Modterm 1- Lecture Notes

Question 1

Cognitive psychology broken down into

Answer 1

Human experimental psychology: memory, attention, problem solving, language

Computer psychology: artificial intelligence and computer stimulation

Cognitive neuroscience: brain damage and effect on cognition

Question 2

Information theory

Answer 2

The information provided by a particular event is inversely related to the probability of its occurrence;
Signal that provides more information = slower reaction time

Question 3

Hick-Hyman Law of Cognitive Information Processing

Answer 3

Increasing the number of choices a person has will increase the decision time logarithmically

Question 4

The timing of information processing depends on:

Answer 4

• the frequency of the information

- the number of response alternatives

Question 5

Broadbent Filter model

Answer 5

-Nervous system as one info processing chan el
-Rate of information processing is restricted by channel capacity
Senses–> short term memory store–> filter (selection in basis physical characteristics only)–> selected input for attention
What info is processed depends on:
Capacity limits
Active selection of information

Question 6

Information that is not selected is lost

Answer 6

Ie rehearsal is required to go from primary memory/ short term memory into secondary memory/ long term memory

Question 7

JJ Gibson

Answer 7

• meaning of objects perceived via affordances

- function of perception is not to describe some objective external reality BUT to serve biological needs

Question 8

Affordances

Answer 8

Affordances are all action possibilities latent in the environment

Question 9

Ecological approach

Answer 9

• A form of psychological inquiry that reflects conditions in the real world
• involves assumptions of “information pickup” learning becomes attuned to what the environment affords

Question 10

Bottom up influence

Answer 10

The influence of the stimulus in the resulting perceptual experience

Question 11

Top down influence

Answer 11

The influence of context and observers knowledge, expectations, and goals in perceptual experience

Question 12

Neuron

Answer 12

Basic building block of the nervous system; receive and pass nerve impulses to other neurons

Question 13

Law of mass action

Answer 13

Learning and memory depend on the total mass of brain tissue remaining rather than the properties of individual cells

Question 14

Law of equipotentiality

Answer 14

Any part of a cortical area (within limits) can do the job of any other part of the same area

Question 15

PET (positron emission tomography)

Answer 15

• all cognitive activities accompanied by an increase demand for energy (oxygen, glucose) within localized areas brain
• active parts of brain = more blood flow
• track changes in blood flow with radioactive tracer

Question 16

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

Answer 16

• indirectly detects uptake oxygen by active brain cells
• BOLD = changes in ratio of oxygenated blood to deoxygenated blood measured by magnetic detectors in an MRI machine
• excellent spatial resolution
• faster than PET

Question 17

Semantic richness

Answer 17

The amount of meaning associated with a concept

Question 18

ERP (event related potentials)

Answer 18

Uses EEG to measure voltage fluctuations at surface if brain

• short tempting window
• less expensive
• poor spatial resolution (limited ability to detect brain areas responsible for vintage fluctuations)

Question 19

MEG (magnetoencephalography)

Answer 19

• registration changes in magnetic streams induced by voltage fluctuation- short temp rial windo- spatial resolution better than EEG, best for studying cortical structures, expensive

Question 20

Interactionism

Answer 20

The mind and brain are desperate entities that interact and influence each other
- do not necessarily share the same structure