Chapter 1 class notes Flashcards
Cognitive Science
Information
- We can study how the mind works by studying how information is processed
- Mental representations
Encoding of sensory information –> Information manipulation (mental processes) –> Output (e.g behaviour, emotion)
Dualism
Mind and body are made of two different substances
problem for dualism is how do the mind and body interact?
Substance dualism
the mind is a different (nonphysical) substance together distinct from the brain
Monism
only one substance exists
Materialism
only matter exits
Idealism
only mind exits
Philosophy
Rationalism (Decartes, leibniz, kant )
Reason is the source of knowledge
- Reality has an intrinsically logical structure
- Some, perhaps most, knowledge is innate
Philosophy
Empiricism (Aristotle, Locke, Hume)
All knowledge is attained and justified through experience
- Knowlege is subject to revision & falsification
- Science method
Early Neuroscience
Brain damage studies
Phineas Gage (1823 -1860)
Survived a traumatic injury in the frontal lope
- John martyn Harlow - Was the doctor who treated him noted drastic changes in personality
Early Neuroscience
Hippocrates (460 -370 BC)
argued that the brain is the seat of thought
Early Neuroscience
Cytoarchitecture
Structure and organization of cells in the brain
Brodmann (1868 - 1918) - mapped their cerebral cortex & identifies 52 unique regions
Postulated that areas with different structures perform different functions
1800s - Birth of Psychology
Psychophysics -
1875-
1890s -
Relationships between perception and stimuli
75s -Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory
- Ebbinghaus did some of the first experiments in memory
90s - Freud and the case-study technique
Introspection
- Technique involved training people to carefully & objectively as possible to analyze the content of their thoughts
- an experimental approach developed by Wilhelm Wundt
- Highly trained observers were presented with carefully controlled
sensory events - Asked to describe their mental experiences of these events
Problems
- Results vary from person to person
- results can not be verified
- Can’t tell us anything about unconscious events
Behaviorism
Psychology is just the study of behavior
- Only explained behavior in terms of stimulus
- Didn’t really care about information processing
Behaviorism on learning
Assumption 1: All learning is a result of conditioning
Assumption 2: Conditioning depends on processes of association and reinforcement
Conditioning
Repeated pairing of stimulus and response
Reinforcement
reward is used to strengthen the assiciation between stimulus & response
Classical conditioning
- Depends upon an association between stimulus & response
Certain stimulus
Response pairing are inborn and reflexive.
- Certain types of stimuli unconditionally elicit primary reflex responses ( e.g. salivation on presentation of food)
- These basic responses can be elicited by other stimuli through conditioning
Example of Classical Conditioning
Uncoditioned stimulus - Allergy
Response - Nausea
Conditioned response
- Feeling nauseous when you hear the doorbell
Operant conditioning
- reinforcing voluntary behavior through reward or punishment
- Learning refers to changes in behavior as a result of experiences that occur after a response ( pressing lever)
Skinner box - Tolman & Honzik (1930)
- The rat is reinforced (receives a reward) every time it behaves in a certain way
- Reward reinforces the behavior
- Association is strengthened
- Rat is more likely to keep pressing button
Behaviorist approach goal
Complete explantion of all behavior in terms of conditioned responses
example - spatial movement ( playing tennis)
Each movement is a link in a sequence of responses
Problems with behaviorism
Tolman & Honzik (1930)
3 groups of rats
1. group one received a reward every time they completed the maze
- Learned the maze
2. Group two received no reward
- Wandered aimlessly
3. Group three received no reward for the first ten days, then after ten days in the maze has passed, they were rewarded.
- Wandered aimlessly
