cognitive (221) Flashcards
(225 cards)
1
Q
analytic introspection
A
a procedure used by early psychologists in which trained participants described their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli
2
Q
artificial intelligence
A
the ability of a computer to perform tasks usually associated with human intelligence
3
Q
behaviourism
A
the approach to psychology, founded by Watson, which states that observable behaviour provides the only valid data for psychology
consequence of this idea is that consciousness and unobservable mental processes are not considered worth of study
4
Q
brain imaging
A
technique such as fMRI that results in images of the brain
5
Q
choice reaction time
A
time to respond to one of two or more stimuli
ex. Donders experiment
6
Q
classical conditioning
A
procedure in which pairing a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response causes the neutral stimulus to elicit that response
7
Q
cognition
A
the mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem solving, reasoning, and decision making
8
Q
cognitive map
A
mental conception of a spatial layout
9
Q
cognitive psychology
A
branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of the mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem solving, reasoning, and decision making
scientific study of the mind and mental processes
10
Q
cognitive revolution
A
a shift in psychology, beginning in the 1950s from the behaviourist approach to an approach in which the main thrust was to explain behaviour in terms of the mind
outcome was the introduction of info-processing approach to studying the mind
11
Q
electrophysiology
A
techniques used to measure electrical responses of the nervous system
12
Q
information-processing approach
A
approach to psychology, developed beginning in the 1950s, in which the mind is described as processing information through a sequence of stages
13
Q
mind
A
system that creates mental representations of the world and controls mental functions such as perception, attention, memory, emotions, language, deciding, thinking, and reasoning
14
Q
neuropsychology
A
the study of the behavioural effects of brain damage in humans
15
Q
operant conditioning
A
type of conditioning championed by Skinner, which focuses on how behaviour is strengthened by presentation of positive reinforcers, such as food or social approval, or withdrawal of negative reinforcers, such as shock or social rejection
16
Q
paradigm
A
a system of ideas, which guide thinking in a particular field
17
Q
paradigm shift
A
a shift in thinking from one paradigm to another
18
Q
reaction time
A
the time it takes to react to a stimulus
usually determined by measuring the time between presentation of a stimulus and the response to the stimulus
ex of response. pushing a button, moving the eyes
19
Q
savings
A
measure used by Ebbinghaus to determine the magnitude of memory left from initial thinking
higher savings indicate greater memory
20
Q
savings curve
A
plot of savings vs. time after original learning
21
Q
scientific revolution
A
occurs when there is a shift in thinking from one scientific paradigm to another
22
Q
simple reaction time
A
reacting to the presence or absence of a single stimulus (as opposed to having to choose between a number of stimuli before making a response)
23
Q
structuralism
A
approach to psychology that explained perception as the adding up of small elementary units called sensations
24
Q
what is cognitive psychology
A
the scientific investigation of human mental processes or the way that humans interpret their environment, process information, and form responses
25
major sub-areas of cognitive psychology
perception, attention, memory, language, reasoning, problem solving
26
cognitive psychology came from?
philosophy
27
empiricism
knowledge stems from experience
can be studied with experimentation and observation
28
first cognitive experiment
Donders and reaction time
before this people thought that thoughts were instantanious
29
structuralist
Wundt (organizer)
wanted to explain conscious processes and experience
30
functionalist
James (thinker)
wanted to know how the mind functions and adapts to new circumstances
31
problem with introspection
cannot test a theory with subjective observations
32
behaviourism famous players
Watson- proposed that only behaviour is objectively observable
Skinner- saw behaviourism as a philosophy of the science of psychology
33
downfall of behaviourism
1. conditioning doesn't explain all
2. language
3. real world problems (pilots and overload)
34
computer metaphor
info-processing systems
representations- stored information (thing being worked on)
process- a "program" that takes info as input and transforms it as output (thing doing the working)
35
quantitative methods
correlational methods
- goal to predict one variable based on another
experiemental methods
- goal to infer that changes in one variable cause changes in another
36
hypothesis
a testable explanation of a phenomenon
37
a correlation by itself does not tell you the ___ of causation
direction
changes in one variable could cause changes in another or vice versa
or another variable may be affecting both (third variable)
38
experiements involve ___ while correlation studies do not
random assignment
39
confounding variable
a variable that correlates with the IV
either it or the IV could have caused the effect
40
order of lobes from anterior to posterior
1. frontal
2. temporal
3. parietal
4. occipital
41
neuron
basic unit of the brain
multiple types
42
neuron intensity by __ not by __
by rate (of firing), not by size
low intensities: slow firing
high intensities: fast firing
43
synapse allows firing to..
a). amplify stimulis or b) decrease it depending on neurotransmitters
44
cortex divided into four areas
frontal
temporal
parietal
occipital
45
frontal lobe
reasoning, planning, emotion
46
temporal lobe
hearing and memory
47
parietal lobe
perceptions of touch, pressure, temperature, and pain
48
occipital
vision
49
two key principles of cortical functioning
1. contralateral
2. hemispheric specialization
50
contralateral
receptive and control centers for one side of body controlled by the opposite hemisphere of brain
not the case for eyes, but the visual field is contralateral
51
hemispheric specialization
hemispheres structurally, but not functionally symmetric
52
methods for localizing brain functon
- lesions
- electrical recording (ERP)
- imaging (fMRI, PET, TMS)
53
lesion studies
- one of the earliest ways
- observe behavioural ability given neurological deficit (when they die, try to correlate behaviour to brain)
54
limitations of lesion studies
pre and post
3rd variable
incomplete way
correlational
55
electrical recording: single cell (localizing brain function)
- animal studies
- record activity of single cell while animal performs task
56
electrical recording: single cell (localizing brain function) limitations
animal brains are not human brains
won't tell you everything; narrow
57
electrical recording: event-related potentials (localizing brain function)
- electrical activity recorded with sensors on scalp
- activity recorded in response to a stimulus over multiple presentations
- result is an event related potention... electrical activity associated with the stimulus
good temporal resolution
58
electrical recording: event-related potentials (localizing brain function) limitations
horrible spatial resolution
(don't know where its coming from)
59
functional imaging: PET (localizing brain function)
- indirect measure of neural events; measurement of cerebral blood flow correlated with neural activity
- injected with radioactive oxygen that is concentrated in areas that consume more blood
good spatial resolution
60
functional imaging: PET (localizing brain function) limitations
bad temporal resolution
61
functional imaging: fMRI (localizing brain function)
- indirect measure of neural events
measurement of cerebral blood flow
- oxygenated and deoxygenated blood have different magnetic properties
- machine measures ratio to indicate areas of greatest oxygen usage
good spatial resolution
62
functional imaging: fMRI (localizing brain function) limiations
bad temporal resolution (worse than PET)
63
action potential
propagated electrical potential responsible for transmitting neural information and for communication between neurons
typically travel down a neurons axon
64
axons
part of the neuron that transmits signals from the cell body to the synapse at the end of the axon
65
broca's aphasia
a condition associated with damage to Broca's area, in the frontal lobe, characterized by laboured ungrammatical speech and difficulty in understanding some types of sentences
66
cell body
part of a cell that contains mechanisms that keep the cell alive
in some neurons, the cell body and the dendrites associated with it receive information from other neurons
67
cerebral cortex
the 3mm thick outer layer of the brain that contains the mechanisms responsible for higher mental function such as perception, language, thinking, and problem solving
68
cognitive neuroscience
field concerned with studying the neural basis of cognition
69
cortical equipotentiality
the idea, popular in the early 1800s, that the brain operates as an indivisible whole, as opposed to operating based on specialized areas
70
default mode network (DMN)
network of structures that are active when a person is not involved in specific tasks
71
dendrites
structures that branch out from the cell body to receive electrical signals from other neurons
72
distributed representation
occurs when a specific cognition activates many areas of the brain
73
double dissociation
situation in which a single dissociation can be demonstrated in one person and the opposite type of single dissociation can be demonstrated in another person
74
experience-dependent plasticity
a mechanism that causes an organism's neurons to develop so they respond best to the type of stimulation to which the organism has been exposed
75
extrastriate body area (EBA)
an area in the temporal cortex that is activated by pictures of bodies and parts of bodies, but not by faces or other objects
76
feature dectectors
neurons that respond to specific visual features such as orientation, size, or the more complex features that make up environmental stimuli
77
frontal lobe
lobe in the front of the brain that serves higher functions such as language, thought, memory, and motor functioning
78
functional connectivity
the extent to which the neural activity in separate brain areas is correlated with each other
79
fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)
a brain imaging technique that measures how blood flow changes in response to cognitive activity
80
fusiform face area (FFA)
area in the temporal lobe that contains many neurons that respond selectively to faces
81
hierarchial processing
processing that occurs in a progression from lower to higher areas of the brain
82
levels of analysis
a topic can be understood by studying it at a number of different levels of a system
83
localization of function
location of specific function in specific areas of the brain
84
microelectrodes
small wires that are used to record electrical signals from single neurons
85
multidimensional
the multidimensional nature of cognition refers to the fact that even simple experiences involve combinations of different qualities
86
nerve fibers
part of the neuron that transmits signals from the cell body to the synapse at the end of the axon
87
nerve impulse
an electrical response that is propagated down the length of an axon (nerve fiber)
called an action potential
88
nerve net
a network of continuously interconnected nerve fibers (as contrasted with neural networks, in which fibers are connected by synapses)
89
neural circuits
group of interconnected neurons that are responsible for neural processing
90
neural networks
group of neurons or structures that are connected together
91
neuron doctrine
the idea that individual cells called neurons transmit signals in the nervous system and that these cells are not continuous with other cells as proposed by the nerve net theory
92
neurons
cell that is specialized to receive and transmit information in the nervous system
93
neuropsychology
the study of the behavioural effect of brain damage in humans
94
neurotransmitter
chemical that is released at the synapse in response to incoming action potentials
95
occipital lobe
the lobe at the back of the brain that is devoted primarily to analyzing incoming visual information
96
parahippocampal place area (PPA)
an area in the temporal lobe that contains neurons that are selectively activated by pictures of indoor and outdoor scenes
97
parietal lobe
the lobe at the top of the brain that contains mechanisms responsible for sensations caused by stimulation of the skin and also some aspects of visual information
98
population coding
neural representation of a stimulus by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons
99
prosopagnosia
condition caused by damage to the temporal lobe that is characterized by an inability to recognize faces
100
receptors
specialized neural structures that respond to environmental stimuli such as light, mechanical stimulation, or chemical stimuli
101
recording electrode
when used to study neural functioning, a very thin glass or metal probe that can pick up electrical signals from single neurons
102
reference electrode
used in conjunction with recording electrode to measure the difference in charge between the two
103
resting state fMRI
the fMRI response recorded when a person is at rest (not involved in any cognitive tasks)
104
resting state functional connectivity
a method for determining functional connectivity that involves determining the correlation between the resting-state fMRI in separated structures
105
resting potential
difference in charge between the inside and outside of a nerve fiber when the fiber is at rest (no other electrical signals are present)
106
seed location
the area of the brain associated with carrying out a specific cognitive or motor task that serves as the reference area the resting-state functional connectivity method
107
sensory code
how neural firing represents various characteristics of the environment
108
sparse coding
neural coding based on the pattern of activity in small groups of neurons
109
specificity coding
the representation of a specific stimulus by the firing of neurons that respond only to that stimulus
110
synapse
space between the end of an axon and the cell body or dendrite of the next axon
111
task-related fMRI
the fMRI response that occurs in response to a specific cognitive task
112
temporal lobe
the lobe on the side of the brain that contains mechanisms responsible for language, memory, hearing, and vision
113
test location
when measuring resting-state functional connectivity, the activity at the test location is compared to the activity at the seed location to determine the degree of functional connectivity between the two locations
114
time-series response
the way the fMRI response changes over time
115
track-weighted imaging (TWI)
a technique for determining connectivity in the brain that is based on detection of how water diffuses along the length of nerve fibers
116
visual cortex
area in the occipital lobe that receives signals from the eyes
117
voxel
small cube-shaped areas in the brain used in the analysis of data from brain scanning experiments
118
Wernicke's aphasia
a condition, caused by damage to Wernicke's area that is characterized by difficulty in understanding language, and fluent, grammatically correct, but incoherent speech
119
Wernicke's area
area in the temporal lobe associated with understanding language, damage to this area causes Wernicke's aphasia
120
Donders
did one of the first cognitive psychology experiments
did the experiment of how long does it take to make a decision by measuring reaction time
measured the simple reaction time and choice reaction time
concluded that the decision-making process took one-tenth of a second
demonstrates that mental responses must be inferred from behaviour
121
Wundt's psychology lab
founded the first lab of scientific psychology
approach was structuralism
Wundt wanted to create a periodic table of the mind
using analytic introspection
122
Wundt wanted to...?
create a periodic table of the mind
123
Ebbinghaus's memory experiment
what is the time course of forgetting
used a measure called savings
124
savings =
original time to learn the list - time to relearn after the delay
used by Ebbinghaus
125
Watson founds what
behaviourism
rejects introspection as a method
little albert experiment
126
Skinner
operant conditioning
focused on how behaviour is controlled by stimuli, not interested in whats happening in the mind
127
Tolman
early cognitive psychologists because he used behaviour to infer mental processes
used rat mazes where eats developed cognitive maps
128
who defined a scientific revolution as a shift from one paradigm to another
Kuhn
129
Cherry did what
presented participants with two auditory messages and told them to focus attention on one of the messages while ignoring the other
130
Cajel saw what
that the nerve net was not continutious
131
centerpiece of the neuron doctrine
basic building blocks of the brain
132
basic parts of a neuron
cell body
dendrites
axons
133
other conclusions found by Cajel
the synapse
neural circuits- groups of interconnected neurons
receptors
134
Cajel recognized as
the person who made this cellular study of mental life possible
135
resting potential amount
-70 MV
136
how long does an action potential last and whats its shape
about 1 millisecond
Adrian found that each action potential travels all the way down the axon without changing its height or shape which makes them ideal for sending signals over difference
137
the mind can be defined as?
a system that creates representations of the world so that we can act within it to achieve our goals
**representations
138
principle of neural representation
states that everything a person experiences is based on representations in the person's nervous system
139
Blakemore and Cooper's experiments
experience-dependent plasticity
rearing kittens in vertical or horizontal environments
140
the vision areas make up about __ of the cortex
30%
141
neurons in the visual cortex respond to
simple stimuli like oriented bars
142
neurons in the temporal lobe respond to
complex geometrical stimuli
143
neurons in another area of the temporal lobe respond to
faces
144
many cognitive functions are served by the
cerebral cortex
145
cerebral cortex
layer of tissue about 3mm thick that covers the brain
the wrinkled covering you see when you look at an intact brain
146
early evidence for localization of function came from
neuropsychology
147
auditory cortex is located where
upper temporal lobe and is responsible for hearing
148
somatosensory cortex located where
parietal lobe and is responsible for perceptions of touch, pressure, and pain
149
frontal lobe responsible for
the coordination of the senses as well as higher cognitive functions like thinking and problem solving
150
a central principle of cognition
most of our experience is multidimensional
151
language system organized into two sets of pathways
one processing sounds, speech production, saying words
one understanding sentences
152
episodic memory
events in your life
153
semantic memory
facts
154
procedural memory
physical actions (ex. ride a bike)
155
how to determine whether the responding of 2 areas is correlated
resting-state fMRI
introduced by Biswal
156
6 common functional networks determined by resting state fMRI
visual
somato-motor
dorsal attention
executive control
salience
default mode
157
TMS
uses magnetic fields to disrupt signals
all neurons reach action potential at the same time in one part of the brain
158
what is visual perception
interpreting visual information that is sensed by the eyes
159
what is perception
involves taking the information that is sensed by the sense organs and interpreting it
160
cornea
clear covering to the eye
161
iris
a ring of muscles that controls how much light gets in
162
lens
with the cornea focuses light on the back of the eye
163
retina
the photosenstive membrane at the back of the eye where transduction takes place
164
fovea
the point of highest visual acuity
165
optic nerve
the nerve that takes visual info to the brain
166
blind spot
the point where the optic nerve leaves the eye
167
the eye works like a camera
light from the object in the environment passes through the cornea and iris and is refracted onto the retina at the back of the eye
168
transduction
the changing of a physical stimulus into neural energy
169
transduction takes place in 2 types of cells in the retina
rods- peripheral
cones- in fovea
170
blindsight
patients with damage to occipital cortex are blind (no reaction to light)
171
2 separate paths for visual information
1 is more sophisticated- goes from the eye to the thalamus to the visual cortext
1 (lizard brain) goes to the brain stem to the higher centers of the brain meaning you can guess movement even though you can't see it
only aware of end product
172
distal stimulus
the stimulus out in the world
173
proximal stimulus
the stimulus on the sense organ
174
binocular cues two main types
brain uses info from both eyes:
convergence: eyes converge and lens accommodates when objects are close
binocular disparity: the slightly different views of the world projected onto each eye
175
monocular cues
brain uses properties from the proximal stimulus:
perspective
motion parallax
interposition
relative size
textural gradient
aerial perspective
shading
176
perspective
lines converge at a distance
using context/knowledge
177
relative size
bigger things tend to be closer
178
interposition
closer objects obscure distant ones
179
motion parallax
objects closer to the viewer move past more quickly than objects farther away
180
texture gradient
the less detailed the texture to the viewer, the farther away it is
blurring can give the impression of depth
181
aerial perspective
the farther something is away, the more there will be a haze to it
182
shading
gives cues about depth and movement
183
light and shadow
light source is assumed to come from above
184
gestalt psychology
early approach that looked at how we segregate and group visual information
"the whole is more than the sum of its parts"
185
gestalt principles- laws of perceptual organization
law of proximity
law of similarity
law of good continuation
law of closure
law of common fate
law of pragnanz
186
law of proximity
group things together the closer they are and context in which they're viewed
187
law of similarity
groups ones that are more visually similar (ex. colours, shapes)
188
law of good continuation
continues even if something's blocking it
189
law of closure
lines connect in an art piece
190
law of common fate
different small sections of larger object interpreted as being one when moving together (ex. birds swarming)
191
law of pragnanz (law of simplicity)
organization of visual display should be simple, stable, and as consistent as possible
192
bottom-up theories
template theory
feature theory
prototype theory
193
top-down processes (theories?)
context effects
194
template there
bottom-up theory
objects are represented by templates, current image is compared to these
you have a copy of everything you've seen in your head and you match it when you see it again
ex. cheque reading machines
195
problems with template theories
object has to be same as template
does not account for variability in the world
doesn't really work
196
feature theories
bottom-up theory
analyzed stimuli as a combination of elemental features
recognize an object by searching memory to objects with those features
combining features allows for representation of what's out there in the world
pandemonium
- greater the match, stronger the signal
has lots of evidence
197
disadvantages of feature theory
hard to say exactly which features we have
hard to know how to define a feature
doesn't account for relative position of feature
198
prototype theories
bottom-up theory
prototype is the one "ideal" for a category
perceive object by comparing it to stored prototypes
works at a higher level
takes all representations for item and makes an average; room for differences
199
disadvantages of prototype theories
prototypes are more flexible than features but also more vague
criticism with definition
200
bottom-up vs top-down processes
bottom-up processing is data driven
top-down processing is conceptually driven
201
top down processing uses
context effects
conceptually driven recognition (reading mispelled words)
202
how do we recognize objects
object-centered theories
- feature position relative to other features
- recognition by components
203
comparing approaches
hemholtz, regularities, and bayes all have in common the idea that we use data about the environment gathered through our past experiences in perceiving to determine what is out there
the gestalt psychologists emphasized the idea that the principles of organization are built in
- argued that built-in principles can override experience; assigning bottom-up processing a central role in perception
204
pathway leading from the striate cortex to the temporal lobe is called the ___ pathway
what
ventral
205
pathway leading from the striate cortex to the parietal lobe is called the ____ pathway
where
dorsal
206
what is selective attention
the application of cognitive resources to a task
focusing in on 1 thing
207
cocktail party effect
we can attend to only one conversation among many but will notice critical information (such as name being called)
208
dichotic listening experiments (who)
Cherry
209
attention is proposed to be an ____ ____
early filter
attention acts as filter
210
Treisman's attenuation theory
combines early and late filter models bc early models don't explain all filter models and late is too heavy
intermediate- selection model
- attended message can be separated from unattended message early in the info processing system
211
capacity
the total of our mental resources that can be allocated toward different tasks
212
disadvantages of automacitity
hard to override
213
what is attention- two general definitions
1. attention as a mental process
2. attention as a limited mental resource
214
attentional capacity
whether capacity is exceeded depends on the task and also the state of the person
- alertness
-automatic vs. effortful tasks
215
a task is automatic if it
occurs without intention
does not give rise to conscious awareness
does not interfere with other mental activities
216
function words
"the" and "it"
eyes not fixing in on them; skip over them
217
controlled attention- what is it and what's it for
attention is mental effort and is limited
its for perception
218
feature integration theory
Treisman and Gelade
perception occurs in 2 stages
- preattentive (get the physical features)
- attention processes (glue those features together)
attention binds these features from different maps therefore helping perception by gluing stuff together
219
two attentional networks
the ventral attention network- controls attention based on salience
the dorsal attention network- controls attention based on top-down processes
220
conjunction errors
binding of features into single object, there's an error
221
some jobs require that ___ be avoided
automaticity
such as air traffic controllers, pilots, drivers
222
inattentional blindness
when controlled or conscious attention Z(focus on one thing) takes away from noticing other things happening in your environment
magic tricks are an example
- ppl use cues to direct attention to certain places and then perform the trick
223
divided attention
not strictly limited to one thing at a time
If two things are automatized, you can do both at same time
test using dual-task procedure
224
psychological refractory period (PRP)
a period of time where a new process cannot be initiated due to the continued processing of choosing a response to another stimulus
if second stimulus comes late enough there will be no decrement in performance
response selection bottle neck
- selection of two responses can not be done at same time
225
damage to the right parietal lobe causes ____ ____
attentional neglect
ex. the half drawings people completed
