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year 3 > PSYC 305 > Flashcards

PSYC 305 Flashcards

1
Q

cognition

A

knowledge or thinking; mental processes and activities used in perceiving, remembering, thinking, and understanding and the act of using these processes

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2
Q

comparative cognition

A

a field of study that examines and compares cognition among animal species including humans

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3
Q

reasons to study compcog (5)

A
  1. research helps us understand how certain cognitive processes evolved
  2. research can demonstrate what may be unique about human thinking
  3. research can demonstrate what is possible with and without human didactic parenting and culture
  4. research can help us to understand other species for their own sake
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4
Q

the field emerged from and was influenced by:

A
  1. the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection and the continuity hypothesis
  2. the work of early experimental psychologists who designed carefully controlled experiments to examine behavioural responses to events (Watson and Tolman)
  3. the work of early biologists who examined the evolution of animal behaviour and conducted experiments in natural settings (Lorenz and Tinbergen)
  4. the work of early cognitive psychologists and others who considered the underlying mental representations that might guide behaviour
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5
Q

tenants of the theory of evolution by natural selection

A
  1. variation
    Individuals within a species display variability in both physiological and behavioural traits, reflecting random mutations of genetic material
  2. heritability
    Offspring inherit traits from their parents
  3. survival and reproduction
    If a certain trait promotes survival or reproduction, individuals possessing this trait will have greater chance of transmitting to their offspring
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6
Q

survival of the fittest

A

Fitness refers to the ability to survive and reproduce

Natural selection is the process by which inherited traits become more or less prominent in a population due to fitness

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7
Q

evolution produces ___, ____, and ____ ____

A

evolution produces adaptations, byproducts, and random effects

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8
Q

adaptations are the result of

A

natural selection
- provide evolutionary advantage
- traits that improve fitness

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9
Q

exaptions

A

adaptations to one environment problem that can be co-opted to solve another

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10
Q

byproducts

A

side effect of adaptations

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11
Q

random effects

A

chance mutations that do not provide any survival or reproductive advantage

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12
Q

speciation

A

separated groups, originally members of the same species, may diverge to the point they can no longer breed together

adaption helps to explain the emergence of different species across evolution

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13
Q

continuity hypothesis

A

idea that trait differences between animals and humans will be quantitative not qualitative

believed that the difference is not in the trait, only in how it is expressed

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14
Q

behaviourism

A

watson- focus on observable events without speculating on inner processes

behaviour and only behaviour should be the subject matter of psychology

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15
Q

adaptations

A

traits that improve fitness; these have been selected for bc they increase survival and reproduction

only adaptations provide some evolutionary advantage to the individual

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16
Q

exaptations

A

adaptations to one environmental problem that can be co-opted to solve another

ex. screwdriver lifting paint cans

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17
Q

anthropomorphism

A

automatically attribute human characteristics and traits to animals

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18
Q

anecdotal method

A
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19
Q

clever hans effect

A

“horse that knew math”

researchers gave off cues when hans had reached the right answer and to stop tapping his foot, when they didn’t know the answer hans didn’t either

has was being cued

offers an important lesson on the potential biasing of results for those studying animals and humans

clever hans effects are eliminate through double blind procedures

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20
Q

ethology

A

the scientific study of animal behaviour as a branch of zoology distinct from comparative anatomy

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21
Q

fixed action patterns (FAPs)

A

stereotyped, species-typical behaviours that occur in a rigid order and are triggered by specific stimuli in the environment

ex. graylag goose observes an egg sized object near the nest, triggers a FAP that retrieves the object by rolling it back into the nest in a specific, predictable series of actions

if an experimenter removes the object, the bird will continue to engage in rolling motions

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22
Q

imprinting

A

particular type of learning in which exposure to specific stimuli or events alters behavioural traits of the animal

young birds

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23
Q

four questions of ethology

A
  1. adaptive value
    whats the function of the behaviour
  2. evolution
    how did the behaviour develop across evolution
  3. ontogeny
    how does it change across lifespan of the organism
  4. immediate causation
    what are the internal mechanisms that produce the behaviour

first 2 questions referred to as ultimate causes of behaviour (focus on evolutionary lineage and ecological pressures)

second 2 questions referred to as proximate causes of behaviour (deal with the building and operation of an animal)

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24
Q

in all animals, the visual system works by

A

absorbing light of particular wavelengths along the electromagnetic spectrum

humans- 400-400 nm

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25
Q

humans and other primates have frontally placed eyes which means they have good ___ but poor ___ vision

A

good binocular vision but poor lateral vision

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26
Q

binocular vision

A

occurs when the two visual fields overlap, meaning much of whats seen with right eye is also seen with left eye

the small amount of disparity allows for depth perception

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27
Q

sexually dimorphic

A

trait is diff in males and females

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28
Q

sensory drive hypothesis

A

an explanation for ecological dibergence within species

describes how communication signals work effectively and how these coevolve with sensory systems

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29
Q

the ‘classic 5’ systems include

A

smell
sight
taste
sound
touch

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30
Q

sensory bias

A

Refers to situations in which individuals of a species respond with increased vigor to stimuli that are exaggerated versions of naturally occurring stimuli

ex. female preference for large feathers on the heads of males (white crested were most attractive)

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31
Q

paradox of sensory bias

A

cannot provide any evolutionary advantage because the exaggerated trait is not part of either animal’s natural environment

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32
Q

most likely explanation for sensory bias

A

that it is a byproduct of a sensory preference that had an evolutionary advantage in a different context

called sensory exploitation

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33
Q

sensory exploitation

A

implies that sensory signals which were important for one process have been co-opted by another

also describes situations in which a trait evolved to capitalized on an existinf preferece

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34
Q

sensitive period

A

period in which experience-dependent changes change have profound and enduring effects on development

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35
Q

strabismus

A

a condition often present at birth in which the visual exes of the two eyes are misaligned

sensitive period knowledge helps with this

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36
Q

compensatory plasticity hypothesis

A

states that a loss or deficit in one sense leads to a heightened capacity in another

advantage is that allows animals to adapt within their lifetime to new sensory environments, but this process is random and may be too slow to ensure survival

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37
Q

sensory system function can be divided into two stages

A

detection
- how animals acquire info about their sensory world

processing
- how this info is organized and transmitted into other brain regions

allow animals to interpret the world around them and respond appropriately

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38
Q

transduction

A

translation of physical events into electrical signals

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39
Q

sensory quality refers to

A

refers to the type or category of stimulus within a modality

different sounds, smells, or tactile sensations represent qualitative differences within a modality

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40
Q

population coding

A

as the stimulus intensity increases, the number of sensory receptors firing APs also increases

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41
Q

sensations

A

are produced when physical stimuli activate sensory receptors which then send neural signals through specialized circuits

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42
Q

perception

A

the interpretation of the signals which occurs when sensory info is processed, organized, and filtered within the CNS

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43
Q

psychophysics

A

study of the relationship between sensations and perceptions

attempts to explain how the physical characteristics of a stimulus are interpreted by an organism

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44
Q

a just noticeable difference (JND)

A

amount by which two stimuli must differ so that the difference can be detected; relative value

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45
Q

structuralism

A

perceptions are created by combining or adding up the elements of sensations

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46
Q

feature integration theory

A

posits that elements of sensory input are coded at the initial stages of processing and then combined at higher levels to produce perceptual wholes

bottom up theories

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47
Q

optic flow

A

describes the movement of elements in a visual scene relative to the observer

one of the most important sources of info to an animal because it provides feedback on how its own behaviour is altering sensory input

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48
Q

stimulus filtering

A

the process of separating and extracting meaningful information from the abudance of diversity of sensory cues in the environment

accomplished by sign stimuli,

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49
Q

sign stimuli

A

are efficient means to interpret the sensory world bc they provide meaningful info with minimal sensory input

the essential features of a stimulus which are necessary to elicit a specific behavioural response
ex. nest building
ex. young pecking at red dot on adults beak for food

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50
Q

attention

A

Sensory detection and processing filters, organizes, and codes sensory signals in the environment thereby reducing the amount of info thay reaches higher brain regions

the mental process that selects what info will be processed further allowing individuals to focus on a particular stimuli or events

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51
Q

selective attention

A

the ability to attend to a limited range of sensory info while actively inhibiting competing input

cocktail party phenomenon

eye tracking experiments reveal important aspect of selective attention in humans: most ppl focus on the eyes

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52
Q

sustained attention

A

maintain a focus on one aspect of their surroundings for extended periods of time

ex. watching for predators or prey

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53
Q

divided attention

A

describes the ability to process stimultaneously sensory input from more than one source

opposite of how selective and sustained attention allow focus on limited part of sensory world

limits on divided attention not restricted to humans

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54
Q

limited attention

A

means the brain can only process certain amount of info at any given time

attention is limited, divided attention highlights this

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55
Q

memory

A

The mental processes of acquiring and retaining info for later retrieval

56
Q

two main distinctions of memory

A

working memory and reference memory (with non declarative and declarative subtypes)

57
Q

episodic memories studied in animals

A

western scrub jays, food caching behaviours

jays given peanuts and worms to cache, they prefer worms but they degrade faster

if short period of time had passed they’d get the worms, if a long period of time had passed they’d get the peanuts instead of the worms

so they seemed to remember what where and when they stored

is this episode memory though? don’t know what cog processes underline their behaviour

58
Q

working memory

A

the process of maintaining info in the ST so it can be used in other cog processes

for human research, the N back task

59
Q

stages of memory processing

A

encoding
consolidation
retrieval

60
Q

encoding enhanced by

A

elaboration

the process of adding meaning, images, or other complex info to sensory input

chunking

increases memory capacity by reducing the amount of info that is encoded

61
Q

consolidation

A

process of modifying encoded representations so that they become more stable over time

62
Q

retrieval

A

mental activity of accessing the stored info

2 mechanisms by which its retrieved:
recognition- easier
recall- harder

both bette if they occur in same context in which it was encoded
- shown by hamsters and circadian cycle

63
Q

working memory

A

the process of maintaining information in short term store so that it can be used in other cognitive processes

N back tasks

64
Q

reference memory

A

implies an active process of referring to information in long term store

65
Q

patient HM

A

underwent urgery for seizures, long term memory (reference memory) intact but short term memory (working memory) was non existent

language and perceptual skills and intellect remained in tact, helped to show that reference memory is independent of other cognitive processes

his ability to learn a new motor task without remembering having practiced it highlighted the distinction between knowing how and knowing that

66
Q

non declarative memory

A

different types of memory that do not depend on awareness or explicit knowledge to be expressed

67
Q

perceptual priming

A

the facilitated identification of a stimulus as a consequence of prior exposure to the stimulus

68
Q

procedural memory

A

a gradual change in behaviour based on feedback

HM’s ability to learn the mirror drawing task is an ex.

ex, tie shoes

important point is that these are not acquired through memorization of body movements involved in the activity

69
Q

declarative memory

A

a knowledge based system that is expressed through explicit statements (“ I remember when”)

flexible in that it combines multiple pieces of information retrieved from long term store

requires awareness by definition: humans consciously reflect on the information they’re retrieving which is why it is questioned to exist in animals

70
Q

semantic memory

A

general knowledge of the world that is not tagged to a particular event

71
Q

episodic memory

A

knowledge for events in a personal past

72
Q

hyperthymesia

A

enhanced autobiographical memory

73
Q

classical conditioning

A

process by which a previously neutral stimulus through association with a motivationally salient stimulus comes to elicit a reponse

74
Q

operant conditioning

A

process by which a change in behaviour occurs because the behaviour produces some consequence

75
Q

adaptive specializations

A

the relative ease with which animals acquire certain associations

76
Q

law of effect

A

that animals tend to repeat behaviours that produce satisfying effects and refrain from repeating those that lead to unsatisfying effects

premise that behaviour is controlled by its consequences**

77
Q

positive reinforcement

A

contingency between a response and outcome that increases the prob of the response occuring

(giving dog a treat)

78
Q

negative reinforcement

A

increases a behaviour bc it removes an aversive stimulus

taking meds to relieve a headache

79
Q

punishment

A

descreases behaviour through a contingency between a response and aversive event

ex. slapping a dog for chewing slippers

80
Q

omission

A

(negative punishment)

decreases the prob of responding by withholding an outcome when the response occurs

time outs for kids (toys removed)

81
Q

reinforcement schedule

A

this is a rule set by the experimenter that determines how and when a response will be followed by a reinforcer

continuous reinforcement- every response produces a reinforcer

fixed ratio- partial or intermittent schedule (if the number is set)

variable ration- if the number of required responses varies about a mean value

82
Q

ratio strain

A

very high FR ratios, animals may stop responding all together

83
Q

equipotentiality

A

the idea that associations between different stimuli, responses, and reinforcers could be formed with equal ease

84
Q

adaptive specializations

A

The relative ease with which animals acquire certain associations is adaptive specializations, reflecting the idea that learning an association between 2 stimuli has conferred some evolutionary advantage on the species

85
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97
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c5 down

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98
Q

finding the way can be divided into two distinct processes

A

getting there- depends on an elementary system that directs animals toward different often unknown locations
All organisms display some form of this behaviour when they orient to places they may find food, mates or new habitats

knowing where- allows animals to reach a particular destination regardless of current position; allowing animals to locate hidden food stores, to find the way around familiar environments and travel back and forth between seasonal habitats

99
Q

dispersal

A

the movement away from a parent or conspecific population due to declining resources, overcrowding, or mate competition

example of how getting there and knowing where spatial processes work together

100
Q

migration

A

the seasonal movement between spatially distinct habitats

101
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113
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W7 below

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114
Q

decision making

A

the cognitive process of selection one course of action over a variety of options

115
Q

optimal foraging theory

A

organisms forage in a way that maximizes net energy gain per unit time

116
Q

marginal value theorem

A

A model that describes the individual’s strategy (stay or leave?) that maximizes gain when resources decrease with time

117
Q

Ideal free distribution model

A

The number of animals aggregating at a food patch is proportional to the amount of resources available at that patch

118
Q

outcome of decision making

A

choice- a motor action or verbal response that indicates selection of an option

119
Q

central place foragers

A

carry food back to a home base where it is consumed or stored for later use

120
Q

handling

A

the time and energy required to extract a consumable food item from its source (ex. Breaking a shell)

121
Q

heuristics

A

strategies for solving problems that ignore or discount a portion of available information

122
Q

algorithms

A

a specific procedure or set of instructions that leads to a correct solution

123
Q

temporal or delay discounting

A

reflects the tendency for future rewards to decline in value
(pick reward choice of $10 now than $100 in a year)

point at which they’re balanced is called the indifference point

124
Q

somatic marker hypothesis

A

the idea that decision making is informed by bodily reactions that are triggered by emotions

125
Q
A
126
Q

chapter 9 below

A
127
Q

categorization

A

the cognitive process of classifying items or events into groups based on one or more common features

128
Q

discrimination

A

distinguishing items or events based on one or more distinct features

129
Q

concepts

A

abstract set of rules that define membership in a category

130
Q

concept formation

A

Cognitive process of establishing and updating the abstract set of rules for category membership is referred to as

131
Q

exemplar

A

a distinct item within a category

132
Q

perceptual categorization

A

uses sensory input in one modality such as vision to identify similarities between different stimuli and to group them together accordingly

133
Q

pseudocategories

A

random collections of stimuli that have no obvious cohesive feature

year 3 (9 decks)

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