PSYCHOLOGY 340

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Lawrence University

WINTER 2007
STUDY QUESTIONS FOR MIDTERM EXAM
  1. What are the major characteristics of the cognitive approach to psychology? How is the cognitive approach similar to and different from structuralism, on the one hand, and behaviorism, on the other?
  2. Briefly define and describe the significance of the following terms for the development of cognitive science: artificial intelligence, computer simulation, ecological approach, introspection, linguistic competence, neural network, schema, Turing machine.
  3. Define each of the following terms, explaining their relevance to speech pattern recognition: categorical perception, critical period, conditioned head-turn, formant, lack of invariance, lack of segmentation, McGurk effect, phoneme, spectrogram, voice-onset time (VOT)
  4. Define each of the following terms, give an example, and explain their relevance to pattern recognition: distinctive feature, feature integration model (Treisman et al.., 1986), Pragnanz , preattentive representation (Wolfe, 1992), prototype, sensory aftereffect, template.
  5. Describe TWO of the experimental methods that would demonstrate the psychological reality of a particular featural system. Give an example of a top-down effect in pattern recognition. What do context effects suggest about concept-driven and data-driven approaches to pattern recognition?
  6. What is the cocktail party phenomenon? Describe the dichotic listening task used by Cherry to study this phenomenon in the laboratory.
  7. Broadbent (filter model), Treisman (attenuator model), and Norman (pertinence model) have provided different theories of attention. How are their theories similar, and what are the critical differences between them? Describe one experimental study that indicates the inadequacy of Broadbent's model. Describe ONE study that suggests that Norman's model is better than Treisman's.
  8. Describe the Yerkes-Dodson Law. How does Kahneman incorporate this law into his model of attention? What does this law suggest about the relation of attention and automaticity?
  9. Differentiate controlled and automatic processing (Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977) in terms of a) the use of limited capacity, b) the effect on long-term memory, c) interference with other cognitive tasks, and d) the influence of practice and instruction.
  10. Give TWO examples of physiological or clinical data that support a distinction between working memory and long-term memory. Explain why such a duplex theory of memory makes sense using an example from our experience of remembering.
  11. Describe the serial order effect. What experimental findings lead us to infer that the effect is due to the distinct operations of a working memory and a long-term memory? What is the partial-report method, and how does it demonstrate the operation of sensory memory?
  12. Describe the method by which Sternberg determined whether retrieval from working memory is serial or parallel, exhaustive or self-terminating, veridical or idealized. What were his findings? Describe the evidence that forgetting from WM is due to interference, rather than mere decay.
  13. Name and describe TWO mnemonic techniques. Describe how these techniques are examples of deeper or more elaborative rehearsal.
  14. Describe ONE of the experimental studies that supports the claim that working memory is auditory in its representation. How does information (the form and the amount) represented in WM compare to information in the sensory registers? What is chunking and how does it alter the amount of information available from WM?
  15. Define encoding specificity. Describe the experimental evidence that shows the existence of encoding specificity. Give an example from everyday life that demonstrates the importance of encoding specificity.
  16. What is Craik's view about aging and memory? Describe what he means by "self-initiated processing" and the evidence that this is what is related to memory decrements in the aging.
  17. Define each of the following terms, give an example, and explain how these contribute to our understanding of memory: categorical clustering, declarative knowledge, episodic memory, generic memory, graceful degradation, implicit memory, law of disuse, mnemonist, proactive interference, procedural knowledge, proposition, propositional fan, retroactive interference, script, tip-of-the-tongue
  18. Explain how the Teachable Language Comprehender (Collins & Quillian, 1969) model of memory retrieval works. Describe TWO ways in which this model fails to account for the data. How does a feature model (Rips, Shoben, & Smith, 1973) account for these failures of TLC? What are the problems with the feature model in explaining semantic structure?
  19. Briefly outline the differences between network models like Anderson's ACT* and Rumelhart & McClelland's parallel distributed processing (PDP) model, discussing the issues of a) basic units of representation and processing, b) the existence of a central executive or monitor, and c) a distinction between long-term and working memory. In what ways do PDP models answer some of the criticisms of ACT*?
  20. Discuss Rosch's prototype theory of concepts with respect to fuzzy boundaries, defining features, family resemblance, and hierarchical organization. Contrast prototype theory with the classical (featural) theory of concepts. Describe the difficulties with prototype theory in accounting for our conceptual knowledge.
  21. Define the integrative and abstractive functions of memory and describe the method and results of studies by Sachs (1967; 1974) and by Bransford and Franks (1971; Franks & Bransford, 1971) that demonstrate these functions. How were these findings anticipated by those of Bartlett?
  22. In Bartlett's (1932) study of memory, he presented an American Indian folk tale "The War of the Ghosts" to British subjects and asked them to reproduce the story at later times. Describe his two methods of testing memory and his findings about the quality and content of their recollections. Define schema and describe its relation to constructive memory.
  23. Describe the characteristics of a "flash-bulb" memory, and give an example of such a memory. Explain how Brown & Kulik's (1977) "Now Print" special mechanism and Neisser's (1982) counter-argument about constructive memory account for flashbulb memories.
  24. Given the characteristics of memory suggested by Bartlett and others, what might we guess about the accuracy of eyewitness testimony? Describe one study (e.g., Loftus, 1992; Loftus et al. , 1978; Loftus & Palmer, 1974; Neisser, 1981, concerning John Dean's memory) which demonstrates the importance of construction in eyewitness memory. Discuss the evidence that repressed memories exist and may be recovered at a later time.

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