Relationship Between Psychobiology And Cognition

Question 1

Cognitive model of behaviour

Answer 1

Stimuli>mental internal processes>response

Question 2

What is cognitive psychology

Answer 2

1950-1960-looked at computer as a metaphor of the mind
Term cognitive psychology was coined by Ulric Neisse in 1967
Considers internal mental state
Working to explain cognitive processes such as memory ,language,perception by using models

Question 3

psychologists make inferences based on observed behaviour

Answer 3

Should use a naturalistic observation- observing a subject in its “natural habitat”

Question 4

Two types of variables in an experiment

Answer 4

IV-Variable that you, as an experimenter, deliberately manipulate
DV= Variable that you measure

Question 5

Certain behavourial measures e.g Eye Tracking

Answer 5

Basic features:
Listen to recorded spoken speech
while looking at pictures or real objects
(Sometimes perform simple tasks)
Eye movements are recorded by an eye-tracker.
 

Question 6

Case studies

Answer 6

Detailed observations of a few individuals
E.g. Rare impairments.For example:
- The case of Genie
Genie, the “feral child” (United States): victim of social isolation and severe abuse; did not acquire language in childhood
- Case studies conducted to examine her ability to acquire language past the critical period

Question 7

What is Psychobiology

Answer 7

A combination of neuroscience and psychology Looks at both typical and atypical behaviour
 E.g. memory function in a ‘normal’ population and memory function in people with dementia

Question 8

Marr’s Tri-Level Hypothesis

Answer 8

Computational level: what does the system do and why
Algorithmic/representational level: how does the system do what it does (processes)
Physical level: how is the system physically realised (in the biology of the system

Question 9

Areas of the brain

Answer 9

Motor cortex-(directly responsible for making your muscles move; e.g., jaw, tongue, face, etc.)
Visual cortex-(Perceiving written language as visual input)
Broca’s area-controls speech
Wernicke’s area- Speech recognition

Question 10

What does an fMRI do?

Answer 10

• Detecting brain activities by measuring blood flow changes

- Active regions of the brain are detected by monitoring the ratio of oxygenated to deoxygenated blood

Question 11

pneumoencephalography

Answer 11

-Early 1900s-was used in order to gain clear x-rays of the brain

Question 12

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Answer 12

electrodes are placed on the scalp to record the electrical activity of large numbers of cells in the underlying brain tissue.

Question 13

Advantages of EEG

Answer 13

• Has a very high temporal resolution, it can detect the time that a particular brain region becomes active
• Low cost and non-invasive i.e., it causes minimal discomfort to the participant

Question 14

Disadvantage of EEG

Answer 14

-Has rather poor spatial resolution ,difficult to tell precisely which region of the brain is active at a particular time

Question 15

Transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS)

Answer 15

• Painless
• Causes temporarily but not lasting damage cognitive impairments
• Used to cause a ‘virtual brain lesion’ and so researchers can explore what behaviours are compromised.