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MCAT Psych/Soc. > Chapter 4 - Cognition, Consciousness, and Language > Flashcards

Chapter 4 - Cognition, Consciousness, and Language Flashcards

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1
Q

Dual-Coding Theory

A
  • States that both verbal association and visual images are used to process and store information
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2
Q

Schema

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  • Can include a concept (what is a dog?), a behavior (what do you do when someone asks you your name?), or a sequence of events (what do you normally do in a sit-down restaurant?)
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3
Q

Assimilation vs. Accommodation

A
  • Assimilation: the process of classifying new information into existing schemata
  • If the new information does not fit nearly into existing schemata, then accommodation occurs. Accommodation is the process by which existing schemata are modified to encompass this new information.
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4
Q

Circular Reactions

A
  • Named for their repetitive natures
  • Primary circular reactions: are the repetition of a body movement that originally occurred by chance, such as sucking the thumb; usually, the behavior is repeated because the child finds it soothing.
  • Secondary circular reactions: occur when manipulation is focused on something outside the body, such as repeatedly throwing toys from a high chair. These behaviors are often repeated because the child gets a response from the environment (such as a parent picking up the dropped toy).
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5
Q

Object Permanence

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  • The understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of view
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6
Q

Symbolic Thinking, Egocentrism, and Centration

A
  • Symbolic Thinking: refers to the ability to pretend, play make-believe, and have an imagination
  • Egocentrism: refers to the inability to imagine what another person may think or feel
  • Centration: the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a phenomenon, or inability to understand the concept of conservation
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7
Q

Functional Fixedness

A
  • The inability to consider how to use an object in a nontraditional manner
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8
Q

Deductive Reasoning

A
  • Top-down
  • Starts from a set of general rules and draws conclusions from the information given
  • Ex: Logic puzzles - only one possible solution can be deduced based on the information given.
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9
Q

Inductive Reasoning

A
  • Bottom-up
  • Seeks to create a theory via generalizations
  • This type of reasoning starts with specific instances, and then draws a conclusion from them
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10
Q

Heuristics

A
  • Simplified principles used to make decisions
  • They are colloquially called rules of thumb
  • The availability heuristic is used when we try to decide how likely something is. When we use this heuristic, we make our decisions based on how easily similar instances can be imagined.
  • The representativeness heuristic involves categorizing items on the basis of whether they fit the prototypical, stereotypical, or representative image of the category.
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11
Q

Base Rate Fallacy

A
  • Using prototypical or stereotypical factors while ignoring actual numerical information
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12
Q

Confirmation Bias

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  • The tendency to focus on information that fits an individual’s beliefs, while rejecting information that goes against them
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13
Q

Overconfidence and Belief Perseverance

A
  • Also contributes to overconfidence, or a tendency to erroneously interpret one’s decisions, knowledge, and beliefs as infallible.
  • Belief Perseverance refers to the inability to reject a particular belief despite clear evidence to the contrary.
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14
Q

Stages of Sleep

A
  • Stage 1: As soon as you doze off, Theta waves
  • Stage 2: Fall more deeply asleep, Theta waves, Sleep spindles, K complexes
  • Stage 3+4: Much deeper sleep, known as slow-wave sleep (SWS), Delta waves, difficult to rouse someone from sleep in this stage, associated with cognitive recovery and memory consolidation.
  • Stages 1-4 are all part of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep
  • Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is interspersed between cycles of the NREM sleep stages. Arousal levels reach that of wakefulness, but muscles are paralyzed. Dreaming most likely to occur, associated with memory consolidation.
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15
Q

Beta Waves and Alpha Waves

A
  • Both characterize brain wave activity when we are awake
  • Beta waves have a high frequency and occur when the person is alert or attending to a mental task that requires concentration. Occur when neurons are randomly firing.
  • Alpha waves occur when we are awake but relaxing with our eyes closed, and are somewhat slower than beta waves. More synchronized than beta waves.
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16
Q

Melatonin

A
  • Sleepiness can partially be attributed to blood levels of melatonin
  • It is a serotonin-derived hormone from the pineal gland
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17
Q

Cortisol

A
  • A steroid hormone produced in the adrenal cortex
  • It is also related to the sleep-wake cycle
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18
Q

Dyssomnias vs. Parasomnias

A
  • Dyssomnias refer to disorders that make it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or avoid sleep, and include insomnia, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea
  • Parasomnias are abnormal movements or behaviors during sleep, and include night terrors and sleepwalking
  • Most sleep disorders occur during NREM sleep
19
Q

Insomnia

A
  • Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
  • May be related to anxiety, depression, medications, or disruption of sleep cycles and circadium rhythms
20
Q

Narcolepsy

A
  • Condition characterized by lack of voluntary control over the onset of sleep
  • Symptoms include cataplexy (loss of muscle control and sudden intrusion of REM sleep during waking hours, usually caused by an emotional trigger), sleep paralysis (a sensation of being unable to move despite being awake), and hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations (hallucinations when going to sleep or awakening)
21
Q

Depressants

A
  • Reduce nervous system activity, resulting in a sense of relaxation and reduced anxiety
    • Alcohol: increases activity of the GABA receptor, a chloride channel that causes hyperpolarization of the membrane. Also increases dopamine levels, causing euphoria. Alcoholism rates tend to be higher for low SES, but they enter recovery sooner at higher rates.
    • Barbiturates and Benzodiazepines: increase GABA activity, causing a sense of relaxation. Both of these can be highly addictive.
22
Q

Stimulants

A
  • Cause an increase in arousal in the nervous system
  1. Amphetamines: cause increased arousal by increasing release of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin at the synapse and decreasing their reuptake. Reduced appetite, decreased sleep, increase heart rate and blood pressure, euphoria, hypervigilance, anxiety, delusions of grandeur, paranoia.
  2. Cocaine: decreases reuptake of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin
  3. Ecstasy (MDMA): acts as a hallucinogen combined with an amphetamine. Increased heart rate and blood pressure, blurry vision, sweating, nausea, and hyperthermia. Causes euphoria, increased alertness, and an overwhelming sense of well-being and connectedness.
23
Q

Opiates and Opioids

A
  • Opiates: naturally occurring forms of opium, include morphine and codeine
  • Opioids: semisynthetic derivatives of opium, include oxycodone, hydrocodone, and heroin.
  • Treatment for opioid addiction may include use of methadone, a long-acting opioid with lower risk of overdoes.
24
Q

Hallucinogens

A
  • Include drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), peyote, ketamine, and mushrooms
  • Typically cause distortions of reality and fantasy, enhancement of sensory experiences, and introspection, increased heart rate and blood pressure, dilation of pupils, sweating, and increased body temperature.
25
Q

Marijuana

A
  • THC is active chemical in marijuana
  • THC inhibits GABA activity and indirectly increases dopamine activity (causing pleasure)
  • Physiological effects: eye redness, dry mouth, fatigue, impairment of short-term memory, increased heart rate, increased appetite, lowered blood pressure
26
Q

Drug Addiction

A
  • Highly related to the mesolimbic reward pathway, 1 of 4 dopaminergic pathways in the brain
  • This pathway is normally involved in motivation and emotional response, and its activation accounts for the positive reinforcement of substance use.
  • Gambling and falling in love also activate this pathway
27
Q

Which 4 drugs (or drug classes) are known to increase GABA activity in the brain?

A
  1. Alcohol
  2. Barbiturates
  3. Benzodiazepines
  4. Marijuana
28
Q

Which 3 drugs (or drug classes) are known to increase dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin activity in the brain?

A
  1. Amphetamines
  2. Cocaine
  3. Ecstasy (MDMA)
29
Q

Selective Attention

A
  • Focusing on one part of the sensory environment (sensorium) while ignoring other stimuli
  • It therefore acts as a filter between sensory stimuli and our processing systems
  • Cocktail Party Phenomenon: You’re at a party talking to a friend. You hear your name spoken across the room. Even though you were engaged in conversation and paying attention, you were able to perceive your name being mentioned.
  • Selective attention can be more of a filter that allows us to focus on one thing while allowing other stimuli to be processed in the background.
30
Q

Divided Attention

A
  • The ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time
  • Most new or complex tasks require undivided attention, and utilize controlled (effortful) processing
  • In contrast, familiar or routine actions can be performed with automatic processing, which permits the brain to focus on other tasks with divided attention.
31
Q

5 Basic Components of Language

A
  1. Phonology
  2. Morphology
  3. Semantics
  4. Syntax
  5. Pragmatics
32
Q

Phonology

A
  • Refers to the actual sound of language
  • Phonemes are different speech sounds
33
Q

Morphology

A
  • Refers to the structure of words
  • Many words are composed of multiple building blocks called morphemes
34
Q

Semantics

A
  • Refers to the association of meaning with a word
35
Q

Syntax

A
  • Refers to how words are put together to form sentences
36
Q

Pragmatics

A
  • Refers to the dependence of language on context and pre-existing knowledge
  • In other words, the manner in which we speak may differ depending on the audience and our relationship to that audience
37
Q

Nativist (Biological) Theory of Language Acquisition

A
  • Advocates for the existence of some innate capacity for language
  • This innate ability is called the language acquisition device (LAD), a theoretical pathway in the brain that allows infants to process and absorb language rules.
  • Nativists believe in a critical period for language acquisition between 2 years and puberty
  • A sensitive period is a time when environmental input has maximal effect on the development of an ability
38
Q

Learning (Behaviorist) Theory of Language Acquisition

A
  • Explains language acquisition by operant conditioning and reinforcement (parents and caregivers repeat and reinforce sounds that sound most like the language spoken by the parents).
  • This theory cannot fully explain the explosion in vocabulary that occurs during early childhood.
39
Q

Social Interactionist Theory of Language Acquisition

A
  • Focuses on the interplay between biological and social processes
  • Language acquisition is driven by the child’s desire to communicate and behave in a social manner, such as interacting with caretakers and other children.
  • Allows for the role of brain development in the acquisition of language.
40
Q

Whorfian Hypothesis

A
  • Also called the linguistic relativity hypothesis
  • Suggests that our perception of reality (the way we think about the world) is determined by the content of language.
41
Q

Broca’s Area vs. Wernicke’s Area

A
  • Broca’s Area: located in the frontal lobe, controls speech production
  • Wernicke’s Area: located in the temporal lobe, responsible for language comprehension
  • Both are connected by the arcuate fasciculus
42
Q

Aphasia

A
  • Deficit of language production or comprehension
43
Q

Broca’s Aphasia, Wernicke’s Aphasia, Conduction Aphasia

A
  • Broca’s Aphasia: patient will have a reduced or absent ability to produce spoken language. Sensation of having every word on the tip of their tongue.
  • Wernicke’s Aphasia: comprehension of speech is lost. These patients speak nonsensical sounds and inappropriate word combinations devoid of meaning.
  • Conduction Aphasia: damage to arcuate fasciculus, patient is unable to repeat something that has been said because the connection between these two regions has been lost.

MCAT Psych/Soc. (14 decks)

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