Cognitive Psychology 2 (Second half of semester)

Creativity

100

Define Creativity 

The quality or ability to create or invent something original 

200

What are the 4 components of 'divergent thinking' within the divergent thinking theory 

• Fluency: Amount of ideas that are generated numerically (e.g. List all possible uses for a brick) high amount=higher fluency 
• Flexibility: the variety of categories presented. High flexibility = thinking across diverse domains rather than repeating the same idea.- 
• Originality: how unique the responses are compared to typical responses: Using a brick as a musical instrument might be considered more original than using it as a paperweight. 
• Elaboration: How much detail or development is added to the idea: Not just “use a brick as a planter,” but “hollow out a brick, add drainage holes, and plant succulents inside.”

300

What test examines creativity as a form of memory activation? 

Remote Associations Test

Remote Associates Test (RAT):

• Present 3 seemingly unrelated words. Example: cream – skate – water 
• Task: Find a word that links all three. (Answer: ice)
• RAT measures ability to form remote associations, which was seen as a proxy for creativity 
• 
  

Supported the view that creativity is has basis in memory organization and is not from solely personality or effort.

400

What is the Conceptual Blending Theory 

Involves blending or combining words/concepts/ideas from various forms of input in order to create new meanings. 

This theory has 4 parts: 

• Input spaces: The original concepts or domains to combine.
• Generic space: Shared structure or relations between the inputs.
• Blended space: New concept emerges, combining selective elements from input spaces.
• Emergent structure: Novel properties arise that were not explicitly present in the inputs.

500

What are the steps of Wallas' 4 stage model? 

Preparation: gathering information; conscious and voluntary. 

Incubation: unconscious processing of events

Illumination: solution comes into consciousness

Verification/Implementation: testing/refining/implementing  

Emotions and Cognition

100

What is the James-Lange Theory of emotion? 

physiological arousal happens first, and the brain interprets this arousal = that interpretation is the emotion 

200

What is the Schacter-Singer Theory? 

physiological response is elicited, but your brain assigns a meaning to the feeling depending on the context 

300

What is the Flight-Fight-Freeze Response, and what is the response associated with each of the categories?

hyperfocus on something in particular as an evolutionary advantage to keep safe. 

run from what is causing fear (flight) 

 prepare for an altercation (fight), 

or to remain unmoving and avoid detection (freeze) 

 • This can be experienced as a good or bad thing for the individual depending on the context

400

Explain the difference between eustress & distress

 Eustress: Tolerable amount of stress- can lead to flow state, high performance and productivity, innovative problem solving (e.g. sports, work) • Distress: Intolerable amount of stress- can lead to rumination, freeze response, brain fog, lack of motivation (e.g. anxiety, depression)

500

What is The Flashbulb Theory 

A special kind of emotional memory which refers to vivid and detailed memories of highly emotional events that appear to be recorded in the brain as though with the help of a camera’s flash

Contemporary Approaches to Learning

100

What is The More Knowledgeable Other, and how does it influence learning and knowledge? 

Learning takes place within the context of a child’s social development and culture - they learn by interacting with more knowledgeable others and their environment

•     Scaffolding: Each child has a current level of knowledge, and the more knowledgeable other can build upon the already existing knowledge for the child to learn information/skills beyond their current levels
•     Zone of Proximal Development: The areas between what a child can do independently vs. what they can do with assistance.

200

What are examples of behaviorsm in learning? 

• Shaping: reinforcing smaller steps of desired behavior until the student achieves mastery of it. (rewards for doing smaller elements of a math problem until they are able to solve a larger one) 
• Cueing: hints or prompts to help with recall: verbal cues, visual cues, etc. 

300

What is a Cognitivism approach to understanding learning/knowledge  

Focuses on changes in behavior based on the development of cognitive abilities  

400

Define Ontology & Epistemology 

Ontology: The nature of reality and being

Epistemology: Theory of knowledge - how we know about reality

500

What is the Information Processing Approach, 

Cognitive psychology went through a paradigm shift as a result of large technological advancements.

• Input: Sensory information (like data entered into a computer).
• Processing: Mental operations (encoding, storage, retrieval).
• Output: Behavior or decision-making (the computer’s response).
• This gave us the ability to think about thinking differently, and thus the information processing model was born. 

Theorists & Experiements

100

Who coined the term 'More Knowledgeable Other'

Vgotsky 

200

Who came up with the conceptual blending theory 

 Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner

300

What theorist came up with the Flashbulb theory 

Brown and Kulik, 1977

400

What theorist came up with the 5 A's of creativity? 

Robert Sternberg

500

Who came up with 'the Divergent Thinking Theory' 

J. P. Guilford

Connecting Topics & Bonus Questions

100

What is the framing effect?  

bias that relies on how options/questions/informations are framed 

200

Order the theories of knowledge/learning: , cognitivism, behaviorism and constructivism, from passive to active on the learner's part. 

Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism 

300

What is one theorist of cognitivism in learning/knowledge? 

(Piaget, Vygotsky, Chomsky)

400

How does the fight flight freeze response connect to system 1 and system 2 thinking?

• Fight–flight–freeze = System 1.

• It’s fast, automatic, emotional, and instinctive.

• Triggered by the amygdala before conscious thought.

• System 2 slows down or shuts off during threat.

• Harder to think logically or make deliberate decisions when FFF is active.

500

How are intelligence and creativity linked according to the Threshold theory? 

A minimum level of intelligence is necessary for creativity, however, once that threshold is surpassed, intelligence is no longer the driving factor behind creativity.