Psychology

Cognition

Encompasses the activities of the mind

Mental processes included within cognition

Perception, attention, memory, decision-making, reasoning, problem-solving, imagining, planning and executing actions

Learning

The set of biological, cognitive and social processes through which organisms make meaning from their experiences, producing long lasting changes in their behaviour, abilities and knowledge

Foundations of learning

Habitation and sensitisation

Habituation

The gradual diminishing of attention and responsibility that occurs when a stimulus persists

Sensitisation

The temporary state of heightened attention and responsibility that accompanies sudden and surprising events

Classical conditioning

Learning a predictive relationship between an originally neutral environment. A biologically significant event that itself naturally causes an automatic reflex response, so that the previously neutral event becomes a meaningful stimulus that produces the automatic reflex response on its own

Classical conditioning response

Learned unique response to a stimulus that would not usually cause it

Example of a classical conditioned response

Salvation to the sound of a bell

Operant conditioning

Learning process where behaviour is shaped by the learned history of experiencing rewards and punishments for their actions

Skinner box

B.F Skinner developed a box as a micro world in which he could control the animal’s experience of reinforcement and punishment

Reinforcement

Any consequence of a behaviour that makes the behaviour mre likely to occur in the future.

Desirable outcome is the consequence

The behaviour is reinforced

Positive reinforcement

Something pleasant addded to increase behaviour

Example of positive reinforcement

An animal will learn to reproduce behaviour if the consequence is receiving something pleasant

Negative reinforcement

Something unpleasant that is removed to increase behaviour

Example of negative reinforcement

An animal will learn to reproduce a behaviour if the consequence is that something unpleasant will stop

Continuous reinforcement

A reinforcement will be continuously reinforced in order to produce a desired behaviour

Partial reinforcement

A reinforcement will be partially reinforced in order to produce a desired behaviour

Punishment

Whenever the learner experiences an undesirable consequence for that behaviour

Positive punishment

Unpleasant stimulus that weakens behaviour when added as a consequence of the behaviour

Example of positive punishment

An animal will stop producing a behaviour if the consequence is the presentation of an unpleasant stimulus

Negative punishment

A pleasant stimuli that weakens behaviour when removed as a consequence of the behaviour

Example of a negative punishment

An animal will stop producing a behaviour when added as a consequence of the behaviour

When is punishment effective

Contingency: Relationship between behaviour and punisher must be clear

Contiguity: Punisher must follow the behaviour swiftly

Consistency: Punisher needs to occur for every occurrence of the behaviour

Drawbacks of punishement

Positive punishment rarely works for long term behaviour change

Does not teach a more desirable behaviour

Produces negative feelings in the learner to use such behaviour towards others

Alternatives to punishment

Stop reinforcing the problem behaviour

Reinforce an alternative behaviour that is both constructive and incompatible with the undesirable behaviour

Reinforce the non-occurrence of the undesirable behaviour

Antecedents

A stimulus or event that precedes and often triggers a behaviour

Discriminant stimuli

An environmental cue or signal that indicates when a particular behaviour will be reinforced

Cognitive learning map

Mental representation of the spatial characteristics of a familiar environment

Observational learning

Learning takes place socially and vicariously, through observing other models

Latent learning

Learning that could occur in the absence of rewards and punishment

Alber Bandura

Psychologist most associated with the study of observational learning

Social cognitive learning theory

Learning can occur socially through observation, in the absence of directly experienced consequences

Performance of aggressive acts is influenced by mental representations of observed consequences

Knowledge remained latent in the model-punished group until a reward was introduced

Memory

A set of storage systems and processes for encoding, storing and retrieving information acquired through our senses and for relating this information to previously acquired knowledge and experience

The mental representation of knowledge within memory systems stored within memory systems stored within a neural networks of the brain

Memory consists of three stores

Sensory memory

Short-term memory

Long-term memory

Encoding

Processes involved in attending to and acquiring information from experiences and mental processes

Storage

Encoded representations are consolidated in memory traces and stored in networks of neurons throughout the brain

Example of memory process storage

Neurons in the visual cortex store information about the sights that were part of an experience

Neurons in the amygdala store information about the emotions that were experienced

Retrieval

A reconstructive and sometimes error prone process that changes the memory trace through reconsolidation after retrieval

Highly context-dependent, it depends on the right cues being present either in the environment or generated internally

Sensory memory

A temporary, sensory based representation of input received through sensory channels

Neuroscience

The study of the function and structures of the nervous system

Behaviour

Relates to the observable actions of humans, animals or artificial systems

Behavioural neuroscience

A complete understanding of the internal workings of the human mind

Hippocrates, Ancient Greece

Considered to be the father of modern medicine

First to propose brain controls the body

Noted the behavioural effects of brain damage

Rene Descartes, France

French philosopher formulated the mind body problem

Was the first to discuss interaction between mental and physical

Considered humans and animals like machines

Interested in involuntary reflexes and believed behaviour was driven by a system of fluid and pistons

Luigi Galvani, Italy

First to suggest nerve signals are electrical

Rejected the idea of animal spirits flowing through hollow nerves

Made a chance discovery that an electrical change applied to a frog’s leg made the muscle contact

Suggested that nerves must be coated in fat to prevent electricity from leaking out

Franz Joseph Gall, Germany

First person to propose the idea of a modular brain

Was interested in relationship between brain and personality

Influenced by physiognomy

Physiognomy

Art of ascribing personality characteristics to facial features

Franz Joseph Gall proposal

Brain is composed of several distinct organs of thought or facilities

Phrenology

Important notion of cortical localisation of function

Paul Broca, France

Provided first solid evidence of brain modularity

Brain modularity described in patient name Leborgne

Unable to speak after damage to left frontal lobe

Normal chewing and language comprehension

Similar patients subsequently seen with damage in the same area

Wernicke’s patient

Unable to comprehend speech

Normal hearing and language production

Similar patients subsequently seen with damage to posterior part of the superior guys

Weight of adult brain

1400 grams

Percentage of body weight

3 percent

Number of neurons in the brain

100 billion neurons

Number of synapses in the brain

1,000,000 billion synapses

Number of circuits in the brain

10 to the power of 1 million possible circuits

Brain consumes what percentage of energy resources of entire body

20 percent

Allied disciplines

Behavioural neuroscience, behavioural physiology, physiological psychology, biological psychology, neuropsychology, psychopharmacology, comparative neuroanatomy an psychology, cognitive neuroscience, psychophysiology, neuromorphic computing, cognitive computational neuroscience

Career paths

Clinical, research, markerting, education, computer science

Comparative neuroanatomy

Comparing brain structures across species

Comparative psychology

Comparing psychological process and behaviour across species

Divisions of the nervous system

Peripheral nervous system, capital nervous system, somatic system, autonomic system, enteric nervous system, parasympathetic system, sympathetic system

Central nervous system

Contains the brain including the retinal cells within the eyeball and the spinal cord

Peripheral nervous system

Refers to network of nerves that extend out from the CNS throughout the body

PNS sends messages from the brain to control muscle movement and receives sensory information about body position, pain, temperature and transmits to the CNS

Somatic nervous system

Subdivision of the PNS

Receives sensory information from the sensory organs and controls movements of skeletal muscle

Autonomic nervous system

Consists of the parasympathetic and sympathetic system that regulate important bodily functions and responses through opposing influences throughout the body. Also includes the enteric nervous system which supports digestion

Sympathetic nervous system

Dominates during times of stress or threat

Enteric nervous system

Part of the peripheral nervous system

Contains 100 million neurons and is often termed the 2nd brain

Rostral (anterior)

Towards the beak

Caudal (posterior)

Toward the tall

Dorsal (superior)

Toward the back

Ventral (inferior)

Toward the belly

Lateral

Towards the side

Medial

Towards the middle

Ipsilateral

On same side of midline

Contralateral

On opposite of midline

Corpus callosum

Consists of large bundles of axon that connect two hemispheres

Homotopic

Connects complementary region of other hemisphere

Heterotopic

Communicates to a different brain regions

Telencephalon

Subdivision of the forebrain and consists of the limbic system, basal ganglia and cerebral cortex

Cerebral cortex

Largest structure of the human brain

Nuclei of basal ganglia

Responsible for controlling involuntary movement, particular aspects that are highly automised or involuuntary

Basal ganglia

They are dysfunctional in patients with Parkinson’s disease which leads to weakness, tremors, limb ridgity, poor balance and difficulty initiating movements

Limbic system

First proposed as an emotion circuit in the brain by James Papez in 1937

Includes the hypothalamus, thalamus, cingulate gyrus, fornix, hippocampus, amygadala and orbitofrontal cortex and some nuclei of the basal ganglia

Thalamus

Major relay station for sensory inputs to cerebral cortex

Divided into several nuclei

Hypothalamus

Controls automatic nervous system and endocrine system

Regulates survival behaviours (fighting, feeding, fleeing and mating)

Location of midbrain

Located within the brainstem, topmost region of brainstem and directly above the hindbrain

Role of midbrain

Motor movement, particularly movement of the eye and in auditory and visual processing

Role of cerebellum

Receives information from visual auditory somatosensory and vestibular systems help coordination of movement.

Damage to the cerebellum causes problems with walking and leads to jerky, poorly coordinated movements and problems maintaining balance

Location of pons

Lies on the ventral surface of the brainsteam

Role of pons

Contains several nuclei important in regulating sleep and arousal, relays information from the cerebral cortex to the cerebellum

Primary visual cortex

Occupies medial and lateral parts of the occipital cortex at the back of the brain

Receives sensory information from the retina

Role of parietal lobe/cortex

Involved in attention and spatial awareness

Location of parietal lobe

Sits on the dorsal surface of the cortex and is referred to as part of the dorsal stream

Role of the temporal lobe

Important in auditory processing

Also involved in more complex visual processing

Location of the temporal lobe

Sits on the ventral surface of the cortex and is part of the ventral stream

Location of primary auditory cortex

Occupies superior part of the temporal cortex, as well as a patch of cortex that is buried within the sylvian fissure