Midterm 1 Flashcards
(89 cards)
1
Q
bit
A
- Short for ‘binary digit’; the most basic unit of information. Every event that occurs in a situation with two equally likely outcomes provides one “bit” of information
- Everytime the number of equally likely outcomes double, the number of information bits you receive increases by one
2
Q
Information theory
A
• The theory that the information provided by a particular event is inversely related to the probability of its occurrence
3
Q
Filter model
A
◦ A theory based on the idea that information processing is restricted by channel capacity (The maximum amount of information that can be transmitted by an information-processing device)
4
Q
Primary memory
A
What we are aware of in the ‘immediately present moment’; often termed ‘immediate memory’ or ‘short-term memory’
5
Q
Secondary memory
A
Knowledge acquired at an earlier time that is stored indefinitely, and is absent from awareness; also called ‘long-term memory’
6
Q
information pickup (Gibson)
A
- The process whereby we perceive information directly
- Leaning means becoming progressively more attuned to what the environment affords us (as knowledges of affordances is not innate- we learn what can and cannot be done with items)
7
Q
perceptual cycle (Neisser)
A
- • The process whereby our schemas guide our exploration of the world and in turn are shaped by what we find there
• Allows us to become increasingly sophisticated in our dealings with the environment
8
Q
Modules (brain)
A
Different parts of the brain, each of which is responsible for particular cognitive operations
9
Q
Phrenology
A
- The study of the shape, size, and protrusions of the cranium in an attempt to discover the relationships between parts of the brain and various mental activities and abilities
- More highly developed a function was, the larger it would be, more clearly in would be as a protrusion on the skull
10
Q
Location of function
A
The idea that there is a direct correspondence between specific cognitive functions and specific parts of the brain
11
Q
Law of mass action
A
Learning and memory depend on the total mass of brain tissue remaining rather than the properties of individual cells
12
Q
Law of equipotentiality
A
Although some areas of the cortex may become specialized for certain tasks, any part of an area can (within limits) do the job of any other part of that area
13
Q
interactionism
A
Mind and brain are separate substances that interact with and influence each other
-e.g., Descartes who thought they interacted with each other in the pineal gland
14
Q
epiphenomenalism
A
“mind” is a superfluous by-product of bodily functioning
-analogy that mind is to the brain as the steam from a steam whistle is a coal-powered locomotive– you can’t discover much about the locomotive by studying steam from whistle, just as you can’t discover much about the brain by examining what goes on in the mind
15
Q
parallelism
A
“mind” and brain are two aspects of the same reality, and they operate in parallel
- e.g., Fechner
- Any event in the mind is accompanied by a corresponding event in the brain
- Studying mental events can reveal something about the brain- e.g., asking subjects to introspect, then recording events in the brain
16
Q
isomorphism
A
Mental events and neural events share the same structure
-gestalt psychology, Necker cube (External stimulus is constant, but internal subjective experience varies)
17
Q
Sensory system
A
A system that links the physical and perceptual worlds via the nervous system: composed of sensory receptors, neural pathways, and distinct regions of the brain preferentially dedicated to the perception of information
18
Q
Broca’s aphasia
A
A deficit in the ability to produce speech as a result of damage to Broca’s area (area of the brain’s left hemisphere that is responsible for how words are spoken)
19
Q
Wernicke’s Aphasia
A
A deficit in the ability to comprehend speech as a result of damage to Wernicke’s area (Area of the brain’s left hemisphere that is responsible for processing the meaning of words)
20
Q
Interhemispheric transfer
A
Communication between the brain’s hemispheres, enabled in large part by the corpus callosum
-initial researched involved severing the optic chasm of cats, later corpus callosum (split brain)
21
Q
emergent property (sperry)
A
A property that “emerges” as a result of brain processes, but it not itself a component of the brain. In the case of the mind, this means that consciousness is neither reducible to, nor a property of, a particular brain structure or region
22
Q
emergent causation (Sperry)
A
Causation brought about by an emergent property. Once the “mind” emerges from the brain, it has the power to influence lower-level processes
23
Q
Supervenient (sperry)
A
mental states that may simultaneously influence neuronal events and be influenced by them
24
Q
Event-Related Potential (ERP)
A
An electrical signal emitted by the brain after the onset of a stimulus
- can be recorded using electrodes placed on the scalp (EEG)
- see study that found wavelength for items recalled different than for those not recalled (measured using EEG when first presented with items, then when asked to recall them) (but didn’t necessarily predict subsequent recall of items- e.g., could indicate that participants paid attention to some items and ignored others)
25
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
An imaging technique in which a participant is injected with a radioactive substance that mingles with the blood and circulates to the brain. A scanner is then used to detect the flow of blood to particular areas of the brain
26
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
• A non-radioactive magnetic procedure for detecting the flow of oxygenated blood to various parts of the brain
• Measures blood flow (flow of oxygen in blood) while the subject completes some sort of task and can correlate the location of brain activity with cognitive behavior
-study example- sentence reading vs consonant strings
27
Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
- a non-invasive brain imaging technique that directly measures neural activity
• Spatial resolution good like fMRI and temporal resolution good like ERP
• Measures magnetic fields produces by electrical activity of the brain (direct measure of neural activity rather than indirect measure- that of blood flow)
• Irregularities in the head (e.g., the skull) do not have as much effect on the magnetic fields produced by neural activity, unlike the electrical fields used by ERP
• Limitations
◦ Due to decay of signal as a function of distance for magnetic fields- MEG best at detecting activity near cortical surface of the brain
◦ Expensive, not widely available
28
Diffusion Tensor imaging (DTI)
Used to understand the organization of the neural interactions within the brain (e.g., how information flows between and within brain regions)
A MRI-based neuroimaging technique that makes it possible to visualize the white-matter tracts within the brain
29
Connectionism
- A theory that focuses on the way cognitive processes work at the physiological/neurological (as opposed to information-processing) level
- It holds that the brain consists of an enormous number of interconnected neurons and attempts to model cognition as an emergent process of networks of simple units (e.g., neurons communicating with one another)
30
Neural Networks (relates to connectionism)
- Neurons that are functionally related or connected
- Learns by modifying the strength of connections between elements so that the proper output occurs in response to a particular input (e..g, Hebb's rule)
31
Parallel (e..g connectionism) vs Serial processing models
Many neural connections may be active at the same time
| vs in serial only one can be
32
visual agnosia
An inability to identify objects visually even though they can be identified using other senses (e.g., touch)
33
perception
The processing of sensory information in such a way that it produces conscious experiences and guides action in the world
34
achromatopsia
A visual deficit characterized by inability to perceive colour because of damage to the area of the brain that processes colour information
35
Akinetopsia (motion blindness)
An inability to perceive the motion of objects
36
feedforward sweep
- The propagation of visual information from the primary visual cortex down the "what" and "where" pathways
- Initial processing
37
re-entrant (feedback) connections
Connections between brain areas that allow the propagation of visual information from the endpoints of the "what" and "where" pathways back to the primary visual cortex
38
fusiform face area (FFA)
an area in the inferior temporal cortex that is responsible for the conscious recognition of faces
-damage results in prosopagnosia (a selective deficit in the ability to consciously recognize faces)
39
Hoffding function
The process whereby an experience makes contact with a memory trace (the trace an experience leaves in memory), resulting in recognition
40
pandemonium
A model of pattern recognition consistent of three levels: data, cognitive demons (feature detector that decides whether the stimulus matches its pattern), and decision demons (feature detector that determines which pattern is being recognized)
41
contrast energy
The relative ease with which a stimulus can be distinguished from the background against which it is displayed
42
squelching
- The tendency of the nervous system to inhibit the processing of unclear features
- Increased reliability- doesn't 'guess' at what it is not sure about
- e.g., low contrast energy- squelch
43
Recognition by Components (RBC)
The theory that we recognize objects by breaking them down into their fundamental geometric shapes (geons)
-study- more complex objects (more geons) recognized more efficiently
44
Template Matching theory
- The hypothesis that the process of pattern recognition relies on the use of templates or prototypes
- Prototypical- representative of a pattern or category
- Comparing the current configuration with prototypical forms we have in our memory
- Patterns have to qualify as "similar enough"' to match template
45
multiple-trace memory model
• Traces of each individual experience are recorded in memory. No matter how often a particular kind of event is experienced a memory trace of the individual event is recorded each time
• Secondary memory- activated by probe from primary memory
• Memory traces activated to the extent that they are similar to the probe
• Activated memory traces return an echo to primary memory
• probe
◦ A "snapshot" of information in primary memory that can activate memory traces in secondary memory
46
context effects
The change in perception of a visual component of a scene based on the surrounding information in the scene and the observer's prior knowledge (feedback connection between the later ventral stream that are sensitive to broader aspects of a scene and the early primary visual cortex that processes image features)
47
Empirical theory of colour vision
* The theory that colour perception is influenced by prior experience with the way different illuminations (different lighting conditions) affect colour
* Differences in what colour individuals think the dress is likely due to prior experiences with the way different illuminations affect colour perception and the inferences that the visual system makes as a result
48
optic ataxia
A condition characterized by a deficit in the ability to successfully reach for objects, especially when they are presented in the periphery of vision, with unimpaired ability to identify them
49
theory of ecological optics (Gibson)
The proposition that perception results from the direct contact of the sensory organs with stimulus energy emanating from the environment and that an important goal of perception is action (this energy contains systematic info that can be used to guide action)
-study
• Participants responded to images that afforded a particular type of action (e.g., using right not left hand to grasp an object when object is facing the right)
• Faster, more correct when participants instructed to respond with the afforder effector (e.g., right hand for hammer with handle facing to the right) even though the tasks (e.g., to determine which objects are manufactured vs natural were unrelated)
-study
• Responses to photos of sports players are faster when participants are instructed to respond using the effect associated with each sport (e.g., hand for tennis)
50
ambient optical array (AOA)
all the visual information that is present at a particular point of view
51
transformation (gibson)
Gibson's term for the changes in the optical information hitting the eye that occur as the observer moves through the environment
52
-optic flow field
The continually changing (i.e., transforming) pattern of information that results from the movement of either objects or the observer through the environment
53
gradient of texture density
• Incremental changes in the pattern on a surface, which provide info about the slant of the surface
• E.g., if look down brick road- the rectangles of equal size gradually morph into progressively smaller paralellograms (the density of components increases)
-study
• Participants asked to judge slants of surfaces consisting of irregular (elements not clearly defined, discernible, repeating) and regular textures
• Results- participants able to judge the relative slants of all surfaces reasonably well, but more accurate for regularly than irregular
• Bc regular provide clearer info about the gradient of texture density at various slants
54
topological breakage
* The discontinuity created by the intersection of two textures
* Gives info about edges of objects
55
intentional binding effect
Events that take place after one has taken some action are perceived as occurring sooner than they actually did
-Study
• Asked to press a button then listen for a tone and report the exact time it was presented by location of hand on a clock you were watching as you presented button and tone presented
• Intentionally pressing the button will lead you to perceive the tone as occurring sooner than it actually did
• Contrasted with experiments where didn't have to press button or finger made to twitch involuntarily- do not perceive tone as happening earlier
56
-the principle of common movement
Visual features that move simultaneously and follow the same path are perceived to form a whole entity
57
Modality appropriateness hypothesis
* Different senses are better at processing different stimuli, and therefore different sensory modalities dominate at different times, depending on circumstances
* E.g., visual modality superior to auditory for processing spatial info, reverse true for temporal info
* Visual more prominent in literature
58
-visual prepotency effect
-The hypothesis that the visual system dominates the other sense when it comes to perceptual processing
• Possible explanation- We place more important on attending to visual stimuli in order to compensate for fact that the visual system is less effective than the auditory and tactile systems at processing altering stimuli (e.g. you can hear events happening behind you)
59
shadowing task
A task in which the subject is exposed to two messages simultaneously and must repeat one of them
60
early vs late selection
• The hypothesis that attention prevents early perceptual processing of distractors
-late selection
• The hypothesis that we perceive both relevant and irrelevant stimuli, and therefore must actively ignore the irrelevant stimuli in order to focus on the relevant ones
61
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)
An area of the brain that may exert a top-down bias that favours the selection of task-relevant info
62
-anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
* an area of the brain that may detect conflicting response tendencies of the sort that the stroop task elicits
* Possible that heightened activity associated with heightened awareness of conflicts
63
-spotlight metaphor
The idea that spatial attention is like a spotlight that we shine on an object when we select it for more complex and conscious processing
64
endogenous shifts
• Voluntary movements of attention, determined by goals and intentions
central cueing paradigm
• An experimental method in which the central cue (e.g., arrow) points to a location in which a target might subsequently appear
• Endogenous shifts of attention
• Also has fixation cross and two boxes
• But- fixation cross in the centre replaced by a directional cue- e.g., arrow pointing to right or left box
• Cue reliably predicts the location of the target (appearing at cued 80% of the time and 20% of the time at uncued)
• Response times faster when presented in cued rather than uncued, doesn't usually lead to IOR
65
-exogenous shifts
Involuntary movements of attention triggered by external stimuli
-e.g., -attention capture (exogenous)
-peripheral cueing paradigm (demonstrate exogenous shifts)
• A test in which a light (i.e., the cue) flashes in the periphery(on of two boxes in the periphery) and is followed by a target either in the same (cued) location (same box)or a different (uncued ) one
• Keep eyes focues on central fixation cross on the screen
• Have catch trials (when target not present)
• In standard- peripheral cue non-predictive of the location in which the target will appear- attending to the cue will not help participant
◦ But- results show that ppl are faster at detecting the target when it appears in cued rather than uncued location (cueing effect)- diminishes as SOA increases, eventually can see inhibition of return
◦ Cue captures spotlight of attention, uncued results slower bc attention must be shifted for target to be detecting
• Since non-predictive cue captures attention- suggests shift in attention is independent of the observer's intentions, unvoluntarily
66
-inattentional blindness
• Failure to attend to events that we might be expected to notice
67
flanker task
An experiment in which participants may be influenced by an irrelevant stimulus besides the target
- see differences when stimuli faces or musical instruments and fruit
- Participants gave up on attending fruits and instruments (incongruent no longer distracted) when task became too difficult (lists of letter strings got longer), but faces attended to no matter what (involuntary)
- also see human body captures attention
68
- capacity model
The hypothesis that attention is like a power supply that can support only a limited amount of attentional activity
69
structural limits
* The hypothesis that attentional tasks interfere with one another to the extent that they involve similar activities
* E.g., trying to do two highly verbal tasks at the same time (tasks draw on same processing resources)
70
central bottleneck
* The hypothesis that there is only one path along which information can travel, and it is so narrow that the most it can handle at any one time is the information relevant to one task
* Doing two tasks at once require you to alternate attention between the two tasks, selectively attend to only one at a time
71
-Sustained attention to response task (SART)
• A continuous response task in which digits (e.g., 0 to 9) are sequentially presented on a computer screen and participants are asked to press a button in response to all but one of them (e.g., the infrequent digit 3); response to this infrequent digit is supposed to be withheld
• Since withholding response requires attention- failure to do so an indicator that attention is disengaged from the task
-commission error (failure to withhold response)
72
default network
A set of brain areas that are active when an individual does not have a specific task to do and is absorbed in internal thoughts
-study-Mind wandering more likely than on-task performances to be associated with increased activity in the default network (using SART)
73
-attentional blink (AB)
• Failure to notice the second of two stimuli presented within 550 milliseconds of each other
• Possible explanation- participants apply their attention resources to the first stimuli, don't have enough left to apply to second
-study- Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) when listening to music and not
- result- music reduced attentional blink, lead to high accuracy of target 1 directly followed by target 2 (allocating attentional resources to secondary task improved performance in primary)
-study- Could target 2 still be processed unconsciously and have a priming effect (when not perceived consciously)
-results:If blinked to second word- identify third correctly more often if linked to second word than if unrelated
-study- Result- when related word procceded target word- greater likelihood of an attentional blink than when the inanimate word preceded target
- ◦ The more meaningfully the item was related to the target, the more it was attended to- initial "glance" at item, followed by closer looking if it seemed like possible target- more time spent looing, less likley that the next item would receive even a glance (attentional blink)
74
-Vigilance decrement
The decline in performance over time in vigilance tasks
-study- "Mackworth Clock Task"
- • Participants monitor a line (like a clock hand) moving in discrete steps around an imaginary circle
• E.g., participants asked to watch for the infrequent "skips" (clockhand skips a position)- press button when occurred
• Asked to perform for two hour period- decline over time- performance dropped substantially rom the first half-hour to second half-hour of the tasks, then continued to decline in modest rate to fourth half-hour
75
-overload view
• The view that performance on vigilance tasks declines over time because such tasks are so demanding
• Evidence- participants report that vigilance tasks are stressful, vigilance decrements exacerbated by the addition of another resource-demanding tasks
-version- resource deletion theory
-performance declines over time as attentional resources become depleted
76
-underload view
* The view that performance on vigilance tasks decline over time bc such tasks aren't stimulating enough to hold people's attention
* Physiological measures show ppl become progressively under-aroused during vigilance tasks
* Subjective reports reveal thoughts unrelated to the task increase over time
77
-embodied
• Existing within a body; the term reflects the general view that cognition depends not only on the mind but also on the physical constraints of the body in which the mind exists
(relates to overt visual attention- attending to something with eye movement- vs covery- attending to something without eye movement)
78
sequential attention hypothesis
* The hypothesis about the relationship between overt and covert attention that posits a tight relationship between the two, whereby covert attention is shifted first and overt eye movement follows
* Study- when new objects about to be viewed, covert attention shifts to the location first, then followed by the eyes
79
dual-coding theory
• The theory that there are two ways of representing events, verbal and non-verbal
• stimuli goes to sensory systems- make presentational connections- logogens to verbal system, imagens to non-verbal system (referential connections between the two- e..g, a verbal description can elicit an image of it and vice versa)- then verbal system makes verbal response, non-verbal system makes response
-study- Paired-associative learning task
- • Four groups each learned 16 pairs of words, each learned different kind of stimulus-response pair
• In first learning trial- participants listened to list of words, then given the stimulus word of each pair, asked to write down second word
• Learning best (after 4 trials) when both words were concrete and worst when both abstract, greatest difference in recall- concrete stimulus led to much better recall than abstract stimulus, also found concrete words to have higher image-ability
• Explanation- concrete words coded by both verbal and non-verbal systems so more easily available, abstract coded only by verbal (bc doesn't elicit image)
80
-left and right hemispheres theory (relates to dual-coding theory)
• The theory that the left hemisphere of the brain controls speech and is better at processing verbal material than is the right hemisphere, which is better at non-verbal tasks
-challenged by fMRI study
- ◦ Shown concrete words, abstract words, pseudo words
◦ Given lexical decision tasks- had to indicate by manual response whether or not stimulus was a word- participants response to concrete and abstract words should be the same- some differences in brain activity could be attributed solely to the different properties of these words
◦ Concrete words did not heighten activity in the right hemisphere, but abstract and concrete words did elicit different pattern of activity in the right- seems more complex than left vs right dichotomy
81
-cognitive dedifferentiation
* Fusion of perceptual proceses that typically function independently
* Synesthesia entails dedifferentiation of sense modalities, eidetic imagery of imagery and perception- image experienced as a percept
82
-vividness of visual imagery
• The degree to which an image is clear and lively, and resembles an actual percept
• Varies widely
• Measured using Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ)
◦ Asks participants to imagine a series of ppl and scenes, then rate the vividness of parts of the reusing image on scale- from as vivid as normal vision to not at all
-doesn't seem to be good predictor of memory
83
Mental Rotation
- study-the greater the angular rotation required, the longer it takes participant to make a decision
- ◦ For first- required one mental transformation- tended to be carried out in right hemisphere, for second- required multiple series of transformations- not lateralized, both hemispheres engaged
(Event-related potentials study)
-mental scanning- Both subjective and objective affect amount of time needed to travel mentally here
84
Images as Anticipations Hypothesis
The hypothesis than an image is a readiness to perceive something
-study result- Performance when letters imagined similar to when letters actually present on the grid, task ppl can do quickly and accurately
Similar task- but probe stimulus present only for a quick interval, participants had to detect its occurence- detected more often if fell on square covered by participant's image than if not
-study-Shown pattern of shaded squares that could be seen either as H or T- told to attend to one letter or another
◦ Attending to one pattern or another facilitates the pick-up of probes in that area ( just like projecting an image)
- ◦ Presented participants with grid, several squares filled by a dot, then grid disappeared- was replaces by another grid with dots in other squares- only one square was not filled by a dot on either occasion, had to identify which one
◦ Results- best when interval between first and second was 1300 miliseconds
• Seems that they required that long to form an image of the first grid, then second image could be integrated with this first image to get a representation that combined both grids
• Integration of Perception and imagery shows that it must share some of the same mechanisms
85
-Egocentric Perspective Transformations
-You imagine yourself moving, while the objects in the environment remain still
-Rather than imaging an object rotated in space
-study-We normally imagine ourselves being upright, in a Spatial framework
• An imaginary space with one vertical (above-below) and two horizontal dimensions (ahead-behind, left-right)
• May be we why had trouble distinguishing right from left- bc uniquely symmetrical on that dimension
86
-propositional knowledge hypothesis
The hypothesis that knowledge about the world is represented and stored in the form of propositions
- • Could be that mental images are epiphenomenal- a by-product of cognition
◦ Evidence that mental rotation is accurate only in highly practices tasks- with unfamiliar objects- requires thought to decide how things look from different perspectives
87
Cognitive map
◦ Information from the environment that is "worked over and elaborated.. Into a tentative, cognitive-like map.. Indicating routes and paths and environmental relationships)
◦ Represent reality in a way we think is useful (e.g,. Simplified) but not also very accurate
-linked with hippocampus activity- see london taxi drivers study
88
path integration
◦ The process whereby our position in relation to an important location (e.g., home) is continuously updated as we move through the environment
-an egocentric frame of reference
89
-Mental model theory
* The theory that we construct a mental model of a given situation, on the basis of which we understand, reason, and draw conclusions about it
* Often "unscientific"
* Permit us to draw analogies between different domains- e.g., electricity flowing through cord like a river
