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MCAT Psychology > Concept 6B > Flashcards

Concept 6B Flashcards

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1
Q

Attention

A

State of focused awareness on a subset of the available perceptual information

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2
Q

Selective attention

A

The process by which one focuses on one stimulus while tuning out another. Donald Broadbent Filter Model. Cocktail party effect (Anne Tresiman’s Attenuation Model - turning down volume than filter).

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3
Q

Divided attention

A

The ability to pay attention to two or more stimuli at the same time

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4
Q

Cognition

A

How our brains process and react to the incredible information overload presented to us by the world

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5
Q

Information Processing Model

A

Our mind like computers: first take in information from the environment using their sensory memory, some of which is then stored in short-term or working memory, and some fraction of this working memory is also stored in long-term memory.

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6
Q

Alan Baddley’s model

A

Defined working memory that has

1) phonological loop (repeat verbal information),
2) visuospatial sketchpad (mental images),
3) episodic buffer (interact with long-term memory),
4) central executive (overseer of entire process).

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7
Q

Cognitive Development: Piaget

A

1) Sensorimotor stage: 0-2 years. Circular reactions (primary and secondary). By end, learn object permanence.
2) Preoperational stage: 2-7 years. Symbolic thinking (make-believe), egocentrism, centration. Inability to understand conservation (same volume despite container difference)
3. Concrete operational stage: 7-11 years. Understand conservation and others’ POV. Logical thought, but not abstract.
4. Formal operational stage: 12 on. Can understand abstract reasoning and moral reasoning.

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8
Q

Cognitive Changes in Late Adulthood

A

Elderly are:

1) Some memory decline in recall, not necesssarily recognition
2) Time-based tasks challenging
3) Slower information-processing abilities
4) Same implicit memory
5) Improvements (until 60) of semantic memory
6) Better crystallized intelligence and emotional reasoning
7) Fluid intelligence peaks in adulthood

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9
Q

Role of Culture in Cognitive Development

A

Lev Vygosky - child’s cognitive development is driven by child’s internalization of his/her culture, including interpersonal/societal rules, symbols, language

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10
Q

Barriers to Effective Problem-Solving

A

1) Mental set: tendency to respond to a new problem in the manner used to respond to a previous problem
2) Functional fixedness: inability to consider how to use an object in a nontraditional manner (Dunker’s candle problem)
3) Bias
4) Anchoring bias: over-reliance on a single piece of a priori information or experience
5) Confirmation bias: selective search for evidence
6) Hindsight bias: belief that an experienced event was predictable, even though it really wasn’t.
7) Representative bias: unintentionally stereotype someone or something
8) Heuristic (representative & availability)
9) Belief bias: tendency to judge arguments based on what one believes
10) Overconfidence

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11
Q

Problem Solving Approaches

A

1) Trial and Error
2) Algorithm
3) Heuristic (or, in Kaplan, deductive/top-down & inductive/bottom-up reasoning)

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12
Q

Intelligence Theories

A

1) Spearman’s General Intelligence
2) Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence (7 of them)
3) Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

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13
Q

Intelligence Quotient

A

Alfred Binet, IQ= 100* (mental age/chronological age). Expected to be at 100, std dev 15

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14
Q

Consciousness

A

one’s level of awareness of both the world and one’s own existence within that world

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15
Q

States of Consciousness

A

1) Alertness
2) Sleep
3) Dreaming
4) Altered state of consciousness

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16
Q

Alertness: which part of brain communicates with what, what waves predominate

A

Fibers from prefrontal cortex communicate with reticular formation to keep cortex awake and alert.
a waves - relaxed. b waves - alert & attending, mental task for concentration.

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17
Q

Stages of Sleep

A
  1. Stage 1: Theta waves. Irregular waveforms, slow f & high V.
  2. Stage 2: Theta waves, w/ sleep spindles and K complexes
  3. Stage 3 & 4: slow-wave sleep. d waves: low-f & high V. Associated with cognitive recovery, memory consolidation, increased GH release
  4. REM Sleep. Dreaming most likely. Associated w/ procedural memory consolidation.
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18
Q

Melatonin

A

Serotonin-derived hormone from the pineal gland. Attribute to sleepiness.

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19
Q

Cortisol

A

steroid hormone produced in adrenal cortex. Increase in response to light, help with wakefulness.

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20
Q

Dreaming theories

A

1) Activation-synthesis theory
2) Problem-solving dream theory
3) Cognitive process dream theory
4) Neurocognitive models of dreaming
5) Freud: manifest & latent content

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21
Q

Sleep Disorders

A
  1. Dyssomnias: disorders that make it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or avoid sleep. (Insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea)
  2. Parasomnia: abnormal movements or behaviors during sleep. (Night terrors, sleepwalking/somnabulism)
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22
Q

Narcolepsy symptoms

A

1) Cataplexy: loss of muscle control, sudden intrusion of REM sleep during waking hours
2) Sleep paralysis: sensation of being unable to move despite being awake
3) Hypnagogic & hypnopompic hallucinations: hallucinations when going to sleep or awakening, respectively.

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23
Q

Hypnosis

A

State in which a person appears to be in control of his or her normal functions, but is in a highly suggestible state

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24
Q

Meditation

A

Quieting of the mind for some purpose, resemble stage 1 sleep

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25
Q

Consciousness-altering drugs

A

1) Depresants: alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepans.
2) Stimulants: amphetamines, cocaine, ecstasy
3) Opiates: opium, heroin
4) Hallucinogens: LSD

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26
Q

Alcohol

A

Increase GABA receptor. Stimulate GABA and dopamine system. GABA = inhibitory neurotransmitter (Note barbiturates and benzodiazepans also increase GABA)

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27
Q

Amphephetamines

A

Release Dopamine, NE, Serotonin & Decrease reuptake. Increase HR, BP.

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28
Q

Cocaine

A

Decreases reuptake of dopamine, NE, serotonin. Vasoconstrictive.

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29
Q

Ecstasy

A

amphetamine + hallucinogen. Increase HR, BP, blurry vision, sweating, nausea, hyperthermia.

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30
Q

Heroine

A

Once injected, body metabolizes heroin to morphine. Methadone as treatment.

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31
Q

Marijuana

A

Active chemical: tetrahyrocannabinol (THC) that acts at cannaboid, glycine, opioid receptors.
Increases GABA activity, dopamine activity.
Increased HR and appetite, decreased BP
Stimulant, hallucinogen, depressant

32
Q

Drug Addiction

A

Related to mesolimbic reward pathway

1) Nucleus accumbens (NAc)
2) Ventral tegemental area (VTA)
3) Medial forebrain bundle (MFB)

Dopamine primarily involved

33
Q

Memory

A

ability to take in information, encode it, store it, and retrieve it at a later time

34
Q

Encoding

A

1) Visual encoding (weakest)
2) Acoustic encoding
3) Semantic encoding (strongest) - strategies include chunking & mnemonics

35
Q

Process of Encoding

A

After perception, travel to Thalamus, which consolidates & presents to hippocampus for long-term storage

1) Stimulus causes neuron activation, releasing neurotransmitters
2) Neural activity forms a memory trace (short-term memory)
3) If stimulus repeated, receptor density increases, cause long-term memory

36
Q

Processes that aid in encoding memories

A

1) Mnemonics
2) Chunking
3) State-Dependent Learning
4) Self-reference effect
5) Maintenance rehearsal: repetition of a piece of information either to keep it within working memory or to store it in short-term memory
6) Method of loci: associating each item in the list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized
7) Peg-word: associate numbers with items that rhyme with numbers or look like them
8) Hierarchies
9) Depth of processing
10) acronym

37
Q

Memory storage types

A

1) Sensory
2) Short-term
3) Working
4) Long-term

38
Q

Sensory memory

A

Iconic (visual) & echoic (auditory). Very precise, fleeting (~1s). Occipital & temporal lobe.

39
Q

Short-term memory

A

~30s. 7 items. In hippocampus

40
Q

Working memory

A

Hippocampus, frontal and parietal cortex involved. Integrate short term memory, attention, and executive function.

41
Q

Long-term memory

A

Elaborative rehearsal important. 2 types: 1) implicit ( (nondeclarative/procedural) memory, and 2) explicit (declarative) memory. Explicit memory is comprised of semantic & episodic memory.

42
Q

Retrieval

A

process of demonstrating that something has been learned has been retained

43
Q

Recall

A

retrieval and statement of previously learned information

44
Q

Recognition

A

identifying a piece of information that was previously learned

45
Q

Relearning

A

memorization a lot faster the second time learning the material. Spacing effect.

46
Q

Semantic network

A

concepts linked together based on similar meaning

47
Q

Priming

A

recall aided by first being presented with a word or phrase that is close to the desired semantic memory

48
Q

Serial position effect

A

retrieval cue when memorizing lists - primacy & recency effect

49
Q

Transience

A

General deterioration of a specific memory over time

50
Q

Aging & memory

A

20s = peak period for encoding.
Aging:
1) Not so much degeneration in recognition or skill-based memory as they age
2) Prospective memory declines
3) Event-based (primed by trigger event): mostly intact. Time-base: decline with age

51
Q

Emotion in retrieving memories

A

Amygdala involvement: particularly in negative memories

52
Q

Memory dysfunctions

A

1) Alzheimer’s
2) Korsakoff’s syndrome
3) Agnosia

53
Q

Alzheimer’s Disease

A

Linked to loss of Ach in neurons that link to hippocampus. Retrograde amnesia. Neurofibrillary tangles, b-amyloid plaques.

54
Q

Korsakoff’s syndrome

A

Memory loss by thiamine deficiency in the brain. Both retrograde & anterograde amnesia. Confabulation (create vivid but fabricated memories)

55
Q

Agnosia

A

Loss of ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds. Often caused by physical damage to brain.

56
Q

Decay

A

Trace Decay Theory, curve of forgetting

57
Q

Interference

A

Retrieval error caused by existence of other information.

1) Proactive: old information interfering with new learning
2) Retroactive: new information cause forgetting of the old information

58
Q

Memory construction

A 
Misinformation effect (elizabeth loftus study), can be seen at the point of recall. 
Cofabulation.
59
Q

Source-monitoring error

A

confusion between semantic and episodic memory. Forgetting the information’s source

60
Q

Neural plasticity

A

neural connections forming rapidly in response to stimuli as our brains develops

61
Q

Synaptic pruning

A

weak neural connections broken, strong ones bolstered

62
Q

Memory & learning

A

Learning is the acquisition of skill or knowledge, while memory is the expression of what you’ve acquired. Learning slow, memory faster

63
Q

Long-term potentiation

A

If stimulus repeated, stimulated neurons become more efficient at releasing neurotransmitters, receptor density increases. Cause long-term memory.

64
Q

Components of Language

A
  1. Phonology: actual sound of language
  2. Morphology: structure of words
  3. Semantics: association of meaning with a word
  4. Syntax: how words are put together to form sentences
  5. Pragmatics: dependence of language on context and preexisting knowledge
65
Q

Language theories

A
  1. Nativist theory (Chomsky)
  2. Learning theory (Skinner)
  3. Social interaction theory (Vygotsky)
66
Q

Transformational grammar

A

Focused on syntactic transformations, or changes in word order that retain the same meaning

67
Q

Nativist theory

A

Innate capacity for language. Critical & sensitive periods. Language acquisition device (LAD). Universal grammar.

68
Q

Learning (behaviorist) theory

A

Language obtained by operant conditioning, by reinforcement.

69
Q

Social interaction theory

A

Interplay between biological and social processes. Language acquisition driven by child’s desire to communicate and behave in a social manner. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): level of development obtained when children engage in social interactions with others

70
Q

Influence of language on cognition

A
  • Whorfian hypothesis (Linguistic relativity hypothesis)
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: the way one thinks has a huge impact on what he or she says and does
  • Linguistic determinism
71
Q

Hemispheres & language

A

Left hemisphere: fns of speech, language processing and comprehension, and logical reasoning.
Right hemisphere: interprets emotional tone of speech, but is unable to process words and meaning independently.

72
Q

Brain lobes and language

A

Frontal lobe: attention, speech, and problem solving. Has Bronca’s area
Parietal lobe: speech and reading
Temporal lobe: language comprehension, semantics of speech. Has Wernicke’s area.
Occipital lobe: reading & writing.

73
Q

Bronca’s area

A

Located in inferior frontal gyrus of the frontal lobe. Controls motor function of speech via connections w/ motor cortex (speech production)

74
Q

Wernicke’s area

A

In superior temporal gyrus of temporal lobe. Responsible for language comprehension.

75
Q

Arcuate fasciculus

A

Bundle of axons that enable association between language comprehension and speech production (between Bronca’s and Wernicke’s areas)

76
Q

Aphasia

A

deficit of language production or comprehension

  1. Bronca’s aphasia: peech comprehension is intact, but reduced or absent ability to produce speech language
  2. Wernicke’s aphasia: fluency of speech retained, but comprehension of speech lost
  3. Conduction aphasia: patient unable to repeat something that has been said
77
Q

Galton’s idea of hereditary genius

A

Human ability is hereditary

MCAT Psychology (8 decks)

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