Cognitive Flashcards
What is the concept of introspectionism
we can monitor our own thought processes to understand how they work
what are methods of introspectionism
anecdotes
stream of consciousness
self tests
what are some problems of iintrospectionism
may not be accurate
some mental processes aren’t amenable to introspectionism
what is behaviourism
we can’t measure what is happening inside the mind, but we can measure behaviour
what is a method of behaviourism
careful control of stimuli
and measurement of behaviour
what are some problems of behaviourism
we can form sentences that we haven’t heard before
what is processing
how the mind can encode, store and manipulate information
what is representation
cognition acting on and transforming information
what is information processing
the mind as a computer
what is decomposition
cognition composed of multiple processes
what is an example of decomposition
the pacemaker accumulator model of duration perceptionw
what is sensation
the passive process of bringing information from the outside world into the body and to the brain
what is perception
active process of selecting, organising and interpreting info brought to the brain by the senses
what do the gestalt laws explain
How parts are arranged to into forms and objects and perceived as a whole
what is the major focus of Gestalt Laws
describing the conditions that lead to grouping
less about understanding mechanism which process leads to these rules
what is similarity
(gestalt law)
elements that look similar will be perceived as part of the same form
what is proximity
(gestalt law)
elements that are close together perceived as belonging together
what is good continuation
(gestalt law)
we perceive lines as following a smooth course
what is closure
(gestalt law)
a boundary isn’t necessary for us to perceive a shape. when small elements are arranged in groups, we tend to perceive them as larger figures
can lead to us seeing illusory lines that don’t exist
what is Praganz
(gestalt law)
simplicity, we organise a scene based on the simplest, shortest explanation
what is common fate
(gestalt law)
elements that move together tend to be grouped together
what is symmetry
(gestalt law)
elements that are symmetrical tend to be grouped together
what is parallelism
(gestalt law)
elements that are parallel tend to be grouped together
What is the visual pathway
retina
optic nerve
thalamus
V1 - primary visual (striate) cortex
V2, IT - higher visual cortices
feature representation in the optic nerve and thalamus
receptive fields that:
centre surround organisation
light centre, dark surround or vice versa
neurons are responsive to dot like circular visual stimuli
feature representation in V1 primary visual cortex
neurons most excited by line stimuli of specific orientation
receptive fields built up by combining receptive fields of neurons in thalamus
what is a receptive field
features that neurons are most responsive to
receptive fields get more complex the further up the visual pathway
explain visual hierachy
receptive fields get larger as one ascends hierarchy
hierarchical processing
what are two streams of visual processing
ventral pathways
dorsal pathways
what do visual pathways focus on
shapes and objects
what is the lobe of ventral pathways
inferior temporal lobe
what is the lobe of dorsal pathways
superior parietal lobe
what do dorsal pathways focus on
motion
what is computational vision
we reconstruct a visual scene by combining simpler elements
built from visual inputs alone - faithful reconstruction
what is Gestalt Psychology
combine elements in ways to gain holistic understanding of a scene
built using assumptions and knowledge about the world - simplified interpretation
What processing does computational approach use
bottom up processing
optic nerve / thalamus - inferior temporal cortex
what is bottom up processing
processing stimuli influences what is perceived - data driven
what processing does gestalt approach use
top down processing
what is top down processing
background knowledge and expectations influence what is perceived
expectation driven
context matters - environment gives clues when the stimulus is ambiguous
Why do visual illusions work
assumptions can cause incorrect perception - top down processing
what are assumptions in top down perception
expectation about what we will see or what different cues mean
what are cues in bottom up processing
features of an image that give clues as to the nature of the stimulus
what is psychophysical function
the relation between subjective perceptual experience and objective physical stimuli that gives rise to that experience
what is JND
just noticeable difference
what is the smallest difference between two stimuli that we can detect
What is Weber’s law
JND is a constant proportion of stimulus intensity
k = Change in P / P
What are absolute thresholds
the limits of perception - the quietest sound we can hear, faintest light we can see, lightest touch we can feel
sensory systems allow us to experience only a limit4ed part of our physical environment
What is Stevens’ Power Law
P = perceived magnitude
S = stimulus intensity
k,n = constants - specific to percept under investigation
P = KS^n
What are examples of response compression
brightness, loudness vibration on skin
n<1
what is examples of response expansion
electric shock, taste of salt, muscle force
n>1
What are some threshold finding methods
constant simuli
method of limits
adjustment
What is constant stimuli - method
requires fitting a psychometric function
most precise but slowest
stimuli are pre-selected by experimenter and run in random order
what is method of limits
doesn’t require fitting a psychometric function
faster, may suffer from order effects
step up / steep down
stop at crossover points
what is the adjustment method
doesn’t require fitting a psychometric function
quickest, more dependent on participant cooperation
participants adjust stimulus intensity themselves
aiming for perceptual threshold
can be repeated with different starting intensities
what needs to be considered when choosing a threshold finding method
depends on goals, desired accuracy and available time
what is a benefit of signal detection theory
perceiver’s sensitivity can be distinguished from their bias
what is bias influenced by - stimulus threshold
cost and benefits of response outcomes
what is inattentional blindnesss
failure to notice a change in the environment that is in plain sight
not due to a problem with visual system but to a lack of attention
what is information filtereing
broadbent model
attention is limited to the amount of information we can focus on at a particular time
what is evidence for information filterring
shadowing task
different auditory stimulus played in each ear,
participants only report info in one ear, struggle with unattended ear
inputs are ignored and no meaning given
What is Tresiman’s Attenuation theory of attention
Unattended inputs pass through but weakly,
inputs attenuated based on physical characteristics
all inputs make it through filter given threshold value to determine
What is the Cocktail party effect
When we filter out extraneous noise to focus on conversations with your friends
we create meaning
information cannot be entirely ignored
What is endogenous
voluntary
goal driven
controlled
slow
what is exogenous
involuntary
stimulus driven
automatic
rapid
what is endogenous cueing
symbolic of a target location
indicates where a target may appear
can voluntary follow the cue
centrally presented
what is exogenous cueing
automatically captures attention
symbol appears in the location of a target
peripherally presented
what is inhibition or return
shorter delay between cue and target means its quicker to find a target
slower to detect targets at a cued location of long delay
what is local processing
small fine details
narrow attentional spotlight
what is global processing
large scale, big picture
broaden attentional spotlight
what is parallel search
searching for one feature
can rapidly detect items from one
reaction time is the same no matter how many items are on display
what is conjunction search
searching for more than one feature
we are slower to detect as the number of items increase
what is motion perception
ability to perceive motion significantly influenced by how we direct our attention
what cortex plays an important role in directing attention between local and global information
right posterior parietal cortex
what is pop-out effect
faster to detect object if it has features that are different to the rest of the scene
What is the simon effect
consistent representations are easier to compute
we are faster to respond to consistent representations
incompatibilities tax attention
what is an automatic process
process instigated without conscious effort/control
doesn’t require cognitive resources
what is a controlled procss
process that is voluntarily undertaken to meet a goal
requires cognitive resources
what parts of the eye are responsible for adjusting light that comes through the eye
cornea - window
pupil - hole
lens - focus
muscles - lens adjusters
what are responsible for converting light into electrical signals to transmit to the brain
retina
fovea
what photoreceptors are in the retina
rods - low level vision
see vision in dim lights
low spatial resolution
cones - high level vision
high spatial resolution
what is the fovea
area of highest visual acuity on the retina
what are there a large amount of in the fovea
cones
higher spatial resolution in our central vision which is the area focused on the fovea
why does our visual resolution drop outside the fovea
fovea is only size of thumbnail at arms length
eyes move rapidly and brain fills in missing details of nerve
what does our optic nerve do
transport electrical signals to brain for processing
blind spot in back of brain
what is fixation (eyes)
where eyes have stopped and focused
3-5 fixations depending on task
what are saccades
eye movement
jerky, rapid, can’t see while eye is in motion
fastest movement body can make
what are types of modern eye trackers
desktop
mobile
webcam eye tracker
how do eye trackers work
using scanpaths
what does eye tracking tell us
distribution of attention
how we read
how we look at faces (culture)
task goals alter scanpaths
culture shapes how we look at faces
western - focus on eyes and mouth
east asian - focus on central area of the face
distribution of attention - eyes
what is noticed
what is deemed important
order of important
how we read - eyes
word processing
sentence processing
comprehension
task goal alter scanpaths
what we see is linked to our cognitive goals
fixations are tightly linked with task demands
eyes move just in time
where is the visual cortex
back of the brain
what does the midbrain do
carries out functions in
reward
eye movement
hearing
attention
movement
what is the objective of cognitive neuroscience
understand - how the mind is created, links between cognition and neuroscience
build - models of how the brain works
establish - which regions and circuits involved in diff tasks, what changes in the brain as a consequence of learning
investigate - brain imaging, activity produced during cognition
what challenges are there in cognitive neuroscience
complex systems
signal to noise ratio
between individual diff
what do we use to investigate brain structure
MRI
what are advantages of MRI
excellent spatial resolution
allows you to view from multiple angles
non invasive
excellent for looking at soft tissue
disadvantages of MRI
no temporal info
bad experience
expensivee
not metal implant compatible
advantages of fMRI
excellent spatial resolution
reasonable temporal resolution
non invasive
tells us which parts of the brain are used in tasks
disadvantages of fMRI
BOLD isn’t a measure of activity
experience
expensive
what is BOLD
blood oxygen level dependent response in MRI
advantages of MEG
excellent temporal resolution
direct reflection of activity
good spatial resolution
disadvantages of MEG
expensive
how can we be sure which brain regions generated electrical activity
advantages of EEG
very good temporal resolution
direct reflection of activity
not claustrophobic - can be used by infants
disadvantages of EEG
poor spatial resolution
motion artifacts
how can we be sure which brain regions generated electrical activity
advantages of PET
reasonable structural resolution
direct reflection of activity
no motion artifacts
more comfortable than MRI
disadvantages of PET
no temporal resolution
expensive
injection of radioactive substance
may need MRI / CT scan too
advantages of TMS
near portable
can stimulate or lesion
disadvantagees of TMS
difficult to specify precise regions
only surface regions
what can we use to measure brain function
fMRI
MEG
EEG
PET
TMS
what does the neuropsychological assessment test
vocab
verbal reasoning
non verbal reasoning
spatial memory
what is automacity
activation of a sequence of nods that always become active in response to a specific input configuration
activated automatically without active control or attention
what are practice factors that affect automaticity
consistent practice/mapping
specificity of practice
learning curves
deliberate practice
features of deliberate practice
effortful extensive practice
breaks skills into components
focus on reducing errors
use of targets - evolve as skill increases
individually tailored training
what are action slips
when habitual reaction intrudes when performing another task
when do action slips happen
novel task demandss
mismatch between practiced skill and environment
attentional lapse or overload
why are perfect decisions impossible
imperfect information
limited resources
what is a heuristic
principle with broad application that isn’t intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation
mental shortcut to reduce processing demands on our cognitive system
heuristics are responsible for a range of biases and errors including
representativeness
availability bias
adjustment and anchoring
framing
heuristic for availability
probability assessed by ease that instance comes to mind
ease of info from memory can impact decision making
useful to assess frequency of an occurance/event
heuristics - adjustmeent
different starting points lead to different estimates which are biased towards the initial value
what is framing
different choices can be made for the same decision based on how it is framed by somebody
what is gains framing
risk aversion
framing so that there is ‘gain’
ie - 200 people will be saved
what is loss framing
risk seeking
ie 1/3 probability that nobody will die,
2/3 probability that 600 people will die
what is the prospect theory
loss is perceived as more significant and more worthy of avoiding than equivalent gain
features of a good heuristic
applicable in many circumstances
doesn’t require lots of info or effort
fast and frugal
works on average
what is the link between heuristics and biases
biases are systematic errors produced by heuristics
what do heuristic errors reveal
normal mechanisms of reasoning
we make the wrong choice for a reason
what is confirmation bias
preference for seeking info that can only confirm existing beliefs
active search for information - and not just whether you believe information when you encounter it
what is metacognition
thinking about thinking
reflect on contents of your mind
what is confidence for metacognition
‘im sure i’m right’
what is awareness in metacognition
I don’t know why i think that, I trust him because’
What is misattribution
making errors in identifying the cause of something
what is attribution
continuous mteacognitive process which comes with errors
what is the mere exposure effect
preference based on fluency
idea that having already encountered something encourages future preference
what is meta memory error
participants say they recognise something when it is novel
what is mental contamination
process where a person has unwanted response - automatic processing and source confusion
because of mental processing that is unconscious or uncontrollable
what is illusory of explanatory depth
understanding judged on familiarity
overrate our understanding because we misattribute expertise based on familiarity
What is the Dunning-Kruger effect
not always aware of errors injudgement
high confidence leading to metacognition
confidence does not equal competence
what is the dual burden theory
where performance and metacognition of performance are both based on skill
incompetent individuals lack metacognitive skills neccessary for accurate self assessment
