Key Concepts in Introduction to Cognitive Psychology PDF

Key Concepts in Introduction to Cognitive Psychology 1. Associationism: A theory that explains how elements of the mind become associated with one another, often through contiguity (associating things that tend to occur together at about the same time) and similarity (associating things with simila...

Key Concepts in Introduction to Cognitive Psychology 1. Associationism: A theory that explains how elements of the mind become associated with one another, often through contiguity (associating things that tend to occur together at about the same time) and similarity (associating things with similar features or properties). 2. Contiguity The principle that suggests that events or items that occur close together in time are more likely to be associated with each other. 3. Similarity The principle that suggests that items with similar features or properties are more likely to be associated. 4. Behaviorism A psychological approach that emphasizes purely objective and experimental methods, focusing on observable behaviors rather than unobservable mental processes. 5. Gestalt Psychology A psychological approach that emphasizes understanding psychological phenomena as organized and structured wholes, asserting that "the whole is more than the sum of its parts". 6. Development of Insight An unobservable mental event where an individual suddenly understands how to solve a problem, often described as a moment of clarity. 7. **Cognitive Psychology**: A field of psychology that studies mental processes such as attention, memory, and perception, focusing on how people understand, think, and remember. 8. Self-Report Surveys A method of data collection that accommodates significant sample sizes through questionnaires or interviews, allowing researchers to gather insights from respondents. 9. Low External Validity A limitation in research that indicates the findings may not generalize well to real-world settings, as seen in laboratory tasks like those developed by Karpicke (2009). 10. Cognitive Models Frameworks developed by researchers like Donald Broadbent to explain processes such as attention and memory, including the idea that information not currently attended to is filtered out. 11. Pragmatism A philosophical approach associated with William James, suggesting that knowledge is validated by its usefulness. 12. Tabula Rasa A concept introduced by John Locke, suggesting that individuals are born as a "blank slate" with no innate ideas, and that life experiences shape knowledge. - Cognitive Processes Refers to the mental activities involved in acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. - Objective and Subjective Reality The distinction between what can be observed and measured (objective) versus personal interpretations and experiences (subjective). Key Concepts on Perception 1. Expertise: It is attained by acquiring chunks of knowledge in long-term memory, such as fingerprints and QR codes. It involves storing, organizing, and retrieving a vast amount of information. 2. Template Theories: These are highly detailed models for recognizing patterns. Templates are stored in the mind and used to find exact matches while ignoring imperfect ones. 3. Global Precedence Effect: This refers to the phenomenon where global aspects of a scene are processed more rapidly than local details, indicating that global information dominates over local information. 4. Local Precedence Effect: In contrast to the global precedence effect, local aspects are processed more rapidly than global details in a scene. 5. Pandemonium Model (Oliver Selfridge) A model that describes how perception works by recognizing parts of objects and assembling them into wholes. It emphasizes both global and local features. 6. Landmark-Centered Representation This type of representation characterizes information based on its relation to a well-known or prominent item, rather than in relation to the entirety of the object itself. 7. Top-Down Theories: These theories suggest that context effects influence perception, including the Configural-Superiority Effect, Object Superiority Effect, and Word Superiority Effect. 8. Configural-Superiority Effect Objects that are appropriate to the established context are recognized more rapidly than those that are inappropriate, highlighting the strength of context in perception. 9. Feature Matching Theories These theories attempt to match features of a pattern to features stored in memory, rather than matching a whole pattern to a template or prototype. 10. Recognition of Objects Objects presented in certain configurations are easier to recognize than those presented in isolation, indicating the importance of arrangement in perception. 11. 3D vs. 2D Recognition Lines arranged in a 3D space are easier to recognize than when they are disarranged in a 2D space. It is also easier to identify a single letter in a meaningful sequence compared to a nonsensical one. 12. Expectations and Previous Knowledge These factors may interfere with accurate evaluations of sensory data, leading to an underestimation of the importance of sensory information. Key Concepts in Attention & Consciousness 1. Attention - The active processing of a limited amount of information from the vast sensory information available, stored memories, and other cognitive processes. It involves economizing cognitive resources to reduce cognitive load by focusing on a few things. 2. Cognitive Economy - The principle that we economize our cognitive resources to lessen cognitive load, which means focusing on a limited number of stimuli or tasks. 3. Divided Attention - The ability to simultaneously attend to different informational sources, allowing for multitasking or processing. 4. Selective Attention - The process of filtering out irrelevant stimuli to focus on specific information. This can be illustrated by Broadbent’s model, where attention acts as a filter that allows certain stimuli to proceed to perception while blocking others. 5. Guided Search Theory - A model that describes how attention is directed towards specific features in the environment. It includes both parallel and serial stages of processing, where potential targets are activated simultaneously, followed by a sequential evaluation of these targets. 6. Feature Search - A type of search where an item is scanned for distinct features such as color or shape, making distracters less effective. 7. Conjunctive Search - A search method that involves scanning for a particular combination of features, where distracters can be more effective. 8. Controlled Processes - Mental processes that require conscious control and attention, typically involving sequential processing. 9. Preattentive Processes - Automatic, rapid, and parallel processes that notice only the physical sensory characteristics of unattended messages without extracting meaning or relationships. 10. Consciousness - The state of being aware of and able to think about one's own existence, thoughts, and surroundings. It influences our experience of time and creates a coherent stream of experience. 11. Protocol Analysis - A method used to study complex mental processes by having individuals verbalize their thoughts while performing tasks, reflecting the information available during thinking. 12. Signal Detection Theory - A framework for understanding how we detect signals amidst noise, involving vigilance in focusing on stimuli and maintaining a memory or image of what we are looking for. 13. Factors Affecting Divided Attention - Various factors, such as anxiety, can influence the effectiveness of divided attention, leading to slower performance and increased chances of mistakes when multitasking. Key Concepts in Memory and Forgetting 1. Long-Term Memory (LTM) - The storage of information over an extended period, which can be enhanced through techniques like contextualization, chunking, and mnemonics. 2. Short-Term Memory (STM) - A temporary storage system that retains small amounts of information for a few seconds to less than 30 seconds, often using repetition. 3. Chunking: - A technique that involves grouping information into larger, manageable units to enhance memory retention. 4. Rehearsal - The process of repeatedly practicing information to prolong retention and avoid forgetting, which can be overt (out loud) or covert (silent). 5. Elaborative Rehearsal - A method of encoding information by relating it to existing knowledge, making it easier to remember. 6. Maintenance Rehearsal - A technique that involves rote repetition of information to keep it in STM. 7. Encoding - The process of converting information into a form that can be stored in memory, primarily through semantic and visual encoding. 8. Retrieval  - The process of accessing and bringing stored information into consciousness. 9. Working Memory - A system that temporarily holds and manipulates information, consisting of components like the central executive, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad. 10. Visuospatial Sketchpad - A component of working memory responsible for processing visual and spatial information. 11. Phonological Loop - A component of working memory that deals with verbal and acoustic information. 12. Episodic Buffer - A component of working memory that integrates information from different sources and provides a sense of time. 13. Semantic Memory - A type of explicit memory that involves the storage of facts and general knowledge. 14. Episodic Memory - A type of explicit memory that involves the recollection of personal experiences and specific events. 15. Autobiographical Memory - The remembrance of one’s life history, influenced by emotions, moods, self-esteem, preferences, and states of consciousness. 16. Flashbulb Memories - Vivid and detailed memories of significant events, often retained for a long time. 17. Self-Reference Effect  - The phenomenon where information is better recalled when it is related to oneself. 18. Forgetting - A natural process that allows the mind to discard trivial details, facilitating the formation of abstractions and generalizations. 19. Cramming - A learning strategy involving massed practice, which is often less effective for long-term retention. 20. Redintegration - The process of remembering details and circumstances of information/events with their setting in time and place. 21. Echoic Memory - A type of sensory memory that briefly stores auditory stimuli, necessary for comprehending sounds. 22. Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon - A retrieval cue where information in the storage system is brought into awareness but not fully recalled. 23. Recall - The deliberate search through memory for particular information and reporting it as if found. 24. Recognition - A retrieval process where information to be retrieved is presented, and the person reports whether they remember it or not. 25. Availability - The presence of information in long-term memory. 26. Accessibility - The degree of access to information stored in long-term memory. 27. Distributed Practice - Intermittent rehearsal of information with frequent interruptions/breaks, which is effective for long-term retention. 28. Memory Biases - Distortions in recollections influenced by various factors, affecting how we remember events. 29. Three Sins of Forgetting - Absent-mindedness (inattention leading to encoding failure), transience (storage decay over time), and blocking (inaccessibility of stored information). 30. Three Sins of Distortions - Misattribution (confusing the source of information), suggestibility (effects of misinformation), and bias (belief-colored recollections). 31. One Sin of Intrusion - Persistence, which involves unwanted memories that intrude upon our thoughts.