first lecture

Question 1

Behaviorist manifesto - John B. Watson

Answer 1

focus on learning, discard the mind, exclusive focus on behavior

Question 2

Edward Tolman

Answer 2

rats in a mase will create a mental map, will learn their surrounding

Question 3

Stimulus to response

Answer 3

stimulus -> retina -> thalamus -> occipital lobe
Dorsal (actions; where and how) and ventral (concepts; what) route
interactions with behavioral goals and motivations (frontal), task rule
premotor cortex/supplementary motor area -> primary motor cortex
primary motor cortex -> spinal cord
spinal column -> effector (the action)

Question 4

Paul Broca (1861)

Answer 4

examined a stroke patient with a normal speech understanding but deficient speech production

Question 5

Carl Wernicke (1879)

Answer 5

examined a stroke patient with fluent speech production but deficient speech understanding

Question 6

Double dissociation

Answer 6

findings of Broca and Wernick combined, evidence for localization of function; functions A and B are served by different brain areas

Question 7

Brain activity measurement
Direct measurement

Answer 7

EEG and MEG

Question 8

EEG

Answer 8

Electrodes register electrical activity on the scalp, as produced by the brain. High temporal resolution (how good is it in relation to time, how fast)
low spatial resolution (inaccurate in showing where the activation is coming from)

Question 9

MEG

Answer 9

MEG is similar to EEG, except that coils register
the magnetic activity produced by the brain.

Question 10

Brian activity measurement
Indirect measurement

Answer 10

fMRI and PET

Question 11

fMRI

Answer 11

Active brain areas attract blood (need oxygen), and Oxygen reduction in hemoglobin -> change in magnetic properties, fMRI detectors pick up the changing magnetic properties
low temporal resolution, high spatial resolution (how precise is the location of the measurement)
condition for measurement; things that are visual but different, two different perceptions

Question 12

PET

Answer 12

measures neural activity indirectly, via differences in local blood supply, injecting the substance in blood to track traces.

Question 13

single cell recordings

Answer 13

going on the brain and measuring the single-cell activity. Measures activation of a few neurons in behaving animals or patients under surgery. (highest spatial and temporal resolution) only measures the activity of a single neuron but doesn’t manipulate anything in the brain.

Question 14

single cell recordings weaknesses

Answer 14

The theory is that we have specific neurons that recognize specific things, such as a neuron that only responds to Jennifer Aniston, but this same neuron may respond to other things too or multiple neurons will react to Jennifer Aniston, so this theory or experiment is not very far developed.

Question 15

specificity coding

Answer 15

one neuron, one person (“grandmother cell”) -> vulnerable and inefficient (need many neurons)

Question 16

population coding

Answer 16

a large number of neurons code for each person. Each unique person is represented by a pattern of activation -> not as vulnerable and more efficient.

Question 17

sparse coding

Answer 17

a small group of neurons represents each person -> similar to population coding, even more efficient ( but a bit more vulnerable as well)