Cognitive Neuroscience Flashcards
define cognitive psychology
a branch of cognitive psychology concerned with mental processes (as perception, thinking, learning and memory) especially with respect to the internal events occuring between sensory stimulation and the overt expression of behaviour
what do cognitive processes help us do
make inferences about what is going on in the world around us from what we know
what did Doners do
mental chronometry
what is mental chronometry
measuring how long cognitive processes take
when was doners working
1868
explain Donders’ famous experiment and result
simple reaction task - participant pushes a button as quickly as possible after a light appears
choice reaction task - participant pushes one button if light is on the right side, another if light is on the left side
choice RT = 1/10 sec longer than simple RT
What did Donders’ methodology teach us
mental processes cannot be measured directly but can be inferred from the participants behaviour
What did Helmholtz do
unconsicous interference - some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions we make about the environment
= we infer much of what we know about the world
when was Helmholtz
1860s
what did ebbinghaus do (brief method and result)
learned lists of nonsense syllables
determined how many times had to read allowed to learn list
time interval break
measured how many more times he now had to say the list allowed to learn without errors
= ebbinghaus savings (forgetting) curve
what does ebbinghaus’ savings curve look like and show
we forget the most in the first instances of time then the longer the time that goes on the less we forget
when was ebbinghaus
1885
what did wundt do
the first psychology lab at the universty of leipzig in germany
he focused on reaction time experiments
when was wundt and who was his student
1879
titchner
what was wundts approach (special term) and what does this mean
structuralism
experience is determined by conbining elements of experience called sensations
what methods did wundt use
analytic introspection - participants trained to describe experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli
what was watson’s problems to wundt’s methods
extremely variable results from one person to the next
results were difficult to verify - there was some invisible, mythical inner mental process at play
subjects also have a tendency to please the experimenter
what did behaviourism suggest
eliminated the mind as a topic of study
instead study directly observeable behaviour
what type of condition was the little albert experiment
classical conditioning
what is classical conditioning and who discovered it
Pavlov - dogs salivating to bell
pair a neutral event with an event that naturally produces some outcome
after many pairing the now neutral events now also produces the outcome
what did skinner investigate
interested in determining the relationship between stimuli and response
- operatn conditioning
when was little albert
1920
when was skinner
1950s
what is operant conditioning
shape behaviour by rewards or punishments
behaviour that is rewarded is more likly to be repeated
behaviour that is punished is less likely to be repeated
what was the fundamental to behaviourism and why was this popular with the general public
behaviour can be analysed without reference to the mind
-nothing is my fault is all to do with the environment i grew up in
what began the decline in behaviourism
language acquisition
explain skinner’s view of verbal behaviour
argued children learn language through operant conditioning
children imitate speech they hear
correct speech is rewarded
how does children learn language through operant conditioning according to skinner
children imitate the speech they hear
correct speech is rewarded
what was chomsky’s vreview of verbal behaviour 1959
argued children do not learn language by behaviourist principles
-children say things they have never heard and therefore cannot be imitating
-children say things that are inncorrect and can not have been rewarded for
language is determined by an inborn biological program - Language Aquisition Device
other than language, what other idea led to the decline of behaviourism
misbehaviour of organisms 1961
- attmepts to condition animal behaviour often didnt work
- the IQ zoo - animals trained to be entertainers by behaviourist principles but often their built in instincts would over ride (eg pig would root in the ground where posible)
Tolmans maze - explain the experiment and what it showed
rat placed in arm of maze and taught to turn right for food
then put in a different arm of the maze
-by behaviourists should turn right and not find food
-by tolman’s cognitive map idea should realise where they are in the maze and turn the right direction to find food
tolman was right
what and who came up with the Transcendental method
Kant
work backwards from observations to determine the cause
when and why was the cognitive revolution
50s and 60s - period of gradual change
shift from behaviourist s-r approach
widespread availability of the computer helped spur this
explain the information-processing approach
a way of studying the mind created from insights associated with the computer
mental hardware and software
models of mental processing
name and explain a model of mental processing
Broadbents filter model of attentino lots of inputs hit a filter detector to memory -unattended information does not pass through the filter
explain Cherry’s study in the cognitive revolution
dichotic listening
- message A in left ear
- message B in right ear
- to ensure attention participant has to shadow (say aloud) the message they are being told to attend to
- participatns were able to focus only on the message they were shadowing
how do cognitive scientists work todY
study mental events indirectly
-measure stimuli and responses
-develop hypothesis about mental events
=computational models of mental processes
=models predict future outcomes
-design new experiments to test model/hypothese predictinos
what is the goal of cognitive science
finding ways to study and understand the inner workings of the mind
what is a way to test working memory
span test - how many random digits can you repeat
what did Baddeley and hitch conclude about working memory
Central executive - director
visual spatial sketchpad
phonological / articulatory loo
what does the baddeley and hitch model say about mistakes we make
we are more likely to make sound over visual mistakes (as we use the inner voice to learn where possible)
eg mistaje s for F (not E)
- go over last years notes on this
what is anarthria
the inability to produce overt speech
-loss of muscle movement
what does anarthia teach us about the articulatory loop
if people can’t produce spoken language, does the articulatory loop work the same as someone sho has no issues with spoien language?
yes still show some confusion between words with the same sounds
shows inner speech does not require the same muscles as overt speech
does inner speech rely on the same brain regions as overt speech?
yes
what do deaf individuals tell us about articulatory loop
they have an inner hand over inner speech
more likely to make mistakes when hand shapes are similar
what is a counfounding variable
a variable the researcher has not controlled for
what is cognitive neuroscience
the study of physiological basis of cognition
two main techniques for studying the relationship between physiology and cognition
measuring brain activity
examining impariments in function after damage
what is capgras syndrome
recognises loved ones but thinks they are imposters
rare, often accompanies alzheimers
caused by injuries to the brain
can otherwise perceive the world in a normal way
why does capgras conflict seem to occur
basic perceptual recognition but disconnection between recognition and lack of familiarity and emotion
fMRI - amygdala damage results in lack of emotional response
also damage to prefrontal cortex = lack of logic
what does capgras teach us
behavioural research suggests recognition involves both factual and emotional knowledge
capgras suggests amygdala is involved in supporting the emotional “familiarity” side to recognition
also shows various portions of the brain must work together to accomplish even simple goals like recognition
explain phineas gage
railroad accident = pole through frontal lobe
after accident all fine apart from massive personality change
name parts of the hindbrain and their reponsibilities
medulla - basic rhythms
pons - alterness
cerebellum - movements and balance + sensory and cognitive roles
where is the hindbrain
ontop of the spinal chord
where is the midbrain
ontop of the hindbrain
whatdoes the midbrain do
coordinates movement (esp eye movement)
includes parts of the auditory pathway
regulates the experinece of pain
what does the forebrain include
cerebral cortex (coating making up 80% of brain tissue) subcortical structures -thalamus -hypothalamus -limbic system
name the four cerebral lobes
frontal
parietal
temporal
occipital
role of the frontal lobe
reasoning and planning
language, thought memory and motor functioning
role of the parietal lobe
touch, temp, pain and pressure
role of the temporal lobe
auditory and perceptual processing
laguage, hearing, memory and perceiving forms
role of the occipital lobe
visual processing
the subcortical parts of the forebrain include
thalamus hypothalamus limbic system -amygdala -hippocampus
explain the concept of lateralisation
the brain is roughly symmetrical
- commisures connect hemishperes
- corpus callosum is the largest
explain why and how we get split brain patients
severe the corpus callosum
eg treatment of epilepsy
what mistake does a split brain patient make
what he sees, the left hemisphere sees the object on the right and can verbalise it
the right hemisphere can see the item on the left side of the screen but cannot verbalize it. however if asked to chose and pick up an object that matches it, he will pick up the correct object even though he cant say it
name four types of imaging uused in psychology
MRI
PET
fMRI
EEG - this one isnt actually imaging but electrical measurement
explain PET scans
positron emission tomography
- blood flow increases in areas of the brain activated by a cognitive task
- radioactive tracker is injected into person’s bloodstream
- measures signal from tracer at each location of the brain
- higher signals indicate higher levels of brain activity
how do we understand data from neuroimaging
subtraction technique - look at the brain activity before and during stimulation
difference determins which areas of the brain were active during manipulation
really simple how does fMRI work and what is its benefits
subtraction technique
measures blood flow through magnetic properties of oxygen
advantage is no tracer is needed
how does EEG work
one advantage and one disadvantage
electroencephologram
neuron firing is an electrical event
measure electrical activity on the scalp to make inferences about the underlying brain activity
averaged over a lagre number of trials to calculated ERPs (event related potentials)
continuous and rapid measurements
does not give precise location
what do CT and MRI scans do
detect brain structures, not activity
what is the best way to use neuroimaging techniques
combine them
EEG timing
fMRI location
what is TMS
transcranial magnetic stimulation
what area responds specifically to faces
fusiform face area
-temporal lobe
what does damage t fusiform face area result in
prosopagnosia - inability to recognise faces
what part of the brain responds specifically to places
parahippocampal place area
temporal lobe
what part of the brain responds specifically to pictures of bodies and parts of bodies
extrastriate body area
occipital lobe
what does Broca’s area do and where in the brain is it
language production
frontal lobe
what does Wernicke’s area do and where in the brain is it
language comprehension
temporal lobe
explain the makeup of the cerebral cortex
primary projection areas of the cortex - motor and sensory, the greater the precision of the place, the more brain area devoted to it
the association areas (75% of the cortex) - creates associations between simple ideas and sensations
what is aprazia
movement disorder
what is agnosia
problems idetifying objects
what is aphasia
language deficit
what is neglect sydrome
ignoring half the visual world
what is prefrontal damage
problems with planning, strategic thinking and inhibitioninhibition
why do we look at damage to the cortex
becuase it helps us understand it best
what are neurons
cells specialized to receive and transmit information in the nervous system
what do the glia cells do
guide development of nervous system repair damage control nutrient flow electrical insulation speeds signal glia outnumber neurons 10 to 1
what is the nerve net theory
early theory that the brain is a network of physically connected neurons
what is the golgi stain technique
stains only 1 % of neurons meaning we can see them
what did ramon y cajal do with golgi staining
used the technique and young neural tissue to show the detailed structure of neurons - disproved the network theory
what is the job of the cell body
contains mechanisms to keep the cell alive
what is the role of the axon
a tube filled with fluid that transmits electrical signal to other neurons
what is the role of the dendrites
multiple branches reaching from the cell body, which recieve information from other neurons
how do neurons commuicate
action potentials
-neuron receives input from other cells that cause it to fire
information travels down axon to the dendrites of another neuron
what do we measure about action potentials
size of the potential is not measured as tends to stay relatively constant
the rate of firing is measured
-low intensitites = slow firing
high intensitites = fast firing
what is a synapse
space between axon of one neuron and dendrite of another
what happens at synapses
action potentials reach the end of the synapse
synaptic vesicles open and release chemical neurotransmitters
neurotransmitters cross the synapse and bind with the receiveing dendrites
define neurotransmitters
chemicals that affect the electical signal of the receiving neuron
name the two types of neurotransmitter (name only)
excitatoy
inhibitory
explain what an excitatory neurotransmitter does
give an example
increases the chance a neuron will fire
glutamate
dopamine
explain what an inhibitory neurotransmitter does
give an example
decreases the chance a neuron will fire
GABA
dopamine
how do neurons process information
action potentials will only result if the threshold level is reached
-1000s of synases on a single neuron - average of all input s determines whether it will fire
