213 Midterm 1 Flashcards
method of studying cognition: neuroscience
studying the brain to link it to the mind - what parts of the brain carry out functions we see behaviorally?
method of studying cognition: cognitive psychology
studying behaviour to understand the mind
method of studying cognition: computational modelling
using computers to simulate brain activity - if we can build a computer that can perform this function, we can understand how the brain does it, uses flow charts
what is cognition?
processes that underlie complex behaviours
basic research
research to understand a phenomenon in its own right (discovery, no end-goal), can inspire applied research and investigation of new phenomena
applied research
research with a goal, to solve a real-world problem (treatments, improving conditions, etc.)
what is zoom fatigue?
exclusive focus on verbal cues because of a lack of other cues is more cognitively demanding (and the audio and visual cues are slightly disconnected), easy to get distracted in a home environment
hypothesis-based research
research is guided by a prediction about what will occur under specific circumstances (linking variables)
phenomenon-based research
an effect is accidentally discovered, then follow-up research is conducted
emotional enhancement effect
emotional stimuli are more easily attended to and remembered (at the expense of other stimuli), especially negative ones
amygdala activity predicts memory for emotional stimuli, but not non-emotional
artificial intelligence
giving a computer a learning function to get it to perform a task, does well with predictable problems (like chess), but doesn’t have flexible intelligence (dealing with evolving, novel situations)
Plato’s epistemology
rationalism - complex thought is the result of the external world and our pre-existing knowledge (deductive reasoning is innate)
Aristotle’s epistemology
empiricism - knowledge comes from observation, we don’t have an innate mind, we just link observations together to form complex thought
structuralism
basic elements of thought combine to form complex thought
relies on introspection and self-report
Wilhelm Wundt’s contributions to psychology
practiced structuralism using introspection and psychophysics (mental chronometry - thought meter) to establish the simplest units of the mind which followed certain laws (like the periodic table)
psychophysics
linking sensory experience with physical changes (thresholds of detection and difference) - amount of time necessary to process a sensory experience is a unit of thought
criticisms of structuralism
experimental methods are too subjective, cannot be replicated
only studying simple sensory experiences, not complex thought
functionalism
studying the function of how/why we think which is integral to how mental processing works (functions are adaptive to context)
William James’ approach to psychology
functionalism/pragmatism - practical approaches to problems, emphasized the use of various methodologies (not just introspection) because the function of the mind is always changing
behaviorism
shift away from studying the mind toward studying behaviour (which is applicable to the scientific method), looking at behavioural responses to stimuli, animal research
contributions from behaviorism
Pavlov and Watson - classical conditioning
Thorndike and Skinner - operant/instrumental learning
criticisms of behaviorism
- lack of focus on internal mental states/processes
- overestimated the scope of their explanations
- Tolman’s latent learning (learning without conditioning)
- language - we apply rules to form novel phrases
- individual differences when performing tasks (people have different ways of arriving at the same goal)
cognitive revolution
acceptance of internal mental processes - mind is like a computer, it processes information (performs computations on information from the external world to arrive at a solution/behaviour)
flow charts
boxes represent computational stages, arrows represent how information flows through the system
Waugh & Norman’s model of memory
stimulus enters primary memory, rehearsal = secondary memory (performing a task after learning something = you can’t rehearse = info is forgotten)
rehearsal can be many things - like deep mental processing
what is the relationship between reaction time and information processing?
it takes longer to process uncertain information to try to figure it out (amount of information to be processed is inversely related to how much we expect that information)
*Hick’s lamp experiment measuring reaction time and manipulating certainty
Hick’s law
the more information is contained in a signal, the longer it takes for us to produce a response
decision fatigue
we have a limited amount of cognitive resources, and making decisions requires these resources
Webster & Thompson air traffic controller experiment
air traffic controllers listened to simultaneous messages - one was a call signal (familiar), the other unrelated words (unfamiliar) = more memory for familiar messages (less information, so easier to process)
ecological validity
the extent to which findings can be generalized to real-world settings (labs are highly controlled settings)
physicalism/materialism
the only reality is physical
monism
mind and body are the same substance
idealism
the only reality is mental
neutral monism
there is one substance (neither physical or mental) that is reality
dualism
mind and body are separate
interactionism
a form of dualism: mind (immaterial soul) and brain (physical) affect each other
Pineal gland as the seat of the soul (it actually produces melatonin)
epiphenomenalism
mental thoughts (mind) are caused by physical events (brain), but not the other way around
phrenology
idea that when a particular brain region is used (which corresponds to a particular function), it will grow (and when it’s not, it will shrink)
functional specialization
certain brain areas or networks support certain brain functions (like the FFA selectively responding to human faces)
could be more a matter of degree instead of brain response/no brain response
behavioural measures to study the brain-behaviour link
studying voluntary behaviours like pressing a button in response to something
psychophysiological measures to study the brain-behaviour link
measuring activity in the PNS in response to perceptions/imagination (eye movements, skin conductance - skin conducts electricity when it sweats = physiological/emotional arousal)
behavioural neuroscience to study the brain-behaviour link
animal studies (behaviour, lesioning the brain, physiological brain measures) = causality link, but isn’t necessarily generalizable to humans (and you can’t measure certain things like language and autobiographical memory)
neuropsychological cases to study the brain-behaviour link
comparing the function of brain-impaired participants and normal brains (Region X damage = impairment in task Y = task Y depends on region X)
research on split-brain
left hemisphere = speech and language
right hemisphere = visual-spatial processing
unable to name a word in left visual field, but could draw it with left hand (can name a word in right visual field)
electroencephalography
measuring electrical activity in large brain regions to see which brain regions are active at what time
structural magnetic resonance imaging
anatomy of the brain - gray matter, structural abnormalities
functional magnetic resonance imaging
measures blood flow (oxygenated blood flows to active areas of the brain) to create a spatial image of brain activity
transcranial magnetic stimulation
induces temporary change (stimulate/lesion) in brain activity (improvements in memory post-TMS of hipocampus), tests causality but the way it works isn’t clear (effects not localized)
multi-voxel pattern analysis and functional connectivity
studying the brain as interconnected networks (MVPA gets a computer to recognize patterns of activity associated with different cognitive activities)
lateral occipitotemporal cortex
active when perceiving body parts or inanimate objects
parahippocampal place area
responds when imagining a scene/spatial layout
supplementary motor area
active when performing or imagining movement
exteroceptive sensations
sensory organs absorb energy from the physical environment and convert it into electrical signals sent to the brain
interoceptive sensations
sensations from inside our body
proprioception
where our limbs are in space
nociception
pain due to body damage
equilibrioception
sense of balance
synesthesia
neurological condition in which one sense automatically triggers the experience of another sense (grapheme-colour synesthesia = seeing colour with certain letters or numbers)
beneficial for creativity
McGurk effect
change in auditory perception based on visual input (BAA is perceived as FAA if the mouth is articulating an F) - shows an integration of sensory information
early visual processing pathway
light projected onto the retina - photoreceptors convert light waves into electrical signals - signal sent to bipolar and RGCs - axons combine into the optic nerve, which brings information to the brain
rods vs. cones
rods best for low light (concentrated in the peripheral retina = less detail), cones sensitive to colour (most concentrated in the fovea = high visual acuity)
blind spot
where the optic nerve leaves the eye, but we don’t notice it because of perceptual filling-in (with the surrounding)
late visual processing pathway
information crosses contralaterally in the optic chiasm, relays in the thalamus, then to area V1 (edges, angles, colours, light), and visual association areas (ventral and dorsal)
ventral and dorsal pathways of visual processing
ventral/what/perception: object recognition (shape, size) in the temporal lobe
dorsal/where/action: object localization (location, space, movement) in the parietal lobe
bottom-up processing
influence of external world information on perception (sensory organs)
top-down processing
influence on knowledge (expectation, context, goals) on perception
Ponzo illusion
using expectations about depth to perceive the length of lines = mistaken perception
examples of context affecting perception
Ames room: we assume a room is rectangular, not a trapezoid
letters in context effect: ability to read words in context even if letters are mixed
colour in context effect: colour on a dark background appears lighter than if on a light background
Munker-White illusion: columns over black rows
damage to the primary visual cortex
blindsight - no conscious awareness of visual perception in the damaged visual field (but able to respond to questions about objects presented there = implicit perception exists)
damage to the dorsal stream of visual processing
akinetopsia - inability to perceive motion (sees motion as a series of static photos)
optic ataxia - inability to interact with objects (but able to name them), can be specific for certain movements
damage to the ventral stream of visual processing
visual agnosia - difficulties recognizing everyday objects
often damage to the lateral occipital cortex
Greebles experiment
against functional specialization of the FFA: rather an expert discrimination area (it’s just used for faces because we’re experts at face recognition)
agnosia subtypes
apperceptive agnosia: problems perceiving objects - cannot combine features into a whole (faces might look contorted, inability to distinguish facial expressions)
associative agnosia: difficulty assigning meaning/labeling to objects - cannot link visual input to knowledge and memory (cannot recognize famous faces)
apperceptive agnosia
problems perceiving objects - cannot combine features into a whole (faces might look contorted, inability to distinguish facial expressions)
associative agnosia
difficulty assigning meaning/labeling to objects - cannot link visual input to knowledge and memory (cannot recognize famous faces)
constructivist theory of perception
we construct mental models of how things work which are activated during perception (making guesses because the external world is ambiguous)
focus on gestalt principles
Gestalt principle of experience and figure-ground assignment
experience and knowledge drives figure-ground segmentation (figure is more likely based on what we know)
Gestalt visual grouping principles
proximity
closed forms - shapes are closed
good contour - lines are continuous
similarity
direct models of perception
perception involves using information directly from our environment (continuous perception-action feedback loop), no assumptions are necessary
the ambient optical array (AOA) has enough information to direct perception based on cues (like texture gradients - far objects are closer together)
pattern recognition theories
identifying a pattern in visual input and matching it to existing patterns (concepts) in memory - a precept (trace) probes long-term memory traces to see which matches most
template matching theory
every object has a template in LTM (doesn’t explain identification with shifting viewpoints, classification of novel stimuli)
prototype theory
we store ideal versions of objects (most typical) and compare basic features of visual input to see what matches most (flexibility)
feature detection
visual input is broken down into features, which are processed separately and re-assembled
recognition-by-components (RBC): all objects can be reduced to basic geometric shapes (geons)
recognition in context
scene consistency effect - we perceive by considering what’s around us (scene-consistent objects are named more accurately)
identification vs. classification
id.: ability to recognize an object across variations
class.: ability to recognize something as part of a category despite never having encountered it before
motion parallax
objects further away change position on your retina more slowly
binocular disparity
disparity changes based on how far away objects are
figure-ground assignment
more convex = figure
bilateral symmetry = figure
smaller region = figure
what is frequency and what perceptual property does it result in?
peak-to-peak cycles per second, results in the tone/pitch of a note
what is amplitude and what perceptual property does it result in?
the peaks and valleys of a sound wave, results in loudness
pathway of sound
pinna captures auditory stimuli - ear canal - eardrum (vibrates in response to the sound wave) - ossicles (malleus, incus, stapes which increase the pressure of the vibrations to amplify the signal) - cochlea (basilar membrane - hair cells which transduce mechanical signal to electrical) - primary auditory cortex - dorsal and ventral streams
describe the tonotopic map in the basilar membrane
membrane goes from thick and narrow at the base (where high frequencies are encoded) to wide and thin where it’s most coiled (where low frequencies are encoded)
connections of the primary auditory cortex
auditory nerve has afferent and efferent connections with the cortex, signal is continuously tonotopically transmitted to the auditory cortex, projects to Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas and the motor cortex, dorsal stream (sound localization) and ventral stream (sound properties)
what is a phon and what is it a function of?
perceptual unit of measurement - how loud did you perceive a sound - a function of both frequency and amplitude (low frequency sounds have to be loud to be perceived, but high frequencies don’t have to be as loud)
which will sound louder: a 50 Hz tone with a sound level of 70 dB, or 1,000 Hz tone with a sound level of 70 dB?
1000 Hz tone - higher frequencies are perceived as louder if amplitude is held constant (humans have better hearing for certain frequency ranges - human speech)
Which sounds louder: a 50 Hz tone at 40 phon, or 1,000 Hz tone at 40 phon?
both will be perceived as equal - a phon is a unit of perception, so the same number of phons means they sound the same
interaural time difference
sound arrives at one ear before the other = your auditory system can localize the sound by computing the difference
interaural level difference
sound is slightly louder in one ear = your auditory system localizes the sound by computing the difference
relation of anatomy to function for sound localization
the way the sounds hit the pinnae varies based on the vertical plane (up and down)
what is different about the auditory system vs. the visual system
sound waves get mixed (as opposed to objects being occluded) so the auditory system has to parse them apart
what is auditory scene analysis?
transforming sound waves into meaningful auditory units (mental representations) by using grouping and separating principles
what is temporal grouping and what is it based on?
sequential integration: creating distinct auditory streams (one sound is melody, the other is rhythm) based on sounds’ relationship in time (physical cues - proximity in time)
what is a complex sound wave?
summing various simple sound waves - there’s a relationship between the fundamental frequency and the harmonics
what is the relationship between the fundamental frequency and the harmonics?
fundamental: lowest frequency component of the sound wave
harmonics: multiples of the fundamental
pitch/harmonic grouping
figuring out whether many frequencies come from the same source by applying the frequency relationships between harmonics - if this relationship breaks, you hear different sounds
spatial neglect
damage to the right parietal lobe (which helps direct attention) results in spatial neglect of the left visual field (less common in damage to the left hemisphere)
spans all sensory modalities, not just vision (also affects memory and imagination)
which brain areas are involved in attentional processing
prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes
which brain areas are involved in top-down attention?
intraparietal sulcus and frontal eye fields (FEF also involved in the interaction between top-down and bottom-up)
which brain areas are involved in bottom-up attention?
temporo-parietal junction and ventral frontal cortex
what are the three aspects of attention?
arousal: when you’re physically alert and present
bottom-up: guided by stimuli, attentional reflex
top-down: controlled attention - goals and expectations
what are the types of top-down attention?
sustained attention: focus on a particular task for a long period of time
divided attention: shifting focus (multi-tasking)
selective attention: focus on one input and ignoring distractors
why do we have selective attention?
there’s too much input from the environment (and we have limited cognitive resources) so we have to voluntarily focus on what we think is important (dynamic - depends on your goal)
spatial-based attention
focus on a certain location in space (waiting for someone to walk through a particular door)
feature-based selective attention
focus on particular stimuli (looking for someone in a crowded room)
change blindness and related conclusion
failure to detect changes in an attended zone (we still cannot process everything when paying attention)
flicker technique paradigm
presenting two similar visual images with an in-between mask (disrupts selective attention) = people tend not to notice small differences (only begin to notice large differences), more susceptible with age
Broadbent’s early selection filter model of selective attention
information gets filtered out at the level of perception (before semantic analysis): we select which information gets processed based on physical properties - attended information is assigned meaning, unattended information is forgotten
dichotic listening task
present two simultaneous messages to both ears - people are better at remembering ear-by-ear (because we don’t have to shift our filter from one ear to the other)
evidence for early selection models
shadowing task
given two messages simultaneously and asked to attend and repeat to one - people cannot remember unattended content, but can give sensory features (gender of voice)
problems with early selection models
unattended information can sometimes break through the filter (some semantic information gets processed)
evidence: ‘apple’ paired with a shock = it gains meaning (increased skin conductance even when unattended to in a shadowing task)
Treisman’s attenuator model
early filter turns down the unattended information (like lowering the volume), so that important information (like your name) can get through
late selection filter models
meaning is assigned to both attended and unattended information, then we choose what to attend to
evidence: Stroop task (reading colour names is an automatic task that accesses meaning and interferes with the controlled task, then you choose which information to attend to)
automatic vs. controlled tasks
automatic: engage bottom-up processed without intention, very familiar tasks (like reading)
controlled: engage top-down processes, require effort and focus
load theory
based on the idea that we have a limit to how much information we can process, the filter placement depends on how much of your resources are being allocated to your current task (high-load task = save your resources, early filter = less likely to be distracted, low-load task = extra resources, late filter = more likely to be distracted)
central resource capacity view of load theory
we have one resource pool from which all attention resources are allocated (whether information is visual, auditory, etc. doesn’t matter)
evidence: low AUDITORY load vs. high auditory load when driving, low = more likely to see VISUAL stimulus)
multiple resource capacity view of load theory
each perceptual stream has its own attentional pool (attentional capacity reached sooner if relevant and irrelevant information are from the same modality)
ex: more difficult to view directions and drive at the same time than listen and drive because both are pulling on your visual attentional load
inattentional blindness and related conclusions
failure to attend to new or unexpected events in our attended environment when they are not part of our focused task (shows that our attention guides perception because we aren’t perceiving everything we could be)
stimuli that we are inattentionally blind to can still affect our behaviour unconsciously (“armpit” priming)
Posner’s attentional spotlight theory
attention is about focusing on space (location-based) - attention allows us to shift our attentional space to ready a response
Posner cuing task
spatial cue directs attention to a part of visual space (either valid or invalid cues) - reaction time to a target is measured (faster for congruent cue and target)
duration between cue and target (stimuli onset asynchrony) is long = valid trials have longer reaction times (inhibition of return)
inhibition of return
attention is inhibited from returning to an attended space after it has been searched (adaptive - helps us effectively search our environment)
attention as a feature-integrator
pre-attention phase: features are processed separately and automatically (bottom-up, lines and orientations)
focused attention phase: features are integrated, requiring top-down voluntary attention
conjunction errors occur when features aren’t properly bound together (because of insufficient attention)
visual search tasks
feature search: target is different based on one feature (uses pre-attention phase, search time is independent from set size)
conjunction search: target is different on many features (uses top-down processing, search time is set-dependent)
pop-out effect
time to find an object that is different on one feature is independent of the number of distractors (if the feature is processed automatically in the visual cortex - colour)
embodied theories of attention
eye movements detect visual attention goals - your fixation points depend on your goals (what you are asked to focus on)
overt vs. covert attention
overt: attending to something with your eye movements (eye tracking)
covert: attending to something without moving your eyes
how does culture influence attention?
Western - more eye fixations on the central object of a busy scene
East Asian - more eye fixations on the background (sees a scene holistically)
vigilance decrement in sustained attention
mind-wandering occurs when attention is sustained and breaks
overload theory of vigilance decrement
attentional demands increase over time, so your attentional processes become overloaded
underload theory of vigilance decrement
tasks cause boredom over time, so your attention divides between your focus and mind-wandering
what is task-switching?
switching between mental sets (organizations of our attention based on goals)
switch cost: decline in performance when we have to switch between mental sets
action slips
shift in mental resources from a primary (external) task toward internal thoughts (like mind-wandering) = mental thoughts bleed over into task
endogenous attention
choosing to pay attention based on goals (activates intraparietal sulcus)
exogenous attention
a property of the environment (salient cue, something unexpected could indicate danger) captures your attention (activates temporo-parietal junction)
what types of stimuli automatically capture attention?
important for survival
functionally specialized regions for brain processing (faces and bodies - will pull attention away from a target task)
personally relevant stimuli (name)
addictive stimuli (cigarettes for nicotine addicts)
fearful stimuli
cocktail party effect
we can selectively hear someone talking to us in a crowded room (interfering voices) - but it is possible for some extraneous stimuli to pass through the filter (like our name)
medial temporal lobe
processing visual motion
Balint syndrome
damage to both parietal lobes, resulting in attentional deficits (usually occulomotor apraxia and simultanagnosia)
occulomotor apraxia
inability to conduct visually guided movements
simultanagnosia
inability to identify or use more than one feature or object at once (focus on individual features instead of big picture)
