Cognitive Science: Thinking and the Mind

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Questions and Answers

What is the primary goal of cognitive science regarding thinking?

To describe and explain various types of thinking. (correct)
To improve the speed of thinking processes.
To focus solely on instances where thinking leads to poor decisions.
To only describe different kinds of problem-solving.

Which of the following best describes the capabilities of the mind in relation to the world?

The mind is limited by the sparse, noisy, and ambiguous data it receives.
The mind only processes generalizations from direct experiences.
The mind constructs detailed models of the world from limited data. (correct)
The mind struggles to create inferences due to data limitations.

A cognitive scientist is studying how people quickly understand visual scenes. Which question aligns with this research?

How do people solve complex mathematical problems?
How do people memorize lists of objects?
How do people identify objects and their locations in a scene? (correct)
How do people describe abstract concepts?

Concept learning extends beyond simple classification. What does it also encompass?

Understanding relationships and functions (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which of these is an example of an everyday prediction problem?

Estimating the cooking time remaining for a dish (A) Signup and view all the answers

What do cognitive scientists believe knowledge in the mind primarily consists of?

Mental representations (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is MOST accurate regarding the role of mental procedures?

They produce thoughts, reasoning, and actions. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What constitutes reasoning in the context of cognitive science?

Using existing knowledge to draw conclusions (D) Signup and view all the answers

If you observe that every cat you've seen is black, and conclude that all cats are black, what type of reasoning are you using?

Inductive reasoning (B) Signup and view all the answers

In a grocery store, employees wearing football jerseys every Friday to support the local team can lead to what kind of reasoning?

Deductive, if you start expecting it after reading about the policy. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What characterizes deductive reasoning?

Starting with a general principle and applying it to specific cases (C) Signup and view all the answers

What conclusion can be drawn if the premises in deductive reasoning are correct?

The conclusion must be true. (B) Signup and view all the answers

If you observe several black marbles being drawn from a bag and conclude that all marbles in the bag are black, what type of reasoning are you using?

Inductive reasoning (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following describes a key limitation of deductive reasoning?

It cannot make predictions about future events. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a key characteristic of inductive reasoning?

It has the potential to increase human knowledge. (A) Signup and view all the answers

In argument terminology, what does 'valid' refer to?

A conclusion that follows from the premises if we assume the premises are true. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What do the computational procedures operating on representational structures in the mind enable, according to the central hypothesis of cognitive science?

Thinking (B) Signup and view all the answers

What does the acronym CRUM stand for in the context of cognitive science?

Computational-Representational Understanding of Mind (B) Signup and view all the answers

What does 'mental representation' refer to in the context of cognitive science?

Hypothetical internal cognitive symbol (D) Signup and view all the answers

In knowledge representation, how does the use of formalisms benefit complex systems?

It makes them easier to design and build. (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best characterizes the purpose of knowledge representation?

To enable computers to simulate thinking (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which structure is NOT one of the three main components of a classic rules-based system?

Data Input Module (D) Signup and view all the answers

What does the inference engine do in a rules-based system?

Applies rules to the working memory. (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following represents a key limitation of rules-based systems?

They can be tough to maintain with thousands of rules. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What benefit do taxonomies give in the context of knowledge representation?

They cluster information and orgranize knowledge. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is a Bayesian network particularly useful for modeling?

Situations where confidence in a belief may change (D) Signup and view all the answers

In a Bayesian network diagram, what do arcs represent?

Cause and effect (C) Signup and view all the answers

What makes Bayesian networks more difficult to work with?

A large number of variables (B) Signup and view all the answers

How do cognitive scientists propose that people produce thoughts and actions?

Using mental processes that operate on mental representations (A) Signup and view all the answers

In the context of visual perception, what cognitive task is most essential?

Identifying objects and locations (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the relationship between the premise and conclusion in deductive reasoning?

Premise guarantees the conclusion (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main difference between inductive and deductive reasoning concerning evidence?

Inductive starts from specific to general, deductive from general to specific (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main goal of studying the mind in cognitive science?

Explaining how our mind work and how our thinking takes place, and why it sometimes fails (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the overall term for using various types of thinking in Cognitive Science?

Cognition (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which way describe one characteristic of inductive reasoning?

Inductive reasoning is a bottom-up reasoning (C) Signup and view all the answers

Where does knowledge exist for most cognitive scientists?

Mental representation (Human Brain) and Knowledge Representation (Artificial Intelligence) (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best describes the difference between deduction and induction?

Deduction gives absolute proof, while induction is driven by observation. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best describes the difference between deduction and induction?

Deduction gives absolute proof, while induction is driven by observation. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What are knowledge representation and reasoning technologies used for?

To represent and manipulate knowledge in computers. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of rule-based systems?

To encode expert knowledge in a domain. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Why have Bayes nets emerged as an important technology?

Because the real world is full of uncertainty. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

Cognitive Science

An investigatory discipline exploring intelligence and the human mind through various types of thinking.

Cognition

Using various types of thinking, such as decision-making, emotions, language, learning, perception, and problem-solving.

How minds work

Building rich models of the world and making strong generalizations from limited, ambiguous data.

Reasoning

The process of using existing knowledge to draw conclusions, make predictions, or construct explanations.