Exam 1 Flashcards
(86 cards)
1
Q
Cognitive Psychology
A
branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of the mind
2
Q
The Mind
A
- generates representations of the world that we can act upon
- controls mental processes known as cognition
3
Q
Cognition
A
- mental processes
- perception, attention, memory, knowledge, imagery, language, problem-solving, reasoning
4
Q
Donders (1868)
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- first cognitive psych experiment (reaction time)
- choice rt (button on indicated side) - simple rt (button) = decision time
- decision time = 1/10 of a second
5
Q
Wundt (1879)
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- structuralism: overall experience determined by combining experienced sensations
- used analytic introspection
6
Q
Ebbinghaus (1885/1913)
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- time course of forgetting
- read nonsense syllables to see how many repetitions it takes to remember them all
- shorter break intervals = fewer repetitions required to relearn
7
Q
William James
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- taught first psych course at Harvard
- observations based on introspection, not experiments
- focus on cognition (thinking, consciousness, attention, memory, perception, imagination, reasoning)
8
Q
Behaviorism
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- Watson
- eliminated mind as subject of study
- study directly observable behavior
- dominant approach in 40s-60s
9
Q
John Watson
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- behaviorism
- little albert experiment (classical conditioning)
10
Q
B.F. Skinner
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- determining relationship between stimuli and response
- operant conditioning (punishment and reward)
11
Q
Tolman (1938)
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- re-emergence of the mind
- rats seeking food in four-armed maze
- believed rats make cognitive map
12
Q
Skinner (Language Acquisition)
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- wrote “verbal behavior”
- children imitate speech they hear and correct speech is rewarded (operant conditioning)
13
Q
Chomsky (Language Acquisition)
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- children do not only learn language through repetition and reinforcement
- they say things they have never heard and are incorrect (not imitating)
- language must be determined by inborn biological program
14
Q
Paradigm Shifts
A
- Thomas Kuhn (1962): scientific revolution is the result of paradigm shifts
- cognitive revolution (50s): behaviorism to understanding mental processes
15
Q
Information-Processing Approach
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- way to study mind based on digital computer developments
- states that operation of the mind occurs in stages
- led to filter model of attention
16
Q
Broadbent’s Filter Model of Attention
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input –> filter –> detector –> to memory
17
Q
Cherry (1953)
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- different messages in each ear
- subjects more clearly understand message in ear they are directed to attend to
18
Q
3 Stage Model of Memory
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- sensory memory: less than 1 sec
- short-term memory: a few seconds, limited capacity
- long-term memory: long duration, high capacity
19
Q
3 Components of Long-Term Memory
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- episodic: life events
- semantic: facts
- procedural: physical actions
20
Q
Neuropsychology
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studies behavior of people with brain damage
21
Q
Electrophysiology
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studies electrical responses of the nervous system including brain neurons
22
Q
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
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shows which brain areas are active during specific cognitive operations
23
Q
Levels of Processing
A
simple to complex
- chemical processes
- neurons
- nerves (bundles of neurons)
- brain structures
- groups of brain structures
- behavior
24
Q
Nerve Nets
A
- initially believed in nerve net similar to highway network; all interconnected
- new Golgi staining visualized individual neurons
- Cajal discovered signal transmission by individual nerve cells, disproving nerve nets; neural doctrine
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Neurons
cells specialized to create, receive, and transmit info in the nervous system
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Dendrites
branches reaching from the cell body; receive info from other neurons
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Axon/Nerve Fiber
tail-like extension that transmits electrical signals to other neurons
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Soma
cell body; contains organs to keep cell alive
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Synapse
space between axon of one neuron and the dendrite or cell body of another; space neurotransmitters cross
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Neurotransmitters
chemical messengers sent across the synapse to another neuron; released by synaptic vesicles when AP reaches end of axon
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Action Potential (APs)
- electrochemical event that results in one neuron sending a signal to another neuron
- positive nerve impulse passes through axon
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Resting Potential
- resting potential = - 70 mV
- nerve impulse passes through axon creating positive charge (action potential) before returning to resting potential
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Firing Rate
- amplitude of action potential does not change
- low-intensity stimulus = slow firing
- high-intensity stimulus = fast firing
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Feature Detectors
- Hubel & Wiesel
- neurons that respond best to a specific stimulus
- different neurons respond to different physical features
- recorded from individual neurons in cat brains
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Experience-Dependent Plasticity
- structure of the brain changes w/ experience
- ex. cats raised in vertical-only environment, FFA recognizing greebles
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Hierarchical Processing
- neurons at lower levels respond to simple stimuli and send signals to higher levels for more complex processing
- simple visual stimuli processed in visual cortex; complex processed in occipital lobe
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Sensory Coding
manner in which neurons represent stimuli in the environment
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Specificity Coding
representation of a stimulus by the firing of specifically tuned neurons specialized to respond only to a specific stimulus
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Population Coding
representation of a stimulus by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons
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Sparse Coding
representation of a stimulus by a pattern of firing of only a small group of neurons w/ a majority of neurons staying silent
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Neuropsychology
studies behavior in people w/ brain damage
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Broca's Area
- in frontal lobe
- damage impairs language production (Broca's Aphasia)
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Wernicke's Area
- in temporal lobe
- damage impairs language comprehension (Wernicke's Aphasia)
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Agnosia
- visual
- inability to recognize objects
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Prosopagnosia
inability to recognize faces; can be caused by damage to FFA
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Akinetopsia
motion blindness
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Occipital Lobe
primarily receives visual input
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Temporal Lobe
hearing, taste, and smell
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Parietal Lobe
touch, temperature, and pain
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Frontal Lobe
coordination of information received from all the senses
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Localization in Brain Imaging
- fusiform face area (FFA): responds to faces
- Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA): places, indoor and outdoor scenes
- extrastriate body area (EBA): parts of bodies
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Memory
- short-term (10-15 sec) vs. long-term (weeks-months) in different areas
- episodic (life events) vs. semantic (facts) in different areas
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Distribution of Language
- involves more than just Broca's and Wernicke's areas
- engages multiple brain pathways
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Neural Networks Principles
- existence of complex structural pathways forming brain's info highway
- functional pathways within these structures, each serving different functions
- dynamic operation of these networks
- constant resting state of brain activity, indicating continuous activity even w/o cognitive tasks
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Structural Connectivity
- made up of nerve axons linking different areas
- connectome: network of elements and connections in brain
- individual variations in brain wiring are unique
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Functional Connectivity
- correlating neural activity between 2 brain areas; collaboration to perform various functions
- does not always indicate direct communication; may involve input from a 3rd area
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Resting-State fMRI
- measures brain activity when not engaged in specific tasks
- helps identify functionally connected brain regions; normal, non-task communication
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Visual Network
- resting-state fMRI
- vision, visual perception
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Somato-motor Network
- resting-state fMRI
- movement and touch
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Dorsal Attention Network
- resting-state fMRI
- attention to visual stimuli and spatial locations
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Executive Control Network
- resting-state fMRI
- higher-level cognitive tasks involved in working memory and directing attention during tasks
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Salience Network
- resting-state fMRI
- attending to survival-relevant events in the environment
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Default Mode Network
- resting-state fMRI
- mind wandering, cognitive activity related to personal life story, social functions, and monitoring internal emotional states
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Resting-State fMRI Networks
- visual
- somato-motor
- dorsal attention
- executive control
- salience
- default mode
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Dynamics of Cognition
- brain activity flow changes w/ conditions
- simple actions involve multiple functional networks
- recent research revealed default mode network (active when not engaged in specific tasks)
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Perception
experience resulting from stimulation of the senses
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Basic Principles of Perception
- can change based on added info
- involves a process similar to reasoning or problem-solving
- occur in conjunction w/ actions
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Challenges of Perception
- ambiguity
- viewing conditions
- viewpoint variations
- color and illumination
- size and depth
- high-level info
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Ambiguity
inverse projection problem
- determining object causing particular image on retina
- same retinal image could be produced by multiple objects
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Obstruction/Poor Viewing Conditions
objects can be blurred or hidden
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Viewpoint Invariance
objects look different from different viewpoints
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Color Constancy
perceived color remains the same despite changes in the wavelengths of the light source
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Size Constancy
tendency for objects to appear the same size when their size in the retinal image changes (due to distance)
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Depth Perception
- ability to see things in 3D and to discriminate what is near from far
- binocular (requires both eyes)
- monocular (only requires one eye)
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Binocular Disparity
difference in retinal images from the two eyes; important in depth perception
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High-Level Information
- environmental energy stimulating sensory receptors
- observer's knowledge and expectations brought to the perceptual situation
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Bottom-Up Processing
- environmental energy stimulating the receptors; starts w/ images on the retina and progresses to electrical signals to the brain
- taking sensory info and then assembling and integrating it
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Top-Down Processing
- knowledge and expectations the observer brings to the situation shape perception and help interpret bottom-up signals
- using models, ideas, and expectations to interpret sensory info
- ex. blob in context, duck-bunny, etc.
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Helmholtz's Unconscious Inference
- top-down theory
- perception involves unconscious assumptions about the environment
- likelihood principle
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Gestalt's Perceptual Organization
- mind groups patterns according to intrinsic laws of perceptual organization
- whole is different from sum of its parts
- good continuation, simplicity/good figure, similarity, proximity, closure, common motion,
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Environmental Regularities (Physical)
- oblique effect (verticals and horizontals)
- light-from-above assumption
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Environmental Regularities (Semantic)
- characteristics of functions carried out in different types of scenes
- scene schema
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Bayesian Inference
one's estimate of the probability of a given outcome is determined by 2 factors: prior probability + likelihood of a given outcome
84
Perception + Action (Behavior)
- movement facilitates perception
- constant coordination occurs in brain as we perceive stimuli while also taking action toward them
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What Pathway
- ventral pathway (lower part of brain)
- determining identity of an object
- corresponds to perception pathway (visual cortex to temporal lobe)
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Where Pathway
- dorsal pathway (upper part of brain)
- determining location of an object
- corresponds to action/how pathway (visual cortex to parietal lobe)
