PSYC 426 Study guide final draft Flashcards
What is cognitive science? What does it involve, entail, and aim to explore?
Cognitive science is the scientific study of cognitive systems, biological organisms and or machines that act and interact within a dynamic environment.
Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field—what are some of the disciplines
involved?
1.) Philosophy
2.) Psychology
3.) Computer Science
4.) Neuroscience
5.) Anthropology
6.) Linguistics
What are some of the methods used to explore research questions in
cognitive science?
1.) Neuroimaging
2.) Psychometrics
3.) eye tracking
4.) general behavior experiments
What is mental representation? Why is it important?
Mental representation is something that stands for something else, meaning it is symbolic. Representations are important since they used a symbol to represent a mental process.
What are some different ways to categorize/conceptualize mental
representation? Give examples.
Digital( such as language) Analog (visual images), Propositional ( Jane push sally, logical relationships between elements)
Are both representation and computation necessary for cognition? Why?
Yes, because it’s not only important to understand having the concept of something such as money which is representation, but how or why these mental mechanisms operate such as calculation of a tip, to make sense of the world.
True or False: One of foundations of cognition is the linear process linking attention, perception,
decision-making, and action.
False
True or False: Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field, where the collaboration between subfields is
more important than any individual subfield by itself.
True
Consider the following: When the clock says 8:35 am, log into Zoom for class. And say what part is concepts, propositions, rules, and Analogous situations?
Concepts: clock, 8:35 am, log in, Zoom, class, etc.
Propositions: clock/8:35, log in/Zoom, Zoom/class
Rules: 8:35 means class, which you enter via Zoom.
Analogous situations: other classes in your schedule, virtual classes probably use Zoom, etc.
Describe the emergence of cognitive science as a field in the 1950’s. What
precipitated it? Who were some of the key players involved?
Began in 1950’s, with CS emerging over the following two decades. Experimental psychology → behaviorism Theory of learning that postulates that all behavior is the product of interactions with the environment, via conditioning mechanisms. Has its merits, but fails to incorporate “mentalistic concepts,” i.e. cognition. Chomsky: “…like defining physics as the science of meter reading” (Miller, 2003). Thus, stringent behaviorism came to experience pushback. Behaviorism prevailed primarily in the US → cognitive revolution reopened collaborations with Europe.
Name and describe Marr’s (1987) levels of analysis.
1.) Computational: identifying the function of the computation. Noting what input/output. What is the goal? What’s the theory?
2.) Algorithm: how the computation can be solved; determining the algorithmic solution. What’s the solution
3.) Implementation: Determine how the cognitive system could implement this solution. How can the solution be implemented physically in the system.
Example:
Students waiting in line outside of a professor’s office.
Computational
What, why, theory?
Problem: FIFO; First-in, first-out. Meeting students based on order of
arrival.
Algorithmic
What’s the solution? How to solve/represent the what and why?
Solution: Linked data list structure; each person keeps track of who’s in
front of them.
Implementational
How is the solution physically realized?
Nuts and bolts: Each students stands behind the person in front of them
in the queue.
What are the 3 main schools of thought that emerged within cognitive
science? Name and describe each. Compare and contrast their tenets.
Classical Cognition: Information processing occurs through rules, which govern how different symbols are manipulated. A problem is posed, rules and representations allow a solution to be searched for, and a solution is subsequently found/implemented. Works great for well-posed problems → added to understanding of language and basic problem-solving.
Connectionist Cognition: Classical models for information processing fail to account for the properties of the brain → this structure and associated phenomena underlie cognition. The brain isn’t just a computer. No distinction between structure and process → the structure is the process! Model cognition using artificial neural networks. These networks are both structure and process; they store information and modify it at the same time. Information processing isn’t just about doing logic and recognizing symbols somehow, within a “black box.” No centralized controller that accesses information from a separate memory. The architecture of the brain (i.e. system) enables it to be a dynamic recognizer of statistical patterns, which constitute cognition.
Embodied Cogntion: Classic and connectionist models both fail to account for the rest of the body and the outside environment. Cognitive systems are linked to their environments. Mind doesn’t beget action from perception; the mind coordinates ongoing relations between perception and action. Agent cannot be separated from its environment in terms of information processing. Evidence supporting relevance of surrounding environment: Mirror neurons Off-loading memory storage (e.g., using a planner) Gesturing to facilitate language processing. Joint-action research
There are three major schools of thought about what cognition is: classical, connectionist,
and
embodied cognition
“The brain isn’t just a machine that takes problems and spits out solutions! Its neuronal
pathways are constantly changing and are how we think/feel/do things!” This statement
best exemplifies the __________________ school of thought.
connectionist
Apply Marr’s levels of analysis to: a bicycle
Computational: movement/transport; law of motion, friction, aerodynamics etc.
Algorithmic: force exerted downward can propel one forward, inertia keeps you moving, etc.
Implementational: pedals are connected to wheels, a chain allows for pressure on the pedals to
spark turning of the wheels, etc.
What is the brain? What are the primary anatomical structures involved?
An organ comprised of neurons that have higher-order functions/controlled everything else.
The cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem.
Describe the relation between brain weight/blood supply/energy consumption vs. body
weight/blood supply/energy consumption.
The human brain makes up 2% of total body weight, uses 10% of the blood circulation, and accounts for 20% of all energy consumption. Thus, a piece of brain tissue requires 12.25x more energy than the (averaged) rest of the body. Other non-primate vertebrates: 2% to 8% of all energy consumption goes to the brain. The human brain consumes a lot of energy!
Explain scaling laws as they apply to the human brain. Why isn’t an elephant “smarter”
than a human if its brain is bigger? What makes humans “smarter” than other primates?
Primate brains have more efficient neuron scaling. However, our brain is the largest out of all the primates since we have more neurons we are more intelligent out of all the primates being that our brain is larger
Name and describe 4 different ways to define cortical areas.
There are four lobes in the cortex, the
frontal lobe: higher-order thoughts, emotions, decision making, take information from other lobes and turn it into meaningful things,
The parietal lobe: governs attention and spatial processing
temporal lobe: auditory processing, pattern recognition, and language comprehension,
occipital lobe: vision information more processing.
Although the human brain only makes up 2% of the body’s mass, it consumes ___% of the
body’s energy.
20%
True or False:
Within primates, there seems to be a mostly linear correlation between brain size and
intelligence; i.e. larger brains have more advanced cognitive ability.
True, depending on the specie of animals is not a 1:1 scaling.
Brodmann’s areas are differentiated according to
cytoarchitectonics/histology.