Cognitive Psychology IUPSY-P 335 Exam 1

Dorsal Pathway

where information moves from the Occipital to the Parietal Lobe. Used to identify spatial configurations, movements, actions. 

Mach Band illusion

where strips of gray are placed next to each other and appear to be a progressive gradient change despite each strip being a single shade of gray 

Lateral Inhibition

where retinal cells after being stimulated, inhibit activity of neighboring retinal cells. In doing so abrupt changes in luminance are enhanced and a contrast map is created. 

Ventral Pathway

where information moves from the Occipital to Temporal lobe. Used to identify form and identity 

Cognitive Psychology

formed by philosophy, natural sciences, introspection, behaviorism, linguistics, computer/information science, and verbal learning. It is also one of the youngest branches of psychology as it wasn't a field until the 1970s. Majority of the popular cognitive psychology researchers/representatives are old white men

Introspection

reflecting on your own thoughts and feelings in response to a stimulus

Problems with Introspection

Very difficult to study, no way to say that someone's analysis is wrong, people's perceptions change and are inherently dimensional rather than categorical like sensation, and each person has their own perception, not all thoughts can be introspected

Behaviorism

only focuses on observable behaviors, ultimately missing out on researching beliefs and goals and can't research complex behaviors

B.F. Skinner's belief of behaviorism

language is learned through imitation and reinforcement

N. Chomsky's belief on behaviorism

Reinforcement can't account for all language phenomena

E.C. Tolman's Study

rats across tests will choose the similar areas where in the past the food was

Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, & Wolfgang Kohler beliefs of perception

our brain uses patterns to find and develop images in pictures despite the lack of information

Role of Schema in Memory

Similar to gestalt, where behaviors change depending on the setting

Accuracy/Completeness

cognitive tests and how well or how poorly individuals perform

Speed/Response Time

how quickly a response is developed. Uses tests which may ask people to identify something

Neuroimaging

looks at brain function localization through a scanner such as the fMRI

CT

computer X-ray of the brain

MRI

3D imaging using magnetic ions of brain tissue

PET

observes glucose with radioactivity to see what parts are using glucose to perform a task. Useful for identifying localization

fMRI

observes blood oxygen levels during a task. Useful for identifying localization

EEG

measures electric activity in the brain by placing wires on the scalp. Super precise about time but sucks at localization

Case Studies

intensive analysis of a single individual or small group of individuals that would otherwise be unethical/difficult in lab settings. Helpful for generating hypotheses and informing future research

Examples of Case Studies in Cognitive Psychology

Phineas Gage and Clive Wearing

Limitations of Case Studies

lack of control over variables, no control group, issues of generalizability and reliability, cannot establish causality.

Correlational Studies

describing and predicting how variables are naturally related with the ability to study many variables at once.

Limitations of Correlational Studies

only evaluates the strength of the relationship between certain variables but can't prevent outside factors so they can't establish causality.

Experiments

manipulates a variable to examine its effect on an outcome of interest, making it the most informative method as it can infer causality.

Independent Variable (IV)

what the researcher changes/manipulates for a desired outcome. Typically measured against another group such as a control group.

Dependent Variable (DV)

the outcome of the experiment after the effects of the IV

Random Assignment

When a researcher ensures that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any given condition of the IV

Experimental control

when a researcher ensures that the only thing varying in the experiment is the IV

Limitations of Experiments

hard to put together and account for every variable that can influence the dependent variable.

The average person's face recognition ability

people are better at recognizing faces when they are upright than when they are upside down

Prosopagnosia

disability where a person can recognize a face as a face but not whose face it is. Sometimes they can't recognize objects either. It is caused by damage to the fusiform gyrus

Fusiform gyrus when looking at objects

part of the facial recognition system that isn't as active when looking at objects compared to people

Fusiform gyrus

used to recognize faces. Only active when recognizing upright faces OR objects of expertise (veterinarians are good at identifying pets, mechanics at cars, etc.)

Gauthier & Tarr study

had participants learn about made-up aliens and their species. After becoming familiar, the ability to identify the aliens and the species

Pascalis et al. Study

had participants familiarize the face of a person and an animal and then tested reaction time of identifying whether or not look-alikes are the original faces. Found that 6 month old babies can differentiate for both man and animal but 9 month olds can only do humans.

Golby study

found that individuals of a certain race are better at identifying the faces of people of their own race

Other-race effect

phenomena where we have better recognition of faces from our own racial group compared to other groups. Strength of this phenomena depends on exposure

Super-recognizers

individuals who have extremely accurate face recognition

Thatcher illusion

when faces are inverted, it is extremely difficult to recognize what is wrong with faces until they are immediately upright

Holistic facial processing

the automatic face recognition ability of the average person. Where we see the whole face rather than picking up on individual characteristics

Why visual perception is so complex

sensory input is ambiguous. Objects look different from different angles or distances and can be obscured. Scenes in general can require reasoning or prior knowledge

Sensation

gathering input. Converting sensory input into action potentials

Perception

making sense of input. Organizing and interpreting sensations with a focus of processing on a subset of the world

Top-down processes

influence of knowledge, context, and expectations, a process of construction. Prior knowledge can guide visual perception

Closure

where people use context clues to fill in a blank to create a shape (i.e., panda example)

Gestalt principle Figure/ground

things that look together are processed together

Principal of closure

where we use surrounding evidence to perceive shape

Speech

wave of sound with no consistent pauses between words

Cornea

protective layer of the eye

Iris

how much light gets in the eye

Pupil

hole that light comes through

Lens

focuses light to put image on a retina

Retina

back layer of eye that contains photoreceptors. Responsible for the lateral inhibition in the Mach Band illusion

Fovea

focus point on the retina

Blind spot

an empty part of the retina where information received isn't processed

Optic Nerve

coiling wire of axon cells

Rods

sensitive to light, movement and more common in the periphery than cones

Cones

sees color, and recognizes details. More on Fovea than rods

Transduction

translation of a sensory signal into an electrical one

Flow of visual information

absorbed through the optic nerve, then through the thalamus, then occipital lobe

Bottom-up processes

features of stimulus itself are assembled, a process of detection

Parallel processing

features are processed separately (in different areas) but simultaneously

Binding problem

if parallel processing exists, how do we have uniform experiences? (How is all the information combined to make a whole picture in space)

Depth Perception

3D world captured in the retina as a 2D image then converted to 3D representation

Occlusion/Interposition

identifying which object is closes by recognizing what parts of other objects are cut off

Linear perspective

where parallel lines converge at the horizon

Relative height/elevation

uses distance to identify the height of objects

Texture

closer objects have better defined texture and detail

Familiar height

uses known information of an object such as height to identify the distance

Interposition

also known as occlusion. Refers to the depth cue used to identify which things are closest to you