PSY 333 Cognition Exam 1 Study Guide: Foundations of Cognitive Psychology
Review
What was Gustav Fechner's key contribution to empirical psychology? (Hint: he is the father of
psychophysics) - ANS ✔✔By showing that mental processes can be measured and specified
mathematically.
In showing that mental processes can be measured and specified mathematically, he
demonstrated that psychology had the potential to become a quantified science. The
philosophers before him thought this was impossible, and therefore that a science of
psychology was impossible.
Cognitive psychology is an empirical science. What does this mean? - ANS ✔✔It is based on
observation
An empirical science is a science that is based on observation.
Which of the following contributed to the emergence of cognitive psychology as a major
subdiscipline of psychology in the middle part of the 1900s? - ANS ✔✔The view that computers
may serve as a good model of human information processing.
Many factors contributed to the emergence of cognitive psychology as a major subdiscipline of
psychology in the middle 1900s, including: 1. Tolman's work with rats suggesting that rats
developed spatial maps; 2. Chomsky's arguments pertaining to language; 3. Work on human-
machine interaction coming out of World War II; and 4. Developments in communications. In
addition to these things, as computers were being developed, an increasingly popular view was
that computers may serve as a good model of how humans process information--in a step-by-
step, stage-like fashion.
, Although behaviorism pushed the study of mind into the background for several decades, which
of the following is a positive influence of behaviorism on cognitive psychology? - ANS ✔✔It
stressed the use of quantifiable measures.
It stressed the use of experimental methods.
It stressed the importance of control over extraneous factors.
There were a number of positive influences of behaviorism on cognitive psychology and other
branches of experimental psychology, particularly with regard to the methods that behaviorists
promoted. Behaviorists emphasized the use of an experimental approach in which researchers
manipulate variables of interest while controlling potentially confounding factors, and they
emphasized the use of quantifiable measures, among other things.
How do cognitive psychologists attempt to determine how the mind works? - ANS ✔✔Based on
observation and experimentation
Cognitive psychologists attempt to understand the mind by carefully observing behavior when
people are engaged in cognitive tasks, and by conducting well-controlled experiments. This is in
contrast to philosophers who study the mind using introspection, logic, and reasoning. Although
cognitive psychologists might come up with some initial ideas and hypotheses about cognition
using introspection, logic, and reasoning, they would not form any firm conclusions based on
these initial hypotheses. What they would do is take things a step further, and evaluate their
hypotheses by observing behavior and conducting experiments.
Although the method of introspection is flawed, in what way did introspectionism have a
positive influence on the field of psychology? - ANS ✔✔Introspectionists promoted the view
that psychology could be promoted as a science.
A number of criticisms have been leveled at introspectionism: Subjects commonly indicate that
they find it difficult to verbalize their inner sensations, and when they do verbalize their inner
sensations, they're providing self reports that can not be verified. Nonetheless, despite these
flaws in the introspectionist approach, introspectionists were largely successful in promoting
the view that psychology can be studied as a science.
Review
What was Gustav Fechner's key contribution to empirical psychology? (Hint: he is the father of
psychophysics) - ANS ✔✔By showing that mental processes can be measured and specified
mathematically.
In showing that mental processes can be measured and specified mathematically, he
demonstrated that psychology had the potential to become a quantified science. The
philosophers before him thought this was impossible, and therefore that a science of
psychology was impossible.
Cognitive psychology is an empirical science. What does this mean? - ANS ✔✔It is based on
observation
An empirical science is a science that is based on observation.
Which of the following contributed to the emergence of cognitive psychology as a major
subdiscipline of psychology in the middle part of the 1900s? - ANS ✔✔The view that computers
may serve as a good model of human information processing.
Many factors contributed to the emergence of cognitive psychology as a major subdiscipline of
psychology in the middle 1900s, including: 1. Tolman's work with rats suggesting that rats
developed spatial maps; 2. Chomsky's arguments pertaining to language; 3. Work on human-
machine interaction coming out of World War II; and 4. Developments in communications. In
addition to these things, as computers were being developed, an increasingly popular view was
that computers may serve as a good model of how humans process information--in a step-by-
step, stage-like fashion.
, Although behaviorism pushed the study of mind into the background for several decades, which
of the following is a positive influence of behaviorism on cognitive psychology? - ANS ✔✔It
stressed the use of quantifiable measures.
It stressed the use of experimental methods.
It stressed the importance of control over extraneous factors.
There were a number of positive influences of behaviorism on cognitive psychology and other
branches of experimental psychology, particularly with regard to the methods that behaviorists
promoted. Behaviorists emphasized the use of an experimental approach in which researchers
manipulate variables of interest while controlling potentially confounding factors, and they
emphasized the use of quantifiable measures, among other things.
How do cognitive psychologists attempt to determine how the mind works? - ANS ✔✔Based on
observation and experimentation
Cognitive psychologists attempt to understand the mind by carefully observing behavior when
people are engaged in cognitive tasks, and by conducting well-controlled experiments. This is in
contrast to philosophers who study the mind using introspection, logic, and reasoning. Although
cognitive psychologists might come up with some initial ideas and hypotheses about cognition
using introspection, logic, and reasoning, they would not form any firm conclusions based on
these initial hypotheses. What they would do is take things a step further, and evaluate their
hypotheses by observing behavior and conducting experiments.
Although the method of introspection is flawed, in what way did introspectionism have a
positive influence on the field of psychology? - ANS ✔✔Introspectionists promoted the view
that psychology could be promoted as a science.
A number of criticisms have been leveled at introspectionism: Subjects commonly indicate that
they find it difficult to verbalize their inner sensations, and when they do verbalize their inner
sensations, they're providing self reports that can not be verified. Nonetheless, despite these
flaws in the introspectionist approach, introspectionists were largely successful in promoting
the view that psychology can be studied as a science.
