Psy 108 Midterm #1 (Sprague) Exam Questions
With Correct Answers
cognitive psychology aspects - ANSWER perception
attention
memory
distinguishing items in a category
vision
understanding and producing of language
problem solving
reasoning and decision making
three stages of scientific psychology (brief explanation; problems/people) -
ANSWER 1. Introspectionism (Wilhelm wund first psych study aka structuralism)
2. behaviorism (never mentions mental processes or states since they can't be
directly measured; Pavlov studied associations like classical conditioning)
3.Modern cognitive psychology
troubles of introspectionism - ANSWER 1. subjects interpret own experiences
(no objective data for scientist to interpret)
2. people sometimes report not experiencing anything at all- they may not be
consciously aware of everything that is happening
troubles of behaviorism - ANSWER 1. unable to deal with numerous phenomena
-learning can occur without change in behavior (rats in a maze learn to go after
food once its presented after no behavior changes were shown before the food
was added)
-different stimuli produce same responses (different ways for asking for salt,
always end up getting salt)
2. behaviorism doesn't provide theory of cognition
-no explanations that appeals to unobservable theoretical entities
cognitive revolution - ANSWER
intellectual foundations of the cognitive revolution - ANSWER experimental
psychologist learned from instrospectionism and behaviorism:
introspec. for studying mental events isn't scientific, and studying mental events
events is necessary to understand behavior
, Kant: provided a method to reason backwards to determine a cause (like
detective work)
cognitive theory - ANSWER stimulus causes complex computing in the human
mind that goes from sensory memory--> encoding--> working memory (and then
maybe long term memory) --> and then a motor response
perception: ENERGY into experience - ANSWER sense organ measure two main
type of energy to solve problems in world (Electromagnetic and mechanical
energy)
EM visible spectrum: we evolved in salt water, and visible light passes through
water the best
mechanical: hearing and touch
proximal vs distal stimulus - ANSWER shoe on the floor
(proximal= image of retina)
(distal= shoe itself)
image on retina is flipped
fovea and retina (rods and cones) - ANSWER fovea: part of retina with most
acuity; high concentration of cones (we aim our vision at this spot)
retina: where photoreceptors are located in eye that turn EM edgy into neural
signals, uneven distribution of rods and cones
Cones= Color
Rods= sensitive to low levels of light
Marr's three levels of analysis - ANSWER 1. Computational model
-the problem being solved
2. Representation and algorithm
-steps and representations used to solve it
3. hardware implementation
-implementing steps through physical or biological hardware
Vision - ANSWER vision is impossible (retinal images can be replicated in an
infinite number of ways in real world; just change perception or lighting etc,)
can recognize whether there is an animal in a picture after a quick glance
With Correct Answers
cognitive psychology aspects - ANSWER perception
attention
memory
distinguishing items in a category
vision
understanding and producing of language
problem solving
reasoning and decision making
three stages of scientific psychology (brief explanation; problems/people) -
ANSWER 1. Introspectionism (Wilhelm wund first psych study aka structuralism)
2. behaviorism (never mentions mental processes or states since they can't be
directly measured; Pavlov studied associations like classical conditioning)
3.Modern cognitive psychology
troubles of introspectionism - ANSWER 1. subjects interpret own experiences
(no objective data for scientist to interpret)
2. people sometimes report not experiencing anything at all- they may not be
consciously aware of everything that is happening
troubles of behaviorism - ANSWER 1. unable to deal with numerous phenomena
-learning can occur without change in behavior (rats in a maze learn to go after
food once its presented after no behavior changes were shown before the food
was added)
-different stimuli produce same responses (different ways for asking for salt,
always end up getting salt)
2. behaviorism doesn't provide theory of cognition
-no explanations that appeals to unobservable theoretical entities
cognitive revolution - ANSWER
intellectual foundations of the cognitive revolution - ANSWER experimental
psychologist learned from instrospectionism and behaviorism:
introspec. for studying mental events isn't scientific, and studying mental events
events is necessary to understand behavior
, Kant: provided a method to reason backwards to determine a cause (like
detective work)
cognitive theory - ANSWER stimulus causes complex computing in the human
mind that goes from sensory memory--> encoding--> working memory (and then
maybe long term memory) --> and then a motor response
perception: ENERGY into experience - ANSWER sense organ measure two main
type of energy to solve problems in world (Electromagnetic and mechanical
energy)
EM visible spectrum: we evolved in salt water, and visible light passes through
water the best
mechanical: hearing and touch
proximal vs distal stimulus - ANSWER shoe on the floor
(proximal= image of retina)
(distal= shoe itself)
image on retina is flipped
fovea and retina (rods and cones) - ANSWER fovea: part of retina with most
acuity; high concentration of cones (we aim our vision at this spot)
retina: where photoreceptors are located in eye that turn EM edgy into neural
signals, uneven distribution of rods and cones
Cones= Color
Rods= sensitive to low levels of light
Marr's three levels of analysis - ANSWER 1. Computational model
-the problem being solved
2. Representation and algorithm
-steps and representations used to solve it
3. hardware implementation
-implementing steps through physical or biological hardware
Vision - ANSWER vision is impossible (retinal images can be replicated in an
infinite number of ways in real world; just change perception or lighting etc,)
can recognize whether there is an animal in a picture after a quick glance
