COGNITIVE APPROACHES Flashcards
Eysenck & Keane (2015)
“It is concerned with the internal processes involved in making sense of the enviorment and deciding what action might be appropriate”
Four main approaches studying human cognition
1) Cognitive Psychology
2) Cognitive neuropsychology
3) Cognitive neuroscience
4) Computational cognitive science
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY APPROACH
- Understanding human cognition using behavioural evidence
-started in the 1950s
INFORMATION PROCESSING
SERIAL PROCESSING
COG FUNCTION A
TO
COG FUNCTION B
TO
COG FUNCTION C
PARALLEL PROCESSING
COG A, B & C FUNCTIONING
STRENGTHS OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
-GENERATED CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS IN UNDERSTANDING THE MIND AND BEHAVIOUR
- INFLUENCES FILEDS LIKE COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
-METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS - TASK DEVELOPMENT & ANALYSIS
WEAKNESSES
- ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY - DOES LAB = REAL-WORLD?
- lab and world are different and our behaviour are very different
- INDIRECT MEASURES OF COGNITION
- BEHAVIOUR IS A PROXY MEASURE
- THEORIES VAGUE
- PARADIGM SPECIFICITY
- OFTEN CERTAIN BEHAVIOURS ARE ONLY OBSERVED WITH SPECIFIC PARADIGMS/TASKS
- OVERARCHING THEORY
COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
- USES PATTERNS OF DEFICIT TO REVEAL THINGS ABOUT THE STRUCTURE AND ORGANISM OF COGNITION
E.G - TAXONOMY OF MEMORY
MEMORY ORGANISATION (COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY)
BRAIN DAMAGED PATIENTS HAVE HELPED DEVELOPED THIS UNDERSTANDING OF MEMORY ORGANISATION
SHORT- TERM MEMORY
1) SENSORY MEMORY
2) WORKING MEMORY
LONG-TERM MEMORY
1) DECLARATIVE (EXPLICIT) - FACTS - EVENTS
2) NON- DECLARATIVE (IMPLICIT)
PROCEDURAL (SKILLS AND HABITS)
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING
NON-ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING
THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
-Modularity and domain-specificity
-Uniformity of functional architecture across people
* Single case studies apply to population
Subtractivity:
Removing a brain area removes a cognitive module
nothing is added or changed by brain damage
COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY STRENGTHS
- MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN COGNITION
E.G MEMORY
COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY LIMITATIONS
Is the mind modular?
Is there uniformity of functional architecture?
Is change in cognition associated with brain damage only linked to brain damage, or are other factors involved? Could be compensatory strategies
Not enough attention paid to details of brain functioning?
Too much emphasis on single-case studies
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE MIND YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE BRAIN
UNDERSTAND HOW THE BRAIN FUNCTION RELATES TO COGNITIVE FUNCTION
BRAIN REGIONS (LOBES OF THE BRAIN
BRAIN REGIONS (BROADMANN’S AREA)
BRAIN NETWORKS (COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE)
REGIONS WORK TOGETHER TO SUPPORT COGNITION
TECHNIQUES AND APPROACHES COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
1) SINGLE -UNIT RECORDING
2) ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY (EEG):
* SCALP ELECTRODES RECORDS CHANGES IN ELECTRICAL POTENTIALS
FUNCTION MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (fMRI):
(COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE)
- Detects changes in blood oxygenation from the brain
BRAIN STIMULATION (COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE)
- TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION (TMS)
- Uses a magnetic field to “carry” a short lasting electrical current pulse into the brain where it stimulates neuron’s
STRENGTHS OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
- helped resolve theoretical debates that have been difficult to resolve with just behavioural methods
- It has been possible to develop models that are closely aligned with up-to-date understanding of brain function
- Provides a richer understanding of cognitive processing
WEAKNESS
1) BLOBOLOGY!
- Brain region X associated with cognitive function Y is not always informative
2) PROBLEM OF REVERSE INFERENCE:
Brain region X is active therefore the participants were experiencing Y – problematic reasoning
3) HOW TO BRIDGE THE MIND-BRAIN DIVIDE?
- A philosophical problem ( the so-called “hard problem)
4) MANY STUDIES = UNDERPOWERED
5) FALSE POSITIVES WITH IMAGING DATA
6) ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
7) THE SEDUCTIVE ALLURE OF BRAIN DATA
SALMON THEORY
A well-known satirical experiment involved placing a dead salmon in an fMRI scanner to show the dangers of not properly correcting for multiple comparisons in brain imaging data. The experiment revealed that, without careful analysis, seemingly significant brain activity could be detected even in an inanimate object, like a dead salmon, due to statistical noise. This highlighted the importance of using rigorous statistical methods in neuroscience research.
COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE SCIENCE
Develop computational models to understand human cognition
Aim is to develop models that a) simulate human cognition, b) make novel testable predictions
These models can help understand the key features of information processing underlying human cogn
CONNECTIONIST MODELS
- Biologically plausible
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS:
- NO COMMITMENT TO UNDERLYING BIOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE
-“IF__ THEN___ RULES”
E.G. IF GREEN LIGHT THEN CROSS ROAD
ANDERSON ET AL., (2008)
Some production system models have tried to accommodate information about neural basis of cognition (e.g. ACT-R; Anderson et al., 2008)
COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE SCIENCE (STRENGTHS)
Offers unifying theoretical framework
Been applied to modelling behaviour and also more recently neural data
Encourages precision in theory building (modellers have to be precise)
Offers a bridge between neural and cognitive level e.g. connectionist models offer explanation for how neural systems can implement cognitive processes.
COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE SCIENCE (WEAKNESSES)
AS MODELS BECOME MORE COMPLEX AND ACCURATE THEY LOSE THEIR COMPREHENSIBILITY, AND b) THEIR USEFULNESS I.E. A COMPLETE LIFE SIXE MAP OF THE WORLD WOULD BE IDENTICAL WITH THE WORLD AND THEREFORE WOULD NOT BE USEFUL
-OVERFITTING OF MODELS - THEY ARE GOOD AT EXPLAINING DATA BUT DO NOT GENERALISE
- EASILY FALSIFIABLE
- HARD TO PROPERLY SCRUTINISE (DIFFERENT PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES ETC)
SUMMARY
WHAT IS COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
- CONCERNED WITH THE INTERNAL PROCESSES GIVING TISE TO THOUGHT AND ACTION
-STUDIES BEHAVIOUR AND BRAIN PROCESSES
