BCS 111 Midterm

Cognitive Science

nature of mind and cognition. how information is acquired, stored, and recalled. interdisciplinary study. cognitive psych, neurology, computer science, philosophy, linguistics, anthropology.

Nativism

individual differences come from different cognitive abilities. some things are natural and not learned

Emiricism

knowledge comes from one's own experience. role of learning is emphasized

Introspection

self-observation to describe cognitive processes

Structuralism

what over why. focus on elemental components. lab. Wundt

Funtionalism

why over what. focus on natural setting. James

Behaviorism

hates introspection. study of concrete behavior. stimulus-response. reinforcement. conditioning. objective. no internal. very popular

Gestalt Psych

need to study cognitive processes in entirety.

Cognitive Revolution

rejection of behaviorism. Chomsky. no reinforcement. innateness.

Naturalistic Observation

observe in natural settings. lack of experimental control

Controlled Observation

observe in lab settings. total experimental control

Clinical Interviews

open ended questions. follow subject's thinking

Information Processing Approach

computer = brain/mind metaphor. structuralism. information processed serially. boxes and arrows, input to memory

Connectionist Approach

brain metaphor. cognitive processes parallel, happen at once.

Evolutionary Approach

anthropologists. natural selection. evolutionary pressure

Ecological Approach

cognition shaped by cultural context. functionalist and Gestalt. embodied cognition

Localization

certain functions in certain areas

fMRI

blood flow. good space. bad time. high cost. easy

EEG

electric flow. bad space. good time. low cost. hard

Lateralization

different sides of brain do different things

Cerebral Cortex

neurons and white matter. 4 lobes

Frontal Lobe

fine motor. plans actions

Parietal Lobe

senses

Occipital Lobe

visual

Temporal Lobe

auditory and language

Broca's Area

language formation

Corpus Collusum

connects left and right sides of brain

Thalamus

relay information to cerebral cortex

Hypothalamus

hormones, desires and needs

Amygdala

emotion

Plato

mind = wax tablet, grabbing at birds

Locke

mental association of unrelated thoughts

Classical Conditioning

learn to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

Operant Conditioning

reinforcement and punishment

Innateness

innate ability to learn certain cognitive structures. grammar

Embodied Cognition

relationship mind with body and world

Phrenology

correlate sections of the brain to separate functions. false

Faculty Psych

mental functions completely separate in different arts of brain

MRI

clear 3D images. bad for metal

CT

xrays to different depths

PET

track blood flow with radioactive isotope

Limbic System

emotions fear and aggression. drives. thalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus

Hippocampus

process explicit memories for storage

How we find evidence of human brain evolution?

size difference in Broca's cap; evidence of original functions

Original function of Broca's area

sequential pattern recognition, processing, and learning

Perception

Percept

your interpretation of stimuli

Law of Pragnanz

tend toward simplest interpretation

Proximity

lump close things together as whole

Similarity

lump like things together as whole

Continuation

lump connected things as whole

Closure

see as shape, not line

Common Fate

lump things that act the same

Gestalt Principles

proximity, similarity, continuation, closure, common fate

Prototype Matching

every stimulus is matched to a prototype, ideal representation of a category, not all features must match

Template Matching

every stimulus is matched to a stored template, all features must match, many problems, too many templates, new templates, can perceive different things as the same

Feature Analysis

Categorical Perception

the perception of visual and auditory stimuli as belonging to categories

Selective Attention

focus our attention on a very limited number of things

Divided Attention

delegate attention to different tasks

Automatic Processing

Inattentional Blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Bottleneck (Filter) Theory

can only attend to so much, everything else is ignored

Problems with Bottleneck Theory

cocktail party, fire alarm, hearing your name, switch ears, backward speech

Attenuation Theory

unattended information just at "lower volume", name and danger words easy to recognize, "primed" words

Spotlight Approach

process your focus, fuzzy boundaries, can focus on many things depending on size

Arousal

availability of mental resources dependent on alertness/interest

Schema Theory

never acquire unwanted stimuli in the first place, left on tree

Parietal Lobe Damage

sensory neglect

Damage to the Right Parietal Lobe

Ignore sensory info to the left

Sensory Memory

initial, brief, under processed storage of percept

Iconic Memory

visual sensory memory

Echoic Memory

auditory sensory memory

Short-term Memory

7+-2, visual to auditory, stays ~20 sec, forgetting decay vs interference

Serial Position Effect (Primacy vs Recency)

our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Working Memory

phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive (manager)

Common working memory measures

digit span, nonword span, complex span, N-back

Localization of Working Memory

patient HM, amygdala and hippocampus

Episodic Memory

episode, story memory

Semantic Memory

knowledge and facts, 2+2

Implicit Memory

Unconscious learning

Explicit Memory

Conscious learning

Recognition

identify stimuli

Recall

free recall of stimuli

Priming

unconscious associations, predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Declarative Memory

Can describe steps

Procedural Memory

ride a bike, can't really describe steps

Category

broad, animal

Prototype

mental image of a category

Exemplar

specific example of category

Hierarchical Network Model

general -> detail -> more detail

Semantic Network

Organization, linking concepts with similar characteristics and meaning.

adaptive control of thought

Anderson's theory of how declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge interact in complex cognitive processes

Connectionist Model

a model of memory suggesting that each new memory is related to and classified in your brain based on your previous memories and experiences

Concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people