Quiz 1 Flashcards
cognitive psychology
a branch of psychology focused on cognition
cognition
mental processes –> perception, thinking, language, memory, learning, and more
mental chronometry
how long a cognitive process takes
- Donders
reaction time experience (RT)
the time between presentation of the stimulus (object) and the person’s response
- simple task
- choice task
- Donders
simple task for RT
light appear, push button
choice task for RT
if the light is on the left, push “J”; if the light is on the right, push “K”
how long does it take to make a choice
time to respond to choice task - simple task = time to make a choice
- 1/10th of a second to make a decision
unconscious inference
some perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions we make about the environment
- Helmholtz
Donders
mental chronometry; reaction time experiment (RT)
Helmholtz
perception and unconscious inference
Ebbinghaus
memory, Savings (Forgetting) Curve
Savings (Forgetting) Curve
- Read the list of syllables to memorize it perfectly
- After different time intervals (hours or days), he measured his ability to recite syllables back
- Savings (Forgetting) Curve
Shorter intervals → more savings - Not linear
- We forget the most information right after
- Forgetting slows down with time (E.g., lost more going 19 to 1 hour than 6 to 31 days)
Watson
behaviorism, Little Albert Experiment
behaviorism
study only observable behavior
Skinner
operant conditioning
main points of behaviorism
- Popular movement
- Opposed introspection
- Measuring observable behavior
- Examined how pairing one stimulus affects behavior (Watson)
- How behavior is changed by rewards/punishments (Skinner)
- Supports only nurture perspective— experience shapes you
behaviorism’s decline
- language acquisition
- animal conditioning fails
- cognitive maps vs. simple operant conditioning
language acquisition and behaviorism’s decline
- Skinner (1957): Verbal Behaviour → children learn language with operant conditioning and imitation; they are rewarded for correct speech
- Chomsky (1959): Review of Verbal Behaviour → children say things they never heard and things that are incorrect— so not just imitation and rewards
- “Language Acquisition Device” → inborn biological program
Behaviorism’s decline and animal conditioning fails
- IQ Zoo → animals trained by conditioning
- Animals played basketball, tic-tac-toe
- Yet instincts were still present; the importance of instinctual responses
- It is easy to train “peck” to get food and “flap” wings to avoid danger but not vice versa
- But this should not be the case if the only thing that matters is rewards
Behaviorism’s decline and cognitive maps vs. simple operant conditioning
- Tolman (1938) → rats’ ability to find food is a cognitive map rather than conditioning
- Trained to find food on the right, but when rat is placed in another position, still found food
- Should not be the case if only the operant conditioning is at play
cognitive revolution process
- behaviorism (1920s)
- cognitive revolution (1950s-1960s)
- dichotic listening - Cherry (1953)
- first attention model - Broadbent (1958)
cognitive revolution (1950s-1960s)
- Gradual change from behaviorism ideals
- Explain behavior in terms of the mind and make inferences about the cognitive activity
- Study of the mind
Models of Cognitive Processes - Early computers → computers have stages of pressing and limited storage, so the most like the mind
dichotic listening - Cherry (1953)
- If different information is presented to different ears (sides), people can selectively attend to one bit of information and not to another
- We can infer that we have an attention “filter”
first attention model - Broadbent (1958)
- Filter → takes in all the info and only allows info you are attending to
- Detector → processing the information
- Input → Filter → Detector → Memory
how to study cognitive processes now
- done indirectly
- Observe objective responses
- Create and update models to predict outcomes (e.g., model of memory)
- Design experiments based on prior knowledge
Develop new hypotheses - *standardized scales (agreed upon, tested way to measure)
- *operational definitions (clear, measurable)
Cognitive science is interdisciplinary → psychology, computer science, anthropology, linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, education
development
changes in structure or function over time
- structure
- ability
structure, development
knowledge base
function, development
ability
individual differences
variations of intellectual abilities and skills (e.g., reading skills)
- between different children
- within the same child in different tasks
value of cognitive immaturity
Early forms of development can play a role in helping children adapt to the environment
- ex. egocentrism
egocentrism
inability to take perspectives other than their own
- The focus on self can be beneficial → memory is better for events related to self (ex. more adjectives are remembered when they were considered to refer to self compared to other people)
6 truths of cognitive development
1) occurs in the context of dynamic and reciprocal relationship between biology and the environment (nature and nurture)
2) occurs within a social context
3) includes both stability and plasticity
4) involves changes in how info is represented
5) children develop intentional control over behaviors and cognition
6) involves changes in both domain-general and domain-specific abilities
nature
heredity (nativism); argues that abilities are innate
nurture
environment (empiricism); argues that experiences drive change
second truth of cognitive development
- cultural influences on cognition
- sociocultural perspective –> learning guided (scaffolded) by adults
stability
the ability to maintain cognitive functions (e.g., memory for procedures/traits)
plasticity
changes in behavior and cognition over time with experience (e.g., language learning)
representation
mental coding of information
strategies (fifth truth of cognitive development)
deliberate, goal-directed mental operations aimed at solving a problem
domain-general abilities
one set of factors affects different cognition aspects (e.g., one memory unit storing various information)
domain-specific abilities
brain functions that are modular, where certain areas are for specific tasks (e.g., separate mechanisms store visual and verbal info)
neither domain-general nor domain-specific abilities completely describe cognition if considered alone
- Domain-general can’t explain the variations seen in developing different kinds of cognition
- Domain-specific in the extreme is too inflexible
Champagne & Mashoodh (2009)
- Low vs. high serotonin and stressful events on risk of depression (20 years)
- Little stress, no different in risk of depression in low vs. high
- A lot of stress, low serotonin gets higher risk of depression
- DNA as a library
- DNA expression as reading (by RNA polymerase)
- Environment influences reading
- Epigenetic → “in addition to genetic”
- DNA methylation as extra furniture reduces access
- Maternal care and GR gene (responsible for stress response)
- Low care → more methylation → GR silenced → prolonged stress response
- But, methylation levels can be altered pharmacologically in adulthood (in both directions)
- Generational transfer
- Low maternal care → estrogen receptor methylation → offspring’s low maternal care
developmental research designs
- longitudinal studies
- cross-sectional studies
- sequential studies
- meta analysis
longitudinal studies
- Test the same participants at multiple time points across time
- Expensive, time-consuming, people leave (attrition)
- Examine change over time
- Continuity → gradual changes (Lang)
- Discontinuity → quick changes (Theory of Mind)
cross-sectional studies
- Test different groups at the same time
- Less expensive, less time-consuming
- Cannot examine change over time; each group has different people
- May contain cohort effects
- Differences between groups due to the environment (e.g., culture) rather than age
- Example: study of stress with three different groups of 9th graders, 10th graders, and 11th graders
sequential studies
- Longitudinal and cross-sectional combined
- Multiple groups of people at multiple time points
- Expensive, time-consuming
- Flexibility in data collection/direction
- Avoids cohort effects
meta analysis
- Analysis of multiple studies on the same topic, question, and variables
- Allows seeing whether the findings are replicated across studies
evolutionary biology
- How and why a particular mechanism developed (e.g., perspective-taking)
- How → natural selection over evolutionary time
- Why → important for survival, adaptive value
- Not all aspects of life are present because they are adaptive (e.g., some are neutral)
- Not everything that was adaptive is still adaptive (e.g., sugar)
adaptation
changes in structure or function providing survival value
deferred
changes that prepare for both immediate and later environments (e.g., social relations)
ontogenetic
changes relevant only in the immediate environment (E.g., umbilical cord)
neonatal imitation
newborns match the facial expressions of the adults, proposed to show social learning
- adaptive value: prelinguistic communication (high levels of imitation –> more interactions at 3 months)
adaptations
- Develop
- Can be both domain-specific (e.g., face recognition) and domain-general (e.g., executive function
- Specialized solutions come with limits, thus imply constraints on learning
- Not bad things, help us learn and narrow down, they are starting points
- E.g., an assumption that one object cannot pass another
- E.g., probabilistic cognitive mechanisms
probabilistic cognitive mechanisms
solutions evolved to solve recurrent problems ancestors faced
biologically primary abiilities
- Selected in evolution
- Universal
- Children are motivated to acquire
- E.g., language
biologically secondary abilities
- Based on primary abilities but are culturally determined
- Not universal
- Takes time and practice to acquire
- E.g., reading
similarities between developmental systems approach and genotype –> environment theory
- Context as important as genes
- A child is an active agent
- Bidirectional relationship between structure and function (ex. Knowing the concept of “2” reinforcers your ability to perform addition in 2+2 and vice versa)
difference between developmental systems approach and genotype –> environment theory
The degree to which experience modifies organism vs. organism shapes itself
developmental systems approach
- System of bidirectionally interacting levels from genetic through cultural centering on epigenesis
- Epigenesis
- Genetic activity (DNA ←→ RNA←→ proteins) → structural maturation → function, activity
- Not only genetic or only environmental causes (More differences between older twins)
- Substantial plasticity
- Development is constrained by genes
epigenesis
the action of genes in interactions with the environment (methylation)
why we have species’ typical patterns
we inherit both species-specific genes and species-specific environments
- ex. When a duck is in the egg, they have duck DNA and can make and hear quacking sounds through the egg
critical period
door opens and shuts
sensitive period
door opens and closes
different abilities have differing timings of development
- this is adaptive
- One system does not have to compete for resources with another
- This way we are not overstimulated
Lickliter (1990)
- If we speed up vision… would it affect hearing?
- Remove a little of shell and provide visual stimuli (light) 2-3 days before hatching
- Auditory preference test
- Quails with no light exposure show a preference to bobwhite maternal call (their mother’s call)
- Quails exposed to light show no preference, so poor hearing skills but with better visual skills
genotype –> environment theory
- Genes drive experience
- Environment plays a role but is determined by genes
- effects of the environment are not constant but different at different points in time
three components of genotype –> environment theory
1) passive
2) evocative
3) active
passive component of genotype –> environment theory
- Caregivers provide genes and environment
- Decrease with age
- E.g., parents choose games
evocative component of genotype –> environment theory
- Child’s temperament evokes responses from others
- E.g., irritable child vs. well-tempered child get different treatment
active component of genotype –> environment theory
- Children seek environments consistent with their genotype
- Increases with age
- E.g., interest in soccer
behavioral genetics methods
- Seeks to tease apart contributions of the genes and environment
- Methods:
Twin studies
Adoption studies
limitations of twin studies
- equal environments –> similar community, culture; if not, environmental effects can be misinterpreted as genetic, underestimating the environment
- no interactive effects of genes –> genes contribute to effects separately; If not, underestimate the environment
- random mating –> Parents chose partners randomly; if not → DZ may appear similar → ratings of the environment overestimated
weight of brain compared to adult at different ages
- At birth → 25%
- At 6 months → 50%
- At 5 years → 90%
size of human brain
- Much larger brain than expected for body size
- More cortical neurons vs. other animals
size of the frontal cortex of human brain
- Most associated with cognition and “humanness”
- Size larger than animals
dendrites
receive message
cell body
nucleus
axon
transfer message
synapses
gaps between dendrites
neurotransmitters
chemical messengers
myelin
a protective covering
formation of dendrites
- new connections
- much of brain weight at 2 years
gray (pink) matter
cell bodies and dendrites; above and below surface of the brain
white matter
myelinated axons; below the surface of the brain
3 stages of neuronal development
1) proliferation (neurogenesis)
2) migration
3) differentiation
proliferation (neurogenesis)
- Production of new neurons
- 3000 per second
- During the prenatal period, generally not produced after birth with some exceptions (hippocampus, olfactory bulb)
migration
- Move to a permanent position
- Finish by 7 months after conception
differentiation
- Neurons grow in size
- Produce more and longer dendrites
- Extend axons
- Continues to adolescence
synaptogenesis
rapid synapse formation
- postnatal, early years of life
- brain organization
- continues in adulthood but at slower rate
pruning
unused synapses removal
- continues to adulthood
- different rates for different brain parts
apoptosis
prenatal pruning
experience-expectant processes
- Synapses formed based on species-typical experiences
- Fails to develop without experiences
- Can be improved, but the longer the deprivation, the harder
experience-dependent processes
synapses formed based on individual’s experience
- ex. learning to play a musical instrument
sulci
indents in cerebral cortex
gyri
folds in cerebral cortex
A-not-B error
- Showing a toy hidden in location A and asking to find it; then, showing to hide in location B and asking to search
- Infants before 12 months of age fail at this task by selecting location A
- Implication for inhibition –> Despite “knowing” that it is in location B, they just cannot stop themselves
major changes in brain organization occur in adolescence
- Changes in the distribution of neurotransmitters
- Gray matter decreases (pruning)
- White matter increases (myelination)
- The amygdala develops before the prefrontal lobes –> Risky behavior implications
neuronal neotony
human neurons can retain juvenile qualities in adulthood
some interpretability concerns for evidence of plasticity
- Damage is rarely narrowed to one area
- Damage can lead to further complications beyond a lesion
- Disorders following brain damage can disguise the brain function
- Damage in one area can lead to changes in other
Kennard Effect
the earlier the damage, the higher the likelihood of recovery
- supports early plasticity
- E.g., infants still attain advanced language after damage to the left hemisphere
- E.g., concussion recovery is faster than adults
Kennard Effect not always seen
- Some early damage results in harm
- E.g., teratogens (altering feature dev) –> Exposure to thalidomide interferes with limb development, but not if they are already formed
- E.g., prenatal brain damage results in permanent neurological impairment
- Supports early vulnerability –> View that the brains of young children are more susceptible compared to adults
touch in infants
- feel pain
- early painful procedures infant –> reduced pain responses later
- Kangaroo Care –> preterm infants respond well to tactile care; gain more weight, display more advanced cognitive and motor skills
smell and taste in infants
develop before birth
- By 1 week, babies can discriminate their parent from others on the basis of smell
- Show preference for the smell of breastmilk of the parent
- If given two smell pads, they orient toward familiar
- The parent’s diet en utero shapes the ability to distinguish between two food smells at birth
- Infant’s preference for the anise odor at 4 days of age
implicit measures
take behavior that infants can control, use this to imply what they perceive
- not expressed directly or verbally
- e.g., head turns for smell discrimination
explicit measures
- used with adults
- report on their cognition or behave in an observable way related to the task
- e.g., survey
pacifier sucking rate study
- Do infants learn about the outside world while in utero?
- Parents read a story two times per week in the last six weeks in utero
- Measured the sucking rate in newborns to familiar vs. novel passages
- Infants were trained that the change in rate changes the story
- Infants altered rate to hear a familiar story
visual preference chamber study
- 2 images placed in front of the infant
- Measure how long infant spends looking at each
- If there is a difference: Infant prefers one over the other; Infant can tell them apart
can infants differentiate between complex vs. simple images?
- Saw series images
- Measured how long they looked
- Infants look longer at faces and patterns with more information
- Preference as perceptual bias, not the conscious liking for one thing over another, rather not random responding
habituation
decrease in response after repeated presentation of the stimulus
dishabituation
occurs when, following habituation, a new stimulus is presented that increases the level of responding
attentive state
- The amount of time infants look at stimuli reflects the attentive state
- When they are habituated, they get bored and disinterested in the repeating stimuli
habituation and memory
- Since stimuli are not presented at the same time, so must use memory
- Infant using past memories as a schema for familiarity with that object
habituation and concept knowledge/perceptual categories
If habituated to a series of stimuli, they grasp that category
habituation and data loss
- Some infants might not habituate
- Some do not pay attention
- High attrition challenges the generalizability of results
fMRI
- Measure brain blood flow
- Excellent spatial resolution (where in brain)
- Poor temporal resolution (when occurred)
EEG
- Measures electrical activity
- Excellent temporal resolution
- Poor spatial resolution
what infants can do with visual perception
- Track moving objects: Follow with gaze
- Perceive light: Demonstrated by pupil constriction
what infants are still developing in visual perception
- Accommodation: Changing focus for different distances; Develops completely by 3 months
- Convergence and coordination: Both eyes on the same object/following object harmoniously; Develops completely by 6 months
- Acuity: Seeing clearly; Develops completely by 6 years
how to test visual acuity with infants
- Visual Preference Paradigm
- If they look longer at any pattern, they see the difference
infant vision
20/400 or 20/600
- At 20 feet away, infants see what an adult person sees at 400 to 600 feet away
- does not read adult level until age 6
what is the reason for poor vision in infants?
- Underdeveloped fovea: Area of the retina with the highest concentration of cones; Cones needed for acuity; Infants’ cones are short and have low-density
- Cones have to elongate, increase density, and migrate towards the center of the fovea
color perception in infants
- no color discrimination at 8 weeks
- could distinguish red and white, but not green, yellow, blue, and white
- adult-like at 4 months of age
visual preferences in infants
Physical stimuli characteristics: Movement, contrast, complexity, symmetry, and curvature
contrast - visual preference in infants
- infants prefer looking at high contrast
- study: 1 week olds; Infants looked more at the vertices of triangles; Some infants do not show this pattern (Neurological maturity); By 2 months, the contrast is consistently preferable
- Before 2 months, infants show externality effect
- By 2 months, infants attend to internal features
externality effect
attention to the outside of the figure
symmetry - visual preference in infants
- 4-month-olds process vertical symmetry better than horizontal or asymmetrical information
- Faster habituation for vertical
- Relevant to the importance of vertical symmetry when looking at faces, bodies
familiarity vs. novelty for attention in infants
- Between 2-4 months, psychological characteristics influence the attention
- Preference towards familiar vs. novel implies memory
- What is the trajectory of this preference?
- Familiarity (3.5-6.5 months)
- No preference (6.5-9 months)
- Novelty (9 months)
differentiation theory
- Infants’ perception becomes more specific with time
- It takes time to create representations
- Makes sense to prefer familiar stimuli at first
- Once you have memory representation, the preference switches to a novel stimulus
Goldilock Effect
- Infants prefer looking at stimuli that are neither too complex nor too simple
- Balancing the complexity of information (optimal complexity)
- Bias for stimuli of intermediate familiarity arises due to the implicit sense that some information is more important than others
face processing in infants
- Infants prefer looking at faces
- Faces are important from an evolutionary perspective
- Infants’ survival is dependent on parents for support, strong attachment
- Infants preference for symmetry and curvature
study showing infants prefer looking at eyes
- Newborns showed a stronger preference toward the right-side-up (versus the upside-down) face when they could see the eyes
- No preference for either upside-down or right-side-up aces when the eyes were covered
- Infants prefer faces that look at them vs. away
- Early preference toward eyes/eye contact may play a critical role in social skills
auditory processing in infants
- Hearing is functional before birth
- Infants are born with some auditory experience
- Their hearing is not perfect
- Not adultlike until 10 years of age
- Good at localizing sounds by turning their heads
- Prefer high-frequency sounds by turning their sounds
- Prefer parent voice over other
speech perception in infants
- Babies prefer to listen to language sounds vs. comparably complex non-language sounds
- Early bias for speech can give them a leg up on acquiring language
- Universal speakers: Infants are able to perceive most, if not all, phonemes
- Word segmentation: Infants at 8 months can learn words by computing statistical relationships of the neighboring sounds
intersensory integration
coordination of information from two or more sensory modalities
- Available at birth
- Newborns move heads and eyes in the direction of a sounds as if they wish to see what all the noise is about
- The presence of sounds increases attentiveness in the newborn
study on intersensory integration in infants
- 4-month-olds
- Shown a film of a woman playing peek-a-boo & a hand holding a stick and striking a block of wood
- 1 soundtrack was played, corresponding either to the peek-a-boo or the drumming
- Infants figured out which soundtrack went with which screen, devoting more looking time to the screen that matched the sound
intersensory matching
ability to recognize an object initially inspected in one modality (e.g., touch) through another modality (e.g., vision)
study of intersensory matching in infants
- 6-month-olds
- Familiarization → object presented with touch alone for 60 seconds
- Test → set of objects through alternative mode (visual)
- Infants spent more time exploring the novel objects
