neuroscience & embodied cognition

Question 1

what are marr’s (1982) three levels of information processing?

Answer 1

cognitive level, algorithmic level, implementation level

Question 2

what is the cognitive level?

Answer 2

what is the task

Question 3

what is the algorithmic level?

Answer 3

describe how the task is being completed

Question 4

what is the implementation level?

Answer 4

the hardware that is completing the task

Question 5

which level should psychology focus on?

Answer 5

algorithmic level

Question 6

what is the identifiability problem?

Answer 6

can’t uniquely identify cognitive processes from stimulus-response relations

Question 7

why are information processing functions not necessarily separate from the physical hardware (brain)?

Answer 7

cognitive processes break down after brain damage

Question 8

what does the theory of the heart as the seat of the mind say about the brain and cortex?

Answer 8

the brain is a cooling system, the cortex is insignificant

Question 9

what does the theory of the heart as the seat of the mind say about white matter?

Answer 9

white matter is sensitive to mechanical stimulation, causing pain and movement

Question 10

what is gall & spurzheim’s phrenology?

Answer 10

35 affective and intellectual faculties are localised in specific organs of the cortex

Question 11

how is prominence of faculties assessed in phrenology?

Answer 11

feel size of organ through shape of skull

Question 12

what did pierre flourens say about phrenology?

Answer 12

there is no equation between the mind and brain, contours of skulls dont follow contours of cortex

Question 13

what did pierre flourens discover?

Answer 13

big structures have different functions e.g. cerebellum, medulla, cortex

Question 14

what is equipotentiality?

Answer 14

there are no differences within big structures e.g. all parts of cortex involved in all functions

Question 15

what did broca (1861) discover about speech?

Answer 15

speech production is controlled by area in left frontal lobe

Question 16

what did wernicke (1874) discover about speech?

Answer 16

speech understanding is controlled by a separate area in left frontal lobe than speech production

Question 17

what did broca and wernicke’s findings say about equipotentiality?

Answer 17

disproved equipotentiality

Question 18

what did fritsch & hitzig (1870) discover about movement?

Answer 18

specific parts of cortex activate specific muscles

Question 19

what did ferrier (1874) discover about motor functions?

Answer 19

there are specific motor functions for different movements

Question 20

why was localisation of functions described as phrenological pseudoscience?

Answer 20

the observed effects are artefacts due to leaking current to parts of brain that control movement

Question 21

what did wilder penfield discover when he stimulated a patients temporal lobe?

Answer 21

she relived a past experience

Question 22

what effects does a split-brain have on epileptics?

Answer 22

there are no differences in ordinary behaviour

Question 23

what happened in the burns & swerdlow (2003) case study?

Answer 23

a tumour caused a man to become addicted to pornography, obsession went away when the tumour was removed

Question 24

what is degenerate cartesianism?

Answer 24

the attribution of psychological states to brains

Question 25

what did bennett & hacker (2003) say about degenerate cartesianism?

Answer 25

only a whole living human being has psychological states, not just the brain

Question 26

what is embodied cognition?

Answer 26

psychological processes are influenced by the body

Question 27

what did held & hein (1963) discover in their kitten study?

Answer 27

only the actively moving kitten was normal in visual tasks, need interaction with the world, not just visual input

Question 28

what does embodied cognition say about the production of behaviour?

Answer 28

behaviour is produced by more than disembodied cartesian mind manipulating symbols