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Behavioral sciences MCAT > Chapter 4: cognition > Flashcards

Chapter 4: cognition Flashcards

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MCAT flashcards
1
Q

cognition

A

how our brains process and respond to great information overload presented by the world

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2
Q

Information Processing Model

A

Thinking requires sensation, encoding, and storage of stimuli; Stimuli must be analyzed by the brain; Decisions made in one situation can help solve new problems; problem solving is also dependent on content & complexity of situation

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3
Q

cognitive development

A

development of one’s ability to think and solve problem throughout life

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4
Q

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

A

lifespan divided into 4 stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational

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5
Q

schema

A

organized pattern of thought and behavior; as child develops, new info has to be placed into the new schema

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6
Q

Adaption

A

comes about through assimilation (classifying new info into existing schemas) and accommodation (existing schemas modified to encompass this new info)

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7
Q

Sensorimotor stage

A

birth-age 2; learns to manipulate environment to fit physical needs; primary circular reactions:repetition of body movement that originally occurred by chance, but then was found to be soothing (sucking thumb); secondary circular reactions: repeat a behavior that doesnt directly affect body, like throwing a toy, in order to get response from environment (parent); object permanence: objects continue to exist even when out of view, occurs at end of stage

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8
Q

Preoperational stage

A

age 2-7; symbolic thinking:ability to pretend/imagine things; egocentrism: inability to imagine what another person thinks or feels centration: tendency to focus only on one aspect of phenomenon and inability to understand concept of conservation (difference between quantity by number and actual amount)

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9
Q

Concrete operational stage

A

age 7-11; children understand conservation, understand perspective of others; able to engage in logical thought

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10
Q

formal operational stage

A

starts around age 11; ability to think logically about abstract ideas; abstract problem-solving

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11
Q

fluid intelligence

A

consists of problem-solving skills, peaks in early adulthood

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12
Q

crystallized intelligence

A

use of learned skills and knowledge, peaks in middle adulthood

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13
Q

Delirium

A

rapid fluctuation in cognitive function that may be caused by medical reasons; can lead to rapid decline in cognition

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14
Q

Mental set

A

tendency to approach similar problems in the same way

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15
Q

Functional fixedness

A

the inability to consider how to use an object in a nontraditional manner

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16
Q

Deductive (top-down) reasoning

A

starts from set of general rules and raws conclusions from the info given

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17
Q

inductive (bottom-up) reasoning

A

starts with specific instances and try to draw a generalized conclusion

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18
Q

Heuristics

A

simplified principles used to make decisions, also called rules of thumb; ex. availability heuristic: used to decide how likely something is, make decisions based on how easily similar instances can be imagined

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19
Q

representativeness heuristic

A

categorizing items on whether they fit stereotypical image of category; ex. flipping a coin: after getting heads ten times, predict that you will get heads the next time more or less than 50% which is actual probability (base rate fallacy)

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20
Q

disconfirmation principle

A

if evidence from testing doesn’t support hypothesis, hypothesis should be discarded or revised

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21
Q

confirmation bias

A

tendency to focus on info that fits an individual’s beliefs, while rejecting info that goes against them, leads to overconfidence (interpret self decisions/knowledge as infallible

22
Q

recognition-primed decision model

A

recognition and experience of similar situations leads to an intuition towards the right action for a given situation

23
Q

IQ

A

(mental age/chronological age) *100

24
Q

EEG waves and sleep stages

A

Beta: alert/awake, high frequency
Alpha:awake, but relaxing
Stage 1: theta waves, slower frequency
Stage 2: theta waves, sleep spindles, K complexes
Stage 3/4: slow-wave sleep, delta waves, low frequency, high voltage, memory consolidation
REM: beta waves, paralysis of muscles, dreaming, memory consolidation

25
Q

Hormones involved in sleep onset/offset

A

melatonin from pineal gland-increased release when dark

cortisol: increased release in morning to contribute to wakefulness

26
Q

Dyssomnias

A

disorders that make it difficult to fall asleep; insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea

27
Q

Parasomnias

A

abnormal movement or behaviors during sleep; sleep terrors/ sleep walking

28
Q

Narcolepsy

A

lack of voluntary control over onset of sleep; loss of muscle control; sudden intrusion of REM sleep during waking hours, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations

29
Q

Depressants

A

reduce nervous system activity, resulting in relaxation and reduced anxiety; alcohol: increases GABA, DA, alcohol myopia-inability to recognize consequences of actions
Barbiturates &Benzodiazepines:anxiety reducing, sleep medications, increases GABA

30
Q

Stimulants

A

Increase arousal in nervous system; amphetamines: increase DA, NE, and seratonin at synapse & decrease reuptake; cocaine: decreases reuptake of same 3; ecstasy

31
Q

Opiates/Opioids

A

include morphine, codeine; decreased reaction to pain and sense of euphoria; heroin is converted into morphine in body

32
Q

Hallucinogens

A

LSD; distortion of reality and fantasy

33
Q

Marijuana

A

active ingredient is THC; increased GABA and DA activity

34
Q

Mesolimbic reward pathway

A

associated with drug addiction as well as gambling and falling in love; nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, medial forebrain bundle

35
Q

cocktail party phenomenon

A

hear your name even when you were engaged in another conversation; only shift our attention if stimuli are particularly important

36
Q

Phonology

A

actual sound of language, speech sounds/phonemes, must learn whether subtle differences between sounds represent change in meaning (categorical perception)

37
Q

Morphology

A

structure of words; words composed of building blocks-morphemes, each of which has a meaning

38
Q

Semantics

A

association of meaning with a word

39
Q

Syntax

A

how words are put together to form sentences

40
Q

pragmatics

A

dependence of language on context and pre-existing knowledge, way we speak depends on audience

41
Q

Timeline of language acquisition

A 
9-12 mo. babbling
12-18 mo. about one word/month
18-20 mo. explosion of language and combining words
2-3 yrs. longer sentences
5 yrs. language rules mostly mastered
42
Q

Nativist (Biological) Theory

A

innate capacity for language; innate ability=language acquisition device; critical period for language acquisition

43
Q

Learning (Behaviorist) Theory

A

language acquisition through operant conditioning; parents reinforce sounds of child that are like language

44
Q

Social interactionist Theory

A

as brain develops capacity for language, children interact with other to reinforce particular brain circuits

45
Q

Whorfian/ linguistic relativity hypothesis

A

perception of reality is determined by content of language; language affects the way we think

46
Q

Broca’s area

A

located in inferior frontal gyrus of frontal lobe; controls motor function of speech

47
Q

Wenicke’s area

A

located in superior temporal gyrus; responsible for language comprehension

48
Q

Aphasia

A

deficit of language production or comprehension

49
Q

Broca’s (expressive) aphagia

A

loss of ability to produce spoken language, but still can comprehend

50
Q

Wernicke’s (receptive) aphagia

A

loss of speech comprehension, speak words/sounds without meaning

51
Q

Conduction aphagia

A

affects arcuate fasciculus (connects Broca and Wernicke’s); patient is unable to repeat something that has been said; but can still understand and produce speech

Behavioral sciences MCAT (17 decks)

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