PSYC 305 Flashcards
cognition
knowledge or thinking; mental processes and activities used in perceiving, remembering, thinking, and understanding and the act of using these processes
comparative cognition
a field of study that examines and compares cognition among animal species including humans
reasons to study compcog (5)
- research helps us understand how certain cognitive processes evolved
- research can demonstrate what may be unique about human thinking
- research can demonstrate what is possible with and without human didactic parenting and culture
- research can help us to understand other species for their own sake
the field emerged from and was influenced by:
- the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection and the continuity hypothesis
- the work of early experimental psychologists who designed carefully controlled experiments to examine behavioural responses to events (Watson and Tolman)
- the work of early biologists who examined the evolution of animal behaviour and conducted experiments in natural settings (Lorenz and Tinbergen)
- the work of early cognitive psychologists and others who considered the underlying mental representations that might guide behaviour
tenants of the theory of evolution by natural selection
- variation
Individuals within a species display variability in both physiological and behavioural traits, reflecting random mutations of genetic material - heritability
Offspring inherit traits from their parents - survival and reproduction
If a certain trait promotes survival or reproduction, individuals possessing this trait will have greater chance of transmitting to their offspring
survival of the fittest
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
evolution produces ___, ____, and ____ ____
evolution produces adaptations, byproducts, and random effects
adaptations are the result of
natural selection
- provide evolutionary advantage
- traits that improve fitness
exaptions
adaptations to one environment problem that can be co-opted to solve another
byproducts
side effect of adaptations
random effects
chance mutations that do not provide any survival or reproductive advantage
speciation
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
continuity hypothesis
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
behaviourism
watson- focus on observable events without speculating on inner processes
behaviour and only behaviour should be the subject matter of psychology
adaptations
traits that improve fitness; these have been selected for bc they increase survival and reproduction
only adaptations provide some evolutionary advantage to the individual
exaptations
adaptations to one environmental problem that can be co-opted to solve another
ex. screwdriver lifting paint cans
anthropomorphism
automatically attribute human characteristics and traits to animals
anecdotal method
clever hans effect
“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
ethology
the scientific study of animal behaviour as a branch of zoology distinct from comparative anatomy
fixed action patterns (FAPs)
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
imprinting
particular type of learning in which exposure to specific stimuli or events alters behavioural traits of the animal
young birds
four questions of ethology
- adaptive value
whats the function of the behaviour - evolution
how did the behaviour develop across evolution - ontogeny
how does it change across lifespan of the organism - 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)
in all animals, the visual system works by
absorbing light of particular wavelengths along the electromagnetic spectrum
humans- 400-400 nm
humans and other primates have frontally placed eyes which means they have good ___ but poor ___ vision
good binocular vision but poor lateral vision
binocular vision
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
sexually dimorphic
trait is diff in males and females
sensory drive hypothesis
an explanation for ecological dibergence within species
describes how communication signals work effectively and how these coevolve with sensory systems
the ‘classic 5’ systems include
smell
sight
taste
sound
touch
sensory bias
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)
paradox of sensory bias
cannot provide any evolutionary advantage because the exaggerated trait is not part of either animal’s natural environment
most likely explanation for sensory bias
that it is a byproduct of a sensory preference that had an evolutionary advantage in a different context
called sensory exploitation
sensory exploitation
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
sensitive period
period in which experience-dependent changes change have profound and enduring effects on development
strabismus
a condition often present at birth in which the visual exes of the two eyes are misaligned
sensitive period knowledge helps with this
compensatory plasticity hypothesis
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
sensory system function can be divided into two stages
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
transduction
translation of physical events into electrical signals
sensory quality refers to
refers to the type or category of stimulus within a modality
different sounds, smells, or tactile sensations represent qualitative differences within a modality
population coding
as the stimulus intensity increases, the number of sensory receptors firing APs also increases
sensations
are produced when physical stimuli activate sensory receptors which then send neural signals through specialized circuits
perception
the interpretation of the signals which occurs when sensory info is processed, organized, and filtered within the CNS
psychophysics
study of the relationship between sensations and perceptions
attempts to explain how the physical characteristics of a stimulus are interpreted by an organism
a just noticeable difference (JND)
amount by which two stimuli must differ so that the difference can be detected; relative value
structuralism
perceptions are created by combining or adding up the elements of sensations
feature integration theory
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
optic flow
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
stimulus filtering
the process of separating and extracting meaningful information from the abudance of diversity of sensory cues in the environment
accomplished by sign stimuli,
sign stimuli
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
attention
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
selective attention
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
sustained attention
maintain a focus on one aspect of their surroundings for extended periods of time
ex. watching for predators or prey
divided attention
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
limited attention
means the brain can only process certain amount of info at any given time
attention is limited, divided attention highlights this
memory
The mental processes of acquiring and retaining info for later retrieval
two main distinctions of memory
working memory and reference memory (with non declarative and declarative subtypes)
episodic memories studied in animals
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
working memory
the process of maintaining info in the ST so it can be used in other cog processes
for human research, the N back task
stages of memory processing
encoding
consolidation
retrieval
encoding enhanced by
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
consolidation
process of modifying encoded representations so that they become more stable over time
retrieval
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
working memory
the process of maintaining information in short term store so that it can be used in other cognitive processes
N back tasks
reference memory
implies an active process of referring to information in long term store
patient HM
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
non declarative memory
different types of memory that do not depend on awareness or explicit knowledge to be expressed
perceptual priming
the facilitated identification of a stimulus as a consequence of prior exposure to the stimulus
procedural memory
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
declarative memory
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
semantic memory
general knowledge of the world that is not tagged to a particular event
episodic memory
knowledge for events in a personal past
hyperthymesia
enhanced autobiographical memory
classical conditioning
process by which a previously neutral stimulus through association with a motivationally salient stimulus comes to elicit a reponse
operant conditioning
process by which a change in behaviour occurs because the behaviour produces some consequence
adaptive specializations
the relative ease with which animals acquire certain associations
law of effect
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**
positive reinforcement
contingency between a response and outcome that increases the prob of the response occuring
(giving dog a treat)
negative reinforcement
increases a behaviour bc it removes an aversive stimulus
taking meds to relieve a headache
punishment
descreases behaviour through a contingency between a response and aversive event
ex. slapping a dog for chewing slippers
omission
(negative punishment)
decreases the prob of responding by withholding an outcome when the response occurs
time outs for kids (toys removed)
reinforcement schedule
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
ratio strain
very high FR ratios, animals may stop responding all together
equipotentiality
the idea that associations between different stimuli, responses, and reinforcers could be formed with equal ease
adaptive specializations
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
c5 down
finding the way can be divided into two distinct processes
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
dispersal
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
migration
the seasonal movement between spatially distinct habitats
W7 below
decision making
the cognitive process of selection one course of action over a variety of options
optimal foraging theory
organisms forage in a way that maximizes net energy gain per unit time
marginal value theorem
A model that describes the individual’s strategy (stay or leave?) that maximizes gain when resources decrease with time
Ideal free distribution model
The number of animals aggregating at a food patch is proportional to the amount of resources available at that patch
outcome of decision making
choice- a motor action or verbal response that indicates selection of an option
central place foragers
carry food back to a home base where it is consumed or stored for later use
handling
the time and energy required to extract a consumable food item from its source (ex. Breaking a shell)
heuristics
strategies for solving problems that ignore or discount a portion of available information
algorithms
a specific procedure or set of instructions that leads to a correct solution
temporal or delay discounting
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
somatic marker hypothesis
the idea that decision making is informed by bodily reactions that are triggered by emotions
chapter 9 below
categorization
the cognitive process of classifying items or events into groups based on one or more common features
discrimination
distinguishing items or events based on one or more distinct features
concepts
abstract set of rules that define membership in a category
concept formation
Cognitive process of establishing and updating the abstract set of rules for category membership is referred to as
exemplar
a distinct item within a category
perceptual categorization
uses sensory input in one modality such as vision to identify similarities between different stimuli and to group them together accordingly
pseudocategories
random collections of stimuli that have no obvious cohesive feature
