LMC Exam 1 questions well answered
already passed
1.1) In general, what type of knowledge does anterograde amnesia affect, and why does
Reisberg think that type of knowledge is so profoundly important? - correct answer ✔✔
Memory
Reisberg states that: "Each of us has a conception of who we are, and of what sort of person we
are, and that conception is supported by numerous memories: We know whether we're
deserving of praise for our good deeds or blame for our transgressions because we remember
our good deeds and our transgression. We know whether we've kept our promises or achieved
our goals because,a gain, we have the relevant memories. In a sense, without a memory, there
is no self."
1.1) Describe H.M.'s situation in detail - correct answer ✔✔ His memory loss was the
unanticipated by-product of brain surgery intended to control his epilepsy, and the loss was
quite profound. H.M. had no trouble remembering events prior to the surgery, but he seemed
completely unable to recall any event that occurred after his operation. If asked who the
president is, or about recent events, he reported facts and events that were current at the time
of his surgery. If asked questions about last week, or an hour ago, he recalled nothing.
The memory loss has massive consequences for H.M.'s life, and some of the consequences were
perhaps surprising. For example, H.M. had an uncle he was very fond of and he asked about
how his uncle was doing. Unfortunately, the uncle died sometime after H.M.'s surgery, and H.M.
was told this sad news. The information came as a horrible shock, triggering enormous grief, but
because of his amnesia, he soon forgot about it.
Sometime later, though, because he'd forgotten about his uncle's death, H.M. again asked how
his uncle was doing, and he was again told of the death. however, with no memory of having
heard this news before, he was again hearing it "for the first time," with the shock and grief
every bit as strong as it was initially. Indeed, each time he heard the news, he was hearing it "for
the first time." With no memory, he had no opportunity to live with the news, to adjust to it.
Hence, his grief could not subside. Without memory, H.M. had no way to come to terms with
his uncle's death.
,1.2) What is introspection? - correct answer ✔✔ "Looking within," to observe and record the
content of our own mental lives and the sequence of our own experiences.
Introspection is the study of conscious experiences.
1.2) Why did introspection fail as a method of psychological inquiry? - correct answer ✔✔ With
introspection, the testability of claims is often unattainable.
The investigators were forced to acknowledge that some thoughts are unconscious, and this
meant that introspection was inevitably limited as a research tool.
In order for any science to proceed, there must be some way to test its claims; otherwise, we
have no means of separating correct assertions from false ones, accurate descriptions of the
world from fictions.
1.3) What was Structuralism? - correct answer ✔✔ Study of the basic elements of perception
1.3) Who were the major figures in Structuralism? - correct answer ✔✔ Titchner and Wundt
1.3) What was the major method of the Structuralists? - correct answer ✔✔ Introspection to
ask about basic, subjective experience of color or brightness
1.4) How was Behaviorism a "logical" next step after introspection? - correct answer ✔✔
Beliefs, wishes, goals, and expectations are all things that cannot be directly observed, cannot
be objectively recorded. Thus, we need to rule out any discussion of these "mentalistic" notions.
They can be observed only via introspection (or so it was claimed), and introspection, we have
suggested, is worthless as a scientific tool. Hence, a scientific psychology needs to avoid these
invisible internal entities.
,1.4) Describe the nature of the radical behaviorist point of view on human cognition. - correct
answer ✔✔ Radical behaviorists sought to avoid mentalistic terms because they could not be
studied directly, and therefore cannot be studied scientifically. They believed that behavior
could be explained with reference only to objective, overt events (such as stimuli and
responses).
1.5) Give an example of a mental representation and how a behaviorist cannot account for its
existence. - correct answer ✔✔ Pass the salt
Different stimuli can produce the same responses, and the same stimuli can provide different
responses.
1.6) Give a short description of Kant's "Inference to best explanation." - correct answer ✔✔ You
begin with the observable facts and then work backward from these observations. In essence,
you ask: How could these observations have come about? What must be the underlying causes
be that led to these effects?
Induction
1.7) Modern cognitive psychology dates from the publication of George Miller's classic The
Magic Number Seven Plus or Minus Two paper in 1956 - correct answer ✔✔ KNOW THIS
1.8) Using the computer as a model of the mind has been useful. The computer and the mind
differ radically in their architecture, however. Computer models, especially older ones, were
inherently ___, where in the brain, in stark contrast, is a massively ___ device. - correct answer
✔✔ serial
parallel
1.9) Psychologists are interested in "reproducing experiments and varying experiments to test
hypotheses"--what are the other names for these two scientific acts? - correct answer ✔✔
Replication and Extension
, 1.10) What is working memory? - correct answer ✔✔ The storage system in which information
is held while that information is being worked on. All indications are that working memory is a
system, not a single entity, and that information is held here via active processes, not via some
sort of passive storage.
1.10) How do Baddeley and Hitch describe working memory? - correct answer ✔✔ Their model
starts with stipulating that working memory is not a single entity. Instead, working memory has
several different parts, and so they prefer to speak of a working-memory system. At the heart of
the system is the central executive. This is the part that runs the show and does the real work.
MORE?
1.10) What are the components of working memory? - correct answer ✔✔ The central
executive, the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer
1.11) How is a span task conducted? - correct answer ✔✔ In a span test, we read to someone a
list of, say four terms, perhaps four letters ("A D G W"). The person has to report these back,
immediately, in sequence. If he/she succeeds, we try it again with five letters (Q D W U F"). If
he/she can repeat these back correctly, we try six letters, and so on, until we find a list that the
person cannot report back accurately.
1.12) What are Marr's three levels of description of a cognitive process? - correct answer ✔✔
Computational Theory
Presentation and Algorithm
Hardware Implementation
1.12) Describe Computational Theory - correct answer ✔✔ What is the goal of the
computation, why is it appropriate, and what is the logic of the strategy by which it can be
carried out?
already passed
1.1) In general, what type of knowledge does anterograde amnesia affect, and why does
Reisberg think that type of knowledge is so profoundly important? - correct answer ✔✔
Memory
Reisberg states that: "Each of us has a conception of who we are, and of what sort of person we
are, and that conception is supported by numerous memories: We know whether we're
deserving of praise for our good deeds or blame for our transgressions because we remember
our good deeds and our transgression. We know whether we've kept our promises or achieved
our goals because,a gain, we have the relevant memories. In a sense, without a memory, there
is no self."
1.1) Describe H.M.'s situation in detail - correct answer ✔✔ His memory loss was the
unanticipated by-product of brain surgery intended to control his epilepsy, and the loss was
quite profound. H.M. had no trouble remembering events prior to the surgery, but he seemed
completely unable to recall any event that occurred after his operation. If asked who the
president is, or about recent events, he reported facts and events that were current at the time
of his surgery. If asked questions about last week, or an hour ago, he recalled nothing.
The memory loss has massive consequences for H.M.'s life, and some of the consequences were
perhaps surprising. For example, H.M. had an uncle he was very fond of and he asked about
how his uncle was doing. Unfortunately, the uncle died sometime after H.M.'s surgery, and H.M.
was told this sad news. The information came as a horrible shock, triggering enormous grief, but
because of his amnesia, he soon forgot about it.
Sometime later, though, because he'd forgotten about his uncle's death, H.M. again asked how
his uncle was doing, and he was again told of the death. however, with no memory of having
heard this news before, he was again hearing it "for the first time," with the shock and grief
every bit as strong as it was initially. Indeed, each time he heard the news, he was hearing it "for
the first time." With no memory, he had no opportunity to live with the news, to adjust to it.
Hence, his grief could not subside. Without memory, H.M. had no way to come to terms with
his uncle's death.
,1.2) What is introspection? - correct answer ✔✔ "Looking within," to observe and record the
content of our own mental lives and the sequence of our own experiences.
Introspection is the study of conscious experiences.
1.2) Why did introspection fail as a method of psychological inquiry? - correct answer ✔✔ With
introspection, the testability of claims is often unattainable.
The investigators were forced to acknowledge that some thoughts are unconscious, and this
meant that introspection was inevitably limited as a research tool.
In order for any science to proceed, there must be some way to test its claims; otherwise, we
have no means of separating correct assertions from false ones, accurate descriptions of the
world from fictions.
1.3) What was Structuralism? - correct answer ✔✔ Study of the basic elements of perception
1.3) Who were the major figures in Structuralism? - correct answer ✔✔ Titchner and Wundt
1.3) What was the major method of the Structuralists? - correct answer ✔✔ Introspection to
ask about basic, subjective experience of color or brightness
1.4) How was Behaviorism a "logical" next step after introspection? - correct answer ✔✔
Beliefs, wishes, goals, and expectations are all things that cannot be directly observed, cannot
be objectively recorded. Thus, we need to rule out any discussion of these "mentalistic" notions.
They can be observed only via introspection (or so it was claimed), and introspection, we have
suggested, is worthless as a scientific tool. Hence, a scientific psychology needs to avoid these
invisible internal entities.
,1.4) Describe the nature of the radical behaviorist point of view on human cognition. - correct
answer ✔✔ Radical behaviorists sought to avoid mentalistic terms because they could not be
studied directly, and therefore cannot be studied scientifically. They believed that behavior
could be explained with reference only to objective, overt events (such as stimuli and
responses).
1.5) Give an example of a mental representation and how a behaviorist cannot account for its
existence. - correct answer ✔✔ Pass the salt
Different stimuli can produce the same responses, and the same stimuli can provide different
responses.
1.6) Give a short description of Kant's "Inference to best explanation." - correct answer ✔✔ You
begin with the observable facts and then work backward from these observations. In essence,
you ask: How could these observations have come about? What must be the underlying causes
be that led to these effects?
Induction
1.7) Modern cognitive psychology dates from the publication of George Miller's classic The
Magic Number Seven Plus or Minus Two paper in 1956 - correct answer ✔✔ KNOW THIS
1.8) Using the computer as a model of the mind has been useful. The computer and the mind
differ radically in their architecture, however. Computer models, especially older ones, were
inherently ___, where in the brain, in stark contrast, is a massively ___ device. - correct answer
✔✔ serial
parallel
1.9) Psychologists are interested in "reproducing experiments and varying experiments to test
hypotheses"--what are the other names for these two scientific acts? - correct answer ✔✔
Replication and Extension
, 1.10) What is working memory? - correct answer ✔✔ The storage system in which information
is held while that information is being worked on. All indications are that working memory is a
system, not a single entity, and that information is held here via active processes, not via some
sort of passive storage.
1.10) How do Baddeley and Hitch describe working memory? - correct answer ✔✔ Their model
starts with stipulating that working memory is not a single entity. Instead, working memory has
several different parts, and so they prefer to speak of a working-memory system. At the heart of
the system is the central executive. This is the part that runs the show and does the real work.
MORE?
1.10) What are the components of working memory? - correct answer ✔✔ The central
executive, the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer
1.11) How is a span task conducted? - correct answer ✔✔ In a span test, we read to someone a
list of, say four terms, perhaps four letters ("A D G W"). The person has to report these back,
immediately, in sequence. If he/she succeeds, we try it again with five letters (Q D W U F"). If
he/she can repeat these back correctly, we try six letters, and so on, until we find a list that the
person cannot report back accurately.
1.12) What are Marr's three levels of description of a cognitive process? - correct answer ✔✔
Computational Theory
Presentation and Algorithm
Hardware Implementation
1.12) Describe Computational Theory - correct answer ✔✔ What is the goal of the
computation, why is it appropriate, and what is the logic of the strategy by which it can be
carried out?
