cog sci test 2

The brain stores mental “templates” for every possible visual stimulus Recognition occurs when an incoming image matches a stored template exactly issue: struggles to explain how we recognize objects that vary in appearance

Neurons as Feature Detectors: - This theory proposes that neurons in the visual cortex are specialized for detecting specific features of visual stimuli Hubel and Wiesel’s Discovery: - They provided evidence for feature detectors in the cat’s visual cortex. - They found that specific neurons fired in response to lines of particular orientations

• preattentive stage - Automatic and parallel detection of basic features (color, orientation, etc.) • focused attention stage - Attention is used to combine these features into a unified object representation

selectively concentrating on one thing while ignoring others (limited capacity)

the mental effort imposed on the working memory - the amount of information that the memory can hold and process at one time

suggests that attention weakens unattended information but does not completely block it (can still be captured if it is important)

• attention is based on arousal and task demands • when demands of multiple tasks exceed the available attentional capacity performance on one or both tasks may suffer

• This theory suggests that attention can operate at different stages of information processing • From early sensory filtering to late semantic filtering • The stage at which selection occurs depends on • The specific task demands • The amount of effort required

cognitive load

• Contribute to high cognitive loads • reduce attention efficiency

ultra short term storage

• Memory mechanism that allows us to retain a certain amount of information • It temporarily retains processed information that either fades quickly or turns into long-term memory

• The memory process in the brain that takes information from the STM store • It creates long-lasting memories

memories of facts or events

skills or habits

• Atkinson and Shiffrin assume there are three separate memory stores • Information is transferred between these stores in a linear sequence

This model describes how we actively process and manipulate information in our minds for cognitive tasks 4 main components 1. central executive 2. the phonological loop 3. visual-spatial sketchpad 4. the episodic buffer

the control center, responsible for attention, task switching and coordinating other components

allows us to visualize and manipulate objects in our minds

processes verbal and auditory information

It integrates information from the other components and LTM into a single, coherent episode

mental shortcuts or rule of thumbs - fast and efficient - do not guarantee a correct solution

step-by-step procedures - time consuming - guarantee a correct solution

Another problem-solving model Views problem solving as searching through a problem space of states and operators