Cognitive Psychology Working Memory Quiz

A theory stating that unattended features are not completely filtered out, but rather their strength is reduced.

The inability to perceive changes in a visual scene when our attention is directed elsewhere.

The ability to selectively focus on specific features, objects, or locations in the environment.

The ability to direct attention to specific sensory modalities, such as visual or auditory.

The ability to direct attention to specific locations in space.

The ability to selectively attend to specific visual features, such as colors, shapes, or orientations.

The ability to focus on specific objects in a scene, such as recognizing a familiar face.

The ability to selectively attend to specific phonemes or speech sounds.

A process where our attention is directed to specific locations in space, influenced by cues that can either be conscious or unconscious.

Shows that our attention can be affected by stimuli we are not consciously aware of. For example, seeing an erotic image can shift our attention to a specific region of space.

Our experience of consciousness is a simplified representation of our attentional system.

A learning process where a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits a response, causing the neutral stimulus to eventually elicit the same response.

A type of learning where behavior is encouraged when followed by a reward (reinforcement) or discouraged when followed by a punishment.

A type of memory that holds visual information for a very brief period, allowing us to perceive a continuous flow of images.

A type of memory where information is learned and retained without conscious awareness.

A type of memory where information is learned and retained with conscious awareness.

A type of memory that holds a large amount of visual information for a very short period (about 1 second). It is very sensitive to information overload, but if you focus on a specific part of that information, like a row of letters, you can remember it much better.

A memory system with a limited capacity (3-4 items) that holds information for longer than iconic memory (up to 30 seconds) and allows active manipulation of that information. Imagine it as your mental workspace, keeping information ready for use.

This test measures your ability to remember words in a sequence while performing a simple task (for example, reading them). It shows the limit of how many words you can keep in your mind at any given time.

A study showing that your visual working memory can only hold around 3-4 items. The complexity of each item matters less than the total number of items.

A cognitive task where you are shown a scene and then asked to identify if there was a change in the scene. Your ability to do this is directly related to the number of items you can hold in your working memory.

The idea that actions in the physical world are surprisingly difficult for machines, while abstract reasoning is relatively easy for humans.

A branch of cognitive science that emphasizes the interaction between the mind and the physical environment.

The idea that cognitive systems, both natural and artificial, should be considered in relation to the environment they interact with.

A test of an animal's confidence in its decision, observed by how long it waits for a reward.

The ability of an animal to assess the quality of its own knowledge and make decisions based on that assessment.

When an animal's sense of smell is ambiguous, it is less likely to wait for a reward and will return to the starting point more quickly.

The initial state where a mouse is presented with a new smell and must choose a route based on the smell.

When people estimate the probability of an event, they rely on how easily they can recall or imagine examples of that event. The easier it is to bring examples to mind, the more likely they believe the event to be.

When people judge the likelihood of an event based on how well it fits a prototype or a typical example of the event. They may ignore other relevant information, such as base rates or sample sizes.

This bias occurs when people overestimate the likelihood of an event happening simply because they can easily imagine it happening. This can lead to distorted risk assessments.

This heuristic can lead to errors in judgement, as people tend to overestimate the likelihood of events that are frequently mentioned or highly memorable. This can lead to biases in decision-making.

Our ability to assess our own mental states, including our confidence in our knowledge and the accuracy of our judgments. This involves being aware of what we know and what we don't know.

The tendency to overestimate our own abilities and knowledge. We may be overly confident in our decisions and predictions, leading to poor outcomes.

This refers to the observation that our confidence in our judgments often does not match our actual accuracy. We may be very confident in a decision, but still be wrong.

A form of metacognition that involves knowing when we don't know something. This allows us to be more cautious and seek out additional information when needed.