability' in the context of Bayesian Inference?

Our initial beliefs or expectations about an outcome before any new evidence is considered. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What does sparse coding suggest about how the brain represents stimuli?

A small number of neurons efficiently represent specific stimuli. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the concept of hierarchical processing in the brain?

Neural signals combine and become more complex as they move towards higher brain regions. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of the Broca's area?

Speech production. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which brain area is primarily associated with facial recognition?

Fusiform face area (FFA). (C) Signup and view all the answers

What does 'distributed representation' mean in the context of cognitive function?

Multiple brain areas work together to perform a task. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is a key limitation of correlational research methods in cognitive psychology?

Correlation does not imply causation, and a third variable may be involved. (A) Signup and view all the answers

How does an experimental method differ from correlational method in psychology?

It observes relationships; experimental manipulates a variable. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What strategy is recommended for enhancing long-term retention and critical thinking?

Active and strategic study methods. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Key Takeaways from Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology studies mental processes, including attention, memory, perception, problem-solving, language, and decision-making.
It examines how these processes relate to behaviour and influence daily life.
Cognitive processes are complex and interwoven, impacting daily tasks from work performance to personal relationships.
While the mind itself can't be directly observed, psychologists use methods like behavioural experiments, neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG), cognitive models, and self-report to infer mental processes.
The "cognitive revolution" in psychology occurred in the 1950s, moving away from behaviourism and advocating for the study of internal mental processes.
Advancements in technology, such as the development of computers, influenced this shift by providing analogies for the mind's information processing system

History of Cognitive Psychology

Early researchers, like Hermann Ebbinghaus and Franciscus Donders, developed important principles about memory and reaction time, even though the field was not formally recognized yet at their time.
Behaviorism, a dominant approach in early 20th-century psychology, focused solely on observable behaviours, neglecting the internal mental processes.
Critics, like Noam Chomsky, challenged this approach by arguing that it couldn't explain complex behaviours, such as language acquisition.
The development of digital computers provided an analogy for understanding the mind as an information processing system.
New research and technology pushed for recognition of the importance of mental processes, leading to cognitive psychology establishing itself as a distinct field of study.

Perception

Perception isn't simply a direct reflection of the external world but is influenced by prior knowledge, expectations, and the broader context.
The human brain actively processes sensory input based on regularities present in the environment, focusing on predictable patterns and meaningful information.
Perception and action are interconnected. Our perception of the world influences our actions and vice versa.
For example, recognizing a face or identifying an object within a scene involve the integration of different visual characteristics into a meaningful whole.

Attention

Attention allows us to focus on specific stimuli while filtering out distractions.
We have limited attentional resources so that we can prioritize information relevant to the current task.
Automatic processing involves tasks that are practiced so much that they require little attention (e.g., driving a car.)
Controlled processing, however, requires more attentive effort. These processes are affected by factors such as the salience of the stimuli and the complexity of the tasks.
Divided attention is the ability to pay attention to multiple things at once. Different attention strategies are used like selective attention which allows selective focussing, or divided attention that is actively allocating resources to multiple things.

Memory

Short-term memory (STM) is a temporary storage system that holds a limited amount of information for a short duration—typically 15 to 20 seconds.
Working memory, a more active system, not only holds information but also manipulates and processes it. Components of working memory include the phonological loop for auditory information, visuospatial sketchpad for visual and spatial information, and the central executive for coordination and control.
Long-term memory (LTM) is a permanent storage system holding information for extended periods, ranging from minutes to a lifetime. Types of LTM include episodic memories, semantic memories, and procedural memories.
Chunking is a useful technique to increase the capacity of short term memory.

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Description

Test your knowledge on key concepts and advancements in cognitive psychology, including foundational experiments and the impact of technology on research methods. This quiz covers significant theories and the evolution of cognitive psychology as a discipline.