4: Cognition, Consciousness, & Language Flashcards
Cognition
How our brains process and react to information overload presented to us by world
Information processing model
Four key components:
- Thinking requires sensation, encoding, and storage of stimuli
- Stimuli must be analyzed by brain to be useful
- Decisions made in one situation can be adjusted to help solve new problems (situational modification)
- Problem-solving is dependent not only on the person’s cognitive level but also on the context and complexity of the problem
Cognitive development
Development of one’s ability to think and solve problems across the lifespan
Jean Piaget
Influential in developmental psych
- Four stages of cognitive development:
1) sensorimotor
2) preoperational
3) concrete operational
4) formal operational
Adaptation according to Piaget
New information is processed via adaptation using two processes: Assimilation (process of classifying new info into existing schemata) and accommodation (process by which existing schemata are modified to encompass new info)
Paget’s sensorimotor stage
- birth to 2 years
- child learns to manipulate his or her environment to meet physical needs
- circular reactions begin (primary: repetition of body movement i.e. Sucking thumb and secondary: manipulation focused on something outside body i.e. Throwing toys from chair)
- development of object permanence ends this stage of development
Object permanence
Understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of view (i.e. Peek-a-boo)
- this marks the beginning of representational thought: the child has begun to create mental representations of external objects and events
Piaget’s preoperational stage
- 2 to 7 years
- symbolic thinking (refers to ability to pretend, make-believe, and have imagination), egocentrism (inability to imagine what another person may think or feel), and centration (tendency to focus on only one aspect of a phenomenon; large pizza vs two pieces - takes larger piece)
Piaget’s concrete operational stage
- 7 to 11 years
- Children understand conservation, and consider perspectives of others
- Haven’t yet developed abstract thinking abilities
Piaget’s formal operational stage
- around 11 years
- ability to think logically about abstract ideas (pendulum experiment)
Fluid intelligence
Consists of problem solving skills
Crystallized intelligence
More related to use of learned skills and knowledge
Delirium
Rapid fluctuation in cognitive function that is reversible and caused by medical (no psychological) causes (i.e. Electrolyte imbalances, low blood sugar, etc.)
Functional fixed mess
The inability to consider how to use an object in a non traditional manner
Deductive (top-down) reasoning
Starts from a general set of rules and draws conclusions from the information given (ex: logic puzzles)
Inductive (bottom-down reasoning)
Creates a theory via generalizations (starts with specific instances, and draws a conclusion from them)
Heuristics
Simplified principles to make decisions: aka rules of thumb
Availability heuristic
Used when we try to decide how likely something is
- make our decisions based on on how easily similar instances can be imagined
Representativeness heuristic
Involves categorizing items on the basis of whether they fit the prototypical, stereotypical, or representative image of the category (ex: probability coin will land on heads)
Base rate fallacy
Using prototypical or stereotypical factors of a representative heuristic while ignoring actual numerical info
Disconformation principle
The evidence obtained from testing demonstrated that the solution does not work
Confirmation bias
Tendency to focus on information that fits and individual’s beliefs while rejecting information that goes against them
Overconfidence
Confirmation bias contributes to this
- tendency to erroneously interpret one’s decisions, knowledge, and beliefs as infallible
Belief preseverence
Inability to reject a particular belief despite clear evidence to the contrary
Intuition
Ability to act on perceptions that may not be supported by available evidence
Emotion
Subjective experience of a person in a certain situation
Multiple intelligences
Howard Gardner’s theory
- seven defined types of intelligence: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
- Alfred Binet
= (mental age/chronological age) x 100
Consciousness
One’s level of awareness of both the world and one’s own existence within that world
States of consciousness
- Alertness
- Sleep
- Dreaming
- Altered states of consciousness
Alertness
Stage in which we are awake and able to think
- alertness is maintained by neurological circuits in the prefrontal cortex. These prefrontal fibers communicate with reticular formation
(Brain injury of these connections = coma)
Sleep
- EEG: used to measure electrical activity in brain to study sleep
- EEG Wave types: alpha, beta, theta, delta
Alpha waves
- Occur when we are awake but relaxing with our eyes closed
- somewhat slower than beta waves
- more synchronized than beta waves
Beta waves
- High frequency
- Occur when the person is alert or attending to a mental task that requires concentration
Theta waves
- As soon as you doze off, you enter Stage 1, detected on EEG by theta waves
- Irregular waveforms with slower frequencies and higher voltages
Stage 2 Sleep
- Fall asleep more deeply, enter Stage 2
- Shown by theta waves with sleep spindles and K complexes
Stages 3 and 4
- Even deeper sleep, aka slow-wave sleep (SWS)
- EEG activity grows progressively slower until only a few waves per second are seen (these low-frequency, high-voltage sleep waves = delta waves)
Non-rapid eye movement sleep
Sleep stages 1-4
-rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is interspersed between cycles of NREM sleep stages
REM sleep
Aka paradoxical sleep (one’s HR, breathing patterns, and EEG mimic wakefulness but individual is still asleep and muscles are paralyzed)
Circadian rhythms
Internally generated rhythms that regulate our waking and sleeping
Sleepiness & pineal gland & melatonin
Sleepiness is attributed to blood levels of melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone from the pineal gland.
- Decreasing light can cause the release of melatonin
Cortisol
- steroid hormone produced in adrenal cortex also related to sleep/wake cycle (contributes to wakefulness)
- It’s levels increase during early morning because increasing light causes the release of increasing corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) from hypothalamus
- CRF causes release of ACTH from Ant. Pit. Which stimulates cortisol release
Activation-synthesis theory
Dreams are caused by widespread, random activation of neural circuitry.
- Cortex tries to stitch unrelated information together, resulting in a bizarre, yet somewhat familiar dream
Problem solving dream theory
Dreams are a way to solve problems while you are sleeping
Cognitive process dream theory
Dreams are merely the sleeping counterpart of stream-of-consciousness.
Neurocognitive models of dreaming
Seek to unify biological and psychological perspectives of dreaming by correlating the subjective, cognitive experience of dreaming with measurable physiological changes
Dyssomnias
Disorders that make it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or avoid sleep, including insomnia, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea.
Parasomnias
Abnormal movements or behaviors during sleep, including night terrors, sleepwalking
Narcolepsy
Lack of voluntary control over onset of sleep
- Symptoms include cataplexy (loss of muscle control and sudden intrusion of REM sleep during waking hours)
Hypnagogic hallucinations
Occur when one is going to bed
Hypnopompic hallucinations
Occur when one is getting out of bed and awakening
Sleepwalking (aka somnambulism)
Usually occurs during SWS
Depressants
Reduce nervous system activity
Ex: alcohol
Alcohol myopia
Creation of a short-sighted view of the world, inability to recognize consequences of actions
Barbiturates
Historically anxiety-reducing and sleep medications, but have mostly been replaced by benzodiazepines (less prone to overdose)
Ex: amobarbital and phenobarbital
Benzos: lorazepam, alprazolam, diazepam, clonazepam
- these drugs increase GABA activity, causing sense of relaxation
Stimulants
Increase nervous system arousal
- Amphetamines: increase arousal by increasing release of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin and decreasing their reuptake
- Cocaine: also causes decreased reuptake of above NTs but by different mechanism; highly addictive; similar intoxication and withdrawal effects as amphetamines
Opium
Opiates (naturally occuring forms) include morphine and codeine and opioids (semisynthetic derivatives)include oxycodone, hydrocodone, heroin
Hallucinogens
Ex: LSD, peyote, ketamine, mushrooms
- cause distortions of reality and fantasy, enhance sensory experiences.
- Increased HR, BP, pupil dilation, sweating, increased body temp
Marijuana
Active chemical: tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
- Acts at cannabinoid receptors, glycine receptors, and opioid receptors.
- THC increases GABA activity (Neural inhibition) and dopamine activity (increases pleasure)
Drug addiction
- Related to mesolimbic reward pathway, one of four dopaminergic pathways, which is normally involved in motivation and emotional response
- -> nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, and connection between them called the medial forebrain bundle (MFB)
Selective attention
Focusing on one part of the sensorium while ignoring other stimuli
Divided attention
Ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time
Automatic processing
Usually used for things/actions that are routine and familiar, which allows the brain to focus on other tasks with divided attention
Five basic components of Language
- Phonology: actual sound of language
- Morphology: structure of words (morphemes: building blocks words are made of)
- Semantics: Association of meaning with a word
- Syntax: How words are put together to form a sentence
- Pragmatics: dependence of language on context and preexisting knowledge
Timeline of language acquisition
- 9 to 12 mos: babbling
- 12 to 18 mos: about one word per month
- 18 to 20 mos: “explosion of language” and combining words
- 2 to 3 years: longer sentences (3 words or more)
- 5 years: language rules largely mastered
Nativist (biological) theory
- Naom Chomsky
- existence of some innate capacity for language
- Language Acquisition Device: theoretical pathway in the brain that allows infants to process and absorb language rules
Critical period for language
- between two years and puberty
- If no language exposure occurs during this time, later training is largely ineffective
Learning (behaviorist) theory
- BF Skinner
- explained language acquisition by operant conditioning (parents say words and sounds to baby)
Social interactionist theory
Focuses on the interplay between biological and social processes
- Interactionist theory allows for the role of brain development in the acquisition of language
Whorfian hypothesis (linguistic relativity hypothesis)
Suggests that our perception of reality is determined by the content of language
Broca’s area
Located in the inferior frontal gurus of the frontal lobe
- controls the motor function of speech via connections with the motor cortex
Wernicke’s area
Located in superior temporal gyrus of temporal lobe, and is responsible for language comprehension
Aphasia
Deficit of language production or comprehension
- Broca’s expressive aphasia: the pt has reduced or absent ability to produce spoken language
- Wernicke’s receptive aphasia: motor production and fluency of speech is retained but comprehension is lost
Conduction aphasia
If arcuate fasciculus is affected (the connection between Broca’s and Wernicke’s area).
- Since both areas are unaffected, speech production and comprehension are in tact, but pt is unable to repeat something that has been said because the connection between these two regions has been lost.
Controls our production of language
Frontal lobe
