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Cognition UnitThinking and ConceptsCognition: mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating informationConcepts: mental groupings of similar objects, events and peoplePrototypes: a mental image or best example of a categoryReasoningDeductive: drawing logical conclusions from general statementsExample: All politicians are trustworthy. Janet is a politician. Therefore, Janet is trustworthy.Logical conclusion is that Janet is trustworthy. Statements can be sound, unsound, valid or invalidInductive: drawing general conclusions from specific informationExample: You notice that everybody on the football team seems to be a good student. You could infer that all people who play football are good students. However, this is not necessarily true.Problem Solving and Creativity2324100152400Heuristics: intuitive rules of thumb or shortcuts that may or may not be useful4933950180975Availability Heuristic: the rule of thumb is judged by what events come readily to mind. Ex: belief that air travel is more dangerous than car travel because plane crashes are so vividly reported.-133349123825Representativeness heuristic: judge objects and events in terms of how closely they match the prototype of that object or event. (can result in the formation of stereotypes)Algorithm: a systematic, mechanical approaches that guarantee an eventual answer to a problem.4810125114300Insight Learning: sudden understanding of a problem or a potential strategy for solving a problem. (Aha moment!)Wolfgang Kohler-famous example with chimps.5638800200025Intuition: our fast, automatic, unreasoned feelings and thoughts. Mental Set: tendency to respond to a new problem with an approach that was successfully used with similar problems in the past. Can get in the way of problem solving.Solutions that worked in the past often do work on new problems, but this is not always the caseFunctional Fixedness: tendency to assume that a given item is only useful for the task for which it was designed. 50768251190631257175Confirmation bias: the search for information that supports a particular view.5643563180975Hindsight bias: tendency after the fact to think you knew what the outcome would be. (I knew it all along phenomenon)Belief Perseverance: a person only sees the evidence that supports a particular position, despite evidence presented to the contrary.5400675161925Framing: the way a question is phrased, can alter the outcome of problem solving or decision making.Overconfidence: tendency to be more confident than correct--overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgmentsElements of LanguagePhonemes: smallest units of sound (Phone)Morphemes: smallest units of meaning (M)-Could be prefixes or suffixesSyntax: set of rules used in the arrangement of sentencesSemantics: refers to the word meaningStages of Language Acquisition1457325128906Overgeneralization Errors: errors in which the rules of language are overextended, such as saying, “I goed to the story.”B.F. SkinnerBehaviorist perspective: believed that we learn language based on reinforcement principles by associating words with meaningsCorrect utterances are positively reinforced leading a child to want to continue that behaviorLearn through operant conditioning and shapingNoam Chomsky (switch order with skinner)Cognitive Perspective of language acquisitionSurface structure of language: the superficial way in which the words are arranged in a text or in speechDeep structure of language: the underlying meaning of the wordsUniversal Grammar: innate, biological categories, facilitate language developmentExample: children instinctively know how to combine a noun and a verb into a meaningful, correct phraseLanguage acquisition device: ability to learn language rapidly as childrenCritical period for learning language exists5224463144717Benjamin WhorfLinguistic Relativity Hypothesis: theorized that the language we use might control, and in some ways limit our thinkingThe Brain and LanguageBroca’s Area: Located in the left side of the frontal lobe4314825133350Linked to speech productionBroca’s Aphasia:Partial loss of the ability to produce language (spoken, manual, or written)Comprehension generally remains intactKnown as non fluent aphasiaWernicke’s Area:Located in the temporal lobe of the left side of the brainResponsible for the comprehension of speechWernicke’s Aphasia:Impaired ability to grasp the meaning of spoken words and sentencesThe ease of producing connected speech is not very affectedKnown as fluent aphasia48577513335 Three Box/Information-Processing Model of Memory3790950209550Encoding: get information into our brainStorage: retain the informationRetrieval: get the info back outParallel Processing: processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneouslySensory Memory: split second holding tank for incoming memoryIconic Memory: a split second perfect photograph of a sceneEchoic Memory: split second perfect memory for soundsShort term/working memory: what you are paying attention to determines what gets encoded into your short term memoryIf we do nothing with a memory it will usually fade in 10 to 30 secondsGeorge Miller’s Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: our short term memory capacity is limited to around 7 itemsThis can be expanded through chunking and other mnemonic devicesAnother way to retain is to use elaborative rehearsalLong Term Memory: relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system1795463161925Memory Tools1161925Chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units enabling us to recall more easily1590675171450Mnemonics: memory aids Method of Loci: based on the assumption that you can best remember places that you are familiar with, so if you link something you need to remember with a place that you know very well, the location will serve as a clue that will help you remember.100012514922500Distributed PracticeSpacing Effect: distributed study or practice yielding better long term retention than is achieved through massed study or practiceTesting Effect: enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information.Levels of Processing1476375114300Shallow Processing: encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of wordsDeep processing: encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words (yields the best retention)2038350142875Semantic encoding: Memory Storage: Roles of parts of the brainHippocampus: brain’s equivalent of the “save'' button. Helps with converting short term memory into long term memory. Processes explicit memoriesFrontal Lobes: also helps process explicit memoriesCerebellum: plays a role in forming and storing the implicit memories created by classical conditioningBasal Ganglia: also connected to implicit memories. Involved in motor movement and helps to facilitate formation of our procedural memories for skills.Amygdala: part of the limbic system-connected to emotional memoriesEmotions and Memory4667250209550Flashbulb Memories: clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or eventSynaptic ChangesLong term potentiation: an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory. (kind of like the building and strengthening of a bridge)1233488114300Retrieval4433888247650Recall: retrieving information that is not currently in your conscious awareness, but that was learned at an earlier time (fill in the blank questions, essays, etc)Recognition: identifying items previously learned (multiple choice questions)Relearning: learning something more quickly when you learn it a second or later time.Retrieval Cues4800600190500Priming: the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory. Priming is often invisible memory without your conscious awarenessContext Dependent Memory: putting yourself back in the context where you experienced something can prime your memory retrievalExample: While taking notes, you realize you need to sharpen your pencil. You get up and walk into another room, but then you cannot remember why. After returning to your desk it hits you: “I wanted to sharpen this pencil!” In one context (at your desk), you realize your pencil needs sharpening. When you go into the other room and are in a different context, you have few cues to lead you back to that thought.Mood Congruent Memory: the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.Ex: When you breakup with a significant other, you think about all of the other times you’ve been dumpedState Dependent Memory: the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current state of mind (drunk, sleepy, caffeinatedEx: Information learned when a person is drunk is better recalled when a person is drunk, or if someone is drowsy when they learn material they may be more likely to remember material when they are drowsy againSerial Position Effect: our tendency to recall best the last (a recency effect) and first (a primacy effect) items in a list1543050209550\Forgetting, Memory Construction and Memory Improvement3943350161925Anterograde Amnesia: an inability to form new memoriesRetrograde: inability to retrieve information from one’s past-247649180975Encoding Failure: refers to the brain's ability to store and recall events and information, either short or long-term. 4095750228600Hermann Ebbinghaus’s forgetting Curve: The course of forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off with time.Retrieval Failure: could look like the tip of the tongue phenomenonInterferenceProactive Interference: the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new informationRetroactive interference: the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old informationRemember PO/RN1295400114300Motivated ForgettingRepression: the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety arousing thoughts, feelings and memories.Helps to protect our self-concept and to minimize anxietyCommonly connecting back to instances of abuse/traumaMisinformation and Imagination EffectsElizabeth Loftus: shown how eyewitnesses reconstruct their memories after a crime or accidentFamous experimentTwo groups watched a film of a traffic accident and then answered questions about what they had seen. Those asked about how fast were the cars going when the smashed into each other? Gave higher speed estimates than those asked, about how fast were the cars going when the bumped each other? A week later, when asked whether they recalled seeing any broken glass, people who had heard smashed were more than twice as likely to report seeing glass fragments.Misinformation Effect: incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an eventHearing a vivid retelling of an event can implant false memoriesRepeatedly imagining nonexistent actions and events can create false memoriesSource Amnesia: attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. Deja Vu: that eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experienceTESTING AND INTELLIGENCE UNITIntelligence: mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.Intelligence Test: a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scoresPsychometrician: people who make testsCharles Spearman and IntelligenceGeneral Intelligence (g factor): idea that mental capacity is expressed by a single intelligence scoreFactor Analysis: a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a testThurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities2447925180975Gardner’s Eight IntelligencesSavant Syndrome: a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing2638425276225Sternberg’s Three Intelligences1876425161925Emotional IntelligenceThe ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotionsPerceiving emotions: to recognize them in faces, music and storiesUnderstanding emotions: to predict them and how they change and blendManaging Emotions: to know how to express them in varied situationsUsing Emotions to enable adaptive or creative thinkingAlfred Binet: Predicting School AchievementGoal: measuring each child’s mental age-the level of performance typically associated with a certain chronological age (the average 9 year old would have a mental age of 9)Wanted to use the test to identify French school children needing special attentionLewis Terman: The Innate IQStanford-Binet: the widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence testIntelligence Quotient (IQ): defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100 (IQ=ma/caX 100). An average child, whose mental age and chronological ages are the same, has an IQ of 100. But, an 8 year old who answers questions as would a typical 10 year old has an IQ of 125.Modern Tests of Mental AbilitiesAchievement Tests: designed to assess what a person has learned (AP test)Aptitude test: designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn (SAT, ACT)Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtestsStandardizationDefining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested groupNormal curve: the symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes.Flynn Effect: On average, IQ scores worldwide have been increasing over time.2095500152400ReliabilityThe extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting (test-retest, split-half)ValidityThe extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to.Content validity: the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interestPredictive validity: the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior (also called criterion-related validity)Construct validity: the degree to which a test measures what it claims or purports to be measuringStability vs. ChangeCross sectional: researchers at one point in time test and compare people of various agesFound older adults give fewer correct answers on intelligence tests Conclude that decline in mental ability is part of general aging processLongitudinal: retest the same cohort--group of people--over a period of yearsFound that until late in life, intelligence remained stableCrystallized Intelligence: our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with ageFluid Intelligence: our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood1752600190500Extremes of IntelligenceIntellectual disability: a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life. Down syndrome: a condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21High Extreme: High scoring people tend to be healthy and well-adjusted, as well as unusually successful academicallyTwin and Adoption StudiesStudies of twins, family members, and adoptees indicate a significant hereditary contribution to intelligence scoresIntelligence seems to be polygenic, and researchers are searching for genes that exert an influenceHeritability is the proportion of variation among individuals that can be attributed to genesGroup Differences and the Question of BiasAdvantages to accrue to the white, middle and upper classExperiences of other cultural groups seem to work to their detriment both on these tests and in collegeStereotype Threat: the risk of confirming negative stereotypes about an individual’s racial, ethnic, gender or cultural group (ex: black students performed worse on standardized tests than their white peers when they were reminded, before taking the tests that their racial group tends to do poorly on such exams. When their race was not emphasized, however, black students performed similarly to white peers. ................
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