Concept 6: Processing the Environment Flashcards
Weber’s Law
Just noticeable difference. Can we see a change in stimulus? dI/I=K
Absolute threshold of stimulation
When we can sense the stimulation 50% of the time
Types of somatosensations
Thermoception, mechanoception, proprioception, nociception
The vestibular system is responsible for:
Balance. There are semicircular canals with endolymph and crystals.
Utricle
Part of the vestibular system that is responsible for direction.
Saccule
Part of the vestibular system that is responsible for head position.
Signal detection theory
When you can decide when the signal (stimulus) is strong enough for someone to notice. Example would be a dim light flashing. Stimuli vs noise.
Bottom-up processing
When the stimuli of a new situation influences your perception.
Top-down processing
When you use previous knowledge to influence perception.
Gestalt Principle
Why we perceive things the way we do. Five points. Law of similarity, pragnanz, proximity, continuity, and closure.
What are the three visual cues?
Depth, form and speed. Binocular and monocular vision contributes to the three cues.
Binocular vision attributes to:
retinal disparity (L+R=image) and convergence (depth perception)
Monocular vision attributes to:
Relative size, interposition (what is in front), relative height, and motion parallax (further away looks slower)
The Phototransduction Cascade
Light turns rods/cones off–>bipolar cells–>retinal ganglial cells–> optic nerve
What is rhodopsin
It is found in the photoreceptors where retinal resides.
Trichromatic theory
color part of parallel processing. That we have cones in our retina that sense red, green and blue light waves.
Parvo pathway
form part of the parallel processing that looks at spatial resolution.
Magno pathway
motion part of parallel processing. High temporal resolution.
Parallel processing
there are a special set of cells in the retina that look at color, form, and motion.
Scoptic vision
Used in a low level of light
Mesoptic vision
Used at dawn and dusk
Photoptic vision
Used at high levels of light
Marr’s stage
input image–>primal sketch–>2.5D image–>3-D model
Auditory canal windows and membranes
Oval window(high F)–>circular window(low F). Organ of corti with the basilar membrane and tectorial membrane.
Hair bundles in the cochlea have what?
Kinocilium with tip links that allow K+ to flow in, creating an action potential.
What part of the brain receives all the auditory information?
Primary Auditory Cortex
Interaural time
time it takes for sound to reach right vs left ear.
Interaural level
difference in sound pressures between ears.
What two factors does sound loudness depend on?
Pressure and frequency.
What is auditory space?
The area extending around the head in all directions to perceive sound.
Kinesthesia
The somatosensation of movement of the body. Different from proprioception, which is position and balance.
Where does taste and smell meet in the brain?
Orbitofrontal cortex.
The five tastes
Bitter, sweet, umami, salty, and sour.
What are the four levels of consciousness?
Alterness (beta), Daydreaming (alpha), Drowsiness (theta), and sleep (delta).
Sleep stages are:
3 Non-REM: N1 (t), N2 (t), and N3 (d). REM-dreaming. Order of sleep pattern is 1, 2, 3, 2, REM, 1.
Circadian Rhythm
Wakefulness, metabolism and body temperature regulation.
Consolidate means:
forming long term memory from sleep.
Freud’s Theory of Dreams
1) What happens is the manifest content. 2) Latent content is the hidden meaning.
Dreaming: Activation Synthesis Hpothesis
our brainstem activity is high and our cerebral cortex tries to make sense of our dreams. Dreams don’t have meaning.
Insomnia:
Persistent trouble falling asleep
Study layout: Arm
a group of participants in a random, controlled trial, who are allocated a treatment (Experimental or control).
Study layout: Sham
mock treatment. Different from a placebo, which is a sugar pill.
What does amphetamines do?
Block reuptake of dopamine
Nicotine does what?
an ACh receptor site antagonist
LSD does what?
modifies serotonin neurotransmission
What are the dopamine pathways?
Mesolimbic, mesocortical, nigrostriatal, and tuberoinfundibular
Acetylcholine
excitatory neurotransmitter
Dopamine
feel good one
GABA
inhibitory
Glutamate
excitatory, learning and memory
norepinephrine
attention, emotions, sleep and learning
Serotonin
mood, appetite, body temp, and pain
Adenosine
hungry and tired
Endorphines
Pleasure and reward
Glycine
PNS inhibitory
The three Heuristics
1) Availability–ease at which an idea can be brought to mind
2) Representativeness–categorize based off of similarity
3) Anchoring-and-adjustment–where people estimate a number from a bias starting point.
Types of experiments (thus far that I’ve found)
True experiment–subjects randomly assigned. Good for cause and effect
Quasi Experiment–(natural experiment) membership in treatment level is not under control. Population cohort
Observational Study–sample of population and independent variable out of control of designer
Exogenous cues
External stimuli for attention
Endogenous cues
Internal stimuli for attention
Inattentional blindess
not noticing other things around you
Change blindness
fail to notice a change
Broadbent’s early selection theory
sensory, register, selective filter, perceptual processing
Deutsch and Deutsch’s Late selection theory
meaning before filter
Treisman’s attenuation theory
no filter, just attenuation (dampening)
Priming
exposure to one stimuli influences another
Information processing model:
Sensory, working, and long term memory
Sensory memory
iconic and echoic
Working memory
short term memory. has visio-spacial sketchpad, phonological loop (verbal info), and articulatory control process (speech). The central executive controls these processes. Then passes through the episotic buffer to LTM
Long term memory
Has explicit: semantic and episodic; and Implicit, procedural and priming.
Memory decay
unable to retrieve info later
Episodic memory
who, what, when, where, why knowledge. Something that can be explicitly stated.
Semantic network
memories connected by a network
Covert orientation
focusing on an object without moving the body or eyes
Attentional capture
attention by an object in motion
Neglect syndrome
brain damage causes a change or loss in the capacity of the spatial dimensions of divided attention
Selective attention
focusing on one task
Divided attention
focusing on multiple tasks at once
What did Posner and Snyder describe
an action as automatic if the action does not affect other mental activities
Piaget’s stages of cognition development
Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
preoperational cognition
2-6 years of age. Uses words and images to represent objects but does not reason logically. Egocentric. Language development. Pretend play.
concrete operational
7-12 years of age. Reason logically, therefore can add and subtract. Learning about conservation.
Formal operational
12+. abstract thinking and consequences. Able to develop moral thinking.
Schemas
an idea “box” where we store similar items that fall within that category. We add items through assimilation. If the new item does not fit the schema, we accommodate and form a new schema.
What are the two types of problems
Well-defined: clear start and finish. And ill-defined, which is ambiguous start and finish.
Ways to solve problems
- Trial and error. 2. Algorithm. 3. Heuristics.
What are heuristics?
Mental shortcuts. Availability–examples that come to mind. Representativeness–matching stereotypes that may lead to conjunction fallacy.
Fixation
Getting stuck on a wrong approach to a problem
Biases to decision making
- Overconfidence–fluency! while studying
- Belief perseverance–ignore or rationalize ideas you don’t like
- Confirmation bias–seek out only confirming facts
Framing effect
how you present a question can affect the outcome of the decision
Cognitive dissonance
holding two or more conflicting cognitions. Modify, trivialize, add, or denial.
Aspects of cognition
Attending, identifying, and decision making and meaningful responses.
Nativist theory of language
language development is in our genes
Learning theory of language
learn through repetition and corrections
Interaction approach to language
learn language from desire to communicate to the outside world. Environment heavily influences it.
Broca’s area
involved in speaking. frontal lobe.
Broca’s aphasia
unable to speak fluently but able to understand language
Wernicke’s area
involved in understanding language.
Wernicke’s aphasia
Speaking, but makes no sense. Unable to understand language.
Aphasia
general description of language problems
Universalism theory of language
thought determines language
Piaget’s theory of language
thought influences language
Vygotsky’s theory of language
thought and language are seperate
Lingusitic determinism
Weak–language influences. Strong–language determines thought.
Syntax
how words are arranged to form grammatically corrected sentences
Semantics
broad meanings of each word or phrase
Morphemes
smallest significant unit of meaning in a word
Correlation coefficients range
-1 to 1
James-Lange Theory of Emotion
Event–>Physiological change–>Interpretation of phys change–>emotion
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
Event–>Phys change and emotion simultaneously
Schacter-Singer Theory of Emotion
Event–>Phys response–>Identify reason for phys and event simultaneously–>Emotion
Lazarus Theory of Emotion
Event–>Appraise (Label) event–>Emotion/Physiological Response separate.
Midbrain is responsible for:
relay station for sensory information
Insula is responsible for what in emotion?
recognition of facial expressions
Appraisal
assessment of an event that makes it stressful
Appraisal, primary vs secondary
Primary: irrelevant, benign/+, stressful. Secondary: harm, threat, challenge.
The four stressors
Perceived challenges:
1) Significant life changes
2) Catastrophes
3) Daily hassles
4) Ambient stressors
Endocrine system and stress: what is involved.
Adrenal medulla: catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine). Adrenal cortex: glucocorticoids (cortisol).
“Trend and befriend”
Increase in oxytocin (pair bonding). Seen more among females.
General Adaptation Syndrome: three phases
1) Alarm phase
2) Resistance
3) Exhaustion
Physical effects of stress
Heart, metabolism, reproductive, and immune function.
What two regions of the brain have high glucocorticoid receptors? What happens when there is a lot of glucocorticoids?
Hippocampus and frontal cortex. Atrophy.
Learned helplessness
Psychologically think that you lose control, a vicious cycle.
Coping with stress
- Perceived control
- Optimism
- Social support
What part of the brain is responsible for anxiety
amygdala
Managing stress
Exercise, meditation, religious beliefs
Cognitive flexibility
change plans because it is not working.
Piaget’s Sensorimotor cognition development
0-2 years of age. Explore the world with sensation and motor. Develop separation anxiety and object permanence.
Proximal stimulus
the stimulus that actually reaches the receptors
Distal stimulus
the stimulus in the outside world (vs proximal stimulus)
Context effect
top down processing method “The Cat” example. Have no problem comprehending a signal when it is in the proper context.
