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Click on each question to check your answer.
Fill in the Blank Questions
1. Broadbent’s filter model postulates that the filter selects messages based on their ________.
physical characteristics (p. 9)
2. ________ belongs to the past (“long-term memory”), while ________ consists of the immediately present moment (“short term memory”).
Secondary memory; primary memory (p. 11)
3. ________ is subjective, non-statistical, and involves individual thoughts and perspectives.
Introspection (p. 12)
4. Becoming progressively attuned to what the environment affords us is referred to as ________.
information pickup (p. 13)
5. In Neiser’s perceptual cycle, ________ modifies ________, which directs ________, which samples the first one.
object; schema; exploration (p. 15)
Short Answer Questions
1. Explain the primary function of information. When does a response yield the most information?
Information reduces uncertainty and its value increases as the probability of a response occurrence decreases. (pp. 6–7)
2. According to Broadbent’s filter model, at which point in the model would the identity of a stim-ulus be processed?
Identity/meaning of a stimulus would be processed in the limited-capacity channel after filter selection. (p. 9)
3. What is the difference between Gibson’s notion of information pick-up and Neisser’s notion of perceptual cycle?
For Gibson, we absorb the richness of information offered to us in the environment, whereas for Neisser, it is our expectations that guide our exploration of the environment, and through this exploration we modify our schemas to enhance their accuracy. (pp. 13–14)
4. You hear the mail being dropped in your mail box; you pick it up and notice that, once again, some of the mail is not for you. On further inspection you notice that the mail carrier confused the street number 2406 with yours: 2460. Can you name some obvious aspects of information processing you have just performed?
Perceiving/attending, remembering, comprehending, and problem solving are all part of this scenario. (p. 6)
5. What concept is central to all theories of information processing?
The central idea behind information processing is that of information theory: the information provided by a particular message is not determined by the signal alone but by the whole array of possible messages of which that particular message could have been selected. The less likely a signal is, the more information it conveys. (pp. 6–7)
6. Experimental evidence demonstrates that people have a slower response to less likely signals. How does information processing theory interpret these results?
Information theory states that the less likely a signal is, the more information it contains. Furthermore, the slower a response, the longer it takes to process it. If more information takes longer to process, this suggests that the nervous system has a limited capacity for the amount of information it can handle within a fixed period of time, whether visual or auditory. (pp. 6–7)
7. What does the Brown–Peterson task demonstrate?
It shows that recall declines as interference increases. Also that without rehearsal, repetition, or any further processing, very little is retained. (pp. 12–13)
8. Describe the criticism cognitive ethology launches at standard experimental research approach. What does cognitive ethology propose to do differently?
Cognitive ethology criticizes the standard research approach as being based on the faulty assumption that cognitive processes always work the exact same way in any given situation. Cognitive ethology proposes that we instead observe naturally occurring behaviour, move it to a lab setting, and gradually simplify the relevant factors. Lab findings should then be tested to see if they predict and explain behaviour in its natural setting. (pp. 15, 17)