PSYC 3030 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Mental Chronometry, Franciscus Donders, Cognitive Psychology
Document Summary
Interested in determining how long it takes for a person to make a decision. Mental chronometry- the study of the time course of mental processes. Each stage receives information from the previous stage transforms the information sends the information to the next stage. Measured: reaction time- how long it takes to respond to presentation of a stimulus. He measured simple reaction time by asking his subjects to push a button as rapidly as possible when they saw a light go on. He measured choice reaction time by using two lights and asking his subjects to push the left button when they saw the left light and the right button when they saw the right light. Simple reaction time- presents the stimulus causes a mental response leads to a behavioral. Choice reaction time task added a decision to be made. Subtractive method- difference in amount it takes subject to make the simple reaction response and the choice reaction task response.
