Cognition Chapter 1 (Introduction)

Question 1

What is cognitive psychology and it’s main topics

Answer 1

Also known as psychonomics, experimental psychology, cognitive science (with artificial intelligence) and cognitive neurosciences
It studies how we 
1. Aquire information
2. Store information
3. Retrieve information
4. Work with information to reach a goal

Question 2

Definition of congitve psychology

Answer 2

The scientific study of how information is processed by animals and humans

Question 3

Explain history of cognitive psychology

Answer 3

500 bc it was epistemology (StudY of nature of knowledge)
Plato said that before birth knowledge is perfect but forgotten at birth
Aristotle said that knowledge is build through experience (first empiricists)

Question 4

Problems of introspectionism

Answer 4

1. Only trained subjects could be used
2. No animal research
3. Even trained subjects don’t have access to all cognitive processes
4. Introspection interferes with cognitive processes
5. Results are hard to replicate

Question 5

Explain the state where cognitive neurosciences is now

Answer 5

Brain basics

Manipulation of brain signals

Question 6

Explain the 4 different views on cognitive psychology in history

Answer 6

1. Associationism (ideas and memories are created by association)
2. Introspectionism (investigation on how the mind works)
3. Behaviourism (Impossible to study conscious processes by report, more looking at behaviour in men and animals) (all behaviour is learned by reinforcement)
4. Cognitive revolution in 20th century (explain cognitive tasks by concepts of internal representations which are transformed by mental operations)

Question 7

Quickly explain brain basics like anatomy or neurons

Answer 7

The brain only makes up 2% of weight but uses 20% energy
It is divided in 2 hemispheres which are again divided into 4 areas (frontal, pariental, temporal, occipital)
It is made up from 100 billion neurons which exchange signals electrically and between them biochemical

Question 8

Explain the 3 ways of manipulating the brain for research methods in cognitive neuroscience

Answer 8

1. Lesion studies (effect of different brain damage) (low spatial)
2. Direct stimulation (electrictrodes in brain) (high spatial and temporal, but cannot be done in humans except few cases)
3. TMS (electromagnetic pulse in brain) (low spatial but high temporal)

Most of these can only be done in few cases with low number of patients but can make causal relation

Question 9

Explain the 3 methods of registrating brain activity

Answer 9

1. fMRI (measuring oxygen) (high spatial but low temporal)
2. EEG (electronic signals are measured) (low spatial but high temporal)
3. PET (radioactive matter injected and measured)

These methods are relatively easy to use but can only do correlational research

Question 10

Explain how the spatial location in the brain is given

Answer 10

With voxels,
Each is 3mm^3 big
A brain has 130.000 voxels
A voxel has 100.000 neurons