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Readings Flashcards

1
Q

cognitive psychology

A

the study of thinking, of mind; studies perception, attention, memory, concept formation, problem solving, etc.

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2
Q

rationalism

A

we possess innate ideas, organizing tendencies, or innate cognitive mechanisms, which determine the nature of human knowledge

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3
Q

empiricism:

A

the “blank slate” position”, John Locke, we are born with the mechanism for forming associations, but that the initial source of knowledge about the organization of the external world is through sensory information

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4
Q

methodological doubt

A

all we can know is consciousness

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5
Q

association of ideas/associationism

A

reason and knowledge are derived from experience

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6
Q

complex ideas

A

perceptual abstractions of sensory experience

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7
Q

Alexander Bain

A

neural networks underlie learning and memory

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8
Q

structuralism

A

the view that mental experience is the result of a combination of simple, non-meaningful elements or events, Wundt

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9
Q

psychophysics

A

Fechner, establish the functional relationship between the sensory stimulus and the mind

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10
Q

two factor theory of intelligence

A

general intelligence→ influenced performance on all tasks

specific intelligence→ suggests relatively independent skills in areas such as verbal, visual, etc.

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11
Q

Gestalt Psychology:

A

looking at the “whole”

unconscious mental processes and active mental preparation that influences how the measures experiences, how the mind is constructed whole from parts
constructivist alternative to associationist psychology

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12
Q

constructivist

A

a number of schools of thought regarding the nature of mind brought together; types:
holistic: internal representations, top down
active adaptation in response to an experience

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13
Q

functionalism:

A

understanding mind and behavior as a function of its purpose and adaptive function, rather than on its internal structure or context (William James)

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14
Q

Turing defined a digital computer as having:

A

A Store of infomation for calculations and rules the computer must follow.
An Executive unit which carries out the individual operations.
A Control which ensures that instructions are performed in accordance with the rules and in the correct order.

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15
Q

Neuroscience is

A

the study of nervous system anatomy and physiology, both its structure and function.

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16
Q

Cognitive neuroscience

A

integration of biology with cognition.
The goal of this discipline is to explicate the structures and physiological processes that underlie specific cognitive functions.

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17
Q

lesion study

A

deliberate destruction of brain tissue or brain areas in animals and the examination of the resulting behavioral deficits.

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18
Q

single-cell recording

A

a very fine microelectrode is inserted into either a single neuron or the extracellular fluid adjacent to it. Changes in that cell’s electrical conductivity or its rate of firing can then be measured.

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19
Q

multiple-unit recording

A

a larger electrode is used to measure the collective electrical activity of a group of neurons.

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20
Q

electroencephalogram (EEG) is

A

a recording of the brain’s gross electrical action.

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21
Q

CAT

A

Computerized Axial Tomography

With this technique, an X-ray source rotates around the brain. Low-level X-ray beams pass through the brain and are picked up by a detector positioned on the opposite side. The information from all of the individual X-ray scans is collected and processed by a computer, and two- and three dimensional views of the underlying tissues are then constructed.

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22
Q

PET

A

Positron Emission Tomography

PET scans measure blood flow in the brain while a participant is carrying out a cognitive task. This is accomplished through the use of radioactive isotopes (tracers) attached to carrier molecules, such as glucose or oxygen molecules.

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23
Q

MRI

A

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

In most MRI evaluations, a patient is placed inside a tube that contains a powerful magnet. Protons, which are subatomic particles present everywhere in the body, align themselves in the magnetic field in the same way iron filings organize themselves around a small magnet. A radio-wave pulse is then applied to the brain or other part of the body undergoing the scan. The radio signals are bounced back and picked up by a detector unit. The reflected signals exhibit different characteristics that are determined by the nature of the atoms that have been penetrated by the signals and their surrounding chemical environment and are converted to images. The cross-sectional images show the structure of internal soft tissue.

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24
Q

fMRI

A

functional magnetic resonance imaging

used to reveal changes in brain activity over time. Like PET scans, fMRI scans detect alterations in local blood flow and oxygen level. Brain areas that show increases in these measures are those that have been activated during specific cognitive operations. fMRI scans provide better spatial resolution than CAT scans without any of the risks associated with the injection of radioactive isotopes.

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25
Q

Neurons are .

A

the microscopic basis of the brain. They are the individual functional units that perform computations

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26
Q

Messages are received by the feathery projections that are known as

A

dendrites. Dendrites form an extensive branching “tree,” which connects the neuron to many other neurons.

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27
Q

A process whereby the neuron sums up all the inputs it receives from other neurons determines whether or not it will fire.

A

threshold of excitation

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28
Q

If the “decision” to fire is made, an electrical signal called an ______ _________ is initiated.

A

action potential

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29
Q

axon

A

a long tubular structure that projects outward from the cell body.
The axon, which can extend for some distance, ends in a terminal button

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30
Q

How is a message passed from one cell to the next?

A

neurotransmitters

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31
Q

dorsal

A

top

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32
Q

ventral

A

bottom

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33
Q

anterior

A

front

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34
Q

posterior

A

back

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35
Q

medial

A

regions toward the middle of the brain

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36
Q

lateral

A

regions toward the outside of the brain

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37
Q

sagittal plane

A

“cuts” vertically through the brain

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38
Q

cuts horizontally, dividing the brain into dorsal and ventral portions

A

horizontal plane

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39
Q

The _______ plane cuts vertically, but divides the brain into anterior and posterior section

A

coronal

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40
Q

The cortex

A

the part of the brain to have been selected for by evolutionary forces most recently and is responsible for a number of higher-order cognitive activities.

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41
Q

The cortex is naturally divided into two halves or

A

cerebral hemispheres

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42
Q

Left hemisphere

A

The left hemisphere is the seat of more analytic, serial, and logical reasoning.
Language function in most persons is localized to the left hemisphere

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43
Q

Right hemisphere

A

The right hemisphere is the seat of more synthetic, parallel, and relational thought processes.
spatial ability is usually concentrated in the right hemisphere

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44
Q

Information is transferred back and forth between the hemispheres via connecting fibers that are known, collectively, as the ______ ________

A

corpus callosum

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45
Q

A _______ is a large cleft or separation between two areas of brain tissue, whereas a sulcus refers to a smaller such separation.

A

fissure

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46
Q

typically separates neighboring ridges or folds of tissue.

A

sulcus

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47
Q

gyrus

A

A single ridge of a sulcus

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48
Q

The _______ lobe is located anteriorly and is bounded by the central sulcus and the lateral fissure.

A

frontal lobe

It contributes to problem solving and language production.

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49
Q

The ________ lobe mediates auditory processing, pattern recognition, and language comprehension.

A

temporal lobe

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50
Q

It governs aspects of attention and spatial processing.

A

Just posterior to the central sulcus is the parietal lobe

The parietal lobe also plays a role in somatosensory processing and in awareness of one’s own body.

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51
Q

occipital lobe

A

where visual information begins to undergo more extensive processing.

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52
Q

primary motor cortex

A

a spatial representation or map of the body’s parts. Electrical stimulation of the primary motor cortex at a specific point provokes muscular contraction at the site of the corresponding body part. The function of the primary motor cortex is to initiate behavior via the activation of different muscle groups.

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53
Q

primary somatosensory cortex

A

It is also, in effect, a topological body map.

Electrical stimulation of any portion of the primary somatosensory cortex triggers the perception of a sensation coming from the corresponding part of the body.

The primary somatosensory cortex processes sensory information arriving from the body surface.

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54
Q

information received from the right or left halves of the body is mapped onto the

A

opposite, or contralateral, side of the brain.

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55
Q

dorsal visual pathway

A

travels upward to the parietal lobe where information about motion and location is extracted.

It is sometimes called the “where” pathway because of its representation of the spatial positions of objects.

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56
Q

A second stream, the _______ visual pathway, carries data about color and form and travels downward to the temporal lobe. It is referred to as the “____” pathway.

A

ventral, what

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57
Q

visual agnosia

A

an inability to recognize a visual object

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58
Q

Persons with ____________ agnosia cannot assemble the parts or features of an object into a meaningful whole.

A

apperceptive

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59
Q

associative agnosia

A

Persons with associative agnosia perceive this whole, but have difficulty in assigning a name or label to it.

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60
Q

perceptual categorization deficit

A

difficulty in recognizing objects when they are viewed from unusual angles or are lit unevenly

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61
Q

Prosopagnosia

A

inability to recognize faces

62
Q

specificity coding

A

a single cell fires only in response to the presence of a particular face, say, your grandmother’s, but not in response to any other face.

63
Q

In ___________ coding, a specific face is coded for by a specific pattern of activation among a group of cells.

A

distributed

64
Q

In human beings “face cells” seem to be located in the

A

fusiform face area (FFA).

65
Q

reticular activating system (RAS)

A

The function of this system is very basic: it controls the brain’s overall arousal and alertness levels. Activation of the RAS is linked to the ability to sustain attention over time.

66
Q

superior colliculus

A

Its function seems to be the shifting of one’s visual attention from one object or spot in one’s visual field to another.

67
Q

thalamus

A

It receives inputs from the RAS and forwards them to the cortex. It thus is a part of the general RAS arousal circuit.
The thalamus also serves as a relay center; it forwards incoming messages that correspond to the different sensory modalities to parts of the cortex specialized for processing them. It is believed that a particular nucleus within the thalamus is responsible for regulating those sensory messages.
It serves as a filter or gatekeeper, as it determines how much of this information is allowed to continue to the cortex for further processing.

68
Q

intraparietal sulcus

A

In human beings the intraparietal sulcus is active in processing situations that entail the conflation of visual stimulus features such as color and shape, which suggests that it is responsible for the binding together of features in visual search

69
Q

cingulate cortex

A

The cingulate cortex is believed to be the site where a response is selected, especially in instances in which that response entails the inhibition of or the ignoring of an alternative response.

70
Q

Opponent Process model

A

propose that each of the multiple brain areas responsible for the control of attention performs a distinct operation.
Their model specifically describes the changes that occur in visual selective attention, where attention is shifted from one spatial location to another.

71
Q

Distributed Network Models

A

In this model, the separate neural structures are not specialized and functionally independent, as they are in the component process model.
Instead, the functions of the different areas overlap to some degree. Each brain region performs a major operation that is attention-related but can perform other attention-related functions as well. This redundancy in the network implies that any given area can suffer damage while the system as a whole will maintain some of the functionality subsumed by the damaged region

72
Q

Engram

A

A physical change in a part of the brain that is associated with learning

73
Q

Equipotentiality

A

That memories are not laid down in any one area of the brain, but that all parts of the brain participate in memory storage

These areas include the hippocampus, the entorhinal cortex, the amygdala, the striatum, the left parietal cortex, and the prefrontal regions

74
Q

________ has taken place when an event has provoked a nervous system alteration that in turn provokes a change in the organism’s behavior.

A

Learning

75
Q

Learning requires ________ __________, which refers to a capacity for change in the structure or biochemistry of a synapse.

A

synaptic plasticity

76
Q

Hebb rule

A

If two connected neurons are active simultaneously, the synapse between them will become strengthened.

77
Q

Epilepsy

A

a disorder in which neurons fire uncontrollably, producing muscle spasms and seizures.

78
Q

Consolidation

A

the process by which information is transferred from working or short-term memory to long-term memory - can be affected by epilepsy

79
Q

Hippocampal damage is associated with ___________ amnesia, an inability to retain new information following some traumatic incident.

A

anterograde amnesia

80
Q

retrograde amnesia

A

an inability to remember information acquired prior to the traumatic event.

Retrograde amnesia is often caused by head injury and in most cases the loss extends only as far back as a week or so before the injury.

81
Q

executive dysfunction

A

a diminished capacity to perform goal-directed behaviors

82
Q

psychological inertia

A

difficulties in initiating actions or in terminating them once they have been initiated.

83
Q

environmental dependency syndrome

A

These patients sometimes appear to be impelled to perform actions that are “suggested by” the environment, such as picking up a pencil and writing with it as soon as they see it.

a stimulus in the environment triggers an automatic behavior

84
Q

Automatic attentional processes

A

do not require conscious control.

85
Q

action schemas

A

structures that control automatic attentional processes

86
Q

script (schema)

A

An action schema can be thought of as an if-then production rule, where perceptual inputs serve as the preconditions necessary to trigger a context-specific action.

87
Q

contention scheduling

A

is used to govern routine, habitual performances as well as the performance of nonroutine, novel tasks.

88
Q

Supervisory Attentional System

A

is used only for non-routine actions.
one can think of the SAS as a higher-level monitoring system, one that can apply general strategies to bear on a problem. The SAS can also suppress or turn off inappropriate schemas that might be triggered inadvertently. The failure to suppress these inappropriate schemas can result in “capture errors.”

89
Q

Controlled attentional processes

A

require conscious control. They are operational when one responds to novel or difficult situations for which there is no prior learned reaction. In these instances, attention must be voluntarily directed.
Problem solving calls on this processing

90
Q

Metacognition refers to

A

any process that monitors, regulates, or controls any aspect of cognition

91
Q

The binding problem

A

How does all this information from the visual field come together to produce a unified perceptual object?

92
Q

neural synchrony

A

Distinct cell subgroups of this constellation stand for individual features and may be separated by relatively large physical distances in the brain, but the dynamic activities of all of them represent an entire object.

93
Q

inverse projection problem

A

The fact that a particular image on the retina (or a computer vision machine’s sensors) can be created by many different objects

94
Q

viewpoint invariance

A

The ability to recognize an object seen from different viewpoint

95
Q

Apparent movement

A

When two stimuli that are in slightly different positions are flashed one after another with the correct timing, movement is perceived between the two stimuli.

96
Q

law of similarity

A

Similar things appear to be grouped together

97
Q

law of good continuation

A

: Points that, when connected, result in straight or smoothly curving lines are seen as belonging together, and the lines tend to be seen in such a way as to follow the smoothest path.

98
Q

law of proximity,

A

or nearness: Things that are near each other appear to be grouped together.

99
Q

the principle of common region

A

: Elements that are within the same region of space appear to be grouped together.

100
Q

principle of uniform connectedness

A

states: A connected region of visual properties, such as lightness, color, texture, or motion, is perceived as a single unit.

101
Q

principle of synchrony

A

states: Visual events that occur at the same time are perceived as belonging together.

102
Q

law of common fate

A

states: Things that are moving in the same direction appear to be grouped together

103
Q

law of familiarity,

A

things that form patterns that are familiar or meaningful are likely to become grouped together

104
Q

Pragnanz

A

every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible

105
Q

perceptual segregation

A

the perceptual separation of one object from another

106
Q

figure–ground segregation

A

When we see a separate object, it is usually seen as a figure that stands out from its background, which is called the ground

107
Q

algorithms

A

An algorithm is a procedure that is guaranteed to solve a problem

108
Q

Recognition-by-components (RBC) theory

A

nswers this question by proposing that our recognition of objects is based on features called geons, a term that stands for “geometric ions,” because just as ions are basic units of molecules, these geons are basic units of objects.

109
Q

non-accidental properties (NAPs).

A

NAPs are properties of edges in the retinal image that correspond to the properties of edges in the three-dimensional environment.

110
Q

discriminability

A

each geon can be discriminated from other geons

111
Q

The ability to identify an object if we can identify its geons is called the principle of ____________ recovery

A

componential recovery

112
Q

Global image features

A

Can be perceived rapidly and are associated with specific types of scenes - features are holistic and rapidly perceived

113
Q

Degree of naturalness

A

Natural scenes have textured zones and undulating contours. Man-made scenes, such as the street, are dominated by straight lines and horizontals and verticals

114
Q

Degree of openness.

A

Open scenes, such as the beach, often have a visible horizon line and contain few objects. The street scene is also open, although not as much as the beach. The forest is an example of a scene with a low degree of openness.

115
Q

Degree of roughness.

A

Smooth scenes (low roughness) like the beach contain fewer small elements. Scenes with high roughness like the forest contain many small elements and are more complex.

116
Q

Physical regularities

A

regularly occurring physical properties of the environment

117
Q

oblique effect

A

that people can perceive horizontals and verticals more easily than other orientations

118
Q

light-from-above heuristic

A

Apparently, people make the light-from-above assumption because most light in our environment comes from above. This includes the sun, as well as most artificial light sources.

119
Q

likelihood principle

A

states that we perceive the object that is most likely to have caused the pattern of stimuli we have received

120
Q

Modern psychologists have quantified Helmholtz’s idea of perception as inference by using a statistical technique called ________ inference that takes probabilities into account

A

Bayesian inference

121
Q

binocular rivalry

A

If one image is presented to the left eye and a different image is presented to the right eye, perception alternates back and forth between the two eyes

122
Q

Attention

A

describes a set of cognitive processes that allow us to concentrate on one set of events in our environment while ignoring other events.

123
Q

Preattentive processing

A

This ability to home in on a relevant event to the exclusion of all else can occur so rapidly that the perceiver may be momentarily unaware of all of the stimuli that have been excluded.

124
Q

Focused attentional processing

A

When you have to use your attention more deliberately in order to look at each object because preattentive processes could not be effective

125
Q

Orienting reflexes

A

Our basic biological ability to react to any distinctive change in our environment and pay attention to it.

126
Q

where/what circuits

A

These two circuits process information about the spatial location of objects and allow us to name them.

127
Q

When a stimulus is no longer novel, we don’t orient toward it because it does not capture our attention;. This is called __________ and accounts for how we get use to things like tight shoes or the traffic noise outside your window.

A

habituation

128
Q

Attentional spotlight:

A

a cognitive ability to focus in or sharpen our attention, just as we do when we move the beam of a flashlight or focus a zoom lens

129
Q

Subitizing:

A

The rapid labeling of small quantities of simultaneously presented items

130
Q

_______ _______ acts as a buffer memory system to host the incoming stream long enough for us to pay attention to it.

A

sensory storage

Cognitive psychologists refer to sensory storage by different names, including sensory memory and sensory information storage (SIS)

131
Q

Saccades

A

rapid eye movements, used while reading - eyes rapidly dart from point of fixation to point of fixation, during which most information is gathered

132
Q

Four distinct properties of sensory storage

A

capacity, duration, forgetting, coding

133
Q

Masking:

A

one event masks or hides the other event from conscious awareness

134
Q

precategorical storage

A

it (sensory storage) stores information before it is categorized.

135
Q

attentional processing

A

Sensory storage is like a tray that holds events long enough for our attentional system to grasp the right item. Within the first second after an event this is captured by sensory storage, it is processed by the attentional system

136
Q

Because attention to physical properties of a stimulus comes _____, we say that attention shows an _____-selection filter.

A

early

137
Q

Late-selection filter

A

Some messages - no matter what their physical characteristics - are so important they are permanently set to be relevant or pertinent (e.g. the sound of your name, the scream “Help!”, the odor of mold, even an angry face)

138
Q

the late-selection theory

A

It is as if our attentional system waits for all of the information to combine before it makes its decision to focus the spotlight.

139
Q

automatic processes

A

some of your adjustments to the world around you are being handled automatically by your attention system, which alerts you to danger

140
Q

controlled processing

A

ou can reign automatic processes in with conscious effort

141
Q

Typing is considered a ______ _____, where the learner’s intention to be able to precisely duplicate a variety of predictable circumstances.

A

closed skill

142
Q

open skills

A

In contrast, open skills are applied in unpredictable circumstances and the person must commit attentional resources to the environment to compensate for the variability they encounter.

143
Q

Mindlessness

A

Even though we are engaged in a controlled process, we fail to evaluate what we are doing when we exercise control

144
Q

Capacity theory of attention

A

States that our ability to focus attentions varies with the number and complexity of the tasks and how mentally energized we are at the time

145
Q

Attentional blink:

A

the moment when you are shifting your attentional focus and are unable to attend fully to a new target event

146
Q

Repetition blindness:

A

A decrease in the ability to perceive repeated stimuli during a rapid serial presentation of items

147
Q

Change blindness:

A

Similar to attentional blink, when you flash similar photos quickly and repeatedly on a screen, it is difficult to discern any difference between the pictures

148
Q

Inattentional blindness

A

Any activity that consumes attentional resources (i.e. controlled processing) will have an effect on performance on another attention-memory task

149
Q

Simulatanagnosia

A

a difficulty in recognizing two or more objects at the same time

150
Q

Hemispheric Neglect

A

When people are unable to focus their attention on a portion of their visual field

151
Q

Which phrase (in the Pinker reading) refers to dualism?

A

The Ghost in the Machine

152
Q

To empiricists, the human mind begins as a

A

blank slate

Cognition (3 decks)

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