Cognition, Consciousness, Language Flashcards
Cognition
how brain processes and reacts to information
Information Processing model
how brain encodes, sotres, and retrieves information like a computer
Cognitive Development
Development of one’s ability to think and solve problems in life. Physical mastery comes first then abstract thinking developes with age
Piaget’s stages of cognitive development
Sensorimotor - manipulation of the environment to meet physical needs through circular reactions
Preoperational - Symbolic thinking, Egocentrism, and Centration
Concrete operational
Formal operational
Circular reactions(primary and secondary)
repetitive movement that a child shows to meet his/her needs
primary: repetition of the body movement that was originally from a chance
ex. sucking thumb
secondary: manipulation is focused on something outside the body ex. throwing toys
Object permanence
idea that an object does not disappear because it is out of sight. This idea ends the sensorimotor stage and begins the representational thought
Representational though
able to create mental representations of external objects and event
Preoperational stage
characterized by symbolic thinking, egocentrism, and centration
symbolic thinking
ability to pretend, have imagination, make-believe
egocentrism
inability to imagine what another feels or thinks
centration:
tendency to focus only one aspect of a phenomenon, can’t understand conservation, or inability to understand the concept of conservation.
Conservation
ability to think that change of form will not change the quantity
Concrete operational stage
logical thinking, understands conversations, consider perspectives of others. No abstract thinking
Formal operational stage
logical thinking with abstract ideas
How did Piaget explain learning in infants?
infants learn from observing and experiencing, with adaptation. As an infant learns new information, he/she can use either assimilation or accommodation to classify it in a new schemata
how is schema related to assimilation and accommodation?
Schema is a way for us to classify new information. Assimilation: placing new info in previously constructed schemas(same schema) Accommodation: modifying previously constructed schemas or create a new schema to take in the new info(change or create)
What are the 4 types of problems solving?
Trial-and-error
Algorithms
Deductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning
Mental set
tendency to approach similar problems with similar ways
Functional Fixedness
inability to consider how to use an object in nontraditional matter
Deductive Reasoning
derive conclusions from general rules
Inductive Reasoning
derive generalizations from evidence
Heuristic
Shortcuts or rules or thumb tused to make decisions
Biases
Exist when an experiemented odecision maker is unable to objectively evaluate information
Intuition
“Gut feeling” regarding a particular decision. Can often be attributed to experience with similar situations
Availability heuristic
used when try to decide how likley something is, based on how easily similar instances can be imagined
Representativeness heuristic
Categorizing items on the basis of whether they fit stereotypical image
Base rate fallacy
Using stereotypical and prototypical factors while ignoring actual numerical information`
Disconfirmation principle
evidence obtained from testing demonstrates that the solution does not work
Confirmation bias
tendency to focus on info that fits an individual’s belief, while rejecting info that goes against them
Overconfidence
tendency to erroneously interpret one’s decisions, knowledge, and beliefes as infallible
Belief perseverence
inabilitiy to reject a particular belief despite clear evidence to the contrary
Recognition-primed decision model
based on experience, make decision
Multiple intelligences
Howard Gardner’s theory; Linguistic, Logical, musical, visual, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal
Consciousness
level of awareness of both the world and one’s won existence within the world
Alertness
state of consciousness where we are awake and able to think. cortisol level higher
What are the stages of sleep and how do they differ?
Stage1: light sleep, theta wave
Stage2: Deeper sleeps, theta waves, Sleep spindles, and K complexes
Stage3 and 4: Deep(slow wave) sleep; Delta waves
Electroencephalogram(EEG)
brain activity monitoring
In which states do we see beta wave, alpha wave, theta wave, and delta waves?
Beta wave: Awake Alpha wave: Relaxed/awake Theta: light and deeper sleep Delta: Very deep sleep BAT-D
Which sleep stages are under Non-Rapid Eye Movement(NREM)
Stages 1-4 are all part of NREM
What is Rapid-Eye Movement sleep(REM sleep)? Which waves is seen?
Sleep where the EEG mimics wakefulness but the individual is actually asleep. REM is interspersed throughout stages 1-4.
Mostly beta waves
Sleep cycle
approx: 90 minutes in adults
Normal: 1-2-3-4-3-2-REM
What happens when SWS(Slow wave sleep, or stage 3,4sleep) and REM are disrupted?
They are in charge of consolidating memories. so disruption of these sleeps will result in diminished memory
Melatonin
released by pineal gland, causes sleepiness
Cortisol
released by adrenal cortex, helps with wakefulness
Activation-Synthesis theory
theory of explanation of dreams: Dream is caused by widespread, random activation of neural circuitry, stitch together memories, desires, sensory info, etc
Cognitive process dream theory
merely the sleeping counterpart of stream of consciousness.
Problem-solving dream theory
dreams are a way to solve problems while sleeping
Dyssomnia
disorders about sleep quality
Parasomnias
disorders while one is sleeping
Insomnias
inability to sleep
Narcolepsy
involuntarily sleep
Sleep apnea
inability to breathe while sleep
Sleep deprivation
lack of sleep
Night terrors
anxiety during sleep
Sleepwalking, or Somnambulism
action while sleep
What are the depressants?(3)
Alcohol, Barbiturates, Benzodiazepines
What are the stimulants(3)?
Amphetamines, Cocaine, Ecstasy(MDMA)
Alcohol
Increases GABA activity
Increases Dopamine level, causing a sense of mild euphoria
logical skills and motor skills are affected
Barbiturates
Historically used as anxiety-reducing and sleep medications. Increase GABA
Benzodiazepines
Replaced Barbiturates, Less prone to addiction. Increase GABA
Amphetamine
Increase dopamine, NE, Serotonin, Increased heart rate, blood pressure, euphoria, anxiety
Cocaine
Decreases uptake of dopamine, NE, Serotonin
Ecstasy
causes increased heart rate, bp, sweating, blurry vision, nausea, hyperthermia, euphoria
What are the Opiates(3)?
Heroin, Morphine, Opium, oxycodone and hydrocodone
What are the Hallucinogens?
ex includes LSD.
Probably works with serotonin in complicated mechanisms
What is the chemical in Marijuana and what does it do?
THC; decrease GABA and this indirectly increases Dopamine
Which drugs and drug classes increases dopamine?
Alcohol, Barbiturate, Benzodiazepines, Amphetamine, Cocaine, Ecstasy, Marijuana
What is Drug addiction mediated by? Which neurotrasmitter is involved?
Mesolimbic pathway: NAc, VTA, and MFB. Activation of the pathway involves positive reinforcement of substance use. Dopamine
Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
deficiency of thiamine causing severe memory impairment with changes in mental status and loss of motor skills
Selective attention
Allows one to pay attention to a particular stimulus while determining if additional stimuli in the background require attention ex. cocktail party phenomenon
Divided attention
Uses automatic processing to pay attention to multiple activities at one time
Phonology
Actual sound of speech
Morphology
Building block of words, such as rules for pluralization, past tense, etc
Semantics
Meaning of words
Syntax
Rules of dictating word order
Pragmatics
Changes in language delivery depending on context
What are the different theories about Language development(3)?
Nativist(biological theory)
Learning(behaviorist) theory
Social Interactionist theory
Nativist theory
language acquisition is innate, and we use Language Acquisition Device(LAD) to absorb language rules
Learning theory
Language acquisition is controlled by operant conditioning and reinforcement by parents and caregivers
Social Interactionist theory
Language acquisition is driven by motivation of a child to communicate with people
How did Whorf use Whorfian hypothesis to explain the way language affects our cognition?
Whorfian hypothesis - linguistic relativity hypothesis, states that the perception of reality is determined by the content of language.
How different countries have different words for the same thing and leads to different perception of the world
What is the difference between Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area?
Broca’s area: controls the motor function of speech via connections with the motor cortex
Wernicke’s area: language comprehension
What is the difference betweeen Broca’s Aphasia and Wernicke’s Aphasia?
Broca’s Aphasia: Reduced ability to speak but retaining speech comprehension
Wernicke’s Aphasia: Intact ability to speak but reduced ability to speak in comprehensive manner. patient speaks fluently but in a weird combinations of words, but he/she still understands what he/she is saying
Arcruate Fasciculus
Connects Wernicke’s area to Broca’s area. Damage results in Conduction aphasia, marked by the inability to repeat words despite intact speech generation and comprehension
Conduction aphasia
Inability to repeat words despite intact comprehension and ability to speak
