Course component 1 theoretical psychology

What is the Associationism theory? (Aristotle)

The theory that mental processes proceed via associations. Our senses provide elementary images that are brought together, and repeated occurrences become mentally linked.

What is the "Tabula Rasa"? (Aristotle)

The concept of the "blank slate"—the idea that an initially empty mind is filled by our perceptions throughout life.

What are Modality-specific sensory images? (Aristotle)

The specific elementary mental images provided by our individual senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste).

What is Common sense in Associationism? (Aristotle)

The cognitive area where modality-specific sensory images from different senses are brought together and associated.

What are Supra-modal mental faculties? (Aristotle)

Higher-level mental abilities (e.g., thinking) that are supplied by modality-specific sensory images and build associations between them.

What is the Law of Contiguity? (Aristotle)

"If two things repeatedly occur together, then the occurrence of one thing will remind us of the other."

What is an example of the Law of Contiguity? (Aristotle)

If Job often studies while drinking coffee, the smell of coffee alone can later trigger thoughts about studying because the two experiences became mentally linked.

What was the motto of The Enlightenment? (Kant)

“Dare to use your own intellect.”

What is the Empiricism theory? (John Locke)

A philosophical theory stating that all knowledge is obtained solely through the senses.

What is the "Blank slate" according to Empiricism? (John Locke)

Locke’s idea (borrowed from Aristotle's tabula rasa) that humans are born with an entirely empty mind ("white paper").

What are the four assumptions John Locke used the association theory to make? (John Locke)

1. Blank slate, 2. Sensoristic, 3. Atomistic, 4. Associative.

Define the "Blank slate" assumption. (John Locke)

We are born with an empty mind ("white paper").

Define the "Sensoristic" assumption. (John Locke)

Our senses provide the elementary mental images.

Define the "Atomistic" assumption. (John Locke)

Elementary sensory images are the fundamental building blocks (atoms) for the creation of more complex mental contents.

Define the "Associative" assumption. (John Locke)

Associations are what create complex forms of mental processes out of simple sensory building blocks.

What is Nativism, the opposing theory to Empiricism?

The theory stating that a set of mental abilities and knowledge is already present from birth onwards.

Who defended the Nativism theory?

Plato and later René Descartes.

What is Hebb's Law? (Donald Hebb)

"Neurons that fire together wire together."

What is Hebb's Law the neural basis for? (Donald Hebb)

It is the neural basis of the Law of Contiguity, indicating that synaptic changes occur when neurons fire simultaneously.

What is long-term potentiation?

The mechanism confirmed to take place in synapses throughout the whole brain that creates the neural basis for associationism.

What is Connectionism? (Rumelhart & McClelland)

The "new" associationism in modern psychology where associative networks and processes are simulated via mathematics in computer programs to explain and predict findings.

What is the difference between Connectionism and classic Associationism? (Rumelhart & McClelland)

Associationism assumes general, domain-independent functions. Connectionism simulates these associations mathematically in computer programs to allow both explanation and prediction.

What are Horizontal faculties / Domain-general functions? (Aristotle & Locke)

Broad mental functions (e.g., memory, thinking) that operate in the same manner across separate content domains.

What are Vertical faculties / Domain-specific functions? (Franz Joseph Gall)

Separate, distinct functions for specific content domains (e.g., a special memory function just for mathematics, and a separate one just for language).

What is Localizationism? (Franz Joseph Gall)

The idea that specific mental functions bilaterally correspond to specific, dedicated locations in the brain.

What other assumptions did Gall make about brain functions? (Franz Joseph Gall)

He assumed that well-developed functions take up more space in the brain, and this increased size would cause bumps on the skull.

What is Phrenology? (Franz Joseph Gall)

The pseudo-scientific view that the bumps on a person's skull can be measured to determine their specific mental faculties and character traits.

What pseudo-scientific approaches formed competition for Gall’s theory?

Physiognomy, Mesmerism, Spiritualism, and Mental Healing.

What is Physiognomy? (C. Lombroso)

The claim that a person's character (e.g., criminal tendencies) is perceivable from facial features and "types."

What is Mesmerism? (F. A. Mesmer)

The belief that magnets and hypnosis have the ability to cure mental health issues.

What is Spiritualism and Cold Reading? (James Randi)

Spiritualism claims mediums can call upon spirits. Cold reading is the alternative explanation: asking leading questions to make it seem like answers come from the dead.

What is Mental Healing?

The belief that positive and correct thinking acts as a cure for mental health issues.

What did Jean Pierre Flourens investigate? (Jean Pierre Flourens)

He investigated Localizationism (Gall) versus Holism.

How did Jean Pierre Flourens conduct his investigation? (Jean Pierre Flourens)

By creating localized brain lesions in pigeons and rabbits.

What were Jean Pierre Flourens' findings? (Jean Pierre Flourens)

Brainstem lesions lost vital functions; cerebellar lesions hindered motor coordination; cerebral cortex lesions impaired higher-level functions (perception, memory).

What was Jean Pierre Flourens' conclusion? (Jean Pierre Flourens)

Holism: He concluded that higher-level functions are distributed across the whole cerebral cortex, as he found no specific cortical regions for them.

What is Holism? (Jean Pierre Flourens)

The theory that higher mental functions are not localized, but rather distributed across the entire brain/cerebral cortex.

What did Paul Broca find? (Paul Broca)

That damage to a specific part of the left brain impaired speech production, suggesting higher mental functions are localized.

Who was Paul Broca’s patient? (Paul Broca)

Leborgne (also known as “Tan” because that was the only sound he could articulate).

What part of the brain is Broca’s area? (Paul Broca)

The posterior part of the left inferior frontal gyrus.

What is Broca's area responsible for? (Paul Broca)

The ability to articulate speech (motor images of words).

What did Carl Wernicke find? (Carl Wernicke)

He found speech comprehension problems in patients with damage to a specific part of the left brain.

What part of the brain is Wernicke’s area? (Carl Wernicke)

The posterior part of the left superior temporal gyrus.

What is Wernicke's area responsible for? (Carl Wernicke)

Supplying auditory images of words (speech comprehension).

What are Concept images? (Carl Wernicke)

The associated sensory images of the object that a word describes (e.g., the color green and the sour taste for the concept of an "apple").

What is Embodied cognition?

The position that concepts entail just perceptual features (how it looks) and motor features (how it is grasped), located in distributed areas of the brain.

What is Aphasia?

Language impairment following brain damage.

What is Conduction aphasia and how does it occur?

Impaired repetition of speech (while production and comprehension are relatively spared). It occurs due to damage to the fiber tract (arcuate fasciculus) connecting Wernicke's and Broca's areas.

What is Wernicke’s aphasia? (Carl Wernicke)

Speech comprehension problems (fluent but meaningless speech) caused by damage in Wernicke’s area.

What is Broca’s aphasia? (Paul Broca)

Speech production problems (slow, effortful, telegraphic speech) caused by damage in Broca’s area.

What did Johannes Müller claim? (Johannes Müller)

He claimed that nerve processing is “immeasurably fast.”

How did Hermann von Helmholtz test Müller’s claim? (Hermann von Helmholtz)

He connected a dead frog’s motor muscle to an electrical circuit with a clock and measured the time between stimulation and contraction.

What was Hermann von Helmholtz's finding? (Hermann von Helmholtz)

The speed of nerve conduction was around 30 meters per second (in both frogs and humans).

What was Hermann von Helmholtz's conclusion? (Hermann von Helmholtz)

Conduction of a nerve impulse takes time and is definitively measurable.

What did Frans Donders use to obtain the speed of mental processing? (Frans Donders)

The Subtraction Method.

What is the Subtraction method? (Frans Donders)

A technique using three different reaction tasks to isolate the duration of specific mental stages (like recognition and choice) by subtracting the reaction times of simpler tasks from more complex ones.

What is Task A? (Frans Donders)

Simple reaction task: Responding as soon as a single stimulus is presented (perception + action).

What is Task B? (Frans Donders)

Choice reaction task: Responding via one of several actions to corresponding stimuli (perception + recognition + choice + action).

What is Task C? (Frans Donders)

Go/no-go reaction task: Responding to only one particular stimulus out of many (perception + recognition + action).

How do you calculate Recognition duration? (Frans Donders)

Task C (Go/no-go) minus Task A (Simple) = Recognition duration.

How do you calculate Choice duration? (Frans Donders)

Task B (Choice) minus Task C (Go/no-go) = Choice duration.

How long were Donders' durations? (Frans Donders)

Both recognition and choice durations were around 50 milliseconds.

What is Mental chronometry? (Frans Donders)

The technique of measuring how long mental processes take.

What measuring device did Donders invent to measure vocal response times? (Frans Donders)

The Noematachograph (an "understanding-swiftness-writer" based on the phonautograph).

What did the Noematachograph consist of? (Frans Donders)

A rotating cylinder with paper, a recording funnel for subjects to speak into, and a tuning fork that inscribed a wavy line alongside the vocal recordings to track time.

How many cycles did the tuning fork in the Noematachograph do? (Frans Donders)

It vibrated at 261 cycles/vibrations per second (261 Hz), allowing precise millisecond tracking.

What is the Additive factors method? (Saul Sternberg)

A chronometrical method identifying mental stages and their additive effects (e.g., image clarity affects perception time independently of the number of responses affecting choice time).

What did Ernst Weber investigate? (Ernst Weber)

The just noticeable difference in sensory perceptions of heaviness (placing weights in participants' hands).

What is Weber’s Law? (Ernst Weber)

We perceive the ratio of the difference to the magnitude of the things compared, not the absolute difference.

What are the components of Weber's Law? (Ernst Weber)

ΔR = extra weight needed for the difference to be perceived; R = Stimulus magnitude; k = Constant for each sense.

What did Gustav Fechner conclude? (Gustav Fechner)

He concluded that the perception of just noticeable differences is subjectively equal, creating a logarithmic relationship between stimulus intensity and experienced sensation.

What is Fechner’s Law? (Gustav Fechner)

S = k log R

What are the components of Fechner's Law? (Gustav Fechner)

S = Sensation; k = Constant; R = Reiz (Physical Stimulus).

What is the Liminal point? (Gustav Fechner)

The absolute lower threshold of perception; a stimulus must have a certain minimal strength to be consciously perceivable.

What does the psychophysical curve of Fechner suggest? (Gustav Fechner)

It suggests the existence of subliminal (unconscious) processing—the brain can process a stimulus even if it's below the conscious liminal point.

What did Norman Geschwind do? (Norman Geschwind)

He revived Wernicke’s work in the 1960s-1970s and popularized it.

What did Jerry Fodor do? (Jerry Fodor)

He published the book “The Modularity of Mind,” combining localizationism and holism into a new theory of brain structure.

What theories does the Modularity of the Mind combine? (Jerry Fodor)

Localizationism (Gall) and Holism (Flourens).

What do Modules 1, 2, and 3 represent? (Jerry Fodor)

Perception.

What do Central systems represent? (Jerry Fodor)

Recognition and choice.

What do Modules 4 and 5 represent? (Jerry Fodor)

Action.

How do Input/Output Modules differ from Central Systems? (Jerry Fodor)

Input and output modules are vertical faculties and domain-specific. Central systems are horizontal faculties and domain-general.

What did Wilhelm Wundt propose? (Wilhelm Wundt)

Similar to Wernicke, he proposed domain-general central systems combined with modality-specific input and output systems.

What are "Modules" according to Fodor? (Jerry Fodor)

Specialized processing systems that are domain-specific, mandatory, fast, informationally encapsulated, have shallow outputs, and fixed neural architecture.

Face perception module: Domain-specific example. (Jerry Fodor)

The module only processes faces, nothing else.

Face perception module: Mandatory example. (Jerry Fodor)

It is triggered automatically by any basic face form; you cannot choose not to see a face.

Face perception module: Limited central access example. (Jerry Fodor)

We can report on the final output (recognizing a face) but not on the intermediate processing steps the brain took to get there.

Face perception module: Fast example. (Jerry Fodor)

There is immediate, almost instantaneous recognition of an object as a face.

Face perception module: Informationally encapsulated example. (Jerry Fodor)

The module operates independently and must only have knowledge of face shapes to work.

Face perception module: Shallow output example. (Jerry Fodor)

The module is only responsible for face detection, not for identifying whose face it is.

Face perception module: Fixed neural architecture example. (Jerry Fodor)

It is localized strictly in the fusiform gyrus of the right temporal cortex.

Face perception module: Characteristic breakdown patterns example. (Jerry Fodor)

Damage specifically causes prosopagnosia (face blindness), while damage to central systems causes inability to identify the person.

Face perception module: Ontogeny example. (Jerry Fodor)

It has a characteristic pace of development: present in babies and fully matures in adolescence.

What is Face Blindness (Prosopagnosia)? (Oliver Sacks)

The inability to distinguish faces from other objects or distinguish between different faces due to brain damage or weak connections.

What happens when the face perception module is damaged? (Oliver Sacks)

A person cannot distinguish faces from other objects.

What happens when the connection between the face module and central systems is weak? (Oliver Sacks)

A person can see a face, but cannot distinguish between different faces (cannot identify whose face it is).

How do Donders' tasks map to the modularity systems? (Frans Donders)

Task A (Perception) = Input systems. Tasks B and C (Recognition/Choice) = Central systems. Action = Output systems.

What is the Arcuate fasciculus?

An innate fiber tract in the human brain directly linking the speech perception module to the articulation module, allowing repeating without comprehension.

What is the Production system theory? (John Anderson)

A theory of central systems (implemented as computer programs) assuming central processing retrieves declarative memory using procedural memory motivated by goals.

What is Declarative memory? (John Anderson)

“Knowing that” — factual knowledge.