Week 1: Introduction & Cognitive Neuroscience Flashcards
What is Psychology?
Textbook Definition: Scientific study of mind, brain and behaviour.
Who is Sigmund Freud and what did he lay the groundwork for?
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
What else does psychology discuss and explore?
Thought and behaviour and the mechanisms behind this.
Social forces behind behavior, group behavior. Evolution of these factors and change in developing children.
What are some of the types of psychology?
Cognitive Psychology Neuropsychology Biological Psychology Developmental Psychology Social Psychology Organizational Psychology Evolutionary Psychology Mathematical Psychology
What are some of the different science classifications?
Science vs. Art
Science vs. Pseudoscience
Hard Science vs. Soft Science
What are the features of a science?
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
What is the scientific method?
Obervation (data) -> Explaination (theory) -> Prediction (hypothesis) -> Observation (Data) ECT
What is scientific understanding uncertain?
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)
How do you evaluate claims scientifically?
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
What is parsimony in theories?
A parsimonious theory provides the simplest possible explanation that suffices to explain all relevant observations
Principle of Ockham’s Razor
What if the theory has multiple explanations?
Can we rule out alternative explanations?
If multiple explanations can explain the data is there a way to distinguish them?
Distinguish correlations vs causation
Correlation (similar relationship) vs. Causation (causes it)
Because two variables are related to each other does not mean that one causes the other
Is psychology a science?
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
What are some statistics of the brain?
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
What did Benjamin Libet explore?
Free Will, intent and the readiness potential (where was clock hand when you wanted to move).
What makes up cognitive neuroscience and what is the definition of this?
Physiological psychology or biological psychology
Study of the neural basis (or brain basis) of
behaviour and thought.
What occurs when you want to do an action?
From input to the brain (what is input?)
To output from the brain (what is output?)
Also processes must occur in between
What is a top-down process?
Controlled conscious choice
Selection and inhibition
What is a bottom-up process?
Automatic brain response
Evolved for survival
What is the purpose of functional Brain anatomy?
Specific functions can be localised to specific
areas of the brain
What is brain “mapping”
Identifying which part of the brain is responsible for a
particular behaviour or function
What is Phrenology and what did it get right and wrong?
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.
Summary
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
