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Cog Sci C100 Midterm 1 Questions and
Correct Answers
As humans, we are cognitive beings who Ans: • 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: Ans: Sensation and Perception
Sensation Ans: process by which our sensory receptors and
nervous system receive stimulus energies from the environment
and transduce them into neural impulses
Perception Ans: process of interpreting and organizing sensory
information through use of previous knowledge
Models of Object Perception Ans: Template Matching Model
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Feature-Analysis Model
Recognition by components Model
Prototype Model
Template Matching Model Ans: 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 Ans: Discrimination of objects is based on
a small number of characteristics of stimuli
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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 Ans: 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 Ans: Object perception involves a comparison of
the stimulus with an ideal, abstract example
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- 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)
Ans: - This filter sorts things according to a limited number of
variables (e.g warm, unpleasant, green) out of which we construct
our world
Mindfulness Ans: An alternative mode of perception.
Mindfulness is largely about seeing the "suchness" of things, that
is , seeing things directly without conceptual filters
© 2025 All rights reserved
Cog Sci C100 Midterm 1 Questions and
Correct Answers
As humans, we are cognitive beings who Ans: • 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: Ans: Sensation and Perception
Sensation Ans: process by which our sensory receptors and
nervous system receive stimulus energies from the environment
and transduce them into neural impulses
Perception Ans: process of interpreting and organizing sensory
information through use of previous knowledge
Models of Object Perception Ans: Template Matching Model
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
Feature-Analysis Model
Recognition by components Model
Prototype Model
Template Matching Model Ans: 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 Ans: Discrimination of objects is based on
a small number of characteristics of stimuli
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
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 Ans: 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 Ans: Object perception involves a comparison of
the stimulus with an ideal, abstract example
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 4 | Page
- 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)
Ans: - This filter sorts things according to a limited number of
variables (e.g warm, unpleasant, green) out of which we construct
our world
Mindfulness Ans: An alternative mode of perception.
Mindfulness is largely about seeing the "suchness" of things, that
is , seeing things directly without conceptual filters
© 2025 All rights reserved
