FLASHCARDS: Ch. 2 Historical Perspective
What is the Lesion method?
Logical means of determining which regions of the brain are important for a given mental function: If damage to a particular brain region results in an inability to perform a specific mental function, scientists usually assume that the function must have depended on that brain region.
What is the localization of function?
Concept that a processing subsystem uniquely dedicated to a single function is located in a specific region of brain tissue.
What is mass action?
Theory holding that all pieces of brain contribute to all functions; opposite to the theory of localization of function
What are single-case studies?
Research method in which a single patient with brain damage is studied intensively with a variety of neuropsychological tests.
What are group studies?
Research method in which patients with brain damage who have similar characteristics (e.g., lesions in similar areas) are studied as a group.
What is the multiple-case study approach?
Research technique in which research findings are validated on a series of patients, each of whom is also treated as a single-case study. In this approach, data for each person within each group are provided, so that researchers can determine the variability across people as well as the degree to which the overall group average typifies the behavior of individuals within the group.
What is double dissociation?
Research method that allows researchers to determine whether two cognitive functions are independent of one another.
What is an Electroencephalography (EEG)?
Recordings of the brain’s electrical activity; used clinically to detect aberrant activity, and used experimentally to detect psychological states associated with particular patterns of electrical activity.
What is electrical potential?
The summed or superimposed signal of the postsynaptic electrical fields of similarly aligned neuronal dendrites, recorded at the scalp as a waveform; has a particular voltage and frequency.
What is alpha suppression?
Decrease in the amount of alpha activity, used as an indicator of the degree of brain activation.
What are event-related potentials (ERPs)?
Recordings of brain activity that is linked to the occurrence of an event; derived from scalp-recorded EEG.
What is this the definition of?
A small region of electrical current with a relatively positive end and a relatively negative end.
Dipole
What is this the definition of?
Characteristic portions of a scalp-recorded electrical waveform that have been linked to certain psychological processes.
Components
What is disconnection syndrome?
A behavioral deficit that occurs when information carried by fibers of passage cannot be transmitted from one brain region to another.
What is conduction aphasia?
A disconnection syndrome characterized by the inability to repeat what was just heard, although language comprehension and speech production are intact; caused by damage that severs the connection between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas.
