Cognition, Consciousness, and Language

MCAT Prep: Behavioral Sciences Part 4

Awake; Beta and alpha

Able to perceive, process, access, and express information

Stage?

EEG Waves?

1; Theta

Light sleep

Stage?

EEG Waves?

2; Theta

Sleep spindles and K complexes

Stage?

EEG Waves?

3/4; Delta

Slow-wave sleep; dreams; declarative memory consolidation; some sleep disorders

Stage?

EEG Waves?

REM; Mostly beta

Appears awake physiologically; dreams; paralyzed; procedural memory consolidation; some sleep disorders

Stage?

EEG Waves?

dyssomnia

a type of sleep disorder that is characterized by the amount or timing of sleep such as insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and sleep deprivation

parasomnia

a type of sleep disorder that is characterized by odd behaviors during sleep such as night terrors and sleepwalking (somnambulism)

Mesolimbic pathway

Drug addiction is mediated by the __________, which includes the nucleus accumbens, medial forebrain bundle, and ventral tegmental area.

Dopamine

The main neurotransmitter in the mesolimbic pathway

Depressants

sense of relaxation and reduced anxiety (ex. alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepines)

Stimulants

increased arousal (ex. amphetamines, cocaine, ecstacy)

Opiates/opioids

decreased reaction to pain; euphoria (ex. heroin, morphine, opium, pain pills)

Hallucinogens

distortions of reality and fantasy; introspection (LSD, peyote, mescaline, ketamine, psilocybin-containing mushrooms)

Marijuana

_________ has some features of depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens (in very high doses).

Sensorimotor stage

focuses on manipulating the environment to meet physical needs through circular reactions

Object permanence

What ends the sensorimotor stage?

Preoperational stage

focuses on symbolic thinking, egocentrism, and centration

Egocentrism

inability to imagine what another person thinks or feels

Centration

focusing on only one aspect of a phenomenon

Concrete operational stage

focuses on understanding the feelings of others and manipulating physical (concrete) objects

Formal operational stage

focuses on abstract thought and problem-solving

Problem-solving techniques

include trial-and-error, algorithms, deductive reasoning, and inductive reasoning

Deductive reasoning

deriving conclusions from general rules

Inductive reasoning

deriving generalizations from evidence

Heuristics

simplified principles used to make decisions, “rules of thumb”

Selective attention

allows one to pay attention to a particular stimulus while determining if additional stimuli require attention in the background

Divided attention

used automatic processing to pay attention to multiple activities at one time

Wernicke’s area

language comprehension

Wernicke’s aphasia

speak fluently but have difficult understanding language

Broca’s area

motor function of speech

Broca’s aphasia

speak comprehensibly in short sentences with great effort

Arcuate fasciculus

connects Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas

Conduction aphasia

the inability to repeat words despite intact speech generation and comprehension; results from damage to arcuate fasciculus