Midterm - Ch. 1 (The Science of Cognition) Flashcards
John Anderson describes cognitive psychology as…
The science of how the mind is organised to produce intelligent thought, and how it is realised in the brain.
Why was introspection not a good method upon which to base the science of mind?
Reports were unobservable, private, difficult to study and varies case by case.
What claim of Watson’s about the role of mental processes is rejected in contemporary
cognitive psychology?
The claim that internal mental activity does not exist. People’s responses (behaviour) are determined by environmental events (stimuli) and reinforcement arising from historical responses to them.
What positive legacy for the scientific study of cognition derives from Watson’s rejection of Wundt’s introspective methods?
Experimental study of observable behaviour.
Information processing approach - intelligent thought can be broken into…
A set of abstract information-processing steps.
What is brain imaging?
Brain imaging is a new tool to help resolve issues between competing information-processing theories.
What do glial cells facilitate?
The permanent synaptic changes that underlie learning.
What tiny gap separates neurons and what bridges these gaps?
Gap = Synapses Bridge = Axon
What are the two things that neurons can do when it fires a message along its axon?
It can either excite (increase activation level) or inhibit (decrease activation level) receiving neurons.
What does the receiving neuron compute?
The sum of all the positive potentials, minus the negative potentials arriving at its dendrite
Describe the organisation of the brain
- Lateral
- Medial
- Dorsal (Superior)
- Ventral (Inferior)
- Anterior
- Posterior
- Outside the brain
- Towards the middle of the brain
- Upper half of the brain
- Lower half of the brain
- Front of the brain
- Back of the brain
What are the three main planes from which the brain is viewed?
- Coronal (front section)
- Horizontal section
- Mid-sagittal (medial)
Describe the four major lobes in the brain and the two largest fissures or sulci.
- Frontal lobe (front half)
- Parietal lobe (upper-middle)
- Occipital lobe (small back)
- Temporal lobe (lower)
- Central sulcus (separates frontal and parietal)
- Sylvian fissure (separates frontal and temporal)
Define topographic organisation.
Adjacent cells in the cortex tend to process sensory stimuli from adjacent areas of the body
What do techniques like fMRI, ERP and MRS allow researchers to study?
The neural basis of human cognition with precision
