Cog Sci C100 Midterm 1 | Questions and Correct Answers
| Latest Update 2024/2025 | Graded A+|Certified
As humans, we are cognitive beings who - Answer-• Acquire information about the
world around us
• Integrate that information with prior knowledge from our stored memory
• Store that knowledge in our memory so we can use it later to help us achieve our
goals
/.First Step in the process of acquiring knowledge about the world involves: - Answer-
Sensation and Perception
/.Sensation - Answer-process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system
receive stimulus energies from the environment and transduce them into neural
impulses
/.Perception - Answer-process of interpreting and organizing sensory information
through use of previous knowledge
/.Models of Object Perception - Answer-Template Matching Model
Feature-Analysis Model
Recognition by components Model
Prototype Model
/.Template Matching Model - Answer-Object perception involves a comparison of the
stimulus with a set of templates or specific patterns stored in memory.
Problem w/ this model:
cannot account for complexity and flexibility of object recognition (e.g individual
differences in handwriting)
/.Feature-analysis model - Answer-Discrimination of objects is based on a small number
of characteristics of stimuli
e.g People are faster at deciding whether the letters "G" and "M" are different than
letters "P" and "R"
,Supported by neurological evidence - some neurons respond only to horizontal lines,
others to diagonals, etc.
Problem w/ this model:
Cannot explain recognition of complex objects with features that move/distort (e.g
horse/kangaroo)
/.recognition by components model - Answer-View that an object is represented as an
arrangement of simple 3-D shapes called geons.
-Cup/pail composed of cylinder and curved tube geons in a particular arrangement
/.Prototype Model - Answer-Object perception involves a comparison of the stimulus
with an ideal, abstract example
- people are faster at identifying a sparrow as a bird than penguin
- one of the most famous models in all of cognitive psychology
-it has been hypothesized that our sensory systems act primarily as a selective filtering
mechanism
- But prototype theory suggests that our minds can also perceive objects in a very
different way...
-that which is essential is invisible to the eye
/.Selective Filtering Mechanism (Baseline of the Prototype Model) - Answer-- This filter
sorts things according to a limited number of variables (e.g warm, unpleasant, green)
out of which we construct our world
/.Mindfulness - Answer-An alternative mode of perception.
Mindfulness is largely about seeing the "suchness" of things, that is , seeing things
directly without conceptual filters
- Our preconceived notions prevent us from seeing the real things in front of us.
/.Human Neurons - Answer-• Many different neurons connect to the dendrites of each
neuron
-Some produce excitatory effect; others produce inhibitory effect
- There are also different levels of intensity of the effects
, • If the activation of the neuron reaches a certain minimum threshold, the neuron will
fire.
/.Artificial neural networks - Answer-• The nodes or neurons are organized into layers in
much the same way that human neural networks are
• The weights attached to the connections between pairs of units in adjacent layers
determine the overall behavior of the network
− This is similar to the way in which excitatory and inhibitory neurons of various
strengths connect to a particular neuron in human neural networks
• The bias term indicates what the weighted sum needs to be before the node/neuron
will activate
− This is similar to the threshold necessary for activation of a neuron in human neural
networks
/.Two Pathways of Visual Perception - Answer-Active Pathway:
Activated when attention is directed actively towards a target
(I.e looking at every individual component in the circle example.)
Passive Pathway:
Activated when attention is based on "gut instinct"
eg. example with circles where participants used the secondary "passive" pathway to
perform task.
-Visual perception did not go through visual cortex
-Instead simply makes a very short loop through the limbic system: the emotional,
instinctual center of the brain.
/.Evidence of two pathways - Answer-Rats auditory cortex was destroyed and then they
were exposed to a tone followed by an electric shock.
rats learned to fear tone, though they could not "hear it"
possible explanation:
the sound took the direct rout from ear to thalamus to amygdala, bypassing higher
avenues.
| Latest Update 2024/2025 | Graded A+|Certified
As humans, we are cognitive beings who - Answer-• Acquire information about the
world around us
• Integrate that information with prior knowledge from our stored memory
• Store that knowledge in our memory so we can use it later to help us achieve our
goals
/.First Step in the process of acquiring knowledge about the world involves: - Answer-
Sensation and Perception
/.Sensation - Answer-process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system
receive stimulus energies from the environment and transduce them into neural
impulses
/.Perception - Answer-process of interpreting and organizing sensory information
through use of previous knowledge
/.Models of Object Perception - Answer-Template Matching Model
Feature-Analysis Model
Recognition by components Model
Prototype Model
/.Template Matching Model - Answer-Object perception involves a comparison of the
stimulus with a set of templates or specific patterns stored in memory.
Problem w/ this model:
cannot account for complexity and flexibility of object recognition (e.g individual
differences in handwriting)
/.Feature-analysis model - Answer-Discrimination of objects is based on a small number
of characteristics of stimuli
e.g People are faster at deciding whether the letters "G" and "M" are different than
letters "P" and "R"
,Supported by neurological evidence - some neurons respond only to horizontal lines,
others to diagonals, etc.
Problem w/ this model:
Cannot explain recognition of complex objects with features that move/distort (e.g
horse/kangaroo)
/.recognition by components model - Answer-View that an object is represented as an
arrangement of simple 3-D shapes called geons.
-Cup/pail composed of cylinder and curved tube geons in a particular arrangement
/.Prototype Model - Answer-Object perception involves a comparison of the stimulus
with an ideal, abstract example
- people are faster at identifying a sparrow as a bird than penguin
- one of the most famous models in all of cognitive psychology
-it has been hypothesized that our sensory systems act primarily as a selective filtering
mechanism
- But prototype theory suggests that our minds can also perceive objects in a very
different way...
-that which is essential is invisible to the eye
/.Selective Filtering Mechanism (Baseline of the Prototype Model) - Answer-- This filter
sorts things according to a limited number of variables (e.g warm, unpleasant, green)
out of which we construct our world
/.Mindfulness - Answer-An alternative mode of perception.
Mindfulness is largely about seeing the "suchness" of things, that is , seeing things
directly without conceptual filters
- Our preconceived notions prevent us from seeing the real things in front of us.
/.Human Neurons - Answer-• Many different neurons connect to the dendrites of each
neuron
-Some produce excitatory effect; others produce inhibitory effect
- There are also different levels of intensity of the effects
, • If the activation of the neuron reaches a certain minimum threshold, the neuron will
fire.
/.Artificial neural networks - Answer-• The nodes or neurons are organized into layers in
much the same way that human neural networks are
• The weights attached to the connections between pairs of units in adjacent layers
determine the overall behavior of the network
− This is similar to the way in which excitatory and inhibitory neurons of various
strengths connect to a particular neuron in human neural networks
• The bias term indicates what the weighted sum needs to be before the node/neuron
will activate
− This is similar to the threshold necessary for activation of a neuron in human neural
networks
/.Two Pathways of Visual Perception - Answer-Active Pathway:
Activated when attention is directed actively towards a target
(I.e looking at every individual component in the circle example.)
Passive Pathway:
Activated when attention is based on "gut instinct"
eg. example with circles where participants used the secondary "passive" pathway to
perform task.
-Visual perception did not go through visual cortex
-Instead simply makes a very short loop through the limbic system: the emotional,
instinctual center of the brain.
/.Evidence of two pathways - Answer-Rats auditory cortex was destroyed and then they
were exposed to a tone followed by an electric shock.
rats learned to fear tone, though they could not "hear it"
possible explanation:
the sound took the direct rout from ear to thalamus to amygdala, bypassing higher
avenues.
