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PSYC 105 - cognition > Cognitive Neuroscience > Flashcards

Cognitive Neuroscience Flashcards

(104 cards)

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1
Q

define cognitive psychology

A

a branch of cognitive psychology concerned with mental processes (as perception, thinking, learning and memory) especially with respect to the internal events occuring between sensory stimulation and the overt expression of behaviour

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2
Q

what do cognitive processes help us do

A

make inferences about what is going on in the world around us from what we know

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3
Q

what did Doners do

A

mental chronometry

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4
Q

what is mental chronometry

A

measuring how long cognitive processes take

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5
Q

when was doners working

A

1868

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6
Q

explain Donders’ famous experiment and result

A

simple reaction task - participant pushes a button as quickly as possible after a light appears
choice reaction task - participant pushes one button if light is on the right side, another if light is on the left side
choice RT = 1/10 sec longer than simple RT

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7
Q

What did Donders’ methodology teach us

A

mental processes cannot be measured directly but can be inferred from the participants behaviour

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8
Q

What did Helmholtz do

A

unconsicous interference - some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions we make about the environment
= we infer much of what we know about the world

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9
Q

when was Helmholtz

A

1860s

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10
Q

what did ebbinghaus do (brief method and result)

A

learned lists of nonsense syllables
determined how many times had to read allowed to learn list
time interval break
measured how many more times he now had to say the list allowed to learn without errors
= ebbinghaus savings (forgetting) curve

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11
Q

what does ebbinghaus’ savings curve look like and show

A

we forget the most in the first instances of time then the longer the time that goes on the less we forget

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12
Q

when was ebbinghaus

A

1885

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13
Q

what did wundt do

A

the first psychology lab at the universty of leipzig in germany
he focused on reaction time experiments

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14
Q

when was wundt and who was his student

A

1879

titchner

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15
Q

what was wundts approach (special term) and what does this mean

A

structuralism

experience is determined by conbining elements of experience called sensations

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16
Q

what methods did wundt use

A

analytic introspection - participants trained to describe experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli

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17
Q

what was watson’s problems to wundt’s methods

A

extremely variable results from one person to the next
results were difficult to verify - there was some invisible, mythical inner mental process at play
subjects also have a tendency to please the experimenter

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18
Q

what did behaviourism suggest

A

eliminated the mind as a topic of study

instead study directly observeable behaviour

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19
Q

what type of condition was the little albert experiment

A

classical conditioning

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20
Q

what is classical conditioning and who discovered it

A

Pavlov - dogs salivating to bell
pair a neutral event with an event that naturally produces some outcome
after many pairing the now neutral events now also produces the outcome

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21
Q

what did skinner investigate

A

interested in determining the relationship between stimuli and response
- operatn conditioning

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22
Q

when was little albert

A

1920

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23
Q

when was skinner

A

1950s

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24
Q

what is operant conditioning

A

shape behaviour by rewards or punishments
behaviour that is rewarded is more likly to be repeated
behaviour that is punished is less likely to be repeated

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25
what was the fundamental to behaviourism and why was this popular with the general public
behaviour can be analysed without reference to the mind | -nothing is my fault is all to do with the environment i grew up in
26
what began the decline in behaviourism
language acquisition
27
explain skinner's view of verbal behaviour
argued children learn language through operant conditioning children imitate speech they hear correct speech is rewarded
28
how does children learn language through operant conditioning according to skinner
children imitate the speech they hear | correct speech is rewarded
29
what was chomsky's vreview of verbal behaviour 1959
argued children do not learn language by behaviourist principles -children say things they have never heard and therefore cannot be imitating -children say things that are inncorrect and can not have been rewarded for language is determined by an inborn biological program - Language Aquisition Device
30
other than language, what other idea led to the decline of behaviourism
misbehaviour of organisms 1961 - attmepts to condition animal behaviour often didnt work - the IQ zoo - animals trained to be entertainers by behaviourist principles but often their built in instincts would over ride (eg pig would root in the ground where posible)
31
Tolmans maze - explain the experiment and what it showed
rat placed in arm of maze and taught to turn right for food then put in a different arm of the maze -by behaviourists should turn right and not find food -by tolman's cognitive map idea should realise where they are in the maze and turn the right direction to find food tolman was right
32
what and who came up with the Transcendental method
Kant | work backwards from observations to determine the cause
33
when and why was the cognitive revolution
50s and 60s - period of gradual change shift from behaviourist s-r approach widespread availability of the computer helped spur this
34
explain the information-processing approach
a way of studying the mind created from insights associated with the computer mental hardware and software models of mental processing
35
name and explain a model of mental processing
``` Broadbents filter model of attentino lots of inputs hit a filter detector to memory -unattended information does not pass through the filter ```
36
explain Cherry's study in the cognitive revolution
dichotic listening - message A in left ear - message B in right ear - to ensure attention participant has to shadow (say aloud) the message they are being told to attend to - participatns were able to focus only on the message they were shadowing
37
how do cognitive scientists work todY
study mental events indirectly -measure stimuli and responses -develop hypothesis about mental events =computational models of mental processes =models predict future outcomes -design new experiments to test model/hypothese predictinos
38
what is the goal of cognitive science
finding ways to study and understand the inner workings of the mind
39
what is a way to test working memory
span test - how many random digits can you repeat
40
what did Baddeley and hitch conclude about working memory
Central executive - director visual spatial sketchpad phonological / articulatory loo
41
what does the baddeley and hitch model say about mistakes we make
we are more likely to make sound over visual mistakes (as we use the inner voice to learn where possible) eg mistaje s for F (not E) - go over last years notes on this
42
what is anarthria
the inability to produce overt speech | -loss of muscle movement
43
what does anarthia teach us about the articulatory loop
if people can't produce spoken language, does the articulatory loop work the same as someone sho has no issues with spoien language? yes still show some confusion between words with the same sounds shows inner speech does not require the same muscles as overt speech
44
does inner speech rely on the same brain regions as overt speech?
yes
45
what do deaf individuals tell us about articulatory loop
they have an inner hand over inner speech | more likely to make mistakes when hand shapes are similar
46
what is a counfounding variable
a variable the researcher has not controlled for
47
what is cognitive neuroscience
the study of physiological basis of cognition
48
two main techniques for studying the relationship between physiology and cognition
measuring brain activity | examining impariments in function after damage
49
what is capgras syndrome
recognises loved ones but thinks they are imposters rare, often accompanies alzheimers caused by injuries to the brain can otherwise perceive the world in a normal way
50
why does capgras conflict seem to occur
basic perceptual recognition but disconnection between recognition and lack of familiarity and emotion fMRI - amygdala damage results in lack of emotional response also damage to prefrontal cortex = lack of logic
51
what does capgras teach us
behavioural research suggests recognition involves both factual and emotional knowledge capgras suggests amygdala is involved in supporting the emotional "familiarity" side to recognition also shows various portions of the brain must work together to accomplish even simple goals like recognition
52
explain phineas gage
railroad accident = pole through frontal lobe | after accident all fine apart from massive personality change
53
name parts of the hindbrain and their reponsibilities
medulla - basic rhythms pons - alterness cerebellum - movements and balance + sensory and cognitive roles
54
where is the hindbrain
ontop of the spinal chord
55
where is the midbrain
ontop of the hindbrain
56
whatdoes the midbrain do
coordinates movement (esp eye movement) includes parts of the auditory pathway regulates the experinece of pain
57
what does the forebrain include
``` cerebral cortex (coating making up 80% of brain tissue) subcortical structures -thalamus -hypothalamus -limbic system ```
58
name the four cerebral lobes
frontal parietal temporal occipital
59
role of the frontal lobe
reasoning and planning | language, thought memory and motor functioning
60
role of the parietal lobe
touch, temp, pain and pressure
61
role of the temporal lobe
auditory and perceptual processing | laguage, hearing, memory and perceiving forms
62
role of the occipital lobe
visual processing
63
the subcortical parts of the forebrain include
``` thalamus hypothalamus limbic system -amygdala -hippocampus ```
64
explain the concept of lateralisation
the brain is roughly symmetrical - commisures connect hemishperes - corpus callosum is the largest
65
explain why and how we get split brain patients
severe the corpus callosum | eg treatment of epilepsy
66
what mistake does a split brain patient make
what he sees, the left hemisphere sees the object on the right and can verbalise it the right hemisphere can see the item on the left side of the screen but cannot verbalize it. however if asked to chose and pick up an object that matches it, he will pick up the correct object even though he cant say it
67
name four types of imaging uused in psychology
MRI PET fMRI EEG - this one isnt actually imaging but electrical measurement
68
explain PET scans
positron emission tomography - blood flow increases in areas of the brain activated by a cognitive task - radioactive tracker is injected into person's bloodstream - measures signal from tracer at each location of the brain - higher signals indicate higher levels of brain activity
69
how do we understand data from neuroimaging
subtraction technique - look at the brain activity before and during stimulation difference determins which areas of the brain were active during manipulation
70
really simple how does fMRI work and what is its benefits
subtraction technique measures blood flow through magnetic properties of oxygen advantage is no tracer is needed
71
how does EEG work | one advantage and one disadvantage
electroencephologram neuron firing is an electrical event measure electrical activity on the scalp to make inferences about the underlying brain activity averaged over a lagre number of trials to calculated ERPs (event related potentials) continuous and rapid measurements does not give precise location
72
what do CT and MRI scans do
detect brain structures, not activity
73
what is the best way to use neuroimaging techniques
combine them EEG timing fMRI location
74
what is TMS
transcranial magnetic stimulation
75
what area responds specifically to faces
fusiform face area | -temporal lobe
76
what does damage t fusiform face area result in
prosopagnosia - inability to recognise faces
77
what part of the brain responds specifically to places
parahippocampal place area | temporal lobe
78
what part of the brain responds specifically to pictures of bodies and parts of bodies
extrastriate body area | occipital lobe
79
what does Broca's area do and where in the brain is it
language production | frontal lobe
80
what does Wernicke's area do and where in the brain is it
language comprehension | temporal lobe
81
explain the makeup of the cerebral cortex
primary projection areas of the cortex - motor and sensory, the greater the precision of the place, the more brain area devoted to it the association areas (75% of the cortex) - creates associations between simple ideas and sensations
82
what is aprazia
movement disorder
83
what is agnosia
problems idetifying objects
84
what is aphasia
language deficit
85
what is neglect sydrome
ignoring half the visual world
86
what is prefrontal damage
problems with planning, strategic thinking and inhibitioninhibition
87
why do we look at damage to the cortex
becuase it helps us understand it best
88
what are neurons
cells specialized to receive and transmit information in the nervous system
89
what do the glia cells do
``` guide development of nervous system repair damage control nutrient flow electrical insulation speeds signal glia outnumber neurons 10 to 1 ```
90
what is the nerve net theory
early theory that the brain is a network of physically connected neurons
91
what is the golgi stain technique
stains only 1 % of neurons meaning we can see them
92
what did ramon y cajal do with golgi staining
used the technique and young neural tissue to show the detailed structure of neurons - disproved the network theory
93
what is the job of the cell body
contains mechanisms to keep the cell alive
94
what is the role of the axon
a tube filled with fluid that transmits electrical signal to other neurons
95
what is the role of the dendrites
multiple branches reaching from the cell body, which recieve information from other neurons
96
how do neurons commuicate
action potentials -neuron receives input from other cells that cause it to fire information travels down axon to the dendrites of another neuron
97
what do we measure about action potentials
size of the potential is not measured as tends to stay relatively constant the rate of firing is measured -low intensitites = slow firing high intensitites = fast firing
98
what is a synapse
space between axon of one neuron and dendrite of another
99
what happens at synapses
action potentials reach the end of the synapse synaptic vesicles open and release chemical neurotransmitters neurotransmitters cross the synapse and bind with the receiveing dendrites
100
define neurotransmitters
chemicals that affect the electical signal of the receiving neuron
101
name the two types of neurotransmitter (name only)
excitatoy | inhibitory
102
explain what an excitatory neurotransmitter does | give an example
increases the chance a neuron will fire glutamate dopamine
103
explain what an inhibitory neurotransmitter does | give an example
decreases the chance a neuron will fire GABA dopamine
104
how do neurons process information
action potentials will only result if the threshold level is reached -1000s of synases on a single neuron - average of all input s determines whether it will fire

PSYC 105 - cognition (11 decks)

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