L13- cognitive psychology and understand brain-behaviour relationships Flashcards
levels of explanation
necessary to explain a particular behaviour
from cell to network to brain to body to environment to time
Marr’s levels of explanation
complex systems should be understood at different levels
useful for describing models of cognition
‘purpose’ aspect relates to environment and time of other levels of explanation
what are marr’s 3 levels of explanation
1- computational level
2- algorithmic level
3- implementational level
Marr’s LoE
1 - computational level
refers to the aim/purpose of the behaviour
WHAT problem are we faced with?
generic manner
Marr’s LoE
2 - algorithmic level
refers to the processes involved
HOW the identified problems can be solved
Marr’s LoE
3 - Implementational level
how the system is physically realised
the mechanism with which the computation is performed
eg. neurons and synapses
what are current decisions based on
previous experience and environment
role of cognitive neuroscience
bridge gap between behaviour and neural networks
biological processes that underlie cognition
available tools for studying cognitive neuroscience
behavioural paradigm psychophysiology MRI EEG TMS
why is it hard to link the levels of explanation
each test gives different dependent variables
what is neuropsychology
study of cognitive/behavioural effects of injury to the brain
examples of injury to the brain
stroke
neurodegenerative disease
contusion (rupture of capillaries)
broca’s aphasia
lesions cause inability to express and formulate sentences
wernickes aphasia
ability to express words well but at random
attentional neglect
ability to see but ignore part of visual fielld
cortical blindness
report ‘blindness’ but able to navigate complex environments perfectly
what effect do frontal lobe disorders have
cause difficulty organising and planning
neuropsychological test batteries
standardised behavioural measurements used to assess effect of brain injury on cognitive function
used to assess ability of alzherimers patietns to go back to work etc
cognitive psychology tests
tasks measure mental ablility
cognitive psychology topics
working memory attention language visual perception associative learning categorisation executive function
limitations of cognitive psychology
vague terminology
e.g/ attention
individual variability so repetition of trials is important
associative memory
ability to learn and remember the relationship between unrelated items
e..g fear conditioning - pair stimulus with a shock
associating someone’s name with a particular perfume
how do you measure fear conditioning
measure eye blink with stimulus e.g. red circle with shock
after training phase present stimulus (red circle) and measure eye blink without shock
red circle causes response
examples of neuropsychological test batteries
trail making test
WAIS- intelligence scale
tower of london/hanoi test
why is it difficult to isolate specific underlying aspects of behaviour
many cognitive functions going on at the same time
what does Rescorla suggest about when learning is biggest
when there is a higher prediction error
when the outcome is more unexpected
define working memory
the ability to actively hold and retrieve information for processing or manipulation
working memory model
Baddeley and Hitch 1974
how can you test working memory
subjects listen to series of letters/numbers
subjects repeat letters/nubers back in a different order
use of EEG and fMRI in cognitive neuroscience
images provided reflect differences in conditions of subjects
use subtraction logic
what signal does fMRI give
BOLD signal
associative learning
subject learns relationship between two unrelated stimuli
impact of prediction error on learning
increase prediction error, increase learning
region of CNS involved with predictive stimulus
amygdala
examples of executive function
response inhibiton
working memory
task switching
go no-go test
measure the number of errors made
measures impulsivity
impact of pre-frontal cortex on ability to complete go no-go test
test ability decreases if pre-frontal cortex stimulated
stop signal test
better impulsivity predictor than go no-go test
measures time taken for brain to cancel an initiated response
computational modelling for cognitive neuroscience
use associative learning model
program computer
compare human and computer behavioural data
use computer model to analyse fMRI model
