Cognition Flashcards
cognition
- range of mental processes or thinking skills that enable people to learn and function in daily life
- processes such as attention, decision making, problem solving, behavioral regulation, memory, language
sustained attention
ability to concentrate or focus attention on one activity for a prolonged time without being distracted
selective attention
ability to suppress unwanted stimuli and filter distractions that are not relevant, instead focusing on what is desired and relevant for task completion or engagement
alternating attention
ability to shift the focus of attention between two or more different tasks
divided attention
ability to share attention between two activities simultaneously
short term memory
- ability of the human mind to hold a limited amount of information temporarily, generally for a few seconds to a few minute
long term memory
Declarative
•Semantic – storage of facts
•Episodic - ability to recall a specific autobiographical event in its original context
Nondeclarative
•Procedural – skills and habits
•Conditioning – stimulus predicts that an event will occur
•Priming - increased ability to classify or detect an item due to recent exposure with the same or similar item
•Perceptual – visual, auditory and other perceptual information used for long-term memo
working memory
keep info available over brief periods of time for use in directing purposeful behavior
***most impaired in mental illness
executive function
concept comprehension
abstract reasoning
planning - sequencing, organizing, strategy
problem solving - flexibility, response inhibition
3 general accepted core executive functions
- inhibition
- cognitive flexibility
- working memory
functional problems with executive function
cog flex - difficult to think outside of norm
social flex and adaptation - children told what to do, adults expected to “get it”
dominance of bottom up processing
social cognition
thinking about self and others within social contexts
ability to construct representations about others, self, and relationships
emotional perception
reading facial expressions
theory of mind
taking the perspectives of others
attributional style
interpreting others’ intentions
social perception
getting the “gist” of social situations
dysregulation in new social situations
unpredictability leads to distress
dec in “big picture” thinking and social nuances
rigid social cognitive style
difficulty coming up with responses to social problems when contexts change
increase effort to retrieve stored info regarding social cues and language leads to
poverty of speech, blunted affect
cognitive deficits in psychiatric disorders
- low IQ a risk factor for schizophrenia
- cognitive decline and intellectual underperformance
active treatment vs. maintenance management
consider negative symptoms too in addition to positive symptoms
tx - cognitive remediation
neuro plasticity
environmental enrichment
learning with the goal of improving functional outcomes
- targets cognitive deficits
- drill/practice, problem solving exercises, coaching
tx - cognitive enhancement therapy
focus on social cognition
computer exercises, coaches
better functional outcomes in cog rehab
cognitive remediation + psychiatric rehab
CRT + emotional perception remediation
better functional outcomes in cog rehab
cognitive remediation + psychiatric rehab
CRT + emotional perception remediation
teaching compensatory strategies
insight into difficulties is needed
assess individual’s strengths and weaknesses
learning style/preferences
cognitive disability model
- does not support improvement in cognition
- improvement in fx can occur from: caregiver training, environmental mod, adaptations, cueing, sensory modulation
- promote social interaction/participation to improve social cognition
6 levels
level 1 of cognition
severe disability, conscious but does not experience self as separate from environment
level 2
motivated to remain in state of comfort, primitive sense of self, bizarre posturing
level 3
response to tactile cues, repetitive or pointless/inappropriate actions
level 4
- reliant on visual cues, complies with actions for ST goal
daily routines can be followed, some sustained attention
level 5
overt trial and error, experimentation to problem solve, new learning, inductive reasoning
level 6
absence of stability, symbolic cues guide motor action, hypothetical thinking, organized before, follow directions
functional information processing system
- used to construct all of the models in the ACL scale
- mental process used to guide actions
describes use of remaining abilities with a disabled brain - age of onset has significant impact on remaining abilities (older has more prior knowledge and memories)
essential features of functional info processing model
Cues - Summarize what external stimuli make sense and have meaning for each mode of performance
Attention - executive control of working memory for intentionally registering and maintaining use of information.
Action/Activity - Observed behavior that results from the operation of the information processing system.
Speed - The rate at which the information processing system operates.
Visual Spatial Processes - The underlying mental processes of working memory that are applied to understanding material objects and space
Verbal Propositional Processes - The underlying mental processes of working memory that are applied to understanding communication, social order, and time
Memory - The understanding of what one is doing now and what one has learned
allen cognitive battery
Consists of several tools for evaluating attention, problem solving, and learning in persons with brain conditions resulting in some cognitive restrictions
◦Allen Cognitive Level Screen (ACLS) - a leather-lacing test that provides a quick measure of learning/cognitive abilities. ◦Allen Diagnostic Module (ADM)
◦Routine Task Inventory (RTI)
