Cognitive Psychology and Processes Flashcards

Which cognitive bias leads people to overestimate the likelihood of events that are easily recalled from memory?

Answer: Availability heuristic

The availability heuristic causes people to judge probability based on how easily examples come to mind, often leading to overestimates of memorable or vivid events.

Semantic priming occurs when:

Answer: A target word is preceded by a conceptually related word

Semantic priming refers to faster or more accurate processing of a target word when it is preceded by a semantically related prime word.

In language comprehension, 'garden-path sentences' demonstrate that the mind:

Answer: Commits to an initial syntactic interpretation that may need revision

Garden-path sentences show that readers commit to the most probable initial parse, requiring costly reanalysis when the sentence ends unexpectedly.

Which executive function allows a person to stop an ongoing response when circumstances change?

Answer: Inhibition

Inhibition is the executive function that suppresses prepotent or ongoing responses when they are no longer appropriate.

Episodic memory differs from semantic memory primarily in that episodic memory:

Answer: Contains personally experienced events with spatial-temporal context

Episodic memory stores autobiographical events tied to specific times and places, whereas semantic memory contains general factual knowledge without personal context.

According to dual-process theory, System 2 thinking is characterized as:

Answer: Slow, deliberate, and effortful

System 2 is the slow, analytical mode of thinking that requires conscious effort and cognitive resources, contrasted with the fast, automatic System 1.

Which phenomenon describes improved memory for items at the beginning of a list compared to middle items?

Answer: Primacy effect

The primacy effect refers to better recall of early list items, attributed to greater rehearsal that transfers them to long-term memory.