PSYC 213 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Memory, Working Memory, Cognitive Psychology
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSYC 213
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Beginnings of Cognition & Neuroscience
!
Introduction
• What is cognition?
o Mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought,
experience and the senses
o Cognitive processes use existing knowledge and generate new knowledge
• What supports performing tasks --tasks supported by the brain
o Used to remember, understand and learn, read, ride bike, etc.
• Is human cognition different from animal cognition or computer cognition?
• How can we alter cognition?
o Musk: cognitive enhancement --create brain-computer interface tools to improve
cognitive function
The Act of Thinking
• Studied to learn the way we perform mental activities
• To learn how certain conditions affect specific mental functions
o Aging
o Mood illness
o Brain injury
Studying Cognition
• Important for knowledge and discovery
• Can be used to improve our own mental lives
o Studies on improved thinking abilities from exercise, bilingualism and eating dark
chocolate
o Learn to be critical about information
Case of Clive Wearing
• Cognition vital for understanding deficits resulting from brain injury
o Strong link between mind and brain
• Clive has no short-term memory (30s maximum)
o Worse case of amnesia ever known, only recognizes his wife
o Brain injury very selective in what aspect of cognition is affected; episodic memory
• Language, perception and personality intact
• Aware of his disorder, not always the case
Lessons from Wearing
1. Cognitive activities can dissociate
o Clive's episodic memory is impaired, but other functions are spared
2. Cognition is a collection of different abilities/processes:
o Perception (i.e. hear sounds, see slides)
o Attention
o Memory
o Language
o Decision making
• Cognition does not occur in isolation, but we study it was separate mental acts
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• i.e. in lecture, perceive and pay attention on what being said, trying to memorize and deciding
to stay awake all at same time + evaluate course content
Laptops
• Cognitive theories of divided attention can help us understand how we learn and what distracts
us
• Sana et al (2013) examined the effects of laptop multitasking on learning
• Experiment 1: students attended a lecture, divided into two groups
o Multitasking group: took notes and checked things online when convenient
o Non-multitasking group: took notes with no additional task
• Both groups evaluated on lecture content at the end (MC questions)
• Experiment 2: students attended lecture, divided into 2 groups --half in view of multitasking
peer and half not in view of multi-tasker
o Those in view of a of multi-tasker did worse on mc test than those not in view
Cognition
• Cognition is a young field; many unexplored topics
• Cognition is very applicable, so there are many myths (think critically)
• Cognition = the act of thinking; the mind
History of Cognitive Psychology
• From early philosophy to experimental psychology to the birth of cognition psychology in
1950/60s
• How to study the mind: 4 major stops
1. Philosophy
o Thinking about mental processes
Experimental Psychology
2. Structuralism & Functionalism
o Determining how to study mental processes (how & why of experience)
3. Behaviorism
o Study stimulus-response relationships, ignoring mental processes
4. Cognitive Psychology
o Making inferences about mental processes
Philosophical Antecedents
• Thinking about thinking goes back to Ancient Greece
o Studied how human personality & characteristics were linked to mental processes
o Plato & Aristotle
1. Philosophical Roots of Psychology
• Plato (428 BCE)
o First early philosopher to consider the human mind
o We use logic to understand the world
o The world is a "reflection of our reality"
o Rationalism --knowledge comes from observations but is also a priori
• There is an innate nature of our minds
• i.e. morality; what is right or wrong
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Is human cognition different from animal cognition or computer cognition: how can we alter cognition, musk: cognitive enhancement --create brain-computer interface tools to improve cognitive function. The act of thinking: studied to learn the way we perform mental activities, to learn how certain conditions affect specific mental functions, aging, mood illness, brain injury. Important for knowledge and discovery: can be used to improve our own mental lives, studies on improved thinking abilities from exercise, bilingualism and eating dark chocolate, learn to be critical about information. Cognition: cognition is a young field; many unexplored topics, cognition is very applicable, so there are many myths (think critically, cognition = the act of thinking; the mind. History of cognitive psychology: from early philosophy to experimental psychology to the birth of cognition psychology in. 1950/60s: how to study the mind: 4 major stops, philosophy, thinking about mental processes.
