Cognition, Consciousness, and Language

Awake

beta and alpha EEG waves, able to perceive, process, access, and express info

Stage 1 consciousness

theta EEG waves, light sleep

Stage 2 consciousness

theta EEG waves, sleep spindles and K complexes

Stage 3/4 consciousness

delta EEG waves, slow-wave sleep, dreams, declarative memory

REM

beta EEG waves, appears awake physiologically, dreams, paralyzed, procedural memory

dyssomnias

sleep disorders affecting timing of sleep, insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea

parasomnias

odd behaviors during sleep, night terrors, sleepwalking

Depressants (alcohol, barbiturates, benzos)

sense of relaxation and reduced anxiety

Stimulants (amphetamines, cocaine, ecstacy)

increases arousal

Opioids (heroin, morphine)

decreased reaction to pain, euphoria

Hallucinogens (LSD, mushrooms)

distortions of reality and fantasy

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

Sensorimotor stage

focus on manipulating environment to meet physical needs through circular reactions, end of object permanence, 0-2

Preoperational stage

focus on symbolic thinking, egocentrism (inability to imagine how others are feeling), centration (focus on only one aspect of phenomenon), 2-7

Concrete operational

focus on understanding feelings of others and manipulating physical objects, 7-11

Formal operational

focus on abstract thought and problem-solving, 11+

Deductive reasoning

deriving conclusions from general rules

Inductive reasoning

deriving generalizations from evidence

Wernicke’s Area

language comprehension, damage results in speaking, but unable to understand language

Broca’s area

motor function of speech, damage results in ability to speak short sentences

Arcuate fasciculus

connects Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas, damage results in inability to repeat words

adaptation parts

assimilation and accommodation

assimilation

incorporating new info into existing schema

accommodation

modifying existing schema for new info

base rate fallacy

stereotypical factors used for analysis, rather than actual data

representative heuristic

categorizing based on how well an example fits its category

confirmation bias

person only seeks info that reinforces own opinion

dream theories

activation-synthesis, problem solving, cognitive-process, and neurocognitive

activation-synthesis theory

dreams caused by random, widespread neural activation

cognitive-process theory

wakeful and dreaming states use same stream of consciousness

problem solving theory

dreams used to solve internal problems

neurocognitive theory

tries to link biology and psychology in dreaming

Gardner theories of multiple intelligences

linguistic, logic-math, musical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist

phonology

sounds of words

syntax

how words are put together

morphology

structure of words

semantics

meanings of words

pragmatics

dependence of language on context

brain reward pathway

ventral tegmental area in midbrain releases dopamine

dopamine pathway

sent to amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus

divided attention

doing two things at once

selective attention

reacting to stimuli selectively as they occur simultaneously