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Cognitive Psychology > Cognitive Psychology 1 > Flashcards

Cognitive Psychology 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

Basic Principles of how information travels around the brain (neurons)

A
  1. Dendrites receive messages
  2. Stored in cell body / soma
  3. Passed along the axon from cell body (covered in myelin sheath - speeds up neural impulses / proteccs)
    This is called action potential (signal travelling down axon)
  4. The terminal buttons form junctoins with other cells and pass information onto the other neuron’s dendrites
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2
Q

How can fMRI help understand cognitive processes

A

Through BOLD (Blood Oxygen Level Depedent)
Active neurons burn energy, which is replenished by blood
The blood contains haemoglobin w/ iron which we can detect - we can distinguish between oxygen rich / depleted blood
By measuring the BOLD response we can see which areas were active recently

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3
Q

Explain how TMS is used to alter cognitive processes

A

TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) causes hyperpolarization / depolarization of neurons (increase / decrease in activity)
Electromagnetic induction induces weak electrical current into cortex
Can cause motor evoked potential (limb twitches)
Stimulates temporary ‘legion’ in brain, preventing normal function in that region

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4
Q

What is ERP and what can it tell us about Early Visual Processing / face processing

A

ERP (Event Related Potential) is a brain response to a stimulus measured using EEG (Electroencephalography) this can be used to understand which areas of the brain are active during visual stimulus (Visual Evoked Potential VEP, a type of ERP) and face processing

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5
Q

How do we know where EVP (Early Visual Processing) and face processing occurs in the brain

A

EVP is measured using EEG, which tracks signals produced by partial synchronisation in the cortical field measured as changes in voltage between electrodes on the scalp.

EVP occurs in the visual cortex and it is our brain’s initial processing of a visual stimulus (usually luminance - how light / dark)

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6
Q

What is the Psychophysics

A

Study of the relation between physical properties and their mental representations

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7
Q

What is just noticeable difference

A

The smallest difference by which something has to change for it to be noticeable

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8
Q

Weber’s Law

A

More energy must go into something for it to appear stronger (speakers)

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9
Q

What is Signal Detection Theory

A

How our brains detect signals. We have criterion (internal threshold) / amount of evidence needed to generate a response, if the stimulus is about the internal threshold we determine it to have occured
Target can either be absent / present

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10
Q

Apply Signal Detection Theory to relevant examples

A

False alarms can occur when target present / absent distributions overlap
Eyewitness Testimony - sequential rather than simultaneous presentation of suspects to try and reduce the number of misses / false alarms
Hits occur when a signal is correctly detected and misses / false alarms occur when a signal is detected when the target is absent

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11
Q

Define Sensitivity + Bias

A

Sensitivity - How far apart the present / absent distributions are

Bias - where the criterion / threshold is set

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12
Q

What is d’ (d prime) and how is it calculated

A

D’ = sensitivity. It is an equation for working out the separation of distributions - bigger D’ = bigger seperation
d’ = Z(hits) - Z(False Alarms)
Z is a function given to you and used in the equation

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13
Q

How do you interpret ROC curves

A

ROC curves plot true positives (hits) against false positives (FAs). All points on the curve have the same sensitivity (d’) but differences biases (criterion).
Different curves have different sensitivities, the further from the diagonal the curve is, the more sensitive it is (higher d’)

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14
Q

Explain the relation between SDT and qualities of statistical tests

A

Alpha level = 0.05 this is the probability of making a Type 1 error (False Alarm)
If the alpha level was too high, more Type 2 errors would be made resulting in more false positive

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15
Q

What is the study of Behaviourism

A

Thought is invisible + intagible, behaviourist psychologist only want to study what is directly observable

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16
Q

What is representationalism

A

The idea that: the world as we see it is merely a virtual representation of the outside world

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17
Q

What makes good evidence

A

High prediction specificity + high data certainty

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18
Q

Newell’s critique of psychology + his three proposed solutions

A

Newell was frustrated with the tendency to focus on binary distinctions in psychology (nature vs nurture)
His three proposed solutions:
1. Formal models - the need for computational models (with precise predictions)
2. Complete models - the need for simulations that can carry out the entire task
3. General models - the need for a general system which can perform all mental tasks (i.e AI)

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19
Q

What is inattentional blindness

A

Failure to see visible / otherwise salient events when focusing on something else

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20
Q

What is Attention Spotlight

A

Our attention is like a spotlight - we are better at focusing on information in the centre of the screen and fail to pay attention to info in our periphery

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21
Q

What are Exogenous cues

A

An exogenous cue appears in the periphery directing attention toward it (flashing box)

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22
Q

What are Endogenous cues

A

An endogenous cue directs attention toward a target (an arrow pointing to location)

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23
Q

What is Inhibition of Return

A

We are slower to react to targets which have recently been attended to

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24
Q

Explain local / global motion

A

Local motion: Motion that occurs over a small part of the retina
Global motion: Motion that occurs over a larger part of the retina

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25
How can fMRI be used to study which brain areas are involved in attention processing
Global / local motion exhibit distinctly different affects in the brain, we can study these to see which brain areas are involved in attention processing.
26
How would we assess the neural basis of attention using ERPs
an Event Related Potential (ERP) utilises EEG scanning, participants can view the same stimulus utilising global / local motion, comparing responses can tell us about differences in attention processing
27
How does Tulving seperate LTM in his Theory of Long Term Memory?
Tulving (1985) splits LTM into episodic, semantic and procedural memory
28
What are Tulving's paradigms to test Long Term Memory
The three paradigms: Legions - damage to brain resulting in damage to episodic memory Imaging/fMRI - differences in brain activation when activating episodic and semantic memory Cognitive paradigms - testing episodic / semantic memory (through interference testing
29
What is the evidence for Tulving's LTM theory
Legions - Varga-Khadem (1997) brain injuries in 0-9yr olds which affected the hippocampus = severe episodic memory loss but able to pick upsemantic knowledge fMRI - scans show different patterns in brain activation of the episodic / semantic memory Cognitive - Kan (2009) participants remember items with 'true' cost vs 'fake' cost
30
Describe memory consolidation using McClelland's Two stage model of memory (1995)
1. Information is encoded and stored in the hippocampus 2. Information transferred to the cortex over time Over time links between die and information becomes abstracted Complimentary Learning Systems
31
What are Complimentary Learning Systems, part of the memory consolidation process as proposed by McClelland (1995)
Catastrophic interference - New information about a topic overwrites previous information The two-step process allows us to slowly transfer information to the cortex without overwriting previous information This pattern of consolidation continues in sleep
32
Evidence that supports the role of sleep in Systems Consolidation
Atienza + Cantero (2008) Classify pictures Ps classified pictures as neutral, positive, negative + the intensity of the feeling. Half of the ps sleep deprived after encoding After 1 week - Worse episodic memory recall, semantic unaffected (sleep disrupts ability to create new memories) Rasch et al (2007) Roses Ps exposed to scent of roses while learning location of cards. Ps exposed to the same smell of roses when asleep had better location memory Ps exposed to same smell of roses when awake had no effect
33
Evidence challenging the System Consolidation model
Nasch + Moscovitch (1997) Hippocampal complex encodes all information Only the 'facts' of an episode transferred to neocortex States that links with the hippocampus are maintained, don't die as stated in memory consolidation model
34
Explain the relationship between Semantic and Episodic memory
Semantic memory - ideas / concepts that are not from personal experience (names of colours, sounds of words) Episodic memory - collection of past memories / events Varga-Khadem et al - 0-9yr olds with damage to episodic memory can still form semantic memories (language)
35
Evidence that consolidation is a two stage process
Sharon et al (2011) - Participants showed rapid cortical learning in the absence of episodic memory
36
Describe effects that occur due to memory being malleable
Episodic memory requires semantic information to be bound to encoded information
37
Schacter's 3 sins of memory (1999)
Bias, Source Missatribution, Suggestibility
38
Describe evidence for the idea that memory is malleable
Hupback et al (2008) - episodic memory constructed from existing information in semantic memory + encoded into episodic memory Ps named objects in a basket w/ immediate recall Day2 - either diff experimenter OR different room New list learned w/ immediate recall Day3 - Recall objects from Day 1 Worse recall when ps were in the same room. Being in the room reactivates the memory making it malleable
39
Evaluate the theory that memory is organised to facilitate thinking about the future
Memory is reconstructive so that we are able to think about/plan events in the future Schacter + Addis (2007) - similar brain activity for remembering the past / imagining the future Hippocampus responsible for binding in both cases Hassabi (2007) Hippocampal amnesic patients unable to imagine future events
40
Describe Dell's (1986) Spreading Activation Theory for speech production
Three levels - Phoneme, Syntax morphology, Semantic Level (interactive processing) Semantically similar words facilitate processing Can go up/down, usually down from semantic Concept with greatest activation that fits target category will be activated
41
Describe Levelt's (1999) speech production model (WEAVER)
Word-form Encoding by Activation and VERification similar to Dell's but 'discreet' (activation is feed-forward) - process in 1 stage complete before moving on Competetive processes - once an item is found, inhibitory signals inhibit processing of semantically similar words
42
Describe evidence for Dell's theory
Ferreira + Griffin (2003) - ps inhibited 'match' to say 'priest', failed to inhibit 'nun'/'none' to say 'priest' Semantically/phonologically similar words active at the same time
43
Describe evidence for Levelt's theory
Wheeldon + Monsell (1994) Semantically similar words led to slower RT supporting Levelt's competitive processes
44
Evidence of Semantic Interference
Semantic interference (Meyer + Damian 2007) Phonologically related items had faster RT
45
Describe the process for reading
``` Dual Route Cascaded Model (Coltheart 2001) Lexical route (written word, orthographic lexicon, semantics Non-Lexical route (written word, grapheme-phoneme correspondence, phonological lexicon, semantics ```
46
What is a Grapheme
smallest unit (letters)
47
What is a phoneme
unit of sound in a word
48
What is a morpheme
smallest unit of a word (dog, ing)
49
Which route of the Dual Cascaded model can irregular words be activated
The lexical route
50
Describe the self-teaching hypothesis
Share (1995) Grapheme-phoneme correspondence is used to teach yourself to read
51
Provide evidence for the self teaching hypothesis (Share 1995)
8yr old read aloud story with target word present 4-6 times. Children asked to select word from 4 options through naming or spelling Cunningham (2006) challenged Share research using opaque language. Children only recognising the target, didn't have orthographic representation facilitating correct spelling
52
What are the three decision making heuristics
Availability - (ease by which it comes to mind) Representativeness - (how typical events seem) Adjustment + Anchoring - (make an estimtate, then adjust 9.99 vs £10)
53
What is a heuristic
Rule of thumb, principle w broad application not intended for use in every situation Heuristics produce systematic errors / biases
54
Critique the idea that biases are errors / flaws in reasoning
Heuristic errors reveal errors in normal mechanisms of reasoning Why we make heuristic errors (strategies optimised for different environments, using different cost/benefit analysis)
55
Explain Prospect Theory
Prospect Theory = how people evaluate risks Value function is S shaped The value something has diminishes as the number gets bigger
56
When might a dual process occur
Heuristic system 1 = automatic Heuristic system 2 = conscious If someone switches between modes of thinking in right circumstances (deliberate thinking vs automatic thinking when they have no time).
57
What is the difference between well / ill defined problems
Well defined problems = clear goal state | Ill defined problems = no clear goal state
58
Define problem representation
How we mentally represent problems | Includes the allowable / forbidden moves
59
What is functional fixidness
Encountering a problem and staying within the boundaries of how it is traditionally done
60
What are three problem solving methods
Trial + Error Analogical Transfer (applying framework from one area to another) Insight + Incubation
61
What are problem solving stragies
Mental heuristics for moving in a problem space
62
What are Newell + Simons strategies of navigating a problem space
Means-end - Compare current state + goal state and create sub goals to reach it Hill-climbing - making incremental steps to the goal Working backwards - Starting at the goal and working backwards
63
Define Epistemic Action
Physical actions that make mental computations more efficient (not just in the head Includes embodied cognition (physically solving problems)
64
What is feature-based attention
Feature based attention makes it easier to pick out specific image characteristics in our visual field
65
Evidence for speech errors
Vigliocco (1997) Italians in tip-of-tongue state know grammatical gender of the word (supports Levelt's Lemma stage)

Cognitive Psychology (1 decks)

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