BioCog Psychology Part 2 Flashcards
Problem
An obstacle between a current state and the goal state with no obvious solution
Gestalt approach to problem solving
Approach from a perceptual perspective
1. Representation of a problem in the mind
2. Reorganisation & restructuring representations
Insight
Sudden realisation of the solution - associated with restructuring
Fixation
Obstacle to problem-solving
Tendency to focus on something which keeps them from solving the problem
Functional fixedness
Obstacle to problem-solving
Unhelpful fixation on familiar functions/uses of an object
e.g. Candle problem, Duncker, 1945 or Two-string problem, Maier, 1951
Mental set
Obstacle to problem-solving
Preconceived notion on how to approach a problem - acquired knowledge can be counterproductive
Information-process approach to problem solving
Newell and Simon
Initial state > goal state
Operators: actions which change the current state
Problem solving is a sequence of actions with intermediate states
Means-end analysis: reduce the space between initial and goal states (with as little moves as possible)
Analogy to solve a problem
Using the solution of a similar problem to guide solving the current problem
Target & source problem
Steps:
1. Noticing
2. Mapping
3. Applying
e.g. Radiation problem, Duncker, 1945
Heuristics in problem solving
Rules of thumb based on experience which can lead to a solution
Efficient, not always effective
Algorithm (problem-solving)
Finite amount of steps which guarantee finding the solution
Effective, not always efficient
Strategies for problem-solving
- Restructuring (Gestalt)
- Means-end analysis
- Through the use of analogies
Incubation (problem-solving)
Waiting/doing something else other than the problem
Taking a break
Usually aids insight
Emotion
Positive or negative reactions to certain situations
Parts of the brain involved in emotion
- Amygdala
- Hypothalamus
- Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC)
Amygdala structure
Lateral nucleus: receives information from the neocortex, sends information to the basal nucleus, ventral striatum, dorsomedial nucleus (thalamus), etc.
Lateral + basal nucleus: send information to the vmPFC and the central nucleus
Central nucleus: projects information to the hypothalamus, midbrain, pons, and medulla; these are responsible for expression of an emotion
Stress
physiological reaction caused by the perception of aversive or threatening situations
Fight-or-flight response
physiological response; body prepares for the strenuous activity of either fighting or running away
Sympathetic nervous system (stress)
Adrenal glands release epinephrine, norepinephrine, and steroid stress hormones
Sympathetic adrenal-medullary system (stress)
Control the release of catecholamine stress hormones, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine
Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (stress)
Controls the release of glucocorticoid hormones
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC)
Plays a role in social/moral decision making
Damage to vmPFC: emotion does not influence decision-making
Chronic stress (depressivity)
Over-activation of HPA axis > increased levels of cortisol
Hippocampus can be damaged due to prolonged inhibition (due to cortisol)
Immune system is inhibited
James-Lange theory on emotions
Emotional feelings are a result of interpreting your body’s response to a stimuli
Facial expression
Spontaneous (genuine)
Voluntary (on command): harder to seem realistic, as we cannot voluntary move our orbicularis oculi (muscles around the eyes)
Emotional paresis
Subcortical white matter lesions result in a disability to produce spontaneous facial expressions
Voluntary paresis
Lesions in the motor cortex result in the inability to produce voluntary facial expressions
Language
system of communication using sounds or symbols which enables us to express our feelings, thoughts, ideas, and experiences
Lexicon
A person’s knowledge of what words mean, how they sound, and how they are used
Phoneme
Smallest unit of sound which can change the meaning of a word (phoneme itself has no meaning)
Allophone: sounds used to produce the same phoneme
Morpheme
Smallest unit of language which has meaning
Free morphemes: whole words
Bound morphemes: convey meaning such as plurality, negativity, adjective, etc.
Phonemic restoration effect
A phoneme can be ‘covered up’ by another sound, but may be filled in due to the person’s knowledge and context (unconsciously)
Top-down influence + lexicon
Speech segmentation
ability to perceive individual words from speech
Word superiority effect
Letters are easier to recognise when they are represented in/as a word
Word frequency effect
People respond more quickly to high-frequency words than to low-frequency words
Lexical ambiguity
Multiple meaning for the same word
Meaning dominance
Meanings of a word may be more or less dominant/frequent
Biased dominance: different frequencies for the meanings (e.g. 75% & 25%)
Balanced dominance: similar or same frequencies for the meanings of a word (e.g. 49% & 51%)
Semantics
Meaning of words and sentences
Syntax
Rules for combining words into sentences
Broca’s aphasia
Expressive aphasia
Damage to the left frontal lobe causes a difficulty in producing speech
Semantics are fine, syntax is impaired
Wernicke’s aphasia
Receptive aphasia
Damage to the left temporal lobe causes a difficulty in understanding speech
Syntax is fine, semantics are impaired
Parsing
Grouping words into phrases
Behaviourist view on language
Skinner: word chain grammar; grammar: merely learned (conditioned) relations between sounds
Cognitive/linguistic view on language
Chomsky: phrase structure grammar
- Language is generative; innate grammatical modale
- Children only need a social context, not reinforcement
Aphasia
Disturbance in the production or comprehension of language, caused by brain damage
Prosody
Rhythmic, emphatic, and melodic aspects of speech
Phonagnosia
Difficulty recognising voices; usually caused by brain damage to the right parietal lobe or in the right anterior superior temporal lobe
Agrammatism
Difficulty to use grammatical constructs
Often part of Broca’s aphasia
Anomic aphasia
Difficulty to find the (appropriate) words
Often part of Broca’s aphasia
Apraxia of speech
Impaired ability to move the tongue, lips, and throat; muscles required to produce speech
Pure alexia
Ability to write but inability to read
Conduction aphasia
Relatively good comprehension and meaningful production of speech but poor repetition
Damage to the connection between Wernicke’s and Broca’s area
Damage to Wernicke’s area
Pure word deafness: inability to couple sounds to meaning; can read and understand writing perfectly fine
Transcortical sensory aphasia: inability to derive the meaning of a word; inability to understand, written or spoken language; can repeat language back
Wernicke’s aphasia: larger brain damage; pure word deafness + transcortical sensory aphasia
Surface dyslexia
Whole-word reading is not possible; some words may not present an issue; cannot recognise a word, but must approach as if new
Phonological dyslexia
Generating the sound code of a new word is not possible; no issues with known words, only with new or non-words
Direct dyslexia
Cannot communicate verbally, meaningless speech and no understanding of speech
Orthographic dysgraphia
No access to whole-word image; spelling based on sounds; damage to posterior inferior temporal cortex
Phonological dysgraphia
Cannot spell based on sounds; problems with writing new or non-words; damage to Broca’s area
Inductive reasoning
Based on observations; reaching conclusions from evidence
Availability heuristic
Easily remembered events are assumed to be more probable than less easily remembered events
Representativeness heuristic
Making judgements based on how much an events resembles another event
Base rate
Facts, probabilities, proportions
Conjunction rule
Probability of both events happening cannot be higher than the probability of each single event
Law of large numbers
Increasing the sample size immediately makes it more representative of the population
Myside bias
Generating and evaluating evidence that is based towards their own opinions and attitudes
Confirmation bias
Only looking for information to confirm a personal hypothesis
Deductive reasoning
Determining whether a statement logically follows from premises
Syllogism
Two premises followed by a conclusion
Falsification principle
To test a rule we must look for cases which would disprove it
Expected utility theory
Assumption that people are rational
Choice overload
Too much choice leads to less people making a choice and less satisfaction
Status quo bias
Tendency to do nothing when faced with having to make a decision
Framing effect
Decisions are influenced by how the choices are stated
Prospect theory
Neutral reference point for gains & losses; diminishing returns
Heuristics
Rule of thumb generally works well; no guarantee for a solution
Algorithm
Unambiguous decision of how to solve a category of problems
