Cognitive and biopsychology lecture 1

Question 1

What is the information prcoessing?

Answer 1

Used to understand psychological behaviour in real world and uses computer analogy to describe how the brain works.

Question 2

What are we not aware of?

Answer 2

Everything that we process e.g. fans in the room, typing of keyboards

Question 3

What is cognitive psychology the study of?

Answer 3

scientific of mental processes (controlled experiments) - referred to as info processing approach

Question 4

Detail of computer analogy

Answer 4

info in - info processed in brain - info out

The brain processes info/stimuli from the environment in a similar manner as a digital computer

Question 5

The components of the mind accord to computer analogy

Answer 5

hardware - physical system (nervous system)

software - mental processes (memory, attention, reasoning, perception)

mind and behaviour is info processing

Question 6

What is a representational account?

Answer 6

internal representation of external objects

Question 7

What is a propositional account

Answer 7

mental representations with semantic properties - tokens with meaning

Question 8

What is indirect realism?

Answer 8

we access internal reality through representations

Question 9

What is entropy

Answer 9

used to describe the uncertainty and disorder in an individuals mental state

Question 10

what is information

Answer 10

the amount of surprise, mathematical and involves predictive probability in a system

Question 11

What do cognitive processes aim to do

Answer 11

processes surprise and filter out noise. Brain constantly predicting e.g. how fast is this car going and can I get across the road in that time?

Question 12

Aims of cog processes

Answer 12

process surprise and filter out noise

brain evolved to be optimal not maximal

brain is modular

systems transform and sort info from environment

Question 13

What is meant by the the ‘brain is modular

Answer 13

environmental info processed by a variety of different processing systems.

Question 14

what are the modules of the brain?

Answer 14

visual, auditory, memory and attention

Question 15

History of the cog approach

Answer 15

structuralist approach - introspection (wundt)

behaviourism - high influence on development of psychology. study of observable, measurable events

Question 16

what was Watson’s virew on psychology?

Answer 16

need behaviourism for scientific approach to psych - same foundations as other physical sciences - physics, biology and chemistry. Pavlov dogs - operant condition behaviour modified through +ve and -ve reinforcement.

Question 17

What is epiphenomenalism

Answer 17

our actions have purely physical causes (neuropsychologlcial changes to the brain) while our intention, desire or volition to act doesn’t cause our actions but is itself caused by physical causes of our actions

Question 18

further history

Answer 18

Cognitive revolution – 1950’s.

Behaviourism = too simplistic

Tolman – cog maps

Cherry – attention, cocktail party effect

Chomsky – language acquisition not operant condition

Miller - memory, magic no. 7 +/-2

Question 19

what is info theory

Answer 19

influences cog approach. influenced by maths, engineering computers. New concepts - attention, skill, capacity.

Question 20

what is the the bottom up approach

Answer 20

begins with analysis of sensory input e.g. light on retina perception built from low level info.

Question 21

what is the top down approach

Answer 21

high level of cog info. knowledge and xp influence our view of the world

Question 22

what is series info

Answer 22

sequential, bottle neck, easy to process

ppl say 1,2,3,4 one by one in a row

Question 23

what is parallel info

Answer 23

1,2,3,4 said by ppl all the same time - harder to hear numbers

Question 24

What is experimental cog

Answer 24

experimenter controls variables (e.g. items in word list, long list worse short list better) to study one variable or system (memory capacity)

remembering a list of dr. who actor’s vs remembering a list of football teams

Question 25

how are structures deduced

Answer 25

indirectly as a result of measurements of accuracy and reaction time

Question 26

What is cognitive neuroscience

Answer 26

uses tests and exp with patients sometimes to compare to non patient sample or patients. Hoe cog systems work is deduced based on brain injuries or abnormalities - small sample and rely on double dissociations.

Question 27

issues of cog neurosicence

Answer 27

assumes modularity of bind - Fodor, one area damage one function/set of functions affected

Question 28

What are the Brain imaging techniques

Answer 28

single unit rec
EEG
PET
fMRI
TMS

Question 29

What is computational cog?

Answer 29

AI - physical Elec and comp programs
Connectionism
Abstract associative networks

Question 30

what are the Applications of cog psych

Answer 30

Product design – phone

Visual beh – driving and road safety

Object/face recog e.g. airport sec

Social interaction e.g. social
perception, ingroups/outgroups