D570 Cognitive Psychology Key Terms (All the key
terms from all sections of the reading material 2025
NEW UPDATE) Western Governors University
Key Terms
• analytic introspection: a technique used by Wilhelm Wundt that involved
trained participants describing their experiences and thought processes in
response to stimuli
• artificial intelligence: a field of study aiming to make machines behave in
ways that would be considered intelligent if a human were behaving that way,
as defined by John McCarthy during the Dartmouth conference
• behaviorism: an approach to psychology founded by John Watson that
emphasizes the study of observable behavior and rejects introspection and the
investigation of unobservable mental processes
• classical conditioning: a form of learning introduced by Ivan Pavlov and
associated with John Watson, wherein a neutral stimulus becomes associated with
a meaningful stimulus, resulting in a learned response
• cognition: all mental abilities, including perceiving, learning, remembering,
thinking, reasoning, and understanding
• cognitive psychology: the study of mental processes, encompassing
characteristics and properties of the mind and how it operates
• cognitive paradigm: the approach of focusing on understanding mental
processes and the operation of the mind, which emerged during the cognitive
revolution
• cognitive revolution: a shift in psychology from behaviorism to a focus on
understanding mental processes, which occurred during the 1950s and was
marked by events such as conferences on artificial intelligence and
information theory
,• decision-making process: the mental process involved in making choices,
as inferred from behavior in Donders' experiment
• filter model of attention: a flow chart proposed by Donald Broadbent in the
1950s that depicts the operation of the mind in terms of processing stages,
particularly in directing attention to stimuli in the environment
• functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): a brain imaging
technique introduced in 1990 that allows the observation of activated areas in the
human brain during cognitive activity without radioactive tracers
• higher mental processes: the complex cognitive functions, such as
thinking, problem- solving, and long-term remembering, considered in the
study of cognitive psychology
• operant conditioning: a form of learning introduced by B. F. Skinner that
focuses on how behavior is strengthened by the presentation of positive reinforcers
or the withdrawal of negative reinforcers
• stimulus–response relationships: the association between a stimulus and the
resulting behavior, a central focus of behaviorism
• scientific revolution: a significant shift in scientific thinking from one
paradigm to another, marked by changes in dominant ideas and
approaches
• sensory memory: a stage in Atkinson and Shiffrin's model of memory
that holds incoming information for a fraction of a second
• short-term memory: a stage in Atkinson and Shiffrin's model of memory
with limited capacity, holding information for seconds
, Key Terms
• biological milestones: universal developmental events, such as puberty
• cognition: all mental abilities, including perceiving, learning, remembering,
thinking, reasoning, and understanding
• cognitive development: development of thinking and reasoning abilities
• developmental milestones: normative events marking stages in
development
• fluid intelligence: information processing abilities, such as logical
reasoning, spatial ability, and reaction time
• genotype: genetic makeup influencing traits
• learning: the improvement of an organism's response to the environment
through the acquisition of new information
• memory: the study of the capacity and fragility of human memory,
focusing on acquisition, storage, and retrieval
• neuroplasticity: the brain's capacity to reorganize and adapt
• normative approach: study of age-related averages for developmental
milestones
• object permanence: understanding that objects continue to exist even when
out of sight
• psychosocial development: development related to emotions, personality,
and social relationships
Key Terms
• action potential: propagated electrical potential responsible for transmitting
neural information and for communication between neurons. Action potentials
typically travel down a neuron's axon.
• Broca's area: in the frontal lobe, identified as specialized for language
production
• cerebral cortex: a layer of tissue about 3 mm thick covering the brain,
responsible for many cognitive functions
• connectome: the structural description of the network of elements and
connections forming the human brain, often referred to as the wiring diagram
of neurons in the brain
• default mode network (DMN): a network of brain structures that respond
when a person is not involved in specific tasks. The DMN is associated with
mind wandering and becomes active during rest
• distributed processing: the idea that different areas of the brain are
involved in a particular type of cognition and are interconnected, allowing
communication between them
terms from all sections of the reading material 2025
NEW UPDATE) Western Governors University
Key Terms
• analytic introspection: a technique used by Wilhelm Wundt that involved
trained participants describing their experiences and thought processes in
response to stimuli
• artificial intelligence: a field of study aiming to make machines behave in
ways that would be considered intelligent if a human were behaving that way,
as defined by John McCarthy during the Dartmouth conference
• behaviorism: an approach to psychology founded by John Watson that
emphasizes the study of observable behavior and rejects introspection and the
investigation of unobservable mental processes
• classical conditioning: a form of learning introduced by Ivan Pavlov and
associated with John Watson, wherein a neutral stimulus becomes associated with
a meaningful stimulus, resulting in a learned response
• cognition: all mental abilities, including perceiving, learning, remembering,
thinking, reasoning, and understanding
• cognitive psychology: the study of mental processes, encompassing
characteristics and properties of the mind and how it operates
• cognitive paradigm: the approach of focusing on understanding mental
processes and the operation of the mind, which emerged during the cognitive
revolution
• cognitive revolution: a shift in psychology from behaviorism to a focus on
understanding mental processes, which occurred during the 1950s and was
marked by events such as conferences on artificial intelligence and
information theory
,• decision-making process: the mental process involved in making choices,
as inferred from behavior in Donders' experiment
• filter model of attention: a flow chart proposed by Donald Broadbent in the
1950s that depicts the operation of the mind in terms of processing stages,
particularly in directing attention to stimuli in the environment
• functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): a brain imaging
technique introduced in 1990 that allows the observation of activated areas in the
human brain during cognitive activity without radioactive tracers
• higher mental processes: the complex cognitive functions, such as
thinking, problem- solving, and long-term remembering, considered in the
study of cognitive psychology
• operant conditioning: a form of learning introduced by B. F. Skinner that
focuses on how behavior is strengthened by the presentation of positive reinforcers
or the withdrawal of negative reinforcers
• stimulus–response relationships: the association between a stimulus and the
resulting behavior, a central focus of behaviorism
• scientific revolution: a significant shift in scientific thinking from one
paradigm to another, marked by changes in dominant ideas and
approaches
• sensory memory: a stage in Atkinson and Shiffrin's model of memory
that holds incoming information for a fraction of a second
• short-term memory: a stage in Atkinson and Shiffrin's model of memory
with limited capacity, holding information for seconds
, Key Terms
• biological milestones: universal developmental events, such as puberty
• cognition: all mental abilities, including perceiving, learning, remembering,
thinking, reasoning, and understanding
• cognitive development: development of thinking and reasoning abilities
• developmental milestones: normative events marking stages in
development
• fluid intelligence: information processing abilities, such as logical
reasoning, spatial ability, and reaction time
• genotype: genetic makeup influencing traits
• learning: the improvement of an organism's response to the environment
through the acquisition of new information
• memory: the study of the capacity and fragility of human memory,
focusing on acquisition, storage, and retrieval
• neuroplasticity: the brain's capacity to reorganize and adapt
• normative approach: study of age-related averages for developmental
milestones
• object permanence: understanding that objects continue to exist even when
out of sight
• psychosocial development: development related to emotions, personality,
and social relationships
Key Terms
• action potential: propagated electrical potential responsible for transmitting
neural information and for communication between neurons. Action potentials
typically travel down a neuron's axon.
• Broca's area: in the frontal lobe, identified as specialized for language
production
• cerebral cortex: a layer of tissue about 3 mm thick covering the brain,
responsible for many cognitive functions
• connectome: the structural description of the network of elements and
connections forming the human brain, often referred to as the wiring diagram
of neurons in the brain
• default mode network (DMN): a network of brain structures that respond
when a person is not involved in specific tasks. The DMN is associated with
mind wandering and becomes active during rest
• distributed processing: the idea that different areas of the brain are
involved in a particular type of cognition and are interconnected, allowing
communication between them
