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First year Psychology > cog psych > Flashcards

cog psych Flashcards

1
Q

what is cognitive psychology?

A

scientific study of thought and experience

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2
Q

how is behaviourist information processing visualised?

A

stimulus
attention
perception
thought processes
decision
response of action

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3
Q

humans are ____ ______ machines?

A

stimulus response

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4
Q

how is information received through the senses processed?

A

by a series of modules that change the information in a systematic way

the output of these processing modules ultimately causes an observable response

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5
Q

in what order must this process occur?

A

sequentially (in chronological order)

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6
Q

name one assumption of the input output approach

A

serial processing

only one step at a time, no information travels backwards, just in and then out

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7
Q

name another assumption of the input output approach

A

bottom up processing

all processes are directly triggered by a stimulus, lower level sensory processes drive higher order thoughts and decisions

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8
Q

name a criticism of the input output approach

A

does not allow for parallel processing

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9
Q

name a criticism of the input output approach

A

ignores top down processing

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10
Q

what is top down processing?

A

processing where higher order cognitive processes and thoughts determine how information is processed at lower levels

e.g. when our prior knowledge and expectations about the world shape how we perceive the world

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11
Q

name another criticism for the input output approach

A

oversimplification

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12
Q

how does representation work in bottom up processing?

A

everything that we see and experience in the world comes from our brains

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13
Q

name an example of bottom up processing

A

person A sees person B walking a dog and registers it is a dog in their brain
in order for person A to register the dog as a dog they must first have an experience of seeing a dog
this means that these neurons in the brain fire in a pattern that produced or represents the dog

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14
Q

how could neurons represent complex information?

A

some neurons have preferred stimuli (i.e., respond to a certain orientation, colour, or even a complex concept like Luke Skywalker or Jennifer Aniston)

this means when these stimuli are presented, the neurons fire more than when other stimuli are presented

sometimes referred to as grandmother cells

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15
Q

when responding to particular concepts, does a singular neuron fire?

A

no

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16
Q

what is rate coding?

A

greater rate of a neuron’s response is used to code/represent information

the information is represented in how fast each neuron fires, whether it fires quickly or slowly, depends on the information it represents

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17
Q

what is temporal coding?

A

greater synchrony of the responses of several neurons is used to code information

when it fires and if multiples neurons fire at the same time are more important

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18
Q

what are the 3 ways we study cognition?

A

experimental cognitive psychology
cognitive neuropsychology
cognitive neuroscience

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19
Q

what is experimental cognitive psychology?

A

studying behaviour in controlled laboratory settings

shed light onto cognitive processes by using clever experimental manipulations

traditionally, experimental psychology doesn’t care about the underlying brain processes

instead of “brain measures”, cognitive psychology uses behavioural measures like reaction times (RT) or accuracy as indirect measures

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20
Q

what experiment is used as an example in experimental cognitive psychology?

A

the Stroop test

asked to name the visual colour of the word and ignore the actual word (which is a colour)

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21
Q

what does the stroop test, test for?

A

to test whether word reading is automatic. if it is, it will interfere with colour naming and cause longer reaction times and more errors

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22
Q

name a limitation of experimental cognitive psychology (1)

A

ecological validity

findings are unlikely to be generalised outside of the lab

stroop test is good to measure peoples self control but unlikely to be useful for other behaviours

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23
Q

name a limitation of experimental cognitive psychology (2)

A

face validity

only provides indirect measures of cognitive processes

measure through an indirect window of behaviour to gain insight into the cognitive processes

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24
Q

name a limitation of experimental cognitive psychology (3)

A

do psychological concepts even exist?

scientists should guard against tacitly granting reality to things simply because we have words for them

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25
Q

what is cognitive neuropsychology?

A

studying cognition in patients with brain injury e.g. brain trauma or a head injury

we assume if a patient has damage in one region of the brain and becomes unable to do certain things we can infer that region is more important for that action/thing

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26
Q

name a limitation of cognitive neuropsychology (1)

A

no baseline

we don’t exactly know what the patient could do before their injury

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27
Q

name a limitation of cognitive neuropsychology (2)

A

generalisation

lesions in some areas of the brain are relatively common, while others are very rare

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28
Q

name a limitation of cognitive neuropsychology (3)

A

modularity

cognitive process X is likely distributed across multiple areas, not just one

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29
Q

what is cognitive neuroscience?

A

relates brain structure and brain function to cognitive processes

typically done by recording brain activity while participants perform cognitive tasks

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30
Q

what are the tools to study the brain?

A

Electrophysiology (EEG)
Structural Imaging (MRI)
Functional Imaging (fMRI)
Brain stimulation (TMS)

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31
Q

name the lobes of the cerebrum from front to back

A

frontal
parietal
occipital
temporal
cerebellum

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32
Q

describe electrophysiology: single-cell recordings

A

very small electrode records neural activity from within axon (intracellular) or from outside axon membrane (extracellular)

usually only obtained from animals, when is this justified

sometimes we have the rare chance of recording from (human) patients with epilepsy

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33
Q

describe electroencephalography (EEG)

A

electrical activity of a large number of neurons all firing together, recorded via electrodes on the scalp

allows us to measure neural activity in essentially real-time (millisecond scale)

not measuring individual neurons but rather a large number of neurons firing together

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34
Q

describe event-related potentials (ERPs)

A

measure EEG response to the same stimulus/task over and over

average waveform to generate an “event-related potential” (ERP)

just like averaging reaction times to get a cleaner estimate of the “true” effect

we can compare the ERPs between different psychological conditions (e.g. attended vs unattended stimuli)

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35
Q

name two advantages of EEG/ERP

A

very good temporal resolution (milliseconds) i.e. when something happens

portable and relatively cheap

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36
Q

name two limitations of EEG/ERP

A

poor spatial resolution (centimetres) i.e. where in the brain it happens

infinite number of possible origins for any signal recorded at the scalp, so we need solid computational models to make an informed guess

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37
Q

describe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

A

very strong magnetic field
0.5 - 7 Tesla (T)
60,000 times the magnetic field of the earth

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38
Q

what are the basic principles of MRI?

A

single protons in water molecules (A) tend to align to the powerful and stable magnetic field generated by the scanned (B)

we then disturb this alignment with short radio-frequency pulses and measure the resulting change in magnetic field (C)

different parts of the brain take different times to relax from the radio frequency disturbance, and show as lighter/darker

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39
Q

describe a structural MRI

A

used to determine how much brain matter there is, what shape it is and where the different regions are

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40
Q

describe diffusion tensor imaging

A

DTI can image white matter fibres (bundles of axons) by measuring the direction of water diffusion

allows us to study how cognition/perception is supported by connections between brain regions

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41
Q

what does BOLD stand for?

A

Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (signal)

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42
Q

describe functional MRI

A

measures indirectly how brain activity changes as a function of doing different kinds of things

measures the BOLD

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43
Q

describe what occurs during BOLD

A

active neurons need oxygen

the brain starts supplying oxygen to active areas, producing an “overshoot” in oxygenated blood

oxygenated blood cause less magnetic field disturbance than deoxygenated blood, so active brain regions will have higher signal

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44
Q

describe subtraction logic

A

ppts study a list of words and then are visually presented with words individually on the screen and asked if it was studied or not (i.e. old or new)

remembered vs baseline does not isolate the cognitive process we care about

cognitive tasks should be designed so that the only difference between two conditions is the thing you are interested in

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45
Q

name an advantage of MRI

A

very good spatial resolution (millimetres)

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46
Q

name a limitation of MRI (1)

A

poor temporal resolution

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47
Q

name a limitation of MRI (2)

A

not a measure of neurons themselves

requires an indirect interference that neurons are firing because that part of the brain is using more oxygen

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48
Q

why do we use brain stimulation techniques?

A

to know if a particular part of your brain is important for a cognitive process, we need to change the activity of that part of the brain and show that it changes behaviour

i.e. we need causal evidence, not just correlational

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49
Q

describe transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

A

short magnetic pulses that briefly affect electrical activity in a localised patch of brain tissue under the coil

is typically applied either before or during a cognitive task

can have positive or negative effects on task performance

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50
Q

name an advantage of brain stimulation (1)

A

causal evidence that a particular brain region is important for a cognitive function

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51
Q

name an advantage of brain stimulation (2)

A

mostly non invasive
i.e. safe and painless for healthy populations

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52
Q

name a limitation of brain stimulation (1)

A

stimulation of the brain is very weak as it happens from outside of the head therefore, the effects are often weak

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53
Q

name a limitation of brain stimulation (2)

A

potential risk to individuals with history of epilepsy

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54
Q

name a limitation of cognitive neuroscience (1)

A

expensive/invasive

worth the expense?
often means that sample sizes are small
generalisable?

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55
Q

name a limitation of cognitive neuroscience (2)

A

theories

emphasis in the literature on measuring brain effects rather than testing theories

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56
Q

name a limitation of cognitive neuroscience (3)

A

does it help us understand cognition?
could a neuroscientist understand a microprocessor?

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57
Q

what do illusions suggest?

A

the brain doesn’t see at all

it receives electrical signals about how light interacts with the eye, and then it must infer what is out there in the world

your cognitive abilities have limits

you aren’t as aware of the world as you think you are

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58
Q

how do we know what we see in an image is actually there?

A

we make these inferences just from photons which are bouncing off the surface in front of us and coming into our eyes and hitting the retina

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59
Q

name the steps from eye to cortex

A

reception
transduction
coding

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60
Q

describe reception

A

absorption of physical energy - i.e. photons

physical energy enters our eyes and interacts with photoreceptors after hitting the retina

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61
Q

describe transduction

A

physical energy is converted into an electrochemical pattern in the neurons

our photoreceptors convert this energy from the photon into electrochemical signals which then get sent down to neurons, our brain cells in our brain

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62
Q

describe coding

A

one to one correspondence between aspects of the physical stimulus and aspects of the resultant nervous system activity

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63
Q

what is the difference between rods and cones?

A

rods are concerned with vision in dim light and movement

whereas cones are concerned with colour vision and sharpness of vision

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64
Q

what is the retina?

A

the back surface of the eye which is covered in tiny little photoreceptors (rods and cones)

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65
Q

where are cones primarily located?

A

right where we’re looking at in the fovea (small depression within the neurosensory retina where visual acuity is the highest)

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66
Q

where are rods primarily located?

A

primarily distributed in the periphery that is outside of or around what we are looking at

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67
Q

is colour processed as colour through the retina?

A

no, but can still be perceived

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68
Q

what light do humans respond to?

A

visible light, the part of the much wider electromagnetic spectrum that our cones and rods respond to

the human eye is not sensitive to light in the green range

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69
Q

what is the trichromatic theory?

A

that all colours of the spectrum can be produced by mixing 3 primary colours

Helmholtz proposed that there must be three types of colour receptors in the human eye, responding to different wavelengths of light

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70
Q

what are the three types of cones that prefer different wavelengths?

A

short (blue)
medium (yellow-green)
long (red)

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71
Q

what is the opponent-process theory?

A

the idea that maybe these inputs from our 3 different types of cones are processed in a kind of opposition manner to not give us how blue something is etc but actually tell us where something falls on a scale from red to green and from blue to yellow or on a scale from dark to light

this process works by taking the input from red and green cones and subtracting them

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72
Q

how do you calculate the signal which describes reddish greenness where something falls between red or green?

A

the difference between red and green cones input and sending that electrical signal to the brain

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73
Q

what is colour constancy?

A

the tendency for a surface to appear to have the same colour despite a change in the wavelength contained in the illuminant (the light source)

evolutionarily very helpful

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74
Q

does visible light (humans view) reflect what the object actually is?

A

no, a flower that appears to our visible light vision may look completely different to a butterfly with ultraviolet vision. None is more right than the other so its hard to state what is the true perception

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75
Q

what are the two pathways that occur after the retina?

A

Parvocellular (P) pathway

Magnocellular (M) pathway

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76
Q

what is the parvocellular pathway?

A

sensitive to colour and fine detail -> most input comes from cones

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77
Q

what is the magnocellular pathway?

A

most sensitive to motion -> most input from rods

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78
Q

describe the pathways from the eye to the brain?

A

retina
optic nerve
optic chiasm
lateral geniculate nucleus
cortical area V1

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79
Q

how is vision wired?

A

contralaterally

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80
Q

how is vision contralaterally wired?

A

the signals reaching the left visual cortex come from the left sides of the two retinas, and signals reaching the right visual cortex from the right sides of the two retinas

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81
Q

what are the three properties of visual neurons?

A

receptive fields
retinotopy
lateral inhibition

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82
Q

describe receptive fields

A

the region of the sensory space (i.e. retina) within which light will cause the neuron to fire

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83
Q

describe retinotopy

A

things that are near to each other in space are processed in cells that are physically near to one another

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84
Q

describe lateral inhibition

A

a reduction of activity (inhibition) in one neuron that is caused by a neighbouring neuron

useful for enhancing contrast at edges of objects

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85
Q

what is the lateral geniculate nucleus?

A

part of the thalamus - a subcortical relay for most of the brain’s sensory input and motor output (really fast pathway connected to motor system)

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86
Q

what do cells surround in the lateral geniculate nucleus?

A

receptive field

responds to differences in light across their receptive field (e.g. light in centre, dark in surround, sensitive)

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87
Q

name the qualities of the lateral geniculate nucleus

A

maintains a retinotopic map

correlates signals from the
retina in space and time

“is an object moving toward
me?”

provides the early 3D representation of space for action

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88
Q

what is the primary visual cortex [V1] (next stop)?

A

extracts basic information from the visual scene (e.g. edges, orientations, wavelengths of light)

sends this information for later stages of processing of shape, colour, movement, etc

maintains retinotopy

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89
Q

what do single cell recording by Hubel and Wiesel (1979) indicate?

A

that some cells respond to simple features (e.g. points of light) and others combine those features into more complex ones (e,g, adjacent points of light may combine into a line)

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90
Q

what does damage to V1 (blindsight) lead to?

A

a clinical diagnosis of cortical blindness (the patient cannot consciously report objects presented in this region of space)

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91
Q

what are patients diagnosed with cortical blindness still able to do?

A

make some visual discriminations in the “blind” areas (e.g. orientation, movement direction) - called blindsight)

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92
Q

why can patients with cortical blindness still make some visual discriminations?

A

as there are other routes from the eye to the brain, the geniculostriate route may be specialised for conscious vision but other routes act unconsciously

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93
Q

what is the functional specialisation theory?

A

different parts of the visual cortex are specialised for different visual functions

the visual system resembles a team of workers each of whom works on their own to solve part of a complex problem

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94
Q

What do V1 & V2 handle?

A

early stage of visual perception (e.g. shapes)

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95
Q

What do V3 & V3a handle?

A

responsive to form (especially of moving objects)

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96
Q

What does V5/MT handle?

A

responsive to visual motion

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97
Q

What does V4 handle?

A

responsive to colour

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98
Q

summarise functional specialisation theory

A

colour, form, and motion are processed in anatomically separate parts of the visual cortex

but evidence comes mostly from studies in macaques, what about humans?

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99
Q

What did Zeik et al’s study find?

A

V4 more active for coloured than grayscale images (specialised for colour)

V5 more active for moving dots compared with static dots (specialised for motion)

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100
Q

what can patients with cortical ACHROMATOPSIA not do?

A

see colours because of damage to V4, but often also due to damage to V2 and V3 (despite a fully functioning retina)

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101
Q

What do case studies of patients with achromatopsia indicate and conclude?

A

intact implicit colour processing

conclude V4 is involved in colour processing but the link between colour processing and V4 is not perfect

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102
Q

what does brain damage to V5/MT lead to?

A

Akinetopsia (cannot process movement)

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103
Q

what is the binding problem?

A

as sighted people don’t perceive the colour of things separately to their shape despite the brain processing things separately, scientists are concerned with how the different features bound together to enable to coherent object processing

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104
Q

what is a possible solution to the binding problem?

A

coherent perception depends on synchronised neural activity between brain regions, which most likely depends on attention

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105
Q

what are the two important visual pathways?

A

parietal (or dorsal) processing pathway (where)

temporal (or ventral) processing pathway (what)

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106
Q

what is the parietal (dorsal/where) processing pathway?

A

concerned with movement processing “Vision for action”

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107
Q

what is the temporal (ventral/what) processing pathway?

A

concerned with colour and for processing “Vision for perception”

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108
Q

what are the steps of object recognition?

A
  1. early visual processing (colour, motion, edges etc)
  2. perceptual segregation: grouping of visual elements (Gestalt principles, figure-ground segmentation)
  3. matching grouped visual description onto a representation of the object stored in the brain (called structural descriptions)
  4. attaching meaning to the object (based on prior semantic knowledge)
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109
Q

what is perceptual segregation?

A

separating visual input into individual objects

thought to occur before object recognition

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110
Q

what is Gestalt psychology?

A

fundamental principle: the law of prägnaz

of several geometrically possible organisations, that one will actually occur which possess the best, simplest, and most stable shape

assumes a set of rules that operate early in visual processing

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111
Q

what are Gestalt’s laws of perceptual organisation?

A

a) the law of proximity
b) the law of similarity
c) the law of good continuation
d) the law of closure

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112
Q

what is the faces-goblet illusion?

A

an ambiguous drawing which can be seen either as two faces or as a goblet

whichever you perceive seems to be in front of the other -i.e. it is the figure

it is assumed that more attention is paid to the figure than the ground

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113
Q

what are problems with Gestalt’s psychology?

A

segmentation processes aren’t always bottom-up and following the laws of perceptual organisation

most evidence only descriptive, not explanatory

relies heavily on introspection and evidence from 2D drawings

some segmentation clearly occurs via top-down prior knowledge

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114
Q

in which stream/pathway is object information processed?

A

“what” temporal/ventral pathway

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115
Q

define agnosia

A

impairment in object recognition (without primary visual deficits)

different kinds of impairments should arise depending on the stage at which object recognition is damaged

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116
Q

what are the two types of agnosia?

A

apperceptive
associative

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117
Q

describe apperceptive agnosia

A

impairment in the process which constructs a perceptual representation from vision (e.g. grouping)

seeing the parts but not the whole

associated with lateral occipital lobe damage

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118
Q

what is associative agnosia?

A

impairment in the process which maps a perceptual representation onto knowledge of the objects functions and associations

seeing the whole but not its meaning

associated with occipito-temporal damage

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119
Q

Describe the case study (Patient HJA) for apperceptive agnosia

A

bilateral ventral-medial occipital damage

HJA could recognise objects from touch but had a marked impairment in visual object recognition, particularly for line drawings over silhouettes

when shown a paintbrush “it appears to be two things close together but obviously it is one thing or else you would have told me”

HJA had problems grouping or organising information (e.g., recognising any objects presented together with other objects)

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120
Q

describe the case study associative agnosia

A

visual object agnosia
one of several varieties of associative agnosia

patient LH - preserved ability to copy drawings of objets, but unable to name them or show what they are for i.e. no access of semantics

damage to occiptio-temporal regions

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121
Q

what are some caveats with object perception?

A

mostly white male western researchers and ppts

west prioritises processing/categorising objects, east asians prioritise relationships between objects and context

never assume that psychological “truths” apply to all of humanity

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122
Q

does damage to the ventral visual stream (what) have impairments on all categories of objects?

A

some evidence suggests that there are impairments in only one particular category of objects

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123
Q

what can be associated with agnosia for different types of objects like naming faces animals and tools?

A

lesions to different areas of the what stream (ventral)

faces seem to be personal

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124
Q

what is the issue with faces in object recognition?

A

face recognition is a within category discrimination - all faces look very similar

other object recognition is between-category
e.g. distinguishing a pen from a cup

possible face recognition has a different type of processing

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125
Q

what is prosopagnosia?

A

impairment of face processing that doesn’t come from damage to early visual processing

e.g. De Renzi - patient failed to recognise his own family but could do so by voice or clothes
impairment at the stage of matching to stored information

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126
Q

what is the fusiform face area?

A

part of the ventral (what) stream

responds to faces more than other types of objects in functional imaging experiments

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127
Q

what is holistic processing (concerning face recognition)?

A

features of faces are processed (and subsequently remembered) less than for other types of objects, like houses

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128
Q

what does Gauthier and colleagues suggest about faces?

A

they are special because we have become experts at within-category discrimination

claims that becoming an expert at “Greeble” discrimination involves the fusiform face area, as do other types of within category discrimination

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129
Q

name a criticism of categorising faces as special?

A

not all prosopagnosic patients are impaired on within-category discrimination

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130
Q

what is attention?

A

attention is the way we select one thing to be aware of out out of a large number of possible things in front of us that we could be aware of at any given moment in time

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131
Q

how does attention help our brains with handling stimuli?

A

attention reduces the sensory stimuli information overload and determines what we perceive

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132
Q

what are the three paradigms to study the limits of attention?

A

inattentional blindness
change blindness
attentional blink

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133
Q

what is inattentional blindness?

A

we as humans overestimate how much of the world we are actually aware of

even very salient (i.e. attention capturing) things can be missed

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134
Q

what are the assumptions of inattentional blindness?

A

can be concluded easily in healthy participants

occurs more frequently if the display is transparent

depends on the difficulty of the task, the more the primary task occupies attention, the less likely they are to see the gorilla/umbrella

so, attention is a limited resource that you distribute

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135
Q

what is central capacity theory?

A

a single central capacity (e.g., central executive; attention) that can be used flexibly

strictly limited resources

single pool shared between competing tasks

dual task costs will emerge when two tasks exceed the total resource available

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136
Q

what is the attentional blink?

A

we can make something invisible by showing it to people very quickly after showing them something else that is important to them

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137
Q

what are the key features of the attentional blink?

A
  • rapid visual stimuli (at ~10hz)
  • ppts asked to look out for 2 targets and report if they saw them at the end of each trial
  • the first target is referred to as T1, and the second target as T2
  • masks (i.e. distractors) need to follow T1 and T2 for the effect to work
138
Q

what is N400?

A

when your brain accesses the meaning of almost any stimulus (a word, picture, sound) we see a negative event-related potential, called the N400

139
Q

what does the N400 reflect?

A

cognitive processes related to accessing the meaning (Semantics) of a stimulus

140
Q

what do we use N400 for?

A

as a sign (or marker) that someone’s brain is processing meaning, without them telling us with their behaviour

141
Q

what is the interference theory?

A

T1, T2 and their masks (=distractors) are all encoded into a temporal buffer - e.g. visual short-term memory

the AB is a competition for retrieval among all items in short-term memory

142
Q

what is the unified model (for AB)?

A

due to the mask following T1, increased attention is required to process T1

this leaves less attention for processing of T2, which leaves T2 vulnerable to decay or interference from distractors

143
Q

what is the Dichotic listening tasks?

A

unattended auditory information is processed to a lower level of complexity than attended information

1/3 of participants report hearing their name in the unattended channel

easier if voices are physically different
- bottom up processing

144
Q

what is the cocktail party problem?

A

a familiar voice is easier to pay attention to AND easier to ignore

we use our own experiences of the world to help to solve the cocktail party problem
- top down processing

145
Q

for attention as early selection, what is Broadbent’s theory?

A

parallel input into sensory register

inputs are then filtered on the basis of its physical characteristics

  • filtering prevents overloading of the limited capacity mechanism

-inputs remaining in the buffer after filter are available for later (semantic) processing

146
Q

what are some critiques for Broadbent’s theory?

A

at least some parts of the unattended stream are processed semantically (e.g. hearing your name within a conversation you’re not paying attention to)

stimuli that people don’t report ever experiencing can still change their behaviour - e.g. blindsight from last week

147
Q

for attention as late selection, what is Deutsch and Deutsch’s study?

A

all stimuli are fully analysed
the bottleneck occurs late, before the response

the most relevant stimulus determines what response is made

but early sensory event-related potentials (~100ms post-stimulus) are smaller if unattended

results favour Treisman’s perspective

148
Q

for attention as flexible selection, what is Treisman’s leaky filter?

A

unattended info is attenuated/filtered after the sensory register

stimulus analysis proceeds through a hierarchy from physical characteristics of the stimulus up to its meaning and beyond

when capacity is reached, tests at the top of the hierarchy are precluded for all but the ‘attended’ stimulus

precise location of the bottleneck is more flexible than in Broadbent’s model

149
Q

when is attentional selection happening?

A

initially the field considered a distinction between early (e.g., Broadbent) and late (e.g., Deutsch & Deutsch) selection

in reality it is probably flexible and influenced by many top down and bottom up processes

150
Q

what is covert attention: The Posner Cueing Paradigm?

A

sighted people can pay attention to a part of space that they aren’t directly looking at - called “covert attention”

Posner designed a paradigm to measure how that works

151
Q

what is endogenous attentional system?

A

choosing to pay attention to a particular part of space makes you react faster to things that happen in that part of space

controlled by the individual’s intentions and expectations

involved when central cues are presented

top down

152
Q

what is exogenous attentional system?

A

the same is true if your attention is drawn to that part of space without you intending to, BUT ONLY if something happens in that part of space very quickly after you shift your attention to it

automatically shifts attention

involved when uninformative peripheral cues are presented

stimuli that are salient or that differ from other stimuli are most likely to be attended

bottom up

153
Q

what is the visual search paradigms: feature search?

A

target has a unique feature that is not shared by other items in the display and therefore “pops out”

154
Q

what is the feature integration theory?

A

perceptual features are encoded in parallel and prior to attention - “pop out”

if an object shares features with other objects, then it cannot be detected from a single perceptual feature and spatial attention is needed to search all candidates serially

aka an object is only an object if you pay attention to it

155
Q

what are the stages of a visual search?

A
  1. rapid initial parallel process to identify features
    attention-independent
  2. next, a slow serial process to form objects by combining features
    - focused visual attention binds the features into an object
    -feature combination can be influenced by prior knowledge (e.g., bananas are yellow)
156
Q

when can illusory conjunctions (of features) occur?

A

when focused attention is absent (e.g. very brief presentations, or presentations outside focus of attention)

when relevant stored knowledge is absent

when spatial attention is diverted

when display is presented in peripheral vision

157
Q

what does the evidence against FIT suggest?

A

FIT argues that an object is only an object if it is attended to

however, negative priming tasks (e.g. Tipper, 1985) show semantic (meaning) processing of unattended stimuli

158
Q

what are some strengths of FIT?

A

an important contribution to explaining what happens within the attentional spotlight

influenced thinking on a variety of topics from early sensory encoding to later attentional control

159
Q

what are some weaknesses of FIT?

A

doesn’t explain why the similarity of distractors is influential

neglect/extinction patients have problems with both conjunctive and single-feature targets

160
Q

lesions in the “what” (temporal/dorsal) stream?

A

specific impairments in object recognition

161
Q

lesions in “where” (parietal/dorsal) stream?

A

deficits in spatial attention

162
Q

what is Bálient’s syndrome?

A

two strokes damaging large areas of bilateral occipito- cortex

among other impairments was unable to focus attention on more than one object at a time (simultanagnosia)

particular problems combining features of a stimulus: made conjunction errors even when seeing objects for 10 secs

parietal lobe (the “where” pathway) is important for feature binding

163
Q

what were the findings for corbetta et al?

A

the posterior temporal cortex showed increased activation during conjunction search over baseline control conditions

164
Q

what are conjunction errors?

A

when you perceive an object that isn’t really there

165
Q

what is hemispatial neglect?

A

a lack of awareness of stimuli presented to the side of space on the opposite side to the brain damage (contralesional)

166
Q

why is the cancellation task a symptom of hemispatial neglect?

A

patients asked to add a line through pre existing lines on a piece of paper

patients ‘ignored’ lines on the left hand side of the paper (damage on the right hand side of the brain)

167
Q

why is line bisection a symptom of hemispatial neglect?

A

patients asked to draw a vertical line through the centre of a horizontal line

patients with hemispatial neglect drew the line closer to the right

168
Q

why is copying a symptom of hemispatial neglect?

A

patents often ignored left hand side of the clock (numbers) but not the circle

participants only drew the right hand side of the images

169
Q

where does hemispatial neglect typically affect?

A

right hand side of the brain

170
Q

what happened in Bisiach & Luzzati’s study?

A

two patients with neglect were asked to imagine and describe the Piazza del duomo in milan

both reported primarily the objects on the spared side of space
i.e. they had representational neglect

171
Q

what does a deficit to attend to information in contralesional space affect?

A

for external sensory space

for info in the “minds eye” (representational neglect)

for bodily space

172
Q

what is extinction (in terms of attention)?

A

patients detect a single stimulus presented to one visual field (typically left), but fail to detect the same stimulus when another stimulus is simultaneously presented to the other field

phenomenon of visual extinction suggests different perceptual representations are competing for attention (and visual awareness)

173
Q

who is extinction more likely to affect?

A

often found in patients suffering from neglect, but can occur independently

174
Q

what does extinction suggest?

A

that visual attention isn’t unitary, but is a result of local competition between representations

175
Q

what type of processing happens to things in the neglected field?

A

a lot of basic perceptual processing

176
Q

are the meanings for neglected objects processed?

A

they must be

an object presented to the neglected field can change the patient’s behaviour i.e. there is a priming effect

177
Q

what does ADHD stand for?

A

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

178
Q

what symptoms characterise adhd?

A

hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention beginning in childhood

179
Q

name the three subtypes of adhd?

A

predominantly inattentive

predominantly hyperactive/impulsive

combined inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive

180
Q

define predominantly inattentive

A

difficulty in finishing a task, following instructions; easily distracted

181
Q

define predominantly hyperactive/impulsive

A

difficulty in sitting still for long periods; fidgeting; speaks or acts at inappropriate times

182
Q

what are the inattention symptoms (at least 6 required)?

A
  • has poor attention to details, makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, homework or other activites
  • has difficulty in sustaining attention
  • does not appear to listen when spoken to directly
  • does not follow instruction or finish tasks
  • has difficulty organising tasks and activities
  • avoids or dislikes tasks that require sustained mental effort
  • loses things necessary for tasks or activities
  • is easily distracted
  • is forgetful in daily activities
183
Q

what are the hyperactivity and impulsivity symptoms (at least 6 required)?

A
  • fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat
  • leaves seat when expected to remain there
  • runs about excessively and inappropriately
  • has difficulty in playing quietly
  • is always ‘on the go’
  • talks excessively
  • blurts out answers before the question is complete
  • cannot wait for their turn
  • interrupts or intrudes on others
184
Q

what are some characteristics of adhd?

A

symptoms present before age of 12

clinically significant impairment in social or academic/occupational functioning

some symptoms that cause impairment are present in 2 or more settings

e.g. school/work, home, recreational

not due to another disorder

e.g. autism, mood/anxiety disorder

185
Q

how more likely are parents/siblings of a child with a diagnosis of ADHD to have a diagnosis of their own?

A

4-5 times more likely

186
Q

what are some factors that affect heritability of adhd?

A

prenatal exposure to alcohol and nicotine

premature birth and low birth weight

prenatal brain injury

environmental toxins e.g. lead, pesticides

187
Q

what are executive functions?

A

they coordinate other brain modules to enable flexible, purposeful, goal-directed behaviour

188
Q

what are executive functions needed for?

A

to optimise performance in situations that require coordination between several cognitive processes

e.g. completing a psychology experiment

189
Q

are executive functions specific to one domain?

A

no

supervisory, controlling, or meta-cognitive, rather than specific to one domain (memory, perception, language, motor)

190
Q

what are executive functions linked to?

A

distinction between automatic and controlled behaviour (latter requires executive functions)

strongly linked to prefrontal cortex (PFC)

191
Q

describe anatomy prefrontal cortex (part 1)

A

dorsolateral = front of the prefrontal cortex on top of ventrolateral

ventrolateral = front of the prefrontal cortex beneath the dorsolateral

lateral PFC

anterior cingulate cortex

orbital PFC

192
Q

describe anatomy of prefrontal cortex (part 2)

A

PFC is connected to almost all of the rest of the brain

three surfaces: lateral, medial and orbital

lateral surface implicated in “cold” control processes (cognitive aspects), orbital and medial more implicated in “hot” control (emotional/social regulation of behaviour)

193
Q

what did Norman and Shallice identify as the five general situations where executive functions are required?

A

1) situations involving planning or decision making
2) situations involving error correction or trouble-shooting
3) situations where responses are not well-learned or contain novel sequences of actions
4) situation judged to be dangerous or technically difficult
5) situations that require the overcoming of a strong habitual

194
Q

how do patients with PFC damage react to wisconsin card sorting test?

A

fail to update the rule and exhibit preservation behaviour

i.e. they keep responding using a previously correct response

therefore, PFC is involved in error correction and troubleshooting

195
Q

what occurs in the DLPFC?

A

DLPFC responded during the feedback period, regardless of whether it was a positive or negative feedback

Ventrolateral PFC (VLPFC) most strongly activated for negative feedback, suggesting the involvement of this region when there is a need to change the rule

196
Q

what does functional imaging and lesion studies suggest?

A

Involvement of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and pre-SMA (Supplementary Motor Area)

197
Q

what is the role of the anterior cingulate (ACC) in executive functions?

A

detection of errors and detection of response conflict (i.e. potential errors)

monkeys with lesions here don’t trouble shoot after marking an error

the “error potential’ at scalp may originate here

fMRI shows activity greatest on error trial, but lateral PFC greatest on error (+) trial

suggests ACC detects but doesn’t correct errors

198
Q

what does petrides theory of working memory: non-unitary model assume?

A

assumes division of PFC into at least two separate processes - maintenance (retention) and manipulation (updating)

a self-ordered pointing task

patients with PFC damage are impaired at self-ordered pointing task

199
Q

what did Frith discover for functional specialisation within PFC?

A

left DLPFC may be responsible for selecting a range of plausible responses

sculpting the response space / task setting

left DLPFC active in “free will”

choosing which finger to move or which word to say vs being told what to do

TMS over left DLPC disrupts random digit generation

200
Q

what is the N back task?

A

may be important in monitoring and sustained attention

both for externally presented information (perception tasks) and internally generated information (memory tasks)

activity greatest in conditions of uncertainty - e.g. tip-of-tongue states, confidence judgements in memory (low confidence = greater activity)

201
Q

what are the unitary accounts explanation for theories of executive functions?

A

unitary accounts argue that there are no ‘executive functions’, just one general underlying function

in support of this, patient’s performance on many tests of executive function are correlated with each other, and with fluid intelligence

single-cell recording of PFC neurons in monkeys show that they change their responsiveness flexibly according to task demands, so any part of PFC may be able to do any ‘executive function’ given the right circumstances

202
Q

what is the multiple demand network?

A

a single set of fronto-parietal brain regions

active during all tasks that we consider to involve executive functions

divides complex tasks into a sequence of “attentional episodes”

i.e. the ability to break down a complex task into smaller less complex segments

203
Q

what evidence is there to support multiple demand network as the seat of complex thought?

A

Wooglar et al

80 patients with focal, adult-onset brain lesions

patients with more of their lesions within the MD systems showed a greater deficit in fluid intelligence (i.e. reasoning, problem solving)

this relationship did not exist for lesions within the language network

therefore, MD is needed for complex thought

204
Q

what are the three features of everyday memory?

A

content more important than accuracy - i.e. are the crucial items of information remembered

autobiographically memories are often memories of memories (memories of events in your own life)

related to and involves what is called episodic memory and semantic memory in traditional memory in traditional memory research

205
Q

what is schema?

A

integrated knowledge structure for things

captures commonly encountered aspects of life

determine how we process story information

influence what we remember from stories

can change and be updated over time

206
Q

what are the uses for schema?

A

allows us to form expectations

helps us to draw inferences
go beyond the explicit

information provided based on knowledge of the world

207
Q

what is memory?

A

interaction between events and our own pre-existing schemata (general knowledge, beliefs, expectations)

combination of memory traces + general world knowledge

208
Q

what is schema-relevant ?

A

better memory than schema-irrelevant

209
Q

what is schema-congruent?

A

schema can provide retrieval cues

210
Q

what is schema-incongruent?

A

elaboration, attracted attention

211
Q

what is schema-irrelevant?

A

no good memory

212
Q

what is remembering?

A

reproduction / reconstruction of an event

213
Q

what is infantile amnesia?

A

no memories until age 3

214
Q

what is the reminiscence bump?

A

an increase in the percentage of autobiographical memories that happened between the age of 15 to 25

215
Q

what is the recency effect?

A

better memories between 45 and 55

means that things that happened in the not too long distance past will stick with you a little bit better

216
Q

what is Freud’s repression explanation for childhood amnesia?

A

repression of sexual feelings towards parents

217
Q

what is the neurological explanation for childhood amnesia?

A

e.g. hippocampus and frontal lobes are still developing

218
Q

name 4 other explanations for childhood amnesia?

A

underdeveloped schema’s / semantic memory

language development

emergent cognitive self
- unique and identifiable entity
- self recognition around 18 months

multi-component

219
Q

what is the neurological view of the reminiscence bump?

A

brain “peakP - brain is neither maturing nor declining

220
Q

what is the identify formation view of the reminiscence bump?

A

time of important decisions (which also shape future)

life script, or life narrative: coherent, integrated account of who we are and how we became like this

sense of adult identity

221
Q

what is the cognitive view of the reminiscence bump?

A

primacy effect: better memory for first time events, less proactive interference

should also be apparent at other times when there is a great deal of change and experience with ‘firsts’: immigrant study

222
Q

what is proactive interference?

A

when previous similar events or experiences interfere with out current experiences

223
Q

what the features of autobiographical memory?

A

truthful to the gist of actual experiences

tendency to place ourselves centre-stage

tendency for favourable view of present self

tendency to create a coherent memory

224
Q

explain tendency to create a coherent memory?

A

i.e. consist with our current goals and beliefs

Conway (1990): questioned students before and after exams

Questions on expected grades, validity of tests, how well students were prepared / how much they studied, how important marks were

If better than expected mark: number of studied hours same, but now likely to say that mark was more important

If worse than expected mark: claimed to have done less work, claimed grades are not that important, and tests less valid

225
Q

what are flashbulb memories?

A

highly detailed and vivid memories for surprising events that are relatively resistant to forgetting e.g 9/11

226
Q

what are the features of flashbulb memories?

A

where were you? what were you doing? how did you feel?

a mechanism that acts like a camera to record details in certain emotional situations

227
Q

what is the cross race effect?

A

W-W better than W-B; B-B better than B-W

228
Q

what is the expertise hypothesis for the cross race effect?

A

more experience distinguishing faces of same race

229
Q

what is the social-cognitive hypothesis for the cross race effect?

A

more thorough facial processing of faces of the in-group compared to the out-group

230
Q

what is confirmation bias?

A

remembering what you expect to see

231
Q

what is unconscious transference?

A

correctly recognises face, but assigned incorrectly to perpetrator

232
Q

what is the law of repetition?

A

more (maintenance) rehearsal -> better retention

but not only rehearsal determines learning

233
Q

what are the 3 core memory processes?

A

encoding/acquisition
storage/maintenance
retrieval/remembering

234
Q

what is encoding/acquisition?

A

transformation from perceptual representations into cognitive/attentional focus
attention to select between what is relevant and what is left out

235
Q

what is storage/maintenance?

A

how is a “memory” kept in focus of attention (STM) or in long-term (LTM)?
how much can be kept?

236
Q

what is retrieval/remembering?

A

bringing back into focus of attention

237
Q

describe/draw the multi store memory model

A

sensory input -> sensory store
unattended info is quickly lost
-> attention
short term memory
rehearsal
unrehearsed info is quickly lost
<- retrieval
-> storage
long term memory
some information may be “lost” over time

238
Q

name each memory stores duration

A

sensory - msecs-secs
short term - secs-mins
long term - days, years, indefinite

239
Q

describe the sensory store

A

fills in the blanks when there is intermittent stimulation (e.g. sparkler, ‘What did you say?’) -. perception briefly held in memory

240
Q

what is the function of the sensory memory store?

A

to keep sensory information in mind so we can attend to it (if we want to)

forms automatically, doesn’t need attention
info = pre-categorical (not yet interpreted)

241
Q

name the types of memory in the sensory memory store

A

iconic memory - for vision
echoic memory - for hearing
haptic memory - for touch
olfactory memory - for smell
gustatory memory - for taste

242
Q

what is the capacity of the sensory memory store?

A

Averbach (1963)
iconic memory = 4-5 items

Sperling
large amount held in iconic memory

243
Q

how is the iconic memory capacity calculated?

A

the sum of the average performance for each row, for each partial condition

244
Q

what is the duration for iconic memory in the sensory memory store?

A

+/- 0.5 s (aside from photographic/eidetic memory)

245
Q

what is the function of short term memory?

A

conscious processing of information

attention is key

limits what info comes under the spotlight of short-term memory at any given time

246
Q

what is the capacity for short term memory?

A

miller, 1956
magical number 7 +/- 2

allowed for some degree of rehearsal and chunking (LTM)

247
Q

what is the duration for short term memory?

A

if not rehearsed, info is lost within +/- 15-20 secs

248
Q

what is rehearsal?

A

the process of repetitively verbalising or thinking about the information

249
Q

what is retroactive interference?

A

new learning interferes with old memory

250
Q

what is proactive interference?

A

old learning interferes with new memory

previous trials generate interference
gradual decline in performance

251
Q

what are reasons for interference being the more likely cause of forgetting?

A

when stimuli are similar (cf. release from PI)
when learning large volumes of information
when learning in material close together in time
when learning in the same context

252
Q

describe the long term memory store

A

once info passes from sensory to short term memory, it can encoded into long term memory

253
Q

what is the function of the long term memory store?

A

organises and store information
different systems: explicit/declarative, implicit/non-declarative

254
Q

what is the capacity of the long term memory store?

A

unlimited

255
Q

what is the duration of the long term memory store?

A

permanent

256
Q

describe the working memory model

A

central executive ->
phonological loop ->
central executive ->
visuo-spatial sketchpad
central executive ->
episodic buffer -> LTM

257
Q

what is the central executive?

A

modality-free
central pool of mental resources (cf. attention)
no real storage

258
Q

what is the phonological loop?

A

“inner ear & voice”
verbal rehearsal
info = speech-based

259
Q

what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

A

“inner eye”
spatial and/or visual coding

260
Q

what is the episodic buffer?

A

holds an integrates diverse information

261
Q

what is the phonological store within the phonological loop?

A

“inner ear”
temporary storehouse, passive
limited in time (+/- 2 secs) and capacity
code = speech - based

262
Q

what is the articulatory loop within the phonological loop?

A

“inner voice”
active rehearsal component
linked to speech

263
Q

what is the evidence for the phonological loop?

A

phonological similarity effect
word length effect
unattended speech effect
articulatory suppression effect

264
Q

what is the phonological similarity effect?

A

errors more likely to be phonologically similar to correct item: F for S, B for G

more likely to misremember if items sound similar

D B C T G P harder than K W T Q L R

in deaf people, manual similarity

265
Q

what is the word length effect?

A

the memory span for short words is greater than for long words (i.e. you are able to recall more shorter words)

longer words usually have both (longer articulation as well as more syllables)

word length effect is due to articulation duration, not number of syllables

266
Q

what is the unattended speech effect?

A

performance impaired if other verbal material needs to be ignored

even with nonsense syllables
even if in different language
even with vocal music
less with instrumental music
not with (very loud) white noise

filter to distinguish between noise and speech

267
Q

what is articulatory suppression?

A

prevent rehearsal by (c)overt articulation

there is overall worse performance

articulatory suppression (saying thethethe) while learning items, when the to-be-learned items are presented visually will:
result in the speaker not being able to use sub-vocal articulation

when the to-be-learned items are presented auditorily, will:
have no effect on sub-vocal articulation, because the to-be-learned items have direct access to the phonological story

268
Q

what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

A

a system for setting up and manipulating images and spatial movement

limited capacity system for processing spatial, visual, and kinesthetic info

269
Q

what are the two components for the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

A

visual cache: visual info about shape & colour (the “what”)
inner scribe: spatial & movement info (“where”)

270
Q

what is the function of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

A

construction, maintenance, & manipulation of mental images -> isomorphic relation to perceptual images

better at identifying the components of an image if the mental image is large

271
Q

what is mental scanning?

A

manipulation of info in V-S sketchpad
learn map of island, keep in mind
now “go” (scan) from the well to the tree

mental scanning between two imagined landmarks increases linearly as the distance between them increases

272
Q

what is neurophysiological findings?

A

e.g. different brain areas active during visual (occipital) and spatial (parietal) WM-tasks

273
Q

describe the central executive

A

attentional system: maintain task goals and goal-related information and use this to direct/bias your processing

274
Q

what is the attention capacity for the central executive?

A

limited, no storage

275
Q

both the phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad are modality specific, what does this mean?

A

phonological loop (verbal)
visuo-spatial sketchpad (visual/spatial)

276
Q

describe the episodic buffer

A

can integrate information into single complex structure or episode

can hold about 4 pieces/chunks of info in multidimensional code

assists in binding - integrating info about location, colour, size, smell, feel, of objects and scenes

277
Q

define dementia

A

a neurological disorder caused by progressive cell death

progressive, irreversible, results in death, memory loss and effects on language functioning are hallmarks

278
Q

what is dementia characterised by?

A

memory impairment

and at least one of the following:
aphasia
apraxia
agnosia
abstract thinking / executive function impairments

impairment in social behaviour

not explainable by another disorder

279
Q

what is aphasia?

A

language impairments

280
Q

what is apraxia?

A

motor memory impairments

281
Q

what is agnosia?

A

sensory memory impairments

282
Q

what are the two categories dementia can be categorised into?

A

degenerative and non degenerative

283
Q

what are degenerative dementias?

A

presumed to have a degree of genetic cause, cortical and subcortical dementias

284
Q

what are non degenerative dementias?

A

a heterogeneous group of disorders with diverse origin

285
Q

name an example of a degenerative dementia (cortical)

A

Alzheimer’s disease
most common form (accounts for more than 65% of diagnoses)

286
Q

name an example of degenerative dementias (subcortical)

A

parkinson’s dementia (common) of Parkinsons patients, dopaminergic cell loss

287
Q

describe the progressive stages of Alzheimers

A

early
needs reminders
daily routines difficult
concentration is difficult
loss of recent memories

middle
may need hands on care
may get lost easily
changes in personality

late
severe confusion
needs help for personal care
may not recognise self or family

288
Q

what are the features of memory impairments?

A

difficulty learning or retaining new information (repeated conversations)

information retrieval deficits (can’t recall names)

personal episodic memory impairment (misplacing items)

declarative (semantic) memory (WHAT) more than procedural (implicit) memory (HOW)

289
Q

what are the features of language deficits?

A

list-generation deficits (Esp. in AD)
word-finding difficulties (naming problems)
verbal fluency deficits
less complex sentence structure
relatively preserved auditory comprehension

290
Q

what are the features of visuospatial impairments?

A

visual recognition impairments
trouble recognising familiar faces

spatial deficits
getting lost in familiar surroundings

291
Q

what are the features of executive function impairments?

A

planning, predicting, correlating, abstracting
often the first impairment noticed in highly educated/intelligent people

292
Q

what is cortical degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease

A

the entorhinal corrtex (link between neocortex and hippocampus) shows clearest evidence for cell loss, which may explain why memory problems occur early in the disease

affected areas are the limbic cortex, inferior temporal cortex, and posterior parietal cortex

the primary sensory and motor areas are spared

293
Q

name the four factors that can affect an eyewitness’ memory

A

perceptual stage
darkness, distance, duration, lighting

encoding stage
stress, violence

storage stage
time (decay, interference)

retrieval stage
questioning, expectations, misremembering

in general, we perceive and remember selectively and use imagination to fill in gaps. influence of schema’s

294
Q

explain the perceptual stage

A

darkness, distance, duration, lighting

lighting conditions significantly influences accuracy

identification of person during full moon more than 3 metres away is very dubious

295
Q

explain the encoding stage

A

stress violence

Yerkes-Dodson law (optimal level of arousal)

memory for central aspects of a violent event better than a non-violent event, but worse memory for peripheral aspects

Loftus
stress causes narrowing of attention

weapon focus
not just level of threat that is important
unexpectedness of a weapon in context
weapon focus greater when unexpected info

296
Q

explain storage stage

A

time: memory degrades over time

forgetting curve is Ebbinghausian in nature: sharp drop within 20 mins., continued forgetting until levelling out 2 days after event

children forget faster

297
Q

explain retrieval stage

A

leading questions, misinformation paradigm:
1. subjects view an event
2. subjects are exposed to (misleading) information about the event
3. subjects are tested for recall of the event to determine if the misleading information has an effect

-> retroactive interference

298
Q

what is interference (eyewitness)?

A

unconscious transference: correctly recognises face, but assigned incorrectly to perpetrator

299
Q

how does retroactive interference appear in eyewitness testimony?

A

blatant misinformation does not work, and also leads to mistrust of more subtle attempts

time - if misinformation is presented immediately after viewing the event, around 50% of subjects are able to resist its influence, this figure drops to 20% one week later

300
Q

how do you carry out a cognitive interview?

A

i.e. increase correct and decrease incorrect information

  1. recreate external & internal context
  2. report everything, even if fragmented
  3. report event in different orders
  4. report from different perspective
  5. do not interrupt witness in middle of narrative
    disrupts natural retrieval process
301
Q

what are the two main categories of long term memory?

A

implicit / non-declarative memory
explicit / declarative memory

302
Q

what is implicit / non-declarative memory?

A

ability to recall a movement sequence or how to perform some act or behaviour

unconscious memory: subjects can demonstrate knowledge, such as a skill conditioned response, or recalling events on prompting, but cannot explicitly retrieve the information

303
Q

what is explicit / declarative memory?

A

ability to recall what one knows, to detail the time, place, and circumstances of events

conscious memory: subjects can retrieve an item and indicate that they know that the retrieved item is the correct item

304
Q

what types of long term memory are explicit?

A

semantic
episodic

305
Q

what types of long term memory are implicit?

A

procedural knowledge
priming
conditioning

306
Q

what is procedural memory?

A

skills, how to perform certain actions, like riding your bike, blind typing on keyboard of your laptop, playing the piano

procedural learning occurs slowly, and gradually. often assessed in the lab through serial reaction time task (learning of a complex pattern over a sequence of trials)

307
Q

what is priming memory?

A

processing of a stimulus is influenced by a prior encounter with the same or a related stimulus

usually occurs rapidly

the repeated presentation of a stimulus means it can be processed more efficiently, using fewer resources

308
Q

what is the priming effect/repetition suppression effect?

A

in the case of reading words, the brain areas responsible for reading words need fewer resources the second time the word is presented, so there is a suppression effect in these brain areas

309
Q

how is implicit information processed?

A

a bottom up or data driven manner
information is encoded in the same way it was perceived
passive role

310
Q

how is explicit information processed?

A

a top down or conceptually driven manner
the subject is able to reorganise the information
active role

311
Q

what is amnesia?

A

term for loss of memory (“without memory”)

312
Q

what can cause amnesia?

A

acute virus infection that affects the brain
Parkinson’s disease
brain resection as treatment for epilepsy
physical accident
Korsakov syndrome
even psychological (psychogenic memory disorders)

313
Q

what type of amnesia did patient H.M have?

A

anterograde amnesia - forgets everything new after a few minutes

314
Q

what are the prime structures for explicit memory?

A

medial temporal region
- Hippocampus
- Amygdala
- Entorhinal cortex
- Parahippocampal cortex
- Perirhinal cortex

Frontal cortex (dorsolateral and ventrolateral)

Reciprocal connections

Between frontal and temporal brain regions

315
Q

what are the prime neural circuits for implicit memories?

A
  • Basal ganglia
  • Ventral thalamus
  • Substantia nigra
  • Premotor cortex
316
Q

what is consolidation of memories?

A

a process lasting several hours (days, even years) which fixes information in LTM

317
Q

what is the evidence for consolidation of memories?

A
  1. forgetting curve: memory traces most vulnerable shortly after learning
  2. cognitive neuroscience: 2 stages
    - first temporary storage in hippocampus (necessary to create memory trace, but not sufficient for consolidated memories)
    - second then transfer to cortex, involvement of distributed involvement of several areas
318
Q

what are the theories of forgetting?

A

decay
= fading of memory trace
consequence: how much remembered depends on time elapsed

interference
= memory traces disrupted or obscured by other material
consequence: more interpolated events lead to forgetting

319
Q

what is a billingual?

A

an individual who has the mental representation (knowledge) of one or more language for the purpose of understanding and/or speaking these languages

320
Q

how do bilinguals vary?

A

native bilinguals are those that have two native languages, sometimes called 2L1ers or simultaneous bilinguals

some bilinguals are more proficient in the L2 then their L1

som bilinguals become bilingual later in life. after the age of 4 and beyond a person is considered a second language learner

321
Q

describe the stages of cross-language

A

language -> competition -> resolution -> adaption

322
Q

how is cross-language in speech planning resolved?

A

two general alternatives:
1. bilinguals develop skill in selectively attending to the critical information that signals language status
2. bilinguals learn to inhibit irrelevant information once it has been activated

either of these mechanisms might confer positive cognitive consequences

speech production may be the critical juggling skill because only in speaking is there a requirement to select a single alternative among activated candidates

323
Q

what are the adaptations of the brain’s executive functions?

A

activation
- organising, prioritising, getting to work

focus
- tuning in, sustaining focus, shifting attention

effort
- regulating alertness, sustaining effort, adjusting processing speed

emotions
- managing frustration, modulating emotions

memory
- holding on and working with information, retrieving memories

action
- monitoring and regulating one’s actions

324
Q

what do these adaptations do?

A

cognitive benefits to executive functions and attention enable bilinguals to

ignore irrelevant information

resolve conflict among competing alternatives

minimise costs associated with task switching

measurable increase in creativity areas of the brain

325
Q

what is the development of executive functions?

A

last areas of brain (frontal lobes) to mature

last cognitive skills to develop in childhood, first to decline with ageing

children typically develop control over attention and inhibition at about 5 years

experience in managing two language may promote this development

326
Q

what is lexical retrieval?

A

boston-picture naming & letter/category fluency tasks

  • name words that begin with F
  • name words in the category “Animals”

bilinguals consistently slower in retrieving word/fluency

bilingualism seems to correlate with slower decline in mental acuity; it has an over the lifespan effect in for natural decline

327
Q

what region do bilinguals activate?

A

a lesser portion of the anterior cingulate cortex (acc) - region involved in conflict monitoring - than monolinguals to complete a flanker task

328
Q

out of monolinguals and bilinguals, which has a greater GM volume?

A

bilinguals in IPL

329
Q

within bilinguals, what does GM volume in IPL correlate with?

A

proficiency in L2
age of acquisition

specific language experiences affect region differently

330
Q

what are two types of declarative memory?

A

semantic and episodic memory

331
Q

what is semantic memory?

A

a person’s knowledge about the world: facts, cognitive skills (e.g., non-verbal knowledge about gravity, friction)

general knowledge store

retrieval without conscious recollection of when/where learned

not attached to a specific time or place

recognition of faces

332
Q

what is episodic memory?

A

recollection of where and when events happened in one’s own life (content & context)

attached to a specific time, tied to a specific episode

333
Q

how do semantic and episodic memory work together?

A

separate systems, but of course, at the time of learning and at the time of retrieval, the systems interact and are interdependent

what was an episodic memory, can become a semantic memory - semanticisation

334
Q

what is semantic dementia?

A

degeneration affecting the anterior temporal lobe (thus a specific type of fronto-temporal dementia)

335
Q

describe semantic networks as an approach to meaning

A

network of unitary nodes (no internal structure) and labelled links between them

good for hierarchies
properties are inherited (e.g. everything below animal breathes)
predicts sentence verification times (more links to cross, more time)

336
Q

what is the problem with networks?

A

definition problem
- are definitions really as sharp as network implies?
- necessary and sufficient conditions are the usual approach to sharp definitions
well defined set of attributes
if all of them are present, we have an X
e.g. bachelor
- never married, but old enough to be
- male

337
Q

what are the two areas of the language centre?

A

Broca & Wernicke

338
Q

what is Broca’s aphasia?

A

comprehension is relatively preserved
deficits in producing language

339
Q

what is Wernicke’s aphasia?

A

comprehension generally impaired
produce fluent but meaningless speech

340
Q

what is an example of the meaning integration?

A

flat…
flat beer, flat note, flat tire

integration process must occur where you process multiple words or sentences together to come up with true meaning

341
Q

what is synaptic (grammatical) integration?

A

dog, chase, cat
grammatical structure actually drives meaning

342
Q

what are Broca and Wernicke doing in terms of memory and integration?

A

memory: storing linguistic information about single words
integration: integrating or binding pieces of information into unfolding representations of preceding context

First year Psychology (5 decks)

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