Cognition Exam Key Terms (PDF)

Key Terms / Concepts / Ideas Covered on The Cognition Exam Smell is the only sense that’s not processed first in the thalamus of of the brain\ -​ The six basic tastes are sweet, salty, sour, bitter, savory (umami), and fatty (oleogustus) -​ Sweet = energy source, -​ Salty = sodium is es...

Key Terms / Concepts / Ideas Covered on The Cognition Exam Smell is the only sense that’s not processed first in the thalamus of of the brain\ -​ The six basic tastes are sweet, salty, sour, bitter, savory (umami), and fatty (oleogustus) -​ Sweet = energy source, -​ Salty = sodium is essential for physiological processes (proper cellular functioning), -​ Sour = potentially toxic acid, -​ Bitter = potential poison, -​ Savory (Umami) = proteins to grow and repair tissue, -​ Fatty (Oleogustus) = fats for energy, insulation, amd cell growth Nociceptors / pain receptors - sensory receptors that recognize stimuli of pain and transport it to the brain Depth perception - our ability to see things in 3D and judge distance Visual Cliff Experiment - experiment shows that depth perception is, if not partially innate, learned very early as a means of protection and survival. (the babies know to not go to the other side) Schemas - how we organize information we store in our memories, created by our experiences and how we expect the world to be -​ Assimilation: interpreting something we already know / have memories of -​ Accommodation: learning something new and altering your schemas Gestalt Psychology - states that us as human beings like things to be organized -​ organize visual pieces or cues into meaningful wholes. -​ Closure - our mind tends to fill incomplete shapes to perceive them as a whole -​ Continuity - we tend to follow things that are either linear or curved (following shapes rather than color)  -​ Figure & Ground - the distinction between the main figure and its background -​ Proximity - objects close to each other are perceived as a group -​ Similarity - similar elements are perceived as belonging together -​ Symmetry - elements tend to be perceived as organized when balanced on either side of a central point or axis, creating a sense of harmony or balance. Top-Down Processing - using pre-existing knowledge and context to guide the understanding and execution of the task -​ expectations from prior experiences Bottom-Up Processing - taking in sensory information and processing it to form a coherent understanding of the task Selective Attention - Paying very narrow attention to one thing Cocktail party effect - our ability to carry on a conversation without paying attention to other things Inattentional blindness - the failure to notice a change when our attention is diverted elsewhere Change blindness - what you're focusing on changes and you don't notice Binocular depth cues utilize images from each eye to give us the ability to perceive (make sense out of) depth. -​ Convergence - your eye turns inward when looking at objects getting closer -​ Retinal disparity - Monocular depth cues - depth cues, such as texture gradient or linear perspective, available to either eye on its own -​ Texture -​ Gradient  -​ Linear perspective Perceptual Constancy - as images in our visual field change, the object stays the same but may seem different bc of angles, lighting, and movement. -​ Size constancy -​ Shape constancy -​ Color constancy Cognition - all mental activities associated with thinking, problem solving, communicating, and remembering information Concepts - mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas or people that help us organize and understand information, makes it easier for us to think and communicate Prototypes - typical or best examples of a category that help us quickly identify and categorize new objects, ideas, or people by comparing them to this mental representation Algorithms - step by step details that can bring you to a solution, problem solving (can be time consuming) Heuristics - simple, mental shortcuts that allow us to make judgements and solve problems quickly -​ Representativeness Heuristic - a mental shortcut people use to judge the likelihood of something based on how closely it matches a stereotypical example or one’s prototypical example -​ Availability Heuristic - a mental shortcut used to make judgements based on how easily examples come to mind. Mental set - something that works for us that we keep going back to Framing - the way somethings presented to us which can have an effect ion how we process and respond to it Creativity - the ability to produce ideas that are both new (novel) and valuable, characteristics are:  -​ Expertise -​ Imaginative Thinking Skills -​ A Venturesome Personality -​ Intrinsic Motivation -​ A Creative Environment Functional fixedness - our inability to see other uses or functions for objects that are used for specific purposes. Intelligence - the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations G factor (Charles Spearman) - a theoretical concept that suggested there's a single underlying ability that influences our performance across various tasks, general intelligence that individuals possess Factor analysis - a statistical procedure that identifies cluster of related information Mental age - a measure of intelligence based on the average abilities of children within a certain age group, what age they perform at intellectually Measuring IQ -​ IQ = Mental age / Chronological age x 100 Standardized test - an assessment that is administered and scored in a consistent manner to ensure that results are comparable across individual groups Validity - a tests ability to measure what it intends to measure -​ Content Validity: Ensures the test covers relevant and representative topics -​ Construct Validity: Evaluates whether the test accurately measures the concept it's designed to assess. -​ Predictive Validity: Assess how well a test predicts future performance or behavior Test Reliability - a tests ability to produce consistent results over repeated administrations  -​ Test-Retest Method: the same test is given to the same group at different times and then the consistency of scores are compared -​ Split-Half Method: Divides the test into two halves (ex. Odd and even questions) and compares the correlation between the two sets of scores to check for consistency Stereotype threat - a phenomenon in which individuals may feel anxious and concerned that their performance will confirm negative stereotypes about their social or cultural groups, they do worse and their performance does not reflect their true capabilities Stereotype lift - occurs when one’s performance is boosted by their awareness of positive stereotypes about their social or cultural group. This awareness can potentially enhance one’s confidence and boost their outcomes on tests. The Flynn effect - the observed rise in IQ throughout generations, probably due to improved education, nutrition, technology, and more Achievement Tests - measure a person’s knowledge or proficiency in a specific subject or skill-set that has been learned Aptitude Tests - to measure a person's potential to learn or succeed in a particular area or skill Crystalized Intelligence - (accumulated knowledge and verbal skills) increases up to our elderly years Fluid Intelligence - (reason speedily and abstractly to novel situations and problems) begins slowly declining in our late-twenties to early-thirties and up into our mid-seventies; more rapid decline starts by our mid-eighties.