Cognitive Psychology

• What is the basic formula of behaviourism?

  Stimulus → Response → Consequence
• What does behaviourism primarily focus on?

  The effect of environmental stimuli on observable responses
• What aspect of psychology does behaviourism ignore?

  Mind and thought processes
• What do behaviourists believe about cognitions?

  They may accept cognitions exist but they are unobservable
• How does behaviourism view learning?

  Learning is determined by the environment in the same way as behaviour
• What challenge to behaviourism is presented by Kohler's insight learning?

  Learning can occur despite the absence of reinforcement
• What is the basic formula of cognitive psychology?

  Stimulus → Mind (interpretation) → Response
• What is the primary focus of cognitive psychology?

  The mind and its processes
• Why is it important to study thoughts and thought processes in cognitive psychology?

  To understand how people make decisions
• What does the cognitive process of attention involve?

  What we pay attention to and how much we can take in
• How do schemas influence perception?

  Schemas help us recognize and match objects to memories
• What role do thought processes play in decision-making?

  They help us make judgments and decide what actions to take
• What are the limits of cognitive processes mentioned in the material?

  Memory and attention
• According to George Miller, how many bits of information can we hold in our working memory?

  1. 9 bits
• How can we increase our working memory capacity according to Miller?

  By chunking information
• What does the Muller-Lyer illusion demonstrate?

  The perceived length of a line can be influenced by other lines
• What is the significance of understanding human perception in psychology?

  It may help influence human behaviour
• What does prospect theory suggest about the prospect of losing something?

  It is about twice the joy of getting something
• Who adapted the concept of prospect theory?

  Tversky and Kahneman
• How can the same information presented differently affect outcomes?

  It can lead to dramatically different results
• What did Chou and Munighan (2013) find regarding blood donation flyers?

  More people responded to the loss flyer than the gain flyer
• What are the key components of schemas?

  • Mental structures that organize knowledge
  • Include sensory details, abstract knowledge, emotions, and sequences of events
  • Exemplars (specific instances) vs. Prototypes (typical representations)
  • Fuzzy sets with flexible boundaries
• What are the effects of schemas on memory and perception?

  • Enhance memory by making it easier to store new information
  • Influence biases in perception based on the schema used
  • Supply missing information based on prior experiences
• What are the types of memories and scripts in cognitive psychology?

  • Semantic Memory: Organized by meaning
  • Episodic Memory: Personal experiences tied to specific times
  • Scripts: Schemas for common events that predict sequences of actions
• How do socially relevant schemas function?

  • Social cognition categorizes and interprets social information
  • Self-schema shapes how we view ourselves and includes traits and behaviors
  • Self-complexity varies among individuals
• What are the differences between entity and incremental views of ability?

  • Entity View: Abilities are fixed traits; failure reflects limited ability
  • Incremental View: Abilities can grow through effort; failure is an opportunity to improve
• What is attribution theory in cognitive psychology?

  • Involves determining the causes of events
  • Locus of causality: internal factors (ability, effort) vs. external factors (task difficulty, luck)
• What are the two ways of viewing the world in cognitive psychology?

  • Bottom-up (data-driven): Judging based on all available information
  • Top-down (conceptually-driven): Using beliefs and theories to guide perception
• How does expectation bias impact cognitive processes?

  • Affects attention, evaluation, memory, attribution, and behavior
  • Influences how we interpret and respond to information
• What are the characteristics of a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset?

  • Fixed Mindset: Avoids challenges, gives up easily, sees effort as fruitless
  • Growth Mindset: Embraces challenges, persists through setbacks, sees effort as a path to mastery
• What is the overall belief of cognitivists regarding human behavior?

  • Our perceptions and beliefs influence our behavior, thoughts, and actions
  • Humans are not always rational and positive thinkers
• How can self-schemas lead to self-fulfilling prophecies?

  They create expectations that influence our behavior and experiences
• What is the role of self-schemas in cognitive psychology?

  They shape expectations about ourselves and how we fit into the world
• Neurons are specialized cells that transmit information through electrical signals called action potentials.
• The nervous system consists of two parts, the central nervous system (CNS) which includes the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which includes nerves throughout the body.
• The brain is the organ that controls all mental processes