Chapter 1: Cognitive Neuroscience: Definitions, Themes, and Approaches

Question 1

cognition

Answer 1

“higher-order” mental processes

Question 2

cognitive functions

Answer 2

set of processes that allow humans and many other animals to perceive external stimuli, to extract key information and hold it in memory, and ultimately to generate thoughts and actions that help reach desired goals

Question 3

mind

Answer 3

full spectrum of a person’s awareness (one aspect of consciousness) at any point in time, reflecting sensory percepts, as well as thoughts, feelings, goals, desires, and so on

Question 4

behaviourism

Answer 4

perspective in cognitive psychology that holds that only directly observable behavior, and not internal mental states, can be studied scientifically

Question 5

cognitive science

Answer 5

scientific discipline that seeks to understand and model the information processing associated with cognitive functions

Question 6

cognitive model

Answer 6

explanatory framework that invokes unobserved internal states to predict how stimuli lead to actions

Question 7

psychological constructs

Answer 7

theoretical concept, often generated by converging results across experiments, that cannot be directly observed but serves to explain and unify a body of research

Question 8

nervous system

Answer 8

network of nerve cells throughout the body

Question 9

cerebral cortex

Answer 9

superficial gray matter of the cerebral hemispheres

Question 10

phrenology

Answer 10

attempt to create maps of brain function based on the pattern of bumps and valleys on the surface of the skull

Question 11

localization of function

Answer 11

idea that the brain may have distinct regions that support particular cognitive functions

Question 12

neuron/ nerve cell

Answer 12

specialized for the conduction and transmission of electrical signals in the nervous system

Question 13

action potential

Answer 13

electrical signal conducted along neuronal axons by which information is conveyed from one place to another in the nervous system

Question 14

neurotransmitter

Answer 14

chemical agent released at synapses that mediates signaling between nerve cells

Question 15

synapse

Answer 15

specialized point of contact between the axon of a neuron (the presynaptic cell) and a target (postsynaptic) cell. Information is transferred between the presynaptic and postsynaptic cells by the release and receipt of biochemical neurotransmitters

Question 16

cognitive neuroscience

Answer 16

scientific discipline that seeks to create models that explain the interrelations between brain function and cognitive functions

Question 17

neural correlate

Answer 17

measure of brain function that covaries with the expression of a cognitive function

Question 18

individual differences

Answer 18

variation in a cognitive function or other trait across people, often as can be related to a particular biological predictor

Question 19

convergence

Answer 19

combination of results across multiple experimental paradigms, often to support inferences about an unobservable internal state

Question 20

complementarity

Answer 20

combination of data across multiple methods for measuring brain function, often to improve inferences about the nature of the generative neural processes

Question 21

meta-analysis

Answer 21

approach of combining results from multiple experiments, usually published studies that vary in their research methods, to improve the specificity and generalizability of the inferences that can be drawn