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1
Q

how do we study cognitive psychology

A

controlled lab setting

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2
Q

how do we shed light onto cognitive processes

A

using clever experimental manipulation

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3
Q

what does experimental psychology traditionally not care about

A

the underlying brain
processes

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4
Q

what does cognitive psychology use instead of brain measures

A

behavioural measures
like reaction times (RT) or accuracy as
indirect measures

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5
Q

what has cognitive psychology been good at generating

A

theories about cognition that can
be tested in neuroscience

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6
Q

how has cognitive psychology developed the discipline

A

made a huge contribution to
making Psychology a more
empirical science

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7
Q

3 issues with cognitive psych

A

ecological validity, face validity, Do Psychological
concepts even exist?

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8
Q

issue with ecological validity in cognitive psych

A

Can we generalise
findings outside
the lab?

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9
Q

issue with face validity in cognitive psych

A

cognitive psych only provides
indirect measures
of cognitive
processes

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10
Q

what does neuropsychology study

A

cognition in patients with
brain injury

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11
Q

what is the goal of studying cognition in patients in neuropsychology

A

Goal is to find which cognitive
functions are impaired, and which
ones are preserved when a given
brain region is damaged

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12
Q

3 issues with neuropsychology

A

no baseline, generalisation, modularity

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13
Q

issue with no baseline in neuropsychology

A

We don’t
know exactly
what the
patient could
do before their
injury

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14
Q

issue with generalisation in neuropsychology

A

Lesions in
some areas of
the brain are
relatively
common,
while others
are very rare

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15
Q

issue with modularity in neuropsychology

A

Cognitive
process X is
likely
distributed
across multiple
areas, not just
one

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16
Q

what does cognitive neuroscience refer to

A

brain structure and brain
function to cognitive processes

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17
Q

how is cognitive neuroscience typically done

A

by recording brain
activity while participants perform
cognitive tasks

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18
Q

how many neurones in human brain

A

~80 billion
neurons

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19
Q

how many neurones may one neurone connect with

A

10,000

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20
Q

what % of the brain is made up of neurones, and what makes up the rest

A

Neurons make up only 10% of brain
cells - glia cells comprise rest

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21
Q

lobes of the brain from back to front

A

frontal lobe, parietal lobe at top, temporal lobe at bottom, occipital lobe as back, cerebellum at bottom

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22
Q

4 ways to study the brain

A

Electrophysiology (EEG)
Structural Imaging (MRI)
Functional Imaging (fMRI)
Brain stimulation (TMS)

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23
Q

how does electrophysiology/single cell recordings work

A

Very small electrode records
neural activity from within axon
(intracellular) or from outside
axon membrane (extracellular)

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24
Q

when is electrophysiology/ single cell recordings used

A

usually only animals, sometimes we have the rare
chance of recording from
patients with epilepsy

25
how does EEG work
measures electrical activity of a large number of neurons all firing together, recorded via electrodes on the scalp
26
what does EEG allow us to do
measure neural activity in essentially real-time (millisecond scale)
27
how does ERP work
Measure EEG response to the same stimulus/task over and over Average waveform to generate an “event-related potential” (ERP) Just like averaging reaction times to get a cleaner estimate of the “true” effect
28
advantages of EEGs/ERPs
Very good temporal resolution (milliseconds) – i.e. when something happens  Portable and relatively cheap
29
problems with EEGs/ERPs
Poor spatial resolution (centimetres) – i.e. where in the brain it happens – There are an infinite number of possible origins for any signal recorded at the scalp, so we need solid computational models to make an informed guess
30
magnetic field of MRI
0.5 – 7 Tesla (T)
31
how does MRI work
Single protons in water molecules (A) tend to align to the powerful and stable magnetic field generated by the scanner (B)) We then disturb this alignment with short radio-frequency pulses and measure the resulting change in magnetic field (C) Different parts of the brain (grey matter, white matter, CSF) take different times to “relax” from the radio frequency disturbance, and show as lighter/darker
32
how does diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) work
DTI can image white matter fibres (bundles of axons) by measuring the direction of water diffusion
33
what does DTI allow us to do
study how cognition/perception is supported by connections between brain regions
34
what does FMRI measure
BOLD = Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent signal
35
what does FMRI measuring BOLD signal indicate
Active neurons need oxygen – The brain starts supplying oxygen to active areas, producing an “overshoot” in oxygenated blood – Oxygenated blood causes less magnetic field disturbance than deoxygenated blood, so active brain regions will have higher signal
36
pros of FMRI
Very good spatial resolution (millimetres) * i.e. where something happens
37
cons of FMRI
Poor temporal resolution (seconds) * i.e. when it happens * Not a measure of neurons themselves! * Requires an indirect inference that neurons are firing because that part of the brain is using more oxygen
38
MRI, EEG, ERP provide correlational evidence, what can provide causal evidence?
Brain stimulation techniques
39
what is trans cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
- Short magnetic pulses that briefly affect electrical activity in a localised patch of brain tissue under the coil - Is typically applied either before or during a cognitive task - Can have positive or negative effects on task performance
40
TMS pros
Causal evidence that a particular brain region is important for a cognitive function * Not just correlational, like brain imaging – Mostly non-invasive * i.e. safe and painless for healthy populations
41
TMS cons
Stimulation to the brain is very weak as it happens from outside of the head * Therefore, the effects are often weak – Potential risk to individuals with history of epilepsy
42
3 cognitive neuroscience limitations
expensive/ invasive, theories, does it help us understand cognition?
43
expensive/ invasive issue in cognitive neuroscience
Worth the expense? * Often means that sample sizes are small * Generalisable?
44
issue with theories cognitive neuroscience
Emphasis in the literature on measuring brain effects rather than testing theories
45
issues with understanding cognition in cognitive neuroscience
What does it mean to understand?
46
what do we learn from optical illusions?
The brain doesn’t see at all. *It receives electrical signals about how light interacts with the eye, and then it must infer what is out there in the world.
47
what has a strong influence on perception
top-down processes
48
how do mental/cognitive processes have limits
our brain’s resources are finite and need to be distributed
49
what is cognitive psychology
the scientific study of thought and experience
50
how does an information processing approach view humans
stimulus response machines
51
how does info come in according to information processing approach
comes in through the senses
52
what happens after info comes in through the senses
It is processed by a series of modules that change the information in a systematic way
53
what is serial processing
only one step at a time
54
what is bottom-up processing
all processes are directly triggered by the stimulus
55
what is a criticism of the information processing approach
- Does not allow for parallel processing - Ignores top-down processing, i.e. influences of an individual’s prior knowledge, goals, and expectations - Oversimplification!
56
what are grandmother cells
neurons which have “preferred” stimuli
57
what is rate coding
greater rate of a neuron’s response is used to code/represent information
58
what is temporal coding
greater synchrony of the responses of several neurons is used to code information
59

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY (9 decks)

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