Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

MCAT > Cognition, consciousness, and language > Flashcards

Cognition, consciousness, and language Flashcards

1
Q

Information processing model

A

Brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information much like a computer

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Ability to think abstractly

A

Develops over time.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Early cognitive development is

A

limited by brain maturation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What influence cognitive development?

A

Culture, genes, environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

A

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Sensorimotor stage

A

Focuses on manipulating the environment to meet physical needs through circular reactions. Object permenance ends this stage.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Circular reactions

A

For example, a child may suck his or her thumb by accident and then later intentionally repeat the action. These actions are repeated because the infant finds them pleasurable.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Preoperational stage

A

Focuses on symbolic thinking, egocentrism, centration

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Symbolic thinking

A

For young children to engage in making up or imagination by acting as if things are real when they are not real. Symbolic thinking is a cognitive stage of development in young preschool age children.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Centration

A

In psychology, centration is the tendency to focus on one salient aspect of a situation and neglect other, possibly relevant aspects. Introduced by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget through his cognitive-developmental stage theory, centration is a behaviour often demonstrated in the preoperational stage.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Concrete operational stage

A

Focuses on understanding the feelings of others and manipulating physical or concrete objects

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Formal operational stage

A

Focuses on abstract though and problem solving

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Cognitive decline and aging

A

Mild is normal; significant might indicate underlying disorder

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Biological factors that affect cognition

A

Organic brain disorders, genetic and chromosomal conditions, metabolic derangements, drug use

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Problem solving

A

Requires identification and understanding of the problem, generation of potential solutions, testing of potential solutions, and evaluation of results

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Mental set

A

Pattern of approach for a given problem. An inappropriate mental set may negatively impact problem solving.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Functional fixedness

A

Tendency to use objects only in the way they are normally utilized, which may create barriers to problem solving

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Trial-and-error

A

the process of experimenting with various methods of doing something until one finds the most successful.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Algorithms

A

a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Deductive reasoning

A

Deriving conclusions from general rules

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Inductive reasoning

A

Deriving generalizations from evidence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Heuristics

A

Shortcuts/rules of thumb to make decisions. It can lead to problematic decisions.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Biases

A

When an experimenter or decision maker is unable to objectively evaluate information. It can lead to problematic decisions.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Intuition

A

“gut feeling” regarding a particular decision. It can lead to problematic decisions. However, they are attributed to experience with similar situations.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Emotional state
Plays a role in decision making. It can lead to problematic decisions.
26
Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences
The theory of multiple intelligences differentiates human intelligence into specific 'modalities', rather than seeing intelligence as dominated by a single general ability. They are linguistic, logical-mathematical, musicalk, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal
27
Variations in intelligence can be attributed to
environment, education, and genetics combinations
28
States of consciousness
Alertness, sleep, dreaming, altered states of consciousness
29
Alertness
State of being awake and able to think, perceive, process, and express information.
30
What would you see on the EEG of an alert person?
Beta and alpha waves
31
Sleep
Important for health of body and brain
32
Stage 1 of sleep
Light sleep and dominated by theta waves on EEG.
33
Stage 2 of sleep
Slightly deeper sleep than stage 1 and has theta waves, sleep spindles, and K complexes
34
Stages 3 and 4 of sleep
Deep (slow-wave) sleep (SWS). Delta waves predominate on EEG. Most slee-wake disorders occur during Stage 3 and 4 non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM). Dreaming in SWS focuses on consolidating declarative memories.
35
Rapid eye movement sleep or REM or paradoxical sleep
Mind appears close to awake on EEG but person is asleep. Eye movements and body paralysis occur in this stage. Dreaming in REM focuses on consolidating procedural memories.
36
Sleep cycle
Around 90 minutes for adults 1-2-3-4-3-2-REM or 1-2-3-4-REM REM becomes more frequent near morning
37
Melatonin
Changes in light in the evening trigger release of melatonin by pineal gland resulting in sleepiness
38
Cortisol levels near morning
Increase near early morning and help promote wakefulness
39
Circadian rhythms
Trend around 24 hours
40
Dreaming
Occurs mostly in REM
41
Dyssomnia
is a broad type of sleep disorders involving difficulty falling or remaining asleep, which can lead to excessive sleepiness during the day due to the reduced quantity, quality or timing of sleep eg insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, sleep deprivation
42
Parasomnias
Parasomnias are a category of sleep disorders that involve abnormal movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur while falling asleep, sleeping, between sleep stages, or during arousal from sleep eg night terrors and sleepwalking
43
Hypnosis
State of consciousness in which individuals appear to be in control of other normal faculties but are in a highly suggestible state. It is often used for pain control, psychological therapy, memory enhancement, weight loss, and smoking cessation
44
Meditation
Quieting of the mind and is often used for relief of anxiety. Also has a role in religion.
45
Conscious-altering drugs
Depressants, stimulants, opiates, hallucinogens
46
Depressants
They promote or mimic GABA activity in the brain. They include alcohol, barbiturates, and benzodiaxepines.
47
Stimulants
Increase dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin concentrations in synaptic cleft. They include amphetamines, cocaine, and ecstasy.
48
Opiates and opiods
They cause death by respiratory depression. They include heroin, morphone, opium, oxycodone, and hydrocodone.
49
Hallucinogens
hallucinogen is a psychoactive agent that often or ordinarily causes hallucinations, perceptual anomalies, and other substantial subjective changes in thought, emotion, and consciousness that are not typically experienced to such degrees with other categories of drugs. LSD, ketamine
50
Marijuana
Has depressant, stimulant, and hallucinogenic effects.
51
Tetrehydrocannabinol
Active ingredient in marijuana
52
Drug addiction is mediated by
mesolimbic pathway
53
Mesolimbic pathway
Nucleus accumbens, medial forebrain bunlde, bentral tegmental area. Dopamine is main neurotransmitter
54
Selective attention
Allows one to pay attention to a particular stimulus while determining if additional stimuli in the bacground require attention
55
Divided attention
Uses automatic processing to pay attention to multiple activities at one time
56
Phonology
Actual sounds of speech
57
Morphology
Building blocks of words, such as rules for pluralizations, past tense, and so forth
58
Semantics
Meaning of words
59
Syntax
Rules dictating word order
60
Pragmatics
Changes in language delivery depending on context. Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics and semiotics that studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning.
61
Nativist (biological) theory of language
Language acquisition as being innate and controlled by language acquisition device or LAD
62
Learning (behaviorist) theory of language
Language acquisition as being controlled by operant conditioning and reinforcement by parents and caregivers
63
Social interactionist theory of language
Language acquisition as being caused by a motivation to communicate and interact with others
64
Whorfian (linguistic relativity) hypothesis
The lens through which we view and interpret the world is created by language
65
Where are speech areas found in the brain?
In the dominant hemisphere which most of the time is left hemisphere
66
Broca's area
Controls motor function of speech
67
Broca's aphasia
Damage to broca's area leads to nonfluent aphasia in which generating each word requires great effort
68
Wernicke's area
Controls language comprehension.
69
Werncike's aphasia
Fluent, nonsensical aphasia with lack of comprehension
70
Arcuate fasciculus
Connects wernicke's area and broca's area.
71
Conduction aphasia
Damage to arcuate fasciculus and is marked by inability to repeat words heard depsite intact speech generation and comprehension

MCAT (18 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions