areas to improve cog Flashcards
aim of structuralism in psychology and who was involved
to investigate consciousness using response times and introspection
wundt - train participants and showed scientific investigation but was limited to conscious mind
miller’s contribution to psych
came up with idea that memory is 7+/-2
to further memory, must be recorded into larger/abstract units as memory is active
relation of artificial intelligence and the computer analogy
simon and newell’s logic theorist was first ai programme
computers modelled after logic processes thought to underlie condition
brains are more powerful
the forgetting curve- who, how it was created and formula
ebbinghaus
derived from time needed to remember nonsense syllables
“savings measure” → savings = (original time taken to learn) - (time to relearn)
structural vs process models vs resource
s- brain structures to simplify and representation
p- mental processes- boxes, not brain structures
r - focus on mental effort/resource needed - for capacity problems
example of resource model
wicken’s multitasking
is 3d
1st dimension - stages of processing (perception, processing and responding so resources for intake and action)
2nd - codes of processing (like spatial and linguistic)
3rd - modalities (audio visual)
structuralism vs functionalism
s - explains function by adding up hypothesised units
f - expands s. understand how mental operations work - how can can adapt to environment
william james and attention
created concept of input storage and retrieval
attention is taking possession of the mind. attention needs withdrawal from other things to deal effectively
explain selective attention
leads to perception and decision
why we miss details in environment
what is broadbent’s model process
and how it works
input - filter - detector - memory
sensory memory store
working memory system to identify material
what did chomsky say about language
cannot be behaviourism
uninforced bad grammar stage
construct new sentences
must be deeper level
significance of peterson’s PET study (semantic association)
applied donders subtraction
must name verb associated with object
left frontal side of brain associated with semantic association. rear central is selection of action
explain the concept of nerve nets
originally all neurons were interconnected for non-stop communication and physical connection
roman y cajal argued individual cells that transmit in the nervous system with small neurocircuits. used golgi stain technique to see connected units
what are feature detectors, where are they mostly located and how does it relate to processing
occipital lobe for more basic info, then temporal to categorise such as the fusiform gyrus and the FFA
experience plasticity
perception is determined by neurons that fire to specific qualities of stimulus
what is sparse coding
representation by firing a small gorup whilst most are silent, may be some overlap for those that rep different faces
uses fewer neurons
what is population coding
representing stimuli by pattern of many neurons
X for several faces that fire in different patterns
specificity coding
representation with specifically tuned neurons to respond only to specific stimulus
not practical - too many stimuli
broca’s area vs wernicke’s
b - frontal lobe, speech, has motor memories
w - temporal, language comprehension
Which imaging method shows brain activity by measuring blood flow changes during cognitive tasks
fMRI shows brain activity because the blood releases oxygen to working areas, therefore iron becomes more magnetic - more light. is indirect method
what is distributed representation
cog functions activate many areas of the brain - this idea can complement localisation
what is TMS
TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) - non invasive method that stimulates or inhibits brain regions. magnetic coil is near the head and induces electrical currents without discomfort and can map cognitive functions
describe husel and weisels experiment
- used cats visual cortex, electrical signals from visual system showing stimuli on screen
show how neurons specifically respond to environment - found feature detectors
explain double dissociations and their importance
damage to one brain area suggests absence of a and functional b. shows how brain functions are connected but operate independently
the cerebral cortex and processing
is higher order processing for more complex concepts
closer to skull so highly sensitive to damage
what is EEG and why is it helpful
electrical activity
non-invasive using cap
event related potentials
measures synchony and activity
what is a voxel
small cube shaped area in brain imaging studies like fmri
vental vs dorsal pathways
ventral - what, down - temporal for perception and categorisation
dorsal - where, up, parietal for perception and action
what are the gestalt principles
patterns based of intrinsic laws
figure ground - distinction between object and background
good continuation - assumption of lines and smoothest path
pragnanz - simplicity or good figure, patterns
similarity - similar = grouped together
what are bayesian inferences
ones estimation of a probability is influenced by prior probability and likelihood of given outcome
what is helmholtz’s unconscious inference
addressing visual ambiguity - perception as a result of unconscious assumptions about the environment - use knowledge
what are constructivist theories
top down
processing starts in the brain - actively make perceptions based on expectations
what are semantic regularities
characteristics associated with functions carried out in different types of scenes
why is it so hard for computers to copy human perception
inverse projection - objects far away or at diff angles can create similar images on the retina, we can differenciate
determining object responsible - start with retinal image then extend
computers see via edges and dont fill in missing gaps
photos within photos
viewpoint invarience - have multiple povs of objects
what is experience-dependent plasticity
mechanism through with the structure of the brain is changed by experience
difference between bayesian and gestalt
b - top down use of knowledge in perception
g - built in perceptual principles
pain perception - top down and bottom up
bottom up - stimulation of receptors
top down - management. pain influenced by expectations, attention and distraction
results of moray’s dichotic listening
couldnt report unattended message but were aware there was one - was still some processing of identity, change in voice or tone
anne treisman’s attenuation model
an attenuator gives more weight to attended message but does not complete discard unattended - not all or nothing
dictionary unit contains threshold for activation
how does broadbent’s bottleneck model work and its limitations
early selection
filters message before incoming info is analyses (not gradual decay)
filter only lets attended features pass
filter identifies message
detector - passes all info to determine higher characteristics
can’t explain cocktail party
what are flanker tasks
flanker - distraction
degree of distraction/selective attention is measured in reaction time
when flankers are similar/compatible reaction time is better
overt vs covert spatial attention
overt - shifting attention by moving eyes (includes saccadic)and accounts for environment and top down goals
covert - shift without moving eyes
load theory of attentionand distraction
level of distraction determined by perceptual load of task and power of distracting stimulus
effect of cognitive load on selection
high cog load makes late selection less efficient and frontal lobe resources are taken up
frontal lobe needed for keeping things in mind and as a filter
mcKays study on attention and findings
attended ear - ambiguous sentence
other - words that may contextualise
meaning of biasing word affect choice but were unaware or presentation (Unconscious bias)
processing capacity vs perceptual load
capacity - how much info a person can handle at once
load - amount of cog resources used on a task
schneider and shiffrin’s contribution to attention
used memory frames - improved with practice
automatic processing - occurs without intention and uses less resources
what is treisman’s binding problem
features such as colour, form, motion and location combining to create perception of an object
feature attention theory
every object has multiple features that need to be integrated
preattentive stage - automatic before perception, unconscious
focused attention stage - features combine into object
executive control and location
coordinates processes
in prefrontal cortex and uses attention - in parietal
hyperscanning
measuring brain signals of two+ people simultaneously to relate them to each other
vocal learning
ability to imitate and learn vocalisations which don’t initially belong to us
universality of language
is critical for quality of human live and the drive to communicate is innate in atypical and typically developing children
even in abuse and when deaf
tip of the tongue phenomenon
when you know what you want to say but can’t recall the phonological structure automatically.
syntactic processing
understanding the relations between words and how to order them
parsing
grouping of words into phrases and is central to determining meaning in sentences
what is psycholinguistics and what are they interested in
psych processes behind aquiring language
comprehension, production, representaion and aquistition
what is a lexical decision task
more common words and words predicted by context have faster response time
sapir-whorf hypothesis (culture)
depending on culture you may have different language and cognitive categories - the nature of a cultures language influence the way people think
what is needed for conversations
TOM - making inferences
syntactic coordination - similar grammar
priming - hearing sentence with construction - likely to be repeated
what is the primary loss of short term memory
decay
types of interference memory
proactive - previous interferes with new - such as with languages
retroactive - new interferes with existing - disrupting recall of old
baddeley’s working memory model
phonological loop - holds verbal and auditory infor for a few seconds, and has rehearsal process to prevent decay
visuospatial sketch pad - spatial and visual info in mind
central executive- attention controller and accesses LTM
hippocampus location
temporal lobe
what is the serial position curve
distinction between short and long term memory - is better for the beginning (primacy) and end of lists (recency)
explain sensory memory
holds for seconds
retention of effect
iconic- visual
echoic - sound
what does implicit and non-declaritive memory have in common
learning from experience not accompanied by conscious remembering of acquisition
what is encoding specificity
info stored with context
what is cryptomnesia
unconscious plagiarism of anothers work due to a lack of recognition of its original source
how does sleep improve consolidation
prevents environmental stimuli contaminating
emotional memories benefit more - salience tags are attached in and after encoding
fast and slow consolidation
fast - structural change at synapses
slow - systems and gradual reorganisation of neural circuits
war of the ghosts
participants remember story from different culture and have to keep repeating - over time stories get shorter and more aligned with own culture
memory vs knowledge
k - possession of knowledge - learning is acquiring knowledge
m - part of learning and ability to retain
what does conceptual knowledge do
enables us to recognise objects and to make inferences using knowledge
exemplar approach vs prototype approach
e - multiple examples of actual members not abstract
p - average representation of the typical member of a category
cognitive economy in semantic networks
shared properties are only stored at higher level nodes and exceptions are at lower nodes
collins and quillians hierarchical model (semantic networks)
concepts in networks to show how they are organised
concepts are links
uses spreading activation (arousal level of a node) which primes others
can’t explain typicality effects
the connectionist model
uses parallel distributed processing
knowledge represented in activity of many units
synaptic weight determine nearby activation
concepts represented by patterns of activity
embodied approach
learning and conceptualisation based on experiences
concepts - reactivation of sensory and motor processes
has mirror neurons and semantic somatotopy (correspondence between words related to body and that location activating)
what is the hub and spoke model
hub - anterior temporal lobe
spoke - areas of the brain that are associated with specific functions and features like sound or image
agrees that conceptual knowledge depends on a distributed network
parallel distributed processing
neurons acts in parallel and each individual network connection is spread out and has the storage of many different items of info
limbic system’s role in the emotion network (and what happens when damaged)
hypothalamus - homeostasis
amygdala - emotion (damage = remember good or bas but cannot assign value and response)
hippocampus - memory conversion (damage = fear response but don’t know why)
what structures recognise disgust
basal ganglia and insular cortex
circumplex model and geneva emotion wheel - emotions
circumplex - defined on arousal and valence
may be represented in the brain
amygdala for intensity and orbital frontal cortex for good and bad
geneva - categorised by pleasantness and control
goal of evaluative conditioning
ads
valance - degree is how good or bad
what is the papez circuit (emotion)
begins with hippocampus, linked to mammilary bodies then thalamus - will return to hippocampus
for memory function and emotion processing
what are cognitive appraisals (emotions)
thinking or reasoning about emotion
guildfords creativity test
alternate use test
savant syndrome
savant skills - extroadinary skills
in everyone but not acessible to conscious awareness
lack of inhibition
linked to damage in anterior temporal lobe - think outside the box
analogical paradox
difficult to apply in the lab but often used in real life
what is the problem solving process
problem genderation
problem formulation
problem solving
solution implementation
what is most used to study the temporal aspects of human cognitive function
ERPs and reaction times
display size effect
seen in conjunction searches
reaction times are longer the more elements that are displayed at once
spotlight of attention
is analogous (comparable) to visual focus
anterograde vs retrograde amnesia
anterograde - difficulty remembered events after trauma
retrograde - difficulty remembering events before trauma
what is tdcs
positive and negative simulation
non-invasive and painless
more generalised
apply during tested
battery powered
role of illegal and illegal intoxicants
painkillers -depress whole cns (nSAIDS block prostoglandin production, paracetemol block recepotrs)
caffeine mimics adeonsine
nicotine releases dopamine and adreneline
hallucinongins target serotonin receptors
cocaine - restricts blood vessels
washoe vs nim chimpsky
was - 1st non human to use asl, 350 signs and new combos, showed empathy and understanding
nim - sterile lab, 125 signs, not creative
what is the gene for language function
FOXP2
mutations correlate with brain abnormalities
