Cognitive Psychology — Chapters 1–4 Study Materials Flashcards

Front

Cognition

Back

The processes by which sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used. Cognition encompasses perception, memory, attention, language, and decision-making.

Front

Introspection

Back

A method used in Wundt’s laboratory focusing on conscious experience by reporting basic sensations and feelings. It attempted to identify the elements of consciousness and the rules by which they combine.

Front

Functionalism

Back

A perspective that emphasizes the functions of mental activities and behavior, often in an evolutionary context. It asks how mental processes help organisms adapt and survive.

Front

Behaviorism

Back

A psychological approach that focuses only on observable stimuli, responses, and their consequences, rejecting introspection about internal mental states. It contributed rigorous experimental techniques and operational definitions.

Front

Operational definition

Back

A specification of how a theoretical concept will be measured or manipulated in an experiment. It allows abstract constructs to be tested empirically by making them observable and quantifiable.

Front

Information-processing approach

Back

A view that cognitive processes operate like a sequence of discrete steps that transfer information between storage areas. This approach was strongly influenced by the computer revolution and models memory as stages such as sensory memory, short-term, and long-term storage.

Front

Sensory memory

Back

A brief, high-capacity storage that records information from the senses for a very short time. It holds raw sensory input long enough for initial processing before transfer to short-term memory.

Front

Short-term memory

Back

A limited-capacity storage that holds information temporarily for manipulation and rehearsal before it is lost or encoded into long-term memory. STM is the gateway through which information typically passes before entering LTM in classic models.

Front

Long-term memory

Back

A relatively durable storage system for information that can persist for minutes to a lifetime. LTM stores knowledge, skills, and experiences that can be retrieved when needed.

Front

Neuron

Back

A nerve cell that receives, integrates, and transmits information via electrical and chemical signals. Key parts include dendrites (receive input), a cell body, an axon (sends output), and synapses (communication points).

Front

Synapse

Back

The junction between neurons where chemical neurotransmitters transmit signals from the axon terminal of one neuron to the dendrites of another. Synapses are central to neural communication and plasticity.

Front

Cerebellum

Back

A hindbrain structure involved in coordination, balance, and fine motor control. It also contributes to motor learning and timing of movements.

Front

Hippocampus

Back

A forebrain structure critical for forming new declarative memories and spatial navigation. Damage to the hippocampus impairs the ability to encode new episodic memories.

Front

Amygdala

Back

A limbic structure important for processing emotions, especially fear and threat-related responses. It modulates memory consolidation for emotionally significant events.

Front

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Back

A causal neural technique that uses a coil on the skull to produce a magnetic field that temporarily disrupts neural activity beneath the coil. TMS is often described as creating a temporary or virtual lesion of targeted brain areas.

Front

fMRI

Back

A correlational brain imaging method that measures changes in blood oxygenation related to neural activity. fMRI provides good spatial resolution for identifying active brain regions during cognitive tasks.

Front

EEG / ERP

Back

EEG records electrical activity from the scalp, and ERPs are voltage changes time-locked to specific events. These methods offer excellent temporal resolution for tracking the timing of neural processes.

Front

Attention

Back

A concentration of mental activity that lets us focus on a limited portion of incoming information while ignoring other events. Attention is limited, selective, and can be divided to varying degrees across tasks.

Front

Stroop effect

Back

The interference experienced when naming the ink color of a word whose semantic meaning denotes a different color. It demonstrates conflict between automatic and controlled processes in attention.

Front

Prosopagnosia

Back

A neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize familiar faces, often linked to damage in the fusiform face area. Affected individuals may rely on nonfacial cues like voice or clothing for identification.