Cognitive Psychology Flashcards
What is structuralism
Created by Wilhelm Wundt, it’s the belief psychology should study the workings of the mind directly by breaking down the complex mind into simpler elements
Introspection
Subjected trained to consider their own internal experiences as elements of consciousness
Issues with introspection
Cannot be objective or verified by other
Does not lead it self well to reapplication
Can only access consciously aware processes
Unconscious processing
Processing and thinking that is happening outside of conscious awareness
What is evidence of unconscious processing
Cortical blindness: Damage to the part of the brain involving visual information leading to conscious perception, but the eye is fine. Victims report blindness but still behavioral respond to stimuli
Behaviorism
Created by John b Watson and popularized by B.F Skinner. The belief psychology should only focus on the external observable behaviors and ignore internal workings
What are the external workings behaviorism?
Stimulus: Something that stimulates the sense of the experiment
Response: Behavior that a subject engages in following the stimuli. CAN be objectively observed.
Explain the Pavlov dog experiment
Dogs were feed everyday at the chime of a bell. They noticed that after a few weeks of this routine, the dogs would start to drool at the sound of the bell.
Operant Conditioning Vs Classical Conditioning.
Operant Conditioning: When actions performed are based on reward and punishment they receive
Classical Conditioning: An involuntary behavior can be induced by a stimulus that wouldn’t normally cause such a reaction, based on the fact that the stimulus was previously paired with a different stimulus that naturally does cause that reaction. I
Reinforcement learning
When they learn and begin to perform the reinforced behavior more than the punishment behavior
What is the fundamental flaw with behaviorism
Doesn’t show us behaviors just shows us what animals and humans can learn
Does NOT account for flexibility in cognition which allows for novel behaviors (ex: language)
How does language expose the flaw of behaviorism
There is so much diversity and so many different structures that can make and create and you don’t learn through reward and punishment
Latent Learning
Learning in the absence of conditioning
Cognitivism
States learning as an active mental process involving the acquisition and organization of knowledge.
How is the brain similar to a computer?
Computers: Machines that can mechanically compute a wide range of functions
Functions: Mapping between one set of objects and another taking an input and producing an output
Mapping: Every input has an output
Algorithms: A recipe for producing a desired results
Mental Chronometry
How might mental responses consist of component processes
What are the two main types of research experiments
Hypothesis Driven Research: Hypothesis then experiment
Phenomenon Driven Research: Found an effect then they create a rationale for the action
How do we measure involuntary responses
Eye movements: Using eye trackers to measure eye gaze and movement during an experiment to measure attention
Pupil Dilation: Pupil size throughout an experiment as an assessment of effort attention and luminance
Heart Rate: Can assess a persons emotional state or arousal
Galvanic Skin Response: Aka a skin conductance measured using sensor to assess emotional arousal (fear or anxiety)
Facial and Body Gestures: Changes in facial and body expressions can be recorded coded and categorized by researchers
Cognitive experiments
Employs behavioral experiments in which participants are given tasks to perform and response are collected and compare across conditions
Independent v Dependent variable
IV: Properties of the stimuli being presented and manipulated by the experimenter
DV: Response of the interest that are being measured
How can we combat statical noise?
Repeat conditions several times conducting many trails of the experiment
How to account for individual differences?
Larger sample sizes as they will still occur but they will cancel out due to the other people on the opposite end.
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Where cognition primarily takes place, brain as the seat of consciousness voluntary action and learning the nervous system
Peripheral Nervous System
Includes nerves, glial cells and nerves that are not included in the CNS
Automatic Nervous system
Sympathetic Nervous System: Quickly prepare the body for action (Flight or Fright)
Parasympathetic Nervous System:
Relaxes the body back to normal and enact long term survival instincts (Rest and Digest)
Reflex Action
Involuntary behavior that occurs when a stimulus generates an immediate responses BEFORE the information reaches the brain. Done by the spine
Voluntary systems of the Brain
Cerebral Cortex.
What is the most superficial part of the brain?
Grey Matter: Outer brain layer made up of neuronal cell bodies
White Matter: Composed of nerve tracks that connect neurons
What are the four directions of the brain
Dorsal: Top slope of your head
Frontal/Anterior: Front of the head
Ventral: Bottom side of the brain towards your stomach
Caudal/Posterior: Left/back of head
Left Brain v Right Brain
Left Hemisphere: Spatial processing
Right Hemisphere: Language Processing
Corpus Callosum: Cluster of fibers connecting the two hemispheres
What does the frontal lobe do?
Control, executive control, planning thoughts
What does the parietal lobe do?
Action, attention, movement, somatosensory processing
and sensory integration
What does the Temporal lobe?
Meaning of sensory information, meaning of language, and visual memory
What does the Occipital Lobe?
Literally vison and thats it.
What are the bumps of the brain called?
Gyri = hills and Sulci= valley
Broca vs Wernicke Aphasias
Broca: Damage to the interior frontal, causes slow deliberate speech and writing and issues identifying words and forming sentences
Wernicke: Damage to the superior temporal, fluid speech that lacks meaning and difficulty understanding language being spoken to them
Cognitive Neuroscience
The study and observation of brain function
EEG (electroencephalography)
Measure very fast changes in brain activity using sensors connected to the scalp
fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
Measures oxygen flow increases as it is delivered to areas of the brain that are being activated during a task
TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)
Measures the effect of temporarily deactivating regions of the brain by using strong magnetic pulses, BUT can only disrupt regions close to the surface
Axon
Long carry electrical impulses
Myelin sheath
Fatty tissue around the axon allowing neurons to send messages faster
Dendrites
How neurons gets signals from other neurons
Axon Terminal
When neurotransmitters are released and collected
How does a Neuron signal work?
- Stimulus comes from others neurons creating an action potential
- When the neuron reaches the action threshold, the neuron causes depolarization and signal is sent down the axon
- The shift in electric charge distribution, resulting in less negative charge inside the cell compared to the outside.
- Once the action potential reaches the end, the neuron releases neurotransmitters to the axon terminal and then is released to the next synapse
What are the two types of neurotransmitters
Excitatory: Causes neurons to fire more
Inhibitory: Causes neurons to fire LESS
Sensation v Perception
Sensation: The conversation of physical properties of the world or body into a code by the peripheral nervous system
Perception: The processing and interpretation of sensory information into a form that is useful for behavioral decisions
What are the external senses
Vison/sight” Light coming into eye
Hearing: Vibrations in the air enter ear canal
Touch: Pressure heat and vibration on skin
Taste: Chemical compounds in the mouth
Smell: Airborne chemical in nasal passage
What are the Internal senses
Proprioception: Sense of where our limbs are in space
Nociception: Sense of pain due to body damage
Equilibrioception: Sense of balance
What is the role of the eye?
Gather and focus light on an image and turn the result into a neural sign
What is the anatomy of the eye?
Pupil: Hole in the iris that expands and contract to take in/ restrict sight
Cornea: Transparent rubbery layer of tissue at the front of the eye
Iris: Circular ring of colored muscle at the front of the eyeball
Retina: Large ray of optical cells in the back of your eye, detect color and light and sends it to your brain
Rods vs Cone
Rods: See BLACK AND WHITE. Light sensitive and better for low light situations. More around the periphery vison
Cones: See COLOR. Concentrated in fovea better for well lit conditions.
Visual pathway
When visual information goes to the thalamus where 90% of visual information is processed with the other information goes to sub functions (circadian rhythm, controls basic eye movement)
What is the general rule about visual systems
It’s hierarchical and as you travel up further away from the sensation the more complex and specific it becomes.
Retinal level
Senstive to spots to light, simalr to
Early cortex
Figures out thicknesses, stripes, lengths and colors as well as Oriented edges.
Middle cortex
Detecting more complex shapes
Late Cortex
Specific objects
Dorsal stream
Project UPWARD and stops at the parietal lobe. Processing the where you are.
Ventral Stream
Project DOWNWARD and stops in temporal lobe. Processing the what. More closely related to knowledge.
Prosopagnosia
Difficulty in recognizing individual faces but not objects. Can tell the difference between faces and objects but as trouble identifying the face.
Semantic Agnosia
Can identify faces and identities impaired ability to name object uses and functions
FFA (fusion face area)
A particular region of the inferior temporal cortex, shows greater activity when people engage with facial recognition tasks.
LOC (Lateral Occipital Cortex)
Selectively activated when people do an object recognition task and are geared toward processing particular classes of object.
Constructive Model of Perceptions
Sensory perception –> Formation of Nerve Pathways–> Action
Pinna
Visible part of the ear made up of folded cartilage. Meants to capture sound in the air
Ear canal
Narrow tube that amplifies certain frequencies and traits sound
Eardrum
Thin piece of tissue separating the ear canal from the inner ear
Ossciles
Tiny bones that amplified certain frequencies and send it to the cochlea
Cochlea
Coiled bony structure in the inner ear that is filled with fluid.
Basilar membrane
A strip of tissue with tiny hair cells that are moved by vibration in the fluid of the cochlea. These then convert vibration into neural signals for the brain
Tonotopic m ap
The organization of the structures that detect certain frequencies. As you go further in to the coil, the frequency which hair cells get lower
Primary auditory cortex (A1)
Located in the temporal lobe, respond to distinct stimuli of pitch and rhyme.
Dorsal vs Ventral stream (audio)
D: Sound localization (where)
V: Sound identification (what)
Constructive perception model
Believes perceptual processing is your brains attempt to construct a mental model of the external world based on sensory input. Behaviors are based on the inferred model rather than sensory stimulation.
Direct Model of perception
Perception is a direct and based on the sensor stimulus. This stimulus leads to a person actions. As a person interacts with the environment, sensory stimulus may be used to guide behavior.
Bi-stable stimlui
Stimuli that has an alternating perceptual interpretations.
Bottom up vs Top Down processing
Bottom: Generally applied to all stimuli. Does not need any former knowledge and is processed.
Top: Leveraging knowledge/expectation that are not sensory stimuli to processing it
Phonemic Restroation
The brain fills in missing sound from speech signals based on expectation AND prior experiences. Bottom up and Top down processing.
What are perceptual cognitive tasks
Breaking down image into visual ques.
How are computer helpful in the understanding of perceptual understanding?
Computer breaking down and processing of images can be reflective of how humans compute things.
Figure ground cues
Assigning visual boundaries applies to the shape and which applies to the background
What are some examples of figure ground cues?
Convexity: Bias to assigned/grounded based on shape contour. Assigned figure assumed more complex
Symmetry: Assigned figure bias to shapes with bilateral mirror symmetry
Smaller region: Assigned figure bias to smaller objects
Visual grouping
Preceptive visual objects together to make a unified whole. These are typically grouped together based on similarity, proximity and/or good continuation
Depth perception
Determining how far away an object is and it’s shape in the 3D space
Motion Parallax
When moving, Objects that are farther away move slowly compared to objected close by.
Binocular Disparity
The image given to each retina is just a little difference so we can make predictions about what the distance is.
Stereopsis
The use of binocular disparity in perceiving depth. This is learned over the course of development.
What is the template model of recognition?
Matching an object to an image stored in memory point by point. HOWEVER does account the environment differences when viewing different objects.
What is the Identification model of recognition?
Breaks down our object recognition into
Identification: The ability to identity the same object or person across variations
Classification : The ability to recognize an object as a member of a category even if one has never encountered that specific example.
Contextual Factors
The context in which an object appears provide important information for recognition.
Attention
A cognitive resource that is finite and can be distributed unequally across different objects/tasks
Attention load
How much processing resources are needed to perform a given task
Inattentional Blindness
The inability to perceive information outside the attentional spotlight.
Selective attention
Someone paying attention to one thing at the expense of all others.
Explain Broadbent Filter Model
There are three processes happen
Input: Large amount of sensory info enter the nervous system
Sensory memory: Info load is briefly held in sensory memory
Filter: Selective attention determines which information proceeds to the detector
Detector: Meaning of the input is determined and moved to the LTM
What is breakthrough stimuli
Unintended stimuli breakthrough the filter and is remembered.
The Attenuator Model
There is some processing of incoming stimulus based on physical properties. Some of the information makes it through the model
Attenuator (filter): Some info makes it way to the filter although it’s attenuated
Dictionary unit: Meaning of the reduced signal can be identified here. Gives the info more or less weight depending on importance
Memory: Interpreted information is subsequently moved into memory for storage
Automatic Processing
Completing a task without realizing it
What is Spilt Attention v Task Switching
Spilt Attention: The process needed for specific stimuli and we become more attuned to stimuli
Task switching: Quickly switching attention from one task to another. Leads to increased task completion time.
Exogenous Control
When a property of the ENVIORNMENT drives us to pay attention
Endogenous Control
When an individual chooses what to pay attention to based on GOALS and intention
Visual neglect
Due to damage in the right temporal lobe. Causes the brain to ignore the left visual field.
Does damage to the left parietal lobe produce right visual loss?
No because the left parietal lobe generates attention to just right while the right parietal lobe generates to both fileds
What is memory?
The process of using information that was obtained in the past to generate cognitive function in the present.
Encoding
The initial processing of info that is represented within the nervous system
Stroage
Info encoded by the nervous sytem remains encoded in some form for a longer duration than the immediate processing
Retrival
Being able to cognitively access stored information for a given purpose
What are the two measures of memory?
Capacity: How much info can a memory system hold?
Duration: How long is info retained in the memory system
What is Modals Model of Memory?
Has three major components
Sensory Memory: Information from your sensory perception that is held for a brief period.
Short term memory: Holds processed info for rehearsal or to produce behavior
Long term memory: Serves as the cold storage of information for retrieval into short term. Only a small amount of Short term go to long term.
What are the two types of sensory memory?
Iconic Memory: High Capacity, short duration form of visual memory
Echoic Memory: Auditory form of memory.
What is the amount that can be remembered in the STM?
7(+or- 2) for iconic memory and about 4 for echoic memory
Chucking
Any combination of letters number or sound that constitute a meaningful whole. Always for LONGER STM. Depends on LTM
How can we extend our STM?
Rehearsal which is the repletion of the info in ST, which reactivates the initial encoding.
What is decays connections to memory loss?
We simply forget things over the passage of time.
What are the two types of interference?
Proactive: Information from the PAST causes you to forget things you learn now
Retroactive: New information causes you to forget information from the past
What is Baddeley’s model of working memory?
An active portion of the STM where information can be manipulated for a given task.
What are the three parts of WM?
Visuo-spatial sketchpad: Visual part, used to analyze and manipulate visual STM
Central executive: Two main roles: 1.Coordinating between the two other channels
2. Determining what information makes it into the WM
Phonological loop: Allows auditory information to be repeated and analyzed
Episodic buffer
A separate time limited memory store that combines information across different storages. Controlled by central executive and is lead by conisous awareness
What are the two types of amnesia
Retrograde: Difficulty remembering event that occurred leading UP to the event
Anterograde: Difficulty remembering NEW information encountered after the event
Serial Position effect
When given a long string of content, the tendency to remember the beginning and the end of the list
Primary vs Recency Effect
Primary: The tendency to remember info presented earlier in a sequence. Words at the beginning have the chance to rehearsal and move to LTM
Recency: The tendency to remember info presented at the end of a sequence. After a 30 sec delay the effect goes away
Level of Processing
The more deeply people processed a word the better they remember it
Transfer Appropriate Processing
How information is remembered is based on it’s initial encoding and how well some later memory cue matches the way it’s encoded.
Encoding specify
Where retrieval is easier if it matches the situation where you encoded the information
What are the two types of Encoding specify?
Context Dependent Memory: Memory benefits when the external situation matches the original encoding
State Dependent Memory: Memory retrieval benefits when internal conditions match the original encoding
What are the two types of memory?
Explicit: Memories you can consciously recall and retrieve
Implicit: Memories that you have but are encoded and recalled unconsciously
What are the two types of Explicit memory ?
Episodic/autobiographical: Memories of events that have happened directly to us in our lives
Sematic: Memories with information without sensory details
Procedural memory
Learning abilities to perform an automatic behavior/action
What are the three types of implicit influence?`
Prejudice: Automatic negative judgments of an induvial/group outside the conscious awareness
Familiarity effect: Tendency to rate something more favorably if we’ve encountered it before even if their is no memory of that encounter
Propaganda effect: Tendency to rate statements more favorably if we’ve encountered it before regardless of accuracy
What are the three functions of autobiographical memory
Directive: Allows for retrospection on past experiences to inform and guide current actions
Socially: Allow people to share experiences and create social bonds
Self Representational: Looking into past to better inform behavior so they act consistency with self image and maintain stable identity
Conditioning
More stable long term associations (ex: classical and operant conditioning)
Working Self
A set of current personal goals that determine how the base is accessed
What are the 3 tiers of Autobiographical Memories?
Lifetime period: Major distinguishable period in out lives that have a specific beginning and end time (ex: grade school)
General events: Specific sequences of events are all somehow related. When and where. (ex: school dance)
Event specific Knowledge: Details memories of particular times places and actions, typically can be relieved.
Consolidation
The process of making memories durable and (sometimes) permanent
Synaptic Consolidation
Occurs at the synapses fire to one another and the more they do this it strengthens the connection
Long term potentiation
Receiving neurons become more likely to fire over time (When receiving neurons becomes more likely to fire over time based on the same number of incoming neuron transmitters)
System consolidation
Depends on more permeant changes that take place by laying down new connection
Hippocampus Replay
Sequence of brain activities that happen after an initial behavioral activity
Infantile/childhood amensia
The way most adults have very few/no memories before the ages of two/four and limited memories from below 10
What ages do childhood loose memories quickly
Between the ages (4-6 years old) where they struggle to remember events 1 year (40%), 2 year (33%) and 3 years (15%) ago (recall is 65% for adults)
Does infantile/childhood amnesia effect episodic or implicit memories?
Episodic as we don’t remember learning to walk and can still do it.
What are the 3 theories for infantile amnesia?
- State dependent learning children different emotion responses to event than adults this mismatch leads to lack of memory
- Children undeveloped language ability makes them unable to reconstruct episodic memories which depends on linguistic story
- Hippocampus is underdeveloped and it finishes developing around 3-4 years old. Neurogenesis is happening in the hippocampus and the new neurons overwrite the old memories
Reminiscence Bump
A boost of memory recall in late adolescences/early adulthood
What causes the reminiscence Bump?
Due to richer memories when ppl are going though lots of change mixed with cognitive abilities being at there peak from 15-25
Flashbulb Memories
Memories from a high emotional event which people vividly remember and do not decay the same way LTM do
Are flashbulb memories immune to decay?
While people typically thing they have perfect recollection of their flashbulb memories, there is proof of decay overtime despite our confidence.
Why are flashbulbs less prone to decay?
- Provoke emotional response leads to stronger encoding and storage
- People engage with these memories more (through news, discussion, and recalling)
Classical view of categorization
Categories are clearly defined by set of defining features that are both necessary and sufficent
Necessary vs Sufficient
Necessary : Without them, category membership is not possible (you need to have feathers to be a bird)
Sufficient: With them, an exemplar can be categorized (Ostrids have feathers making them a bird depsite the many other disgunishing features)
Typicality
Rating how good an example an item is to represent a category ( an apple is a better representation of fruits compared to Durian fruit )
Prototype theory
Instead of relying on defining features, we consider which features are MORE likely among category types
Contra prototype
How do we account for atypical exemplar of a category
Exemplar theory
We store actual examples of items we have encountered in the past and Categorization occurs by comparing new items with ones in memory. Helps us categorize atypical items
Category Hierarchies
Superordinate: Distinctive but not informative with not a lot of induvial traits (ex: fruit)
Basic level: Informative about members but distinctive enough to be different from other categories (ex: apple)
Subordinate categories: Informative but not distinctive an belong in a basic level category (ex: granny smith)
Semantic Network
Knowledge is stored as concepts within units called nodes. Nodes point to properties of concepts and other nodes creating a network
Schemas
Our organization of knowledge based on a particular topic
Cognitive economy
The tendency to conserve cognitive effort and resources.
Property inheritance
Characteristic of semantic network models in which nodes inherit the properties of the nodes higher up the hierarchy to which they are connected.
Spreading activation model
Semantic network model in which concepts are organized based on their semantic similarity to each other
