Week 1: Introduction & Cognitive Neuroscience

Question 1

What is Psychology?

Answer 1

Textbook Definition: Scientific study of mind, brain and behaviour.

Question 2

Who is Sigmund Freud and what did he lay the groundwork for?

Answer 2

Neurologist who founded psychoanalysis.Foregrounded the role of the unconscious

Also talked about:
Id, Ego, and Superego
Interpretation of Dreams
Oedipus Complex
Psychosexual Development
Talk Therapy

Question 3

What else does psychology discuss and explore?

Answer 3

Thought and behaviour and the mechanisms behind this.

Social forces behind behavior, group behavior. Evolution of these factors and change in developing children.

Question 4

What are some of the types of psychology?

Answer 4

Cognitive Psychology
Neuropsychology
Biological Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Social Psychology
Organizational Psychology
Evolutionary Psychology
Mathematical Psychology

Question 5

What are some of the different science classifications?

Answer 5

Science vs. Art
Science vs. Pseudoscience
Hard Science vs. Soft Science

Question 6

What are the features of a science?

Answer 6

Science is grounded in observation
Data are needed to confirm and disconfirm ideas

Science is cumulative
Body of knowledge that grows and is refined through time

Science is self-correcting
Errors or misconceptions are (eventually) excised

Science achieves explanation and understanding
A singular theory can account for a multitude of findings

Question 7

What is the scientific method?

Answer 7

Obervation (data) -> Explaination (theory) -> Prediction (hypothesis) -> Observation (Data) ECT

Question 8

What is scientific understanding uncertain?

Answer 8

Scientific knowledge is perpetually in a tentative state
It is subject to change, given new data
This is fine

The upshot is that our understanding of nature becomes progressively closer to the truth

(Can contrast this fluid characterization of knowledge with pseudoscientific enterprises (e.g., astrology) that strongly resist change even in the face of evidence)

Question 9

How do you evaluate claims scientifically?

Answer 9

Is the evidence reliable?

Is the measure a valid indicator of the construct?

Does repeating the experiment achieve the same result?

Is the theory general?
A scientific explanation should apply to more than just one specific case

Can the theory be tested?
Does the theory predict novel observations?
Are there results that would falsify the theory?

Parsimony

Multiple explanations

Question 10

What is parsimony in theories?

Answer 10

A parsimonious theory provides the simplest possible explanation that suffices to explain all relevant observations
Principle of Ockham’s Razor

Question 11

What if the theory has multiple explanations?

Answer 11

Can we rule out alternative explanations?

If multiple explanations can explain the data is there a way to distinguish them?

Question 12

Distinguish correlations vs causation

Answer 12

Correlation (similar relationship) vs. Causation (causes it)

Because two variables are related to each other does not mean that one causes the other

Question 13

Is psychology a science?

Answer 13

Tt is!

Psychologists construct theories with clearly defined predictions
Predictions are compared against data
Theories are modified or discarded depending on the outcome

This is not to say that we occasionally have poor ideas…
But the scientific process weeds out the bad ideas in time

Question 14

What are some statistics of the brain?

Answer 14

2% of body weight - receives ~20% of blood
pumped from the heart

consumes ~20% of body’s
energy

• 100 billion neurons
• 1,000,000 billion synapses
(connections between neurons)
• 101,000,000 possible circuits

Question 15

What did Benjamin Libet explore?

Answer 15

Free Will, intent and the readiness potential (where was clock hand when you wanted to move).

Question 16

What makes up cognitive neuroscience and what is the definition of this?

Answer 16

Physiological psychology or biological psychology

Study of the neural basis (or brain basis) of
behaviour and thought.

Question 17

What occurs when you want to do an action?

Answer 17

From input to the brain (what is input?)
To output from the brain (what is output?)

Also processes must occur in between

Question 18

What is a top-down process?

Answer 18

Controlled conscious choice

Selection and inhibition

Question 19

What is a bottom-up process?

Answer 19

Automatic brain response

Evolved for survival

Question 20

What is the purpose of functional Brain anatomy?

Answer 20

Specific functions can be localised to specific

areas of the brain

Question 21

What is brain “mapping”

Answer 21

Identifying which part of the brain is responsible for a

particular behaviour or function

Question 22

What is Phrenology and what did it get right and wrong?

Answer 22

1810 – 1840

Proposed that:
• Brain composed of “organs of
thought” (faculties)
• Bumps on the skull reflect
relative development of
underlying faculties

ALL COMPLETELY WRONG
but Introduced notion of
localisation of brain function.

Question 23

Summary

Answer 23

Psychology is a diverse field with many avenues of inquiry
It is a scientific discipline that develops and tests theory through observation and experimentation
Effective use of the scientific method requires critical thinking
Reflecting on the quality of the evidence as well as the arguments