1ST Flashcards
Study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information
Cognitive Psychology
Used by psychologists to know what we are thinking.
Dialectic thinking
They must study how people perceive various shapes, why they remember some facts but forget others, or how they learn language.
Cognitive psychologist
A developmental process whereby ideas evolve over time through back-and-forth exchange of ideas; in a way, it is like a discussion spread out over an extended period of time.
Dialectic
Three Dialectical processes
- A Thesis is proposed
- An Antithesis emerges
- A Synthesis integrates the viewpoints
A statement of belief.
Ex. Some people believe that human nature “genes” influence many aspects of human behaviour.
Thesis
Counters a thesis.
Ex. An alternative view is that our environment “nurture” almost entirely determines many aspects of human behavior.
Antithesis
integrates the most credible
features of each of two (or more) views. For example, in the debate over nature versus nurture, the interaction between our innate (inborn) nature and environmental nurture may govern human nature
Synthesis
Philosophical origins of Psychology
Rationalism versus Empiricism
Two approaches to understanding the human mind
Philosophy and physiology
seeks a scientific study of life-sustaining functions in living matter, primarily through empirical (observation based) methods
Physiology
seeks to understand the general nature of many aspects of the world, in part through introspection, the examination of inner ideas and experiences (from intro, “inward, within,” and spect, “look”)
Philosophy
They believe that the route to knowledge is through thinking and logical analysis. They do not need any experiments to develop new knowledge.
Rationalist
True of False
Aristotle is a rationalist.
False. Aristotle is an empiricist.
True or False
Plato is a rationalist.
True
They believe that we acquire knowledge via empirical evidence—
that is, we obtain evidence through experience and observation
Empiricist
He viewed the introspective, reflective method as being superior
to empirical methods for finding truth. The famous expression cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am)
Rene Descartes. Thesis
He believed that humans are born without knowledge and therefore must seek
knowledge through empirical observation. He’s term for this view was tabula rasa
(meaning “blank slate” in Latin). The idea is that life and experience “write” knowledge on us.
John Locke. Antithesis
He synthesized the idea of Descartes and Locke.
Immanuel Kant.
Inner self + outer self
Perception+ sensation
Early Dialectics in the Psychology of Cognition
A. Structuralism
B. Functionalism
C. Associationism
D. Behaviorism
E. Gestalt Psychology
seeks to understand the (configuration of elements) of the mind and its perceptions by analyzing
those perceptions into their constituent components (affection, attention, memory, and sensation).
Structuralism
A German psychologist whose ideas contributed to the development of structuralism.
Wilhelm Wundt
Founder of structuralism in psychology.
It is the conscious observation of one’s own thinking processes. The aim of this is to look at the elementary components of an object or process.
Introspection
Understanding the process of the mind. Alternative to structuralism
Functionalism
Should focus on the processes of thought rather than on its contents.
It seeks to understand what people do and why they do it.
Functionalism
believe that knowledge is validated by its usefulness: What can you do with it?
Pragmatist
examines how elements of the mind, such as
events or ideas, can become associated with one another in the mind to result in a form
of learning.
Associationism
3 processes of associationism
- contiguity (associating things that tend to occur together at about the same time);
- similarity (associating things with similar features or properties); or
- contrast (associating things that show polarities, such as hot/cold, light/dark,
day/night).
He proposed the Theory of Forgetting
Herman Ebbinghaus
- nonsense syllables
-maintenance rehearsal
“Law of Effect”
A stimulus will tend to produce a certain
response over time if an organism is rewarded for that response
Edward Lee Thorndike
Role of “Satisfaction” is the key to forming association
focuses only on the relation
between observable behavior and environmental events or stimuli. The idea was to make physical whatever others might have called “mental”
Behaviorism
classically conditioned learning
Ivan Pavlov
The “father” of radical behaviorism
John B. watson
The Whole Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts: it states that we best understand psychological phenomena
Lwhen we view them as organized, structured wholes
Gestalt Psychology
According to them, we could not understand problem solving merely by looking
at minute elements of observable behavior
Max Wertheimer
Wolfgang Kohler
belief that most human behavior explains how people think.
Cognitism
“Cognitive revolution”
Proposed the concept of cell assembly
Donald Hebb
He challenged the behaviorist view that the human brain is a passive organ merely responding to environmental contingencies outside the individual
Karl Spencer Lashley
He also considered the brain to be an active, dynamic organizer.
wrote an entire book describing how
language acquisition and usage could be explained purely in terms of environmental
contingencies
B.F. Skinner
-reinforcement
He stressed both the biological basis and the creative potential of language
Noam Chomsky
LAD - Language Acquisition Device
He suggested that soon it would be hard to distinguish the communication of machines from that of humans. And suggested a test that judges whether a computer program’s output was indistinguishable from the output of humans
Turing
“Turing test”
It is defined as human attempts to construct systems that show intelligence and, particularly, the intelligent processing of information
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Goals of Research
data gathering, data analysis, theory development, hypothesis formulation, hypothesis testing, and perhaps even application to settings outside
the research environment.
Tentative proposals regarding expected
empirical consequences of the theory, such as the outcomes of research.
Hypotheses
an organized body of general explanatory principles regarding a phenomenon,
usually based on observations
Theory
indicates the likelihood that a given set of results would be obtained if only chance factors were in
operation.
Statistical Significance
Distinctive Research Methods
(1) laboratory/controlled experiments,
(2) neuroscientific research,
(3) self-reports,
(4) case studies,
(5) naturalistic observation, and
(6) computer simulations and AI.
Individually manipulated, carefully regulated
Independent variable
Outcome responses
Dependent variable
Irrelevant variables that are held constant
Control Variable
Irrelevant variables that have been left uncontrollable in a study
Confounding variables
Process to get the result
- Present-correct
- Error-rate
- Subtraction method
Controls as many aspects of the experimental situation as possible
Laboratory/controlled experiments
In-depth studies of individuals
Case studies
An individual’s account of cognitive processes
Self-report
Investigators study the relationship between cognitive performance and cerebral events and structures
Neuroscientific research
-post mortem
-studying images
- info abt cerebral process
Imitate a given human function or process
Computer simulations and AI
Detailed studies of cognitive performance in everyday situations and non laboratory contexts
Naturalistic observation
studies how the brain and other aspects of the nervous
system are linked to cognitive processing and, ultimately, to behavior
Cognitive Neuroscience
It is the
organ in our bodies that most directly controls our thoughts, emotions, and motivations.
Brain
refers to the specific areas of the brain that control specific skills or behaviors. Major focus of the brain research
Localization of function
Gross Anatomy of the brain
Forebrain, Midbrain, Hindbrain
Located toward the top and front of the brain
Forebrain
Give the parts of the forebrain
cerebral cortex
Basal ganglia
Limbic system
Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Collection of neurons crucial to motor function
Basal Ganglia
Outer layer of the cerebral hemispheres.
Higher form of thinking and other mental processes
Cerebral cortex
Emotion, motivation, memory, and learning
Limbic system
Three central interconnected cerebral leaning
Septum, amygdala, hippocampus
Emotion, anger, and aggression
Amygdala
Involved in anger and fear
Septum
Memory formation, flexible learning, spatial memory.
Hippocampus
Regulates the behavior related to species survival: 4F’s
-helps regulate emotions and react to stress
Hypothalamus
-Relays incoming sensory information through groups of neurons
-helps in the control of sleep and waking
Thalamus
Control eye movement and coordination
Midbrain
4 F’s
Fight
Flight
Feed
F*ck
A network of neurons essential to regulating consciousness, including sleep, wakefulness, arousal, attention to some extent, and vital functions, such as heartbeat and breathing
Reticular activating system (RAS)
Survival brain
Hindbrain
Controls heart activity and largely controls breathing,.swallowing, and digestion
Medulla Oblongata
Contains neural fibers that pass signals from one part of the brain to another
Pons
“Bridge”
“Little brain”
Cerebellum
Controls bodily coordination, balance, and muscle tone.
Memory involving procedure - related movements
Cerebellum
Enables us to think, plan, coordinate thoughts and actions, perceive visual and sound patterns, and use language
Cerebral cortex
Grey Matter: Unmyelinated
White Matter:_____________
Myelinated
Sulci: small grooves
Fissures: _________
Gyri: __________
Large grooves
Bulges between adjacent sulci or fissures
From one side to another
Contralateral
On the same side
Ipsilateral
It is a dense aggregate of neural fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres
Corpus callosum
How did the psychologist find out that two hemispheres have different responsibilities?
Hemispheric Specialization
He had treated more than 40 patients suffering from aphasia- loss of speech -
Marc Dax
He claimed that an autopsy revealed that an aphasic stroke patient had lesion in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain
Paul Broca
What area of the brain contributes to speech?
Broca’s area
-left hemisphere that is critical in speech
He studied language-deficient patients who could speak but whose speech made no sense
Carl Wernicke
Area of the brain which contributes to language comprehension
Wernicke’s area
Father of neuropsychology
Karl Spencer Lashley
He believes each hemisphere behaves in many respects like a separate brain. Lateralization
Roger Sperry
Patients who have undergone an operation severing the corpus callosum
Split-brain patients
Surgically severing this neurological bride prevents epileptic seizures from spreading from one hemisphere to another
Split-brain surgery
The left and the right hemispheres are not coordinated
Alien hands syndrome
Lobes of the cerebral hemispheres
Frontal lobe
Temporal lobe
Parietal lobe
Occipital lobe
Toward the front of the brain
Frontal lobe
Motor processing and higher thought processes (abstract reasoning, problem-solving, planning, and judgement
Frontal lobe
Complex motor control and tasks require integration of information over time
Prefrontal cortex
Planning, control, and execution of movement particularly of movement involving any kind of delayed response
Primary motor cortex
Upper back portion of the brain
Parietal lobe
Associated with somatosensory processing
Parietal lobe
Receives information from the senses about pressure, texture, temperature, and pain
Primary somatosensory cortex
Where is the temporal lobe located?
Below the parietal lobe, directly under your temples
Auditory processing, compre ding language, auditory region is primarily contralateral
Temporal lobe
Can retain visual memories
Temporal lobe
It is the basis for our ability to perceive, adapt to, and interact with the world around us.
Nervous system
Dysfunction of the basal ganglia can result in ___________.
Motor deficits.
Tremors, involuntary movements , changes in posture and muscle tone, and slowness of movement.
Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease
Visual processing. Contains numerous visual areas, each specialized to analyze specific aspects of a scene, including color, motion, location, and form
Occipital lobe
are the areas in the lobes in which sensory processing occurs. These
areas are referred to as projection areas because the nerves contain sensory information going to (projecting to) the thalamus.
Projection areas
is primarily in the occipital lobe. Some neural fibers carrying
visual information travel ipsilaterally from the left eye to the left cerebral hemisphere
and from the right eye to the right cerebral hemisphere
Visual vortex
Rostral: Nasal region (front)
Ventral:
Caudal:
Dorsal:
Rostral: Nasal region (front)
Ventral: bottom surface
Caudal: “tail” back part
Dorsal: “back” upside of the brain
Individual neural cells. Transmit electrical signals from one location to another in the nervous system
Neurons
the part of the brain associated with
complex cognition. It is also the part of the cerebral cortex that evolved most recently
Neocortex
Contains the nucleus of the cell responsible for the life of the neurons
Soma (cell body)
branchlike structures that
receive information from other neurons, and the soma integrates the information.
Dendrites
A long, thin tube that extends (and sometimes splits) from the soma and responds to the
information, when appropriate, by transmitting an electrochemical signal, which travels
to the terminus (end), where the signal can be transmitted to other neurons
Axon
white, fatty substance that surrounds some of
the axons of the nervous system, which accounts for some of the whiteness of the white
matter of the brain.
Myelin
Electrical signals
Action potentials
Small knobs found at the ends of the branches of an axon
that do not directly touch the dendrites of the next neuron.
Terminal buttons
serves as a juncture between the terminal buttons of one or
more neurons and the dendrites (or sometimes the soma) of one or more other neurons
Synapse
Chemical messengers
Neurotransmitter
Associated with memory functions
Sleep and arousal
Acetylcholine
associated with attention, learning, and movement coordination. also is involved in motivational processes, such as reward and reinforcement.
Dopamine
plays an important role in eating behavior and body-weight regulation, appetite, weight, impulsivity
Serotonin
Three types of chemical substances. Neurotransmitter
Monoamine
Amino-acid
Neuropeptides
Viewing the structures and function of the brain
Postmortem studies
Studying Live Nonhuman Animals
Studying Live Humans
Researchers observe and document the behavior of people who show signs of brain
damage while they are alive
Postmortem studies
