Week 1 - Introduction

Cognitive Neuropsychological Approach

This approach investigates “mental information processing”.

Box and arrow flow charts

How is the Cognitive Neuropsychological Approach represented?

Single Dissociation

When we have a patient in which only one of two deficits is present, it is called…?

Association

When two deficits are present in the same patient it is called…?

Double Dissociation

When we have a patient in which only one of two deficits is present it is called..?

Fractionation Assumption
Functional Modularity Assumption
Subtractivity Assumption
Universality Assumption

What are the four assumptions of Cognitive Neuropsychology

Fractionation Assumption

Brain damage can result in the selective impairment of components of cognitive processing.

Functional Modularity Assumption

Separate modules process separate cognitive functions and are specialised for those functions.

Subtractivity Assumption

Brain damage can impair the functioning of modules - but it cannot add new functioning.

Universality Assumption

The functional architecture is the same for everyone. While each brain is unique - we are all using the same information processing steps - which allows us to generalise from individuals to the wider population.