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PSC100 Chapter 1
What is Cognitive Psychology?
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| affective primacy hypothesis | the hypothesis that an emotional response typically precedes (comes before) cognitive interpretation |
| algorithmic level of analysis | analytical framework centered on understanding the RULES, MECHANISMS, and REPRESENTATIONS the mind uses |
| behavioral neuroscience | the branch of neuroscience that uses animal models to understand neural mechanisms underpinning behavior |
| behaviorism | psychological movement characterized by its focus only on outwardly observable behavior |
| classical conditioning | form of learning in which observable behavior changes in behavior result from learned associations between stimuli |
| cognition | how the mind encodes, stores and uses information |
| cognitive map | mental representation of locations within an individuals environment |
| cognitive neuroscience | study of neural mechanisms of cognition and behavior |
| cognitive primacy hypothesis | cognition interpretation typically precedes (comes before) an emotional response |
| cognitive psychology | the scientific study of how the mind encodes, stores, and uses info |
| cognitive revolution | period during the 1950s-1960s marked by rapid and radical shifts in approaches to the study of cognition |
| cognitive science | formal effort to synthesize insights across diverse disciplines attempting to understand the mind |
| computational level of analysis | analytical framework centered on understand WHAT the mind is trying to compute and WHY |
| computational modeling | the use of mathematical functions to constrain and predict aspects of human cognition |
| computations | the processing steps the brain performs on info about the environment |
| Fechner's Law | the intensity of subjective experience of a stimulus increases in proportion to the stimulus's measurable intensity |
| forgetting curve | an estimate of the rate at which info fades from memory |
| Functionalism | historical movement that aligned itself with WILLIAM JAMES's focus on psychological functions |
| theory of constructed emotion | the experience of emotion is one we construct based on EXTERNAL cues, BODILY cues, and our existing concepts and categories |
| Gestalt movement | promoting the idea that conscious experience as a whole CANNOT be sufficiently explained by examining individual components |
| implementational level of analysis | analytical framework centered on understanding how the brain PHYSICALLY ENABLES the processes of human cognition |
| information theory | cross-disciplinary field that focuses on the processes by which info can be coded, stored, transmitted, and reconstructed |
| introspection | a method of trying to objectively observe one's own mental experiences |
| just-noticeable difference | the minimum perceptual difference between two stimuli (length, brightness, pitch) needed for the difference to be detected |
| operant conditioning | learning in which observable changes in behavior result from associations between an organism's actions and desired or undesired outcomes |
| processes | ways of encoding, transforming, storing, interpreting, and acting on information |
| psychophysics | study of the relationship between physical stimuli and mental experience |
| punishments | negative outcomes that decrease the likelihood that an action will be repeated |
| reinforcers | positive outcomes that increase the likelihood that an action will be repeated |
| representations | the mind's way of storing and processing information about the world |
| somatic marker hypothesis | people learn to link their physiological responses to outcomes associated with their actions |
| structuralism | movement, founded by WILHELM WUNDT, that focuses on the structural components of mental life |
| Turing machine | hypothetical machine, proposed by Alan Turing, that could implement any conceivable calculation |
| Weber's Law | first precise formula specifying the relationship between a physical aspect of the environment and the mind's ability to perceive it |