PSYC 355 FINAL EXAM- COGNITION QUESTIONS
How is Dichotic Listening studied? - Answer -by asking people to wear earphones; one
message is presented to the left ear, and a different message is presented to the right
ear.
Summarize Kosslyn's classic research on distances in mental images and scanning
times. Summarize Paivio's research using mental clocks and the angles formed by the
two clock hands. Do these findings support the analog position or the propositional
position? - Answer -Kosslyn
-seems like ppl use analog code for simple figures, and propositional for more complex
-since storage for visual imagery is limited, its maybe easier to store verbal descriptions
of complex figures
-observers can locate similar, unanticipated shapes in their mental images
research showed that ppl take a long time to scan between two widely separated points
on a mental image of a map that they had created, and quickly scanned btwn two close
by points
-linear relationship between point distance and time to scan
Paivio did the same type of research, but with hands of a clock and how the distance
btwn the 2 hands affects the ability to scan btwn them
-participants also did standardized testing on their visual imagery ability... high imagery
ppl performed better on clock task
-this supports analog, not propositional
shape of objects mentally are similar to physical shapes
Summarize the gender differences in spatial ability. What is a meta-analysis? - Answer
-most gender differences in cognitive abilities are small
meta-analysis: statistical method for combining numerous studies on a single topic.
Researchers begin by locating all appropriate studies on a topic such as gender
comparisons in verbal ability. Then they perform a meta-analysis that combines the
results of all these studies.
meta-analyses of cognitive abilities by gender
-no significant diff in math or verbal ability
-small diff in spatial ability
spatial ability has many moving parts
1. spatial visualization (small gender Diff here)
2. spatial perception (moderate diff)
3. mental rotation (mod-large diff)
mental rotation is the only cognitive skill where men are more likely to perform better
than women but some studies also say theres no diff
,-diff may be due to boys experience w toys and sports
-this one area of cognitive gender differences can be reduced by providing girls with
experience and training in spatial activities
Summarize the research findings on whether visual images interfere with visual
perception and what this finding means. Do these findings support the analog position
or the propositional position? What are demand characteristics, and how were they
ruled out as an explanation of findings? - Answer --mental image can interfere w
physical one
visual imagery can interfere w visual perception
ex. you can't picture a grilled cheese at the same time as you read the textbook
study
-told ppl to picture a tree and then put a blue arrow in front of them to see if they would
detect its physical presence
-when making a mental image the participants had trouble picking up the physical one
-when told to come up with a sound in their head they had no trouble spotting the arrow
study
-told participants to create a visual image of a set of narrow parallel lines. Next, they
were instructed to rotate their mental image of this set of lines, so that the lines were in
a diagonal orientation. Meanwhile, the researchers presented a physical stimulus, a
small segment of a line. The participants were told to judge whether this line segment
had an exactly vertical orientation. The results showed that the imagined set of lines
and the real set of lines produced similar distortions in the participants' judgments about
the orientation of that line segment
-research in visual perception shows that ppl see a stim better if its surrounded by
vertical lines around it and for some reason the same thing works for mental imagery...
("masking effect")
-demand characteristics: all the cues that might give away the experimenter's
hypothesis to the participants
-demand characteristics cannot account for the masking effect with mental images bc
you wouldn't expect it to be a thing
-people have especially good acuity for mental images that are visualized in the center
of the retina, rather than in the periphery; visual perception operates the same way
Do Demonstration 7.4. Define "cognitive maps" and "spatial cognition." Explain how the
two terms are related. What are heuristics, and how are they related to cognitive maps?
Comment: To appreciate the mental processes associated with cognitive maps, it is
useful to create or draw your own map. Use your current dwelling and the place where
you work (or go to school) as the two end points on your map. Then record as best you
can the roads and landmarks that fall between these two end points. When you are
done, consult an actual map of the area in question, and note the accuracies and
inaccuracies in your map. - Answer -cognitive map: mental representation of
geographic information, including the environment that surrounds us
,-looks at relationships between different objects
-we create a cognitive map by integrating the information that we have acquired from
many successive views
emphasis on real world settings, research has high eco validity
spatial cognition: primarily refers to three cognitive activities: (1) our thoughts about
cognitive maps; (2) how we remember the world we navigate; and (3) how we keep
track of objects in a spatial array
individual differences in spatial-cognition skills are quite large. However, people tend to
be accurate in judging their ability to find their way to unfamiliar locations ...your
metacognition about your spatial ability may be reasonably correct.
-individual differences in spatial cognition are correlated with people's scores on tests of
the visuospatial sketchpad
-people who are good at mental rotation are more skilled than others in using maps to
find a particular location
Our cognitive maps typically include survey knowledge, which is the relationship among
locations that we acquire by directly learning a map or by repeatedly exploring an
environment
-Your cognitive map will be easier to judge and more accurate if you acquire spatial
information from a physical map that is oriented in the same direction that you are
facing in your cognitive map.
cognitive maps represent 3 geographic attributes - shape, distance, relative position
-our cognitive maps are usually pretty accurate
-however, when mistakes are made they're due to rational strategy - mistakes reflect a
tendency to base our judgments on variables that are usually relevant. They also reflect
a tendency to judge our environment as being more well organized and orderly than it
really is.
heuristic: general problem-solving strategy
Describe the research of Barbara Tversky and her colleagues on the relative positions
of geographical locations. What is the rotation heuristic? What is the alignment
heuristic? How are they different?
Comment: The concept of a heuristic, or processing strategy, is pervasive in cognitive
psychology. This concept is also dealt with in Chapter 12 when addressing decision-
making. The idea of a heuristic can be understood by contrasting it with an algorithm,
which is a processing strategy consisting of a sequence of steps that are guaranteed to
produce the correct solution if followed carefully. Algorithms are accurate, but they often
consume much time and effort. Heuristics sacrifice accuracy for speed. In other words,
heuristics are generally faster than algorithms, but they are not as accurate as
algorithms. Why would people prefer speed over accuracy? One suggested explanation
is that we are "cognitive misers." That - Answer -Tversky
, -we use heuristics when we represent relative positions in our mental maps, just like in
real ones
-these heuristics involve 2 types of errors:
1. We remember a slightly tilted geographic structure as being either more vertical or
more horizontal than it really is (the rotation heuristic)
2. We remember a series of geographic structures as being arranged in a straighter line
than they really are (the alignment heuristic)
the rotation heuristic:
ex. we look at Cali on a map and rotate it in our head to make it slightly more vertical
than it really is
-you then may conclude that Reno is west of San Deigo since you see all of cali as
being west of Reno (see map for this ex to make more sense)
--69% of the students at a Bay Area university showed evidence of the rotation heuristic
ex. you see all of Canada as being north of the US, even though there are some dips
the alignment heuristic:
we see geo locations as more lined up than they really are
ex. Rome is N of Philadelphia but we might think the opposite
78% judged Philadelphia to be north of Rome
-cities in Northern US vs Southern Europe so we assume Phillie is higher
the rotation heuristic requires rotating a single coastline, country, building, or other
figure in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion so that its border is oriented in a
nearly vertical or a nearly horizontal direction. In contrast, the alignment heuristic
requires lining up several separate countries, buildings, or other figures in a straight
row. Both heuristics are similar, however, because they encourage us to construct
cognitive maps that are more orderly and schematic than geographic reality.
-when our mental maps rely too strongly on these heuristics, we miss the important
details that make each stimulus unique. When our top-down cognitive processes are too
active, we fail to pay eno
Do Demonstration 12.1. Define the "propositional calculus." Given the statement, "If it is
sunny, then it must be hot,"
specify the following types of conditional reasoning situations. affirming the antecedent
affirming the consequent
denying the antecedent
denying the consequent
Which of the above will lead to a valid conclusion, and of those two, which is the most
difficult to solve? What is dual process theory? - Answer -propositional calculus: a
system for categorizing the four kinds of reasoning used in analyzing propositions or
statements.
-antecedent: first proposition or statement; the antecedent is contained in the "if..." part
of the sentence
How is Dichotic Listening studied? - Answer -by asking people to wear earphones; one
message is presented to the left ear, and a different message is presented to the right
ear.
Summarize Kosslyn's classic research on distances in mental images and scanning
times. Summarize Paivio's research using mental clocks and the angles formed by the
two clock hands. Do these findings support the analog position or the propositional
position? - Answer -Kosslyn
-seems like ppl use analog code for simple figures, and propositional for more complex
-since storage for visual imagery is limited, its maybe easier to store verbal descriptions
of complex figures
-observers can locate similar, unanticipated shapes in their mental images
research showed that ppl take a long time to scan between two widely separated points
on a mental image of a map that they had created, and quickly scanned btwn two close
by points
-linear relationship between point distance and time to scan
Paivio did the same type of research, but with hands of a clock and how the distance
btwn the 2 hands affects the ability to scan btwn them
-participants also did standardized testing on their visual imagery ability... high imagery
ppl performed better on clock task
-this supports analog, not propositional
shape of objects mentally are similar to physical shapes
Summarize the gender differences in spatial ability. What is a meta-analysis? - Answer
-most gender differences in cognitive abilities are small
meta-analysis: statistical method for combining numerous studies on a single topic.
Researchers begin by locating all appropriate studies on a topic such as gender
comparisons in verbal ability. Then they perform a meta-analysis that combines the
results of all these studies.
meta-analyses of cognitive abilities by gender
-no significant diff in math or verbal ability
-small diff in spatial ability
spatial ability has many moving parts
1. spatial visualization (small gender Diff here)
2. spatial perception (moderate diff)
3. mental rotation (mod-large diff)
mental rotation is the only cognitive skill where men are more likely to perform better
than women but some studies also say theres no diff
,-diff may be due to boys experience w toys and sports
-this one area of cognitive gender differences can be reduced by providing girls with
experience and training in spatial activities
Summarize the research findings on whether visual images interfere with visual
perception and what this finding means. Do these findings support the analog position
or the propositional position? What are demand characteristics, and how were they
ruled out as an explanation of findings? - Answer --mental image can interfere w
physical one
visual imagery can interfere w visual perception
ex. you can't picture a grilled cheese at the same time as you read the textbook
study
-told ppl to picture a tree and then put a blue arrow in front of them to see if they would
detect its physical presence
-when making a mental image the participants had trouble picking up the physical one
-when told to come up with a sound in their head they had no trouble spotting the arrow
study
-told participants to create a visual image of a set of narrow parallel lines. Next, they
were instructed to rotate their mental image of this set of lines, so that the lines were in
a diagonal orientation. Meanwhile, the researchers presented a physical stimulus, a
small segment of a line. The participants were told to judge whether this line segment
had an exactly vertical orientation. The results showed that the imagined set of lines
and the real set of lines produced similar distortions in the participants' judgments about
the orientation of that line segment
-research in visual perception shows that ppl see a stim better if its surrounded by
vertical lines around it and for some reason the same thing works for mental imagery...
("masking effect")
-demand characteristics: all the cues that might give away the experimenter's
hypothesis to the participants
-demand characteristics cannot account for the masking effect with mental images bc
you wouldn't expect it to be a thing
-people have especially good acuity for mental images that are visualized in the center
of the retina, rather than in the periphery; visual perception operates the same way
Do Demonstration 7.4. Define "cognitive maps" and "spatial cognition." Explain how the
two terms are related. What are heuristics, and how are they related to cognitive maps?
Comment: To appreciate the mental processes associated with cognitive maps, it is
useful to create or draw your own map. Use your current dwelling and the place where
you work (or go to school) as the two end points on your map. Then record as best you
can the roads and landmarks that fall between these two end points. When you are
done, consult an actual map of the area in question, and note the accuracies and
inaccuracies in your map. - Answer -cognitive map: mental representation of
geographic information, including the environment that surrounds us
,-looks at relationships between different objects
-we create a cognitive map by integrating the information that we have acquired from
many successive views
emphasis on real world settings, research has high eco validity
spatial cognition: primarily refers to three cognitive activities: (1) our thoughts about
cognitive maps; (2) how we remember the world we navigate; and (3) how we keep
track of objects in a spatial array
individual differences in spatial-cognition skills are quite large. However, people tend to
be accurate in judging their ability to find their way to unfamiliar locations ...your
metacognition about your spatial ability may be reasonably correct.
-individual differences in spatial cognition are correlated with people's scores on tests of
the visuospatial sketchpad
-people who are good at mental rotation are more skilled than others in using maps to
find a particular location
Our cognitive maps typically include survey knowledge, which is the relationship among
locations that we acquire by directly learning a map or by repeatedly exploring an
environment
-Your cognitive map will be easier to judge and more accurate if you acquire spatial
information from a physical map that is oriented in the same direction that you are
facing in your cognitive map.
cognitive maps represent 3 geographic attributes - shape, distance, relative position
-our cognitive maps are usually pretty accurate
-however, when mistakes are made they're due to rational strategy - mistakes reflect a
tendency to base our judgments on variables that are usually relevant. They also reflect
a tendency to judge our environment as being more well organized and orderly than it
really is.
heuristic: general problem-solving strategy
Describe the research of Barbara Tversky and her colleagues on the relative positions
of geographical locations. What is the rotation heuristic? What is the alignment
heuristic? How are they different?
Comment: The concept of a heuristic, or processing strategy, is pervasive in cognitive
psychology. This concept is also dealt with in Chapter 12 when addressing decision-
making. The idea of a heuristic can be understood by contrasting it with an algorithm,
which is a processing strategy consisting of a sequence of steps that are guaranteed to
produce the correct solution if followed carefully. Algorithms are accurate, but they often
consume much time and effort. Heuristics sacrifice accuracy for speed. In other words,
heuristics are generally faster than algorithms, but they are not as accurate as
algorithms. Why would people prefer speed over accuracy? One suggested explanation
is that we are "cognitive misers." That - Answer -Tversky
, -we use heuristics when we represent relative positions in our mental maps, just like in
real ones
-these heuristics involve 2 types of errors:
1. We remember a slightly tilted geographic structure as being either more vertical or
more horizontal than it really is (the rotation heuristic)
2. We remember a series of geographic structures as being arranged in a straighter line
than they really are (the alignment heuristic)
the rotation heuristic:
ex. we look at Cali on a map and rotate it in our head to make it slightly more vertical
than it really is
-you then may conclude that Reno is west of San Deigo since you see all of cali as
being west of Reno (see map for this ex to make more sense)
--69% of the students at a Bay Area university showed evidence of the rotation heuristic
ex. you see all of Canada as being north of the US, even though there are some dips
the alignment heuristic:
we see geo locations as more lined up than they really are
ex. Rome is N of Philadelphia but we might think the opposite
78% judged Philadelphia to be north of Rome
-cities in Northern US vs Southern Europe so we assume Phillie is higher
the rotation heuristic requires rotating a single coastline, country, building, or other
figure in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion so that its border is oriented in a
nearly vertical or a nearly horizontal direction. In contrast, the alignment heuristic
requires lining up several separate countries, buildings, or other figures in a straight
row. Both heuristics are similar, however, because they encourage us to construct
cognitive maps that are more orderly and schematic than geographic reality.
-when our mental maps rely too strongly on these heuristics, we miss the important
details that make each stimulus unique. When our top-down cognitive processes are too
active, we fail to pay eno
Do Demonstration 12.1. Define the "propositional calculus." Given the statement, "If it is
sunny, then it must be hot,"
specify the following types of conditional reasoning situations. affirming the antecedent
affirming the consequent
denying the antecedent
denying the consequent
Which of the above will lead to a valid conclusion, and of those two, which is the most
difficult to solve? What is dual process theory? - Answer -propositional calculus: a
system for categorizing the four kinds of reasoning used in analyzing propositions or
statements.
-antecedent: first proposition or statement; the antecedent is contained in the "if..." part
of the sentence
