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COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY > w1 > Flashcards

w1 Flashcards

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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
Q

how does EEG work

A

measures electrical activity of a large number of neurons all firing
together, recorded via electrodes on the scalp

26
Q

what does EEG allow us to do

A

measure neural activity in essentially real-time
(millisecond scale)

27
Q

how does ERP work

A

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
Q

advantages of EEGs/ERPs

A

Very good temporal resolution (milliseconds)
– i.e. when something happens
 Portable and relatively cheap

29
Q

problems with EEGs/ERPs

A

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
Q

magnetic field of MRI

A

0.5 – 7 Tesla (T)

31
Q

how does MRI work

A

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
Q

how does diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) work

A

DTI can image white matter fibres (bundles of axons) by
measuring the direction of water diffusion

33
Q

what does DTI allow us to do

A

study how cognition/perception is supported by connections between brain regions

34
Q

what does FMRI measure

A

BOLD = Blood
Oxygenation Level Dependent signal

35
Q

what does FMRI measuring BOLD signal indicate

A

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
Q

pros of FMRI

A

Very good spatial resolution
(millimetres)
* i.e. where something happens

37
Q

cons of FMRI

A

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
Q

MRI, EEG, ERP provide correlational evidence, what can provide causal evidence?

A

Brain stimulation
techniques

39
Q

what is trans cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

A
  • 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
Q

TMS pros

A

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
Q

TMS cons

A

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
Q

3 cognitive neuroscience limitations

A

expensive/ invasive, theories, does it help us understand cognition?

43
Q

expensive/ invasive issue in cognitive neuroscience

A

Worth the expense?
* Often means that
sample sizes are
small
* Generalisable?

44
Q

issue with theories cognitive neuroscience

A

Emphasis in the
literature on
measuring brain
effects rather than
testing theories

45
Q

issues with understanding cognition in cognitive neuroscience

A

What does it mean
to understand?

46
Q

what do we learn from optical illusions?

A

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
Q

what has a strong influence on perception

A

top-down processes

48
Q

how do mental/cognitive processes have limits

A

our brain’s resources are finite and need to be distributed

49
Q

what is cognitive psychology

A

the scientific study of
thought and experience

50
Q

how does an information processing approach view humans

A

stimulus response
machines

51
Q

how does info come in according to information processing approach

A

comes in through
the senses

52
Q

what happens after info comes in through the senses

A

It is processed by a series of
modules that change the
information in a systematic way

53
Q

what is serial processing

A

only one step at a time

54
Q

what is bottom-up processing

A

all processes are directly triggered by the stimulus

55
Q

what is a criticism of the information processing approach

A
  • Does not allow for parallel
    processing
  • Ignores top-down
    processing, i.e. influences
    of an individual’s prior
    knowledge, goals, and
    expectations
  • Oversimplification!
56
Q

what are grandmother cells

A

neurons which have “preferred” stimuli

57
Q

what is rate coding

A

greater rate of a neuron’s response is used to code/represent information

58
Q

what is temporal coding

A

greater synchrony of the responses of
several neurons is used to code information

59
Q
A

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY (9 decks)

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