Lecture 1 (Ch. 1 Intro + 2 Neuroscience) Flashcards
(41 cards)
What is cognition?
What the mind does.
What was the first cognitive experiment? And what was it’s take home message?
Donders: How long does it take someone to make a decision.
Method: Push button whether left or right side illuminated.
Take home message: We cannot measure the mind directly - we need to measure observable behaviour.
What is structuralism?
Wundt’s view. All our sensations combine to make one experience.
What is analytic introspection?
Trained process. Describe your experience and thought process in relation to a stimuli.
What was Ebbinghaus’ way to measure cognition?
Quantitative measure of memory.
What was Ebbinghaus’ experiment?
Memorize a nonsense list of syllables and measured how long it took. Then measured how long it too to forget.
Results: We forgot things very quickly right away - but then forgetting slows down.
What is the black box of cognitive psychology?
The problem we have with studying the mind. We cannot directly measure the mind and also in relation to Ebbinghaus’ experiments - we can’t be sure that there weren’t confounding variables.
Why was behaviourism helpful?
It only measured behaviour directly.
What were some behaviourism experiments?
Pavlov - classical conditioning (Dogs)
Watson - classical conditioning (Little Albert)
Skinner - operant conditioning (reinforcement)
What did Tolman do?
Evidenced reemergence of the mind with maze + rat experiment.
What is the information processing approach?
The idea that the mind processes in stages. Brought on by the age of the computer.
What did the idea of Artificial intelligence accomplish in psychology?
Helped with the information processing approach and Broadbent’s filter model.
What is Broadment’s model?
Filter model:
Information enters then is filtered then stored then output.
What are the three stages of cognition?
1) Input (Perception, Attention)
2) Storage (Memory and Knowledge)
3) Manipulation and Output (Reasoning, Exec Fx )
What are the two major types of data?
Verbal and non-verbal
What is a structural model?
Structural models are representations of a physical structure.
What is a process model?
Process models represent the processes that are involved in cognitive mechanisms (ex: Broadbent’s filter model)
What is cognitive neuroscience?
cognitive neuroscience is the study of the physiological basis of cognition
Why do we study cognitive neuroscience?
To get a fuller idea of how the mind works
What are the levels of analysis? And why is it useful?
Molecular Cellular Neurological Psychological Social
It’s helpful to look at different viewpoints to understand the topic from all different angles.
What are the philosophical implications of neuroscience in relation to cognition?
Version of “Materialism” - the state of your brain can demonstrate the state of your mind.
The notion of “intentionality” - Cognition is always “about” something
What is the neuron doctrine?
The idea that individual cells transmit
signals in the nervous system, and that these cells are not continuous with other cells as
proposed by nerve net theory
Explain nerve impulses.
Nerve impulses are an all or nothing process. At rest the membrane potential is -70mv (resting potential). When it reaches the threshold of 40mv the nerve will fire and there will be an action potential. This action potential goes from neuron to neuron.
What is the principle of neural representation?
principle of neural representation states that everything a person experiences is based not on direct contact with stimuli, but on representations in the person’s nervous system.
