Chapter 1 - Approaches to human cognition Flashcards
Social Cognition
An approach within social psychology in which the emphasis is on the cognitive processing of information about other people and social situations
Cognitive Psychology
An approach that aims to understand human cognition (thinking) by the study of behaviour; a broader definition also includes the study of brain activity and structure
Cognitive neuroscience
An approach that aims to understand human cognition by combining information from behaviour and the brain.
Algorithm
A computational procedure providing a specified set of steps to problem solution; see Heuristic
Bottom-up processing
Processing directly influenced by environmental stimuli
Serial processing
Processing in which one process is completed before the next one starts.
Top-down processing
Stimulus processing that is influenced by factors such as the individual’s past experience and expectations
Parallel Processing
Processing in which two or more cognitive processes occur at the same time
Cascade processing
Later processing stages start before earlier processing stages have been completed when performing a task.
Ecological validity
The applicability (or otherwise) of the findings of laboratory studies to everyday settings
Implacable experimenter
The situation in experimental research in which the experimenter’s behaviour is uninfluenced by the participant’s behaviour.
Paradigm Specificity
The findings with a given experimental task or paradigm are not replicated even when apparently very similar tasks or paradigms are used
Lesion
Damage within the brain resulting from injury or disease; it typically affects a restricted area.
Modularity
The assumption that the cognitive system consists of many fairly independent or separate modules or processors, each specialised for a given type of processing.
Pure alexia
Severe problems with reading but not other language skills; caused by damage to brain areas involved in visual processing.
Double dissociation
The finding that some brain-damaged individuals have intact performance on one task but poor performance on another task whereas other individuals exhibit the opposite pattern.
Association
The finding that certain symptoms or performance impairments are consistently found together in numerous brain-damaged patients.
Syndrome
The notion that symptoms that often co-occur have a common origin
Case-series study
A study in which several patients with similar cognitive impairments are tested; this allows consideration of individual data and of variation across individuals
Diaschisis
The disruption to distant brain areas caused by a localised brain injury or lesion.
Sulcus
A groove or furrow in the surface of the brain. Sulci is plural
Gyrus
Prominent elevated area or ridge on the brain’s surface. Gyri is plural
Dorsal
Towards the top
Rostral
Towards the front
Ventral
Towards the bottom
Posterior
towards the back
Lateral
Situated at the side of the brain
Medial
Situated in the middle of the brain
Connectome
A comprehensive wiring diagram of neural connections within the brain
Single-unit recording
An invasive technique for studying brain function, permitting the study of activity in single neurons
Event-related potentials (ERPs)
The pattern of electroencephalograph (EEG) activity obtained by averaging the brain responses to the same stimulus presented repeatedly
Positron emission tomography (PET)
A brain-scanning technique based on the detection of positrons; it has reasonable spatial resolution but poor temporal resolution.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
A technique based on imaging blood oxygenation using an MRI machine; it provides information about the location and time course of the brain processes.
Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (efMRI)
This is a form of fMRI in which patterns of brain activity associated with specific events (e.g., correct vs incorrect responses on a memory test) are compared.
Magneto-encephalography (MEG)
A non-invasive brain-scanning technique based on recording the magnetic fields generated by brain activity; it has good spatial and temporal resolution.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
A technique in which magnetic pulses briefly disrupts the functioning of a given brain area. It is often claimed that it creates a short-lived lesion. More accurately, TMS causes interference when the brain area to which it is applied is involved in task processing as well as activity produced by the applied stimulation.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
A technique in which a very weak electrical current is passed through an area of the brain (often for several minutes); anodal tDCS often enhances performance, whereas cathodal tDCS often impairs it.
Electroencephalography (EEG)
Recording the brain’s electrical potentials through a series of scalp electrodes.
BOLD
Blood oxygen-level-dependent contrast; this is the signal measured by fMRI
Neural decoding
Using computer-based analyses of patterns of brain activity to work out which stimulus an individual is processing.
Functional specialisation
The assumption that each brain area or region is specialised for a specific function (e.g., colour processing; face processing).
Reverse inference
As applied to functional neuroimaging, it involves arguing backwards from a pattern of brain activation to the presence of a given cognitive process.
Default mode network
A network of brain regions that are active “by default” when an individual is not involved in a current task; it is associated with internal processes including mind-wandering, remembering the past and imagining the future.
Computational modelling
This involves constructing computer programs that simulate or mimic human cognitive processes
Artificial intelligence
This involves developing computer programs that produce intelligent outcomes.
Cognitive architechture
Comprehensive framework for understanding human cognition in the form of a computer program.
Connectionist models
Models in computational cognitive science consisting of interconnected networks of simple units or nodes; the networks exhibit learning through experience and specific items of knowledge are distributed across numerous units.
Neural network models
Computational models in which processing involves the simultaneous activation of numerous interconnected nodes (basic units).
Nodes
The basic units within a neural network model
Back-propagation
A learning mechanism in connectionist models based on comparing actual responses to correct ones.
Production systems
These consist of very large numbers of “IF…..THEN” production rules and a working memory containing information.
Production rules
“IF….THEN” or condition-action rules in which the action is carried out whenever the appropriate condition is present.
Working memory
A limited-capacity system used in the processing and brief holding of information.
Converging operations
An approach in which several methods with different strengths and limitations are used to address a given issue.
Replication
The ability to repeat a previous experiment and obtain the same (or similar) findings.
Meta-analysis
A form of statistical analysis based on combining the findings from numerous studies on a given research topic.
