cog semester 1 Flashcards
what is the mind
- structure that recalls memories, solves problems, considers possibilities and makes decisions
- also creates representations of the world so we can act in it to achieve our goals
rationalism
the idea we are born with understanding and just need to deduce and reality is an inherently logical structure
empiricism
knowledge is slowly increased by interacting with the world, concepts and beliefs are understood only by experience
what was the 1st cognitive experiment
donder’s subtraction method (1868) - if you measure 2 variations of the same function that only differ in one way, the observed difference is attributed to the IV
how to show activation using Donder’s work
build up an activity and the the difference in brain activation, time and action can be attributed to each stage
what is structuralism and who was involved
Wundt
approach that attempts to explain functions of the mind and shows that we can break down processes into their elements to understand them
the forgetting curve - who created it and what does it show
ebbinghaus
shows how long people need to memorise a list of items, and how quickly you can forget and relearn vs learning something new
functionalism
studying the mind based on observations and focusing on mental processes
how can you use diagrams for the brain
- process models to show how functions work together
- structural models to help visualise, show localisation and compare species’ brains
- use brodmann areas - numerical labels for the brain that link to specific functions
describe the structure of a neuron
cell body, long dendrites to receive info, shorter fluid filled axons send info, covered in myelin sheath
what did Ramon y Cajal discover?
nerve nets were made up of individual cells that transmit in the nervous system and that there are neurocircuits or small groups of neurons. this was proved by the golgi stain technique - saw individual units connected together
how to measure neuron interaction
with microelectrodes placed near axons that are strong enough to amplify single neuron firings - first completed by edger adrain in 1920s
what is the principle of neural representation
the idea that everything a person experiences is based on representations in the NS via action potentials
what are feature detectors
neurons that respond best or exclusively to specific stimuli
what did hubel and wiesal find (1960s)
cat research
each neuron in visual area of the occupital responded to certain type of stimuli - meaning multiple feature dectors rep different aspects of objects
where are feature detectors highly specialised?
the fusiform gyrus in the temporal cortex has many - for faces (we cannot ignore them) words, objects, shapes, bodies, places
how do feature detectors develop
blake and coops showed that perceptions are determined by the neurones that fire - applied to speech shows that babies have capacity to produce sound attributed to any language to as we get older - much harder outside own language
what is hierarchical processing
how info is processed from low-high areas of the brain - edges to lines to faces
what is specificity processing and how is it limited
the idea that stimuli is represented by one specific neuron firing (e.g the britney spears neuron) - however neurons are more likely to respond to several faces as there are too many stimuli in the world to have one neuron dedicated to each
what is sensory coding
how neurones represent various characteristics of the environment in separate categories (smell, touch, sight)
what is population coding
representing stimuli via neuron patterns - e.g for faces - x amount of neurons for several faces that fire in dif patterns
sparse coding
most effective method - represent faces by pattern of firing a small group of neurons whist the rest remain silent - meaning there can be some overlap with those that rep diff faces
what kind if neuron firing is associated with memory
likely to be sparse and population coding