Thought Flashcards
Thinking
everything the mind does. It involves the ability to make new connections & create meaning - we are usually unaware of it
Thinking includes…
interpreting, classifying, forming concepts, analysing, comparing, remembering, making decisions, solving problems, and reasoning (to name just a few) summarized: all about solving problems
the mind like a computer?
We compute things, our brains analyse info…yes. We have memory stores, mental representations, can manipulate them, etc.
the mind is different from a computer
we can fill in gaps, we are good at making inferences, guesses at what will happen next, good at switching problems: try one way, disengage then try again (you can program computer differently, but it can’t really disengage), can attend to different things about environment
Guiding principles of human thought: fast and frugal
brains evolved to fit fast and frugal environment: fast decision making
Guiding principles of thought: filters
we can focus on what is important
GP of thought: top down processing
(bottom up = details to big picture) using experience to shape perception - sensory info tell brain one thing but experiences overrides this like with different colored squares on cube, hollow mask
GP of thought: Schemas
Organized framework for information – just a way of taking a lot of info and make it coherent, simplifies our world (don’t have to remember everything)
Concepts
abstract mental representation/definition/description that groups or categorizes shared features of related objects, event or other stimuli things that are either real or imagined, that are related
concept: mental and abstract?
Mental = in our heads and not in the world. Abstract = different from the real thing – concept of a cup of coffee is not like a physical cup of coffee
Concepts decrease…
the amount of info we need to process and remember - every time you see something, it simplifies the world because you’ve already encountered this
concepts can lead us astray
concept might not apply to something – you judge someone, give them characteristics they don’t necessarily have
how do we form these concepts/categories?
by noticing similarities among objects and events that we experience in everyday life
concepts exist because?
characteristics of that object have some kind of consequence for us - ex: we have different concepts for cell phones and telephones
concepts and culture
Consequences are important, so there are different concepts across cultures - like social class is important in Asian cultures, but not in western culture (don’t really distinguish age) different words for younger and older brother - we don’t have this concept, but Japan does
Formal vs. natural concepts
formal: things like triangles, widows, bachelors - have clear specific definition, no ambiguity. natural: things you have in your mind, like chair, phone, etc
Why study conecpts?
Fundamental to how we think (structure your mind, the decisions you make, reasoning, everything about mental life). Make sense of the world (if you know what something is, you can recognize it, know how to interact with it) and Influences the decisions we make
Theories of Concepts: Classical
Greeks to ~19th century. All concepts are like dictionary definitions, inside your mind, there are rules that specify the necessary and sufficient conditions for membership in a particular category
ToC: Classical - necessary condition?
something that must be true of the object in order for it to belong to the category aka what you absolutely have to have to call something a cat, a dog, a human, etc. Ex: cats: have four legs, fur, and meows
ToC - Classical vs natural concepts?
natural concepts don’t have these necessary features – a cat can have no legs, no fur, not meow, but is still a cat. Pluto used to be a planet: our concept for a planet has changed, but Pluto hasn’t
ToC - Family Resemblance
Eleanor Rosch: features that appear to be characteristic of category members but many not be possessed by every member
ToC: Prototypes
Rosch: psychological categories (aka ones we form naturally) are best described with prototypes aka best or most typical member of category, possesses most or all of most characteristic features of the category - You don’t have a list of definitions, but more like an average
ToC: Prototypes vs. classical
classical: something either is or isn’t an example of a concept. prototype: now we make category judgments by comparing new instances to the category’s prototype
ToC - Exemplar:
each individual is called an exemplar, and we do make comparisons like with prototype theory - we make category judgments by comparing a new instance with store memories of other instances of the category
ToC: Exemplar vs. Prototype
Instead of averages can comparing new objects to the most typical member of a category, you keep track of every cat, for example, you’ve ever seen and compare new object to all category members - brain can make all these comparisons all at the same time
Concepts and the Brain: Morsolek’s study
take a picture and ask you to classify - participants classified prototypes faster when stimuli presented to right visual field (aka left hemisphere received input first) and classified previously seen exemplars faster when images were presented to left visual field (aka right hemisphere received input first)
Left vs. Right for concepts?
left hemisphere for forming prototypes and right hemisphere for recognizing exemplars
visual cortex involved with?
forming prototypes (also left hemisphere) since prototype formation is a holistic process involving image processing
prefrontal cortex and ganglia involved with?
learning exemplars (also right hem) aka planning and recognition - exemplar learning involves analysis and decision making
Category Specific Deficits
Neurological syndrome characterized by inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category though ability to recognize objects outside category is undisturbed.
Category Specific Deficits cause
usually caused by brain damage, and type of deficit depends on location of damage. Front part of left temporal lobe: difficulty identifying humans. lower left temporal: animals. temporal-occiptal-parietal junction: tools
Category Specific Deficits example: Adam, stroke when one day old
his category specific deficits suggested that brain is prewired to organize perceptual and sensory inputs into broad based categories like living and nonliving things
Role of vision in category specific organization
CSO of visual regions doesn’t depend on individual’s visual experience - adults blind since birth and normal sighted individuals: same patterns of activity in brain - Simplest explanation: CSO is innately determined
Role of vision in category specific organization
CSO of visual regions doesn’t depend on individual’s visual experience - adults blind since birth and normal sighted individuals: same patterns of activity in brain - Simplest explanation: CSO is innately determined
