Ch. 15: Continuing Developments in Psychology

What personal factors influenced Miller and Neisser in their developments of a cognitive approach to psychology?

- miller -- his rebellious nature -neisser -- his drive to be known as a prominent figure in hte field of psychology

What is meant by the terms embedded cognition and cognitive overload?

embedded cognition -- recognizes that there are physical aspects of cognition revealed in brain activity and in sensation and perception (perceptual and motor responses systems affect, direct, and determine the cognitive processes that occur in the mind - cognitive overload -- deals with multitasking

How does the current versions of the cognitive unconscious differ from the Freudian view of the unconscious?

- freudian view -- overflow of repressed desires and memories brought into conscious awareness only through psychoanalysis - current view -- more rational than emotional and is involved in the first stage of cognition in responding to a stimulus

Describe antecedent influences in the fields of both psychology and physics that led to the development of cognitive psychology

- purposive behaviorism -- this form of behaviorism recognized the importance of cognitive variables and contributed to the decline of the stimulus-response approach -- Tolman proposed cognitive maps -- Gestalt/Physics influence CP with its influence on organization, structure, relationships, and the active role of the subject, and perception

How can cognitive neuroscience be described as the new phrenology?

- phrenology -- the study of shape and size of the cranium as it relates to mental abilities - CN -- how brain function give rise to mental abilities

In what ways did structuralism, functionalism, and Gestalt psychology contribute to the field as we know today, even though they know longer exists as schools of thought?

functionalists -- no longer here - structuralists -- successful in promoting the enterprise Wundt began (the psychology free of structures of philosophy) - Gestalt -- opposition to elementism, it supports the "whole" approach, influenced psychologist in clinical

What are the limitations to the use of introspection in cognitive psychology?

(1) some subjects may give socially desirable introspective reports by telling researchers what they think the researchers want to hear in an effort to please them, (2) subjects may not be able to access some of their thoughts/feelings because these reside deep in the unconscious

What does the term ecological validity mean? Does it apply to all forms of psychology or only to cognitive approach?

- a measure of how test performance predicts behaviors in real-world settings - can be applied to all for of psychology

In what ways does cognitive psychology differ from behaviorism?

- focus on process of knowing rather than responding to stimuli- how the mind organizes experiences- we have the ability to actively and creatively arrange the stimuli received from our environment

How is the Turing test used to examine the proposition that computers can think?

- the process of the Turing test is attempting to convince someone that a computer can think like humans

Describe the practical need in WW2 that led to the development of the modern computer

- using it to decrepit coded messages from Germany to plan attacks

What is neuroprosthetics? How does it involve cognitive neurosciences?

- willing or intending to make movements -- an application of CNs -- offers to hope that people with these types of diabilities could one day be able ti interact with and exercise control over objects in their environment

Define the relationship between evolutionary psychology and cognitive psychology. Which one draws on the other?

-Evolutionary psychology draws on cognitive psychology.-Focuses on the importance of consciousness as it has evolved over the time and emphasis on the mind as processor for all consciousness

What did the most famous chess match of the 20th century tell us about the ability of machines to think?

-performance from the match showed that artificial intelligence had not yet attained the level and complexity of human intelligence

Describe the ways in which cognitive psychology differed from behavioral psychology

1. cognitive psychologists focus on the process of knowing rather than responding to stimuli -- behaviorists focuses on behavior responses elicited from environmental stimulus 2. cognitive psychologists are interested in how the mind organizes experiences -- skinner insisted that the mind did not possess inherent organizational abilities 3. CPs believe that we have the ability to actively and creatively arrange the stimuli received from our environment -- behaviorists claimed we are passive responders to external forces/black slate on which sensory experience will write

What were the early signs of cognitive revolution in psychology?

behaviorism, psychoanalysis, and the changing models in physics

How does evidence favoring the existence of personality in animals support Darwin's notion or evolution and the field of evolutionary psychology?

evidence shows that animals do have similar cognitive abilities to humans, proving Darwin's notions that we have common characteristics and ancestors

In your opinion, are animals capable of cognitive activities, or are we attributing human function to them that they do not really possess?

they do have cognitive functions, but not as advanced as those of humans as our brains are more complex

How do computer serve as metaphors for the human mind? What had served as such a metaphor before the development of computers?

they mirror human thought processes, reasoning, and problem solving -- before computers, there were clocks

Distinguish between the Turing test and the Chinese room problem

turing test -- persuading a subject that the computer with which they are communication is really another person Chinese room problem -- left side Chinese characters, match the ones they've been given with the book, feeding through a slot