1. What was Donder’s attempting to achieve when he invented the method of subtraction in his study of simple and choice reaction time? Why is his work important for the development of cognitive psychology?

2. What is the measure of “savings” in Ebbinghaus’s studies of memory? Why is it reasonable to interpret savings as a measure of how much a person remembers from prior learning? What was Ebbinghaus attempting to achieve when he invented the method of savings?

3. The behaviorists made some strong assumptions about what distinguishes scientific from unscientific approaches to psychology. What were the main assumptions?

4. List some of the factors that lead to the diminished influence of behaviorist approaches in psychology, and to the rise of cognitive psychology in the late 1950’s and 1960’s. For example, why did use of computers in psychology help to promote a more cognitive approach to psychology? Why did developments in linguistics favor a more cognitive approach to psychology?

5. What is Broadbent’s model?

6. Describe operant conditioning. How did B.F. Skinner explain language development in terms of operant conditioning? What were Noam Chomsky’s criticisms of Skinner’s account?

Chap 2

1. Each of the following is an important component of a neuron or of the connection between neurons. Fill in the blanks in the spelling, and briefly describe what is the function of this component?

o a_on

o d_ _dr_ _ _

o syn_ _ _e

o n_ _r_tr_ns_ _ _ _ _r

2. Briefly describe what aspect of brain activity is measured by each of the following methods:

(i) Single cell recordings (of electrical activity)

(ii) Event related potentials (ERPs)

(iii) Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

3. Explain the purpose of feature detectors in creating mental representation of objects.