Thought

Question 1

Thinking

Answer 1

everything the mind does. It involves the ability to make new connections & create meaning - we are usually unaware of it

Question 2

Thinking includes…

Answer 2

interpreting, classifying, forming concepts, analysing, comparing, remembering, making decisions, solving problems, and reasoning (to name just a few)  summarized: all about solving problems

Question 3

the mind like a computer?

Answer 3

We compute things, our brains analyse info…yes. We have memory stores, mental representations, can manipulate them, etc.

Question 4

the mind is different from a computer

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Guiding principles of human thought: fast and frugal

Answer 5

brains evolved to fit fast and frugal environment: fast decision making

Question 6

Guiding principles of thought: filters

Answer 6

we can focus on what is important

Question 7

GP of thought: top down processing

Answer 7

(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

Question 8

GP of thought: Schemas

Answer 8

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)

Question 9

Concepts

Answer 9

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

Question 10

concept: mental and abstract?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Concepts decrease…

Answer 11

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

Question 12

concepts can lead us astray

Answer 12

concept might not apply to something – you judge someone, give them characteristics they don’t necessarily have

Question 13

how do we form these concepts/categories?

Answer 13

by noticing similarities among objects and events that we experience in everyday life

Question 14

concepts exist because?

Answer 14

characteristics of that object have some kind of consequence for us - ex: we have different concepts for cell phones and telephones

Question 15

concepts and culture

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Formal vs. natural concepts

Answer 16

formal: things like triangles, widows, bachelors - have clear specific definition, no ambiguity. natural: things you have in your mind, like chair, phone, etc

Question 17

Why study conecpts?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Theories of Concepts: Classical

Answer 18

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

Question 19

ToC: Classical - necessary condition?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

ToC - Classical vs natural concepts?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

ToC - Family Resemblance

Answer 21

Eleanor Rosch: features that appear to be characteristic of category members but many not be possessed by every member

Question 22

ToC: Prototypes

Answer 22

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

Question 23

ToC: Prototypes vs. classical

Answer 23

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

Question 24

ToC - Exemplar:

Answer 24

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

Question 25

ToC: Exemplar vs. Prototype

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Concepts and the Brain: Morsolek’s study

Answer 26

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)

Question 27

Left vs. Right for concepts?

Answer 27

left hemisphere for forming prototypes and right hemisphere for recognizing exemplars

Question 28

visual cortex involved with?

Answer 28

forming prototypes (also left hemisphere) since prototype formation is a holistic process involving image processing

Question 29

prefrontal cortex and ganglia involved with?

Answer 29

learning exemplars (also right hem) aka planning and recognition - exemplar learning involves analysis and decision making

Question 30

Category Specific Deficits

Answer 30

Neurological syndrome characterized by inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category though ability to recognize objects outside category is undisturbed.

Question 31

Category Specific Deficits cause

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Category Specific Deficits example: Adam, stroke when one day old

Answer 32

his category specific deficits suggested that brain is prewired to organize perceptual and sensory inputs into broad based categories like living and nonliving things

Question 33

Role of vision in category specific organization

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Role of vision in category specific organization

Answer 34

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