Exam 1 Flashcards
What are the modern assumptions of cognitive psych?
1) mental processes exist
2) humans are active info processors
3) time and accuracy measures show how processes and structures work
4) humans are limited processors of info
Who first proposed that the mind’s perspectives are actually a function of the state of nerves in the brain
Johannes Muller
Approach that says humans not only respond to stimuli, but process the information they receive
Information-Processing Theory
term for degree of abstraction useful in describing an operation (ions, nuclei in the brain) ( movement of electrons, circuit diagrams in computers)
level
Types of information processing (what the brain is doing at a level of analysis):
storage, manipulation, transformation
States that the description at one level can’t be replaced by description at another level (not interchangeable)
critical notation
related positive pairs pair the fastest
Semantic Priming
normal target conditions related to similar words faster than nonword (abnormal primes)
Response Priming
Specifying the correct combo of structures involved and the processes needed for a trait
Identifiability
whether a theory is valid, following the test
Adequacy
limits the structure-process trade-offs so that representations are processes aren’t modified too much
Constraints
Modern cognitive researches uses these 2 main methods:
1) systematic experimentation (using operational definitions)
2) control of confounding factors
Data sources for cognitive psych
1) Phenomenological (experience)
2) Correlational neural methods ( blood flow recordings)
3) Causal neural methods (tumor, brain area removed)
4) Chronometrics (reaction times, neuroimaging)
5) Accuracy (precent correct)
Three difficulties in measuring RT and accuracy data:
1) Expectancy effects
2) Structure-process trade-offs
3) Speed-Accuracy trade-offs
Human patterns of cognition are not passive but….
Active
Is positive or negative info processed better?
positive
The initial process of detecting and coding (ambiguous) environmental info
sensation
result of psychological processes where meaning, relationships, context, judgements, experiences, and memory play a role
perception
Common problems with perception
TMI- too much info
TLI- too little info
processing that begins with stimulation of receptors
bottom-up
processing begins with prior knowledge or expectations that modifies initial response
top-down
type of nervous system coding where different stimuli alter the activity of different neurons
spatial coding
type of nervous system coding where the intensity of stimulation is encoded by neural firing
temporal coding
The region of the retina that must be illuminated to obtain a response in any given neuron
The Receptive Field
how does the visual system respond to contrast?
maximally
Dual task of the visual system:
Maintain generality while also being able to respond to specific environmentally important stimuli
The series of neurons that communicate info from the retina to the cortex
Retino-Geniculo-Cortical Pathway
The reduction of a response from ganglion cells neighbors due to stimulation
lateral inhibition
perceptual conséquences of lateral inhibition
edge enhancement
brightness illusion
specialized neurons in what area results in parallel processing?
Area VI
The what system
identifies visual objects
The where system
location of objects and guiding actions
location of the what system
occipital-temporal pathways
location of the where system
occipital-parietal pathways
neural firing is only synchronized for…
attended stimuli
examples of top-down processing
odor intensity perception, speech segmentation, regularities, schemas
Principles that say many stimuli are ambiguous and ability to interpret relies on similarity, proximity, good continuation, closure, and simplicity
Gestalt Principles
Associative Agnosia
condition where the patient can see but not link the input to visual knowledge
-can draw from memory
-perceive an object, but not recognize it
Apperceptive Agnosia
patient can perceive an objects features but can’t accurately bind them to perceive the object as a whole
small elements that result from organized perception of form
features
Integrative Agnosia
patient has difficulty seeing how multiple features are bound together
Influences on errors:
1) regularity
2) well-formedness
recent firing results in higher starting activation (warm-up effect)
recency
frequent firing results in higher starting activation (exercise effect)
frequency
In recognition, perfect accuracy is sacrificed for…..
efficiency
Most common form of specialized recognition
Face Recognition
type of agnosia known as face blindness
Prosopagnosia
“super-recognizers”
are extremely accurate at recognizing faces but have no other perceptual or memory based advantages that we know of
concentration of mental activity, limiting what is taken in externally and processed internally
Attention
Detects unexpected but important events without interfering with important current processing
Attention task
How does Reisberg describe attention?
As an achievement
Why can’t we process all the info in from of us?
We have limited capacity and once we reach that capacity performance declines (circular logic)
List some problems associated with ADHD:
difficulty sustaining attention
failure to finish tasks
avoidance of sustained efforts
distracted by stimuli
failure to pay close attention
The three attentional networks:
1) alerting
2) orienting
3) executive
Network of sustained attention, vigilance, alertness
Alerting network
Network where specific info is selected from multiple stimuli
Orienting network
Network of supervisory, selective, conflict resolution, and focused attention
Executive network
