LECTURE 1- HUMAN COGNITION Flashcards
What is cognitive psychology?
Understanding human cognition through observation of behaviour during performance on cognitive tasks
What is cognitive neuropsychology
Studying brain damaged patients to understand human cognition in general
What is cognitive neuroscience
Using behaviour and the brain to understand human cognition
What is computational cognitive science
Using computational models to understand cognition
What is one example of how cognitive psychologists investigate the human mind
stroop test
what is the information processing approach
INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH
- based on assumption that human processing resembles that of computer
What are 3 strengths of cognitive psychology
First scientific approach
Led to numerous theories + tasks adopted by other approaches
Very flexible- can be applied to any aspect of cognition
5 limitations of cognitive psychology
Most cog tasks are impure lack ecological validity
Indirect evidence of underlying processes
Theories are often vague hard to test
Findings are often paradigm specific
Lack of an overarching theoretical framework
What are the key assumptions of cognitive neuropsych
FUNCTIONAL MODULARITY
- independent processing units exhibiting domain specificity
UNIVERSALITY ASSUMP
- organisation of cognitive functions very similar across all individual
ANATOMICAL MODULARITY
-each cognitive module is located in a specific brain region.
SUBTRACTIVITY
- brain damage can only disrupt modules or connections between them; patients do not develop new modules to compensate
WHAT ARE THE FOUR LOBES
FRONTAL
TEMPORAL
PARIETAL
OCCIPTAL
What divides the frontal lobe from the parietal
CENTRAL SULCUS
What seperates the temporal lobes from the parietal and frontal lobes
Lateral fissure
KEANE ET AL 1995 double dissociation test
A patient with bilateral occipital lobe lesions (LH) + patient bilateral medial temporal lobe ( HM) showed a double dissociation between visuo-perceptual priming ( impaired in LH and intact in HM) and visual recognition memory ( intact in LH and impaired in HM)
What did Brodmann do
Mapped the cell structure+ distribution of the brain
Produced the first accurate map of the brain
52 discret areas
What is network organisation
Human brain has complex topology with moderate cost control + efficiency
Bullmore and Sporns (2012)
Principle of cost control
- few long distance connections
Principle of efficiency
-ability to integrate information across the brain
List some measurement techniques
Single unit recordings
ERPS
PET
FMRI
BOLD
MEG
TMS
Describe single unit recording
Micro- electrode inserted into the brain
records activity from a single neurom
very high temporal+ spatrial resolution
Hubel + Wiesel primary visual cortex
Limitations of single unit recording
Highly invasive
- requires surgery -damages cells along electrodes path
- spenny
- too narrow to assess most higher cog processes
STRENGTHS OF EEG + ERPS
Electrical activity on the scalp is recorded during repeated events
Brain waves then segmented and averaged
Excellent temporal res
ERPS provide a detailed continious record of brain activity
Limitations EEG + ERPS
Limitation spatial resolution; skull+ brain tissue distort electrical fields
Numerous trials required
Hard to study complex cognition bc processes + strategies often change over trials
LIMITATIONS OF PET
Poor temporal resolution
-detects regional blood flow changes on the order of 30-60s
INVASIVE
FMRI TECHNIQUE
non invasive measure of brain activity
excellent spatial resolution 1mm
event related fmri emfri
Limitations
Expensive
Poor temporal
Indirect measure of brain activity
distortions in some brain regions
Constraints on stimuli that can be presented `
MEG LIMITATIONS
Expensive
Requires ppt to maintain uncomfortable body position long duration
Tech and analysis are new+ complicated
TMS LIMITATIONS
Effects complex not fully understood
TMS can enhance performance due to compensatory flexibility
Brain area not directly targeted by T,S may also be affected
Limited to brain areas lying beneath the skull+ overlying muscle
STRENGTHS OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
Combo of techniques offers excellent spatial/temporal resolution
Provides incredibly rich info to add to behavioural measures
Has helped to resolve theoretical controversies
Meta analysis of 10000 studies have clarified brain cog relationships
LIMITATIONS COG NEUROSCIENCE
Findings over interpreted
brain activation not direct evidence of cog processing
Neuroenchantment exaggerated respect for findings in cog neuroscience
Difficulty relating brain activation to cog processes
Studies underpowered
false positive findings reported
What is computational modelling
programming computers to model or mimic some aspects of human cognitive functioning
What is artifical intelligence
Constructing computer systems that produce intelligent outcomes often using very different processes to humans
What is cognitive architectures
Domain general cognitive models
COMPUTATIONAL COG SCIENCE STRENGTHS
theoretical assumps spelled out with precisions
empirical support
increased scope taking account of neuroimaging + data + beh
cog architectures provide overarching framework
LIMITATIONS COMPUTATIONAL COG SCIENCE
Many models fail to make new theoretical predictions
Overfitting = some models explain a given data set fail to generalise to other data sets
De emphasised emotional factors
Models complex harder to understand
What is the retina
The interface between our mind + the electromagnetic world
Where is visual information forwarded
Visual info forwarded primarily to visual areas that are located in the back of the brain
Visual info starts being processed
Destruction of neurons in visual areas leads to blindness
How does the mind interpret perceptual input
Uses rules to interpret perceptual input e.g; Kanisza triangle
Also uses knowledge to modify how we make sense of things
