UGC NET Psycology Attention, Perception, Learning, Memory and Forgetting Syllabus

Attention, Perception, Learning, Memory and Forgetting syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Attention, Perception, Learning, Memory and Forgetting in UGC NET Psycology, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Attention

   2 topics

   • Forms of attention
   • Models of attention
2. 2

   Perception

   12 topics

   • Approaches to the Study of Perception
     • Gestalt and physiological approaches
   • Perceptual Organization
     • Gestalt
     • Figure and Ground
     • Law of Organization
   • Perceptual Constancy
     • Size
     • Shape
     • Color
     • Illusions
   • Perception of Form, Depth and Movement
   • Role of motivation and learning in perception
   • Signal detection theory
     • Assumptions and applications
   • Subliminal perception and related factors
   • Information processing approach to perception
   • Culture and perception
   • Perceptual styles
   • Pattern recognition
   • Ecological perspective on perception
3. 3

   Learning Process

   7 topics

   • Fundamental theories
     • Thorndike
     • Guthrie
     • Hull
   • Classical Conditioning
     • Procedure
     • Phenomena
     • Related issues
   • Instrumental learning
     • Phenomena
     • Paradigms
     • Theoretical issues
   • Reinforcement
     • Basic variables and schedules
     • Behaviour modification and its applications
   • Cognitive approaches in learning
     • Latent learning
     • Observational learning
   • Verbal learning and Discrimination learning
   • Recent trends in learning
     • Neurophysiology of learning
4. 4

   Memory and Forgetting

   3 topics

   • Memory processes
     • Encoding
     • Storage
     • Retrieval
   • Stages of memory
     • Sensory memory
     • Short-term memory (Working memory)
     • Long-term Memory (Declarative – Episodic and Semantic; Procedural)
   • Theories of Forgetting
     • Interference
     • Retrieval Failure
     • Decay
     • Motivated forgetting

Attention, Perception, Learning, Memory and Forgetting flashcards for UGC NET Psycology

24 of 60 cards from the Attention, Perception, Learning, Memory and Forgetting deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is attention in cognitive psychology?

   Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other stimuli; it has limited capacity and acts as a filter for information processing.

2. What is the difference between selective (focused) attention and divided attention?

   Selective attention is focusing on one stimulus/task while ignoring others; divided attention is distributing attention across two or more tasks or stimuli simultaneously (multitasking).

3. What is sustained attention (vigilance) and what is the vigilance decrement?

   Sustained attention is maintaining focus on a task over a prolonged period; the vigilance decrement is the decline in detection performance over time during prolonged monitoring.

4. Describe Broadbent's Filter (early selection) model of attention.

   Broadbent (1958) proposed information enters a sensory buffer, then a selective filter blocks unattended channels based on physical characteristics BEFORE meaning is processed (early selection); only the attended channel reaches the limited-capacity processor.

5. How does Treisman's Attenuation model differ from Broadbent's filter model?

   Treisman (1964) argued the filter attenuates (weakens) rather than completely blocks unattended messages; attenuated signals can still be processed if they exceed a low threshold (e.g., one's own name), explaining the cocktail party effect.

6. What is the Deutsch-Norman late selection model of attention?

   It proposes all incoming stimuli are fully analyzed for meaning, and selection occurs LATE, just before response/memory, based on relevance/importance rather than physical features.

7. What is Kahneman's Capacity (resource) model of attention?

   Kahneman (1973) viewed attention as a limited pool of mental resources/effort allocated flexibly; performance depends on available capacity, arousal, and task demands rather than a structural filter.

8. What is the cocktail party effect?

   The ability to focus on one conversation in a noisy environment while still detecting personally significant information (like your name) in an unattended channel; cited as evidence against complete early filtering.

9. What is the difference between sensation and perception?

   Sensation is the detection of raw stimulus energy by sensory receptors; perception is the organization, interpretation, and meaningful experience of that sensory information.

10. Contrast bottom-up and top-down approaches to perception.

    Bottom-up (data-driven) processing builds perception directly from sensory input (Gibson's direct perception); top-down (concept-driven) processing uses prior knowledge, expectations, and context to interpret input (constructivist view, Gregory).

11. What is Gregory's constructivist theory of perception?

    Gregory argued perception is an active, top-down process of unconscious inference—the brain constructs hypotheses about reality using sensory data plus stored knowledge; explains illusions as incorrect hypotheses.

12. List the main Gestalt laws of perceptual organization.

    Proximity, Similarity, Continuity (good continuation), Closure, Common fate, Pragnanz (good figure/simplicity), and Figure-ground segregation.

13. State the Gestalt Law of Pragnanz.

    Pragnanz (the law of good figure/simplicity) states that we perceive ambiguous or complex stimuli in the simplest, most stable, and most regular form possible.

14. What is figure-ground organization?

    The perceptual tendency to segregate a visual field into a figure (object of focus, appears closer with definite shape) and a ground (background); demonstrated by reversible figures like the Rubin vase.

15. What is perceptual constancy? Name its main types.

    Perceptual constancy is perceiving objects as stable/unchanging despite changes in sensory input. Types: size constancy, shape constancy, color constancy, brightness (lightness) constancy, and location constancy.

16. What is size constancy?

    The tendency to perceive an object as the same physical size regardless of changes in the size of its retinal image with distance.

17. Distinguish monocular and binocular depth cues.

    Monocular cues need only one eye (e.g., linear perspective, interposition, relative size, texture gradient, aerial perspective, motion parallax); binocular cues need both eyes (retinal/binocular disparity and convergence).

18. What is binocular (retinal) disparity?

    The slight difference between the two retinal images of the same scene due to the eyes' horizontal separation; the brain fuses these to produce stereoscopic depth perception.

19. What is convergence as a depth cue?

    A binocular cue in which the eyes rotate inward (converge) to focus on near objects; the degree of muscular tension signals distance—greater convergence means closer objects.

20. What is motion parallax?

    A monocular depth cue in which, as the observer moves, near objects appear to move faster/in the opposite direction while distant objects appear to move slower/with the observer.

21. What is the phi phenomenon?

    An illusion of apparent movement created when two stationary lights flash in rapid succession, perceived as a single light moving; studied by Wertheimer and foundational to Gestalt psychology.

22. What is stroboscopic motion?

    The perception of continuous movement produced by a rapid series of slightly different stationary images, as in motion pictures and animation.

23. How do motivation and emotional needs influence perception? (perceptual defense/accentuation)

    Needs, values, and emotions bias perception: hungry people perceive ambiguous stimuli as food (accentuation), valued objects are judged larger, and threatening words have higher recognition thresholds (perceptual defense). Studied under the 'New Look' movement.

24. What is perceptual set (perceptual expectancy)?

    A predisposition or readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular way based on expectations, context, past experience, motivation, or culture, shaping what and how we perceive.

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