Behav SN4 (16)

Paivio’s Dual-Coding Theory

the word “tree” can recall some information, and a picture of a tree can recall the same information, … leading to redundancy

The Information Processing Model

Compares human memory to a computer (requires data, encoding, processing, retrieval, etc.)

Thinking requires stimuli → stimuli must be anazlyed → decisions made in the past can inform the future → problem solving is dependent on that person’s capabilities.

Sensorimotor Stage (Piaget)

(From birth to age 2). The child learns to manipulate the environment in order to meet physical needs and learns to coordinate sensory input with motor actions.

Primary Circular Reactions

repetitions of body movements that originally occurred by chance (sucking thumb)

Secondary Circular Reactions

occur when manipulation is focused on something outside the body (like throwing a toy)

Object Permanence

understanding things continue to exist even when out of view

Representational Thought

the child has begun to create mental representations of external objects and events

Preoperational Stage (2 terms)

from about 2 to 7 years of age. It’s characterized by symbolic thinking (imagination/make-believe play) and egocentrism (inability to imagine what others may think or feel).

Conservation

Part of the Preoperational Stage … can’t tell that a slice of pizza if cut in half remains the same amount and would likely think the 1 slice that was sliced in 2 is more.

Concrete Operational Stage

from 7 to 11. They can understand conservation and are no longer about egocentrism, however they can’t think abstractly, but rather only with concrete information

Formal Operational Stage

from 11 and up. Marked by the ability to think logically about abstract ideas.

Hypothetical Reasoning

part of the Formal Operational Stage … the ability to mentally manipulate variables in a number of ways (kids analyzing what makes the frequency of a pendulum)

Fluid Intelligence

used when solving new problems for the first time, possibly using creative methods (this type of intelligence declines with age)

Crystallized Intelligence

solving problems using acquired knowledge, aka procedural problem solving (the decline of this type of intelligence is almost none)

Dementia

a general loss of cognitive function. Includes impaired memory and judgement, and confusion. Can be caused by Alzheimer's disease and Vascular (multi-infarct) dementia (caused by microscopic clots in the brain and or high blood pressure)

Delirium

like dementia but the decline is rapid and can fluctuate, it is reversible as it is caused by an imbalances of a multitude of things in the body

Functional Fixedness

the inability to consider how to use an object in a non-traditional way

Trial-and-error (type of problem solving)

various solutions are tried until one is found

Algorithms (type of problem solving)

a formula or procedure for solving a certain type of problem

Deductive Reasoning (Top-down) (type of problem solving)

ostarts from a set of general rule and draws conclusions from the information given … if the premise is true, then the conclusion has to be true (all humans need oxygen, thus I must need oxygen too)

Inductive Reasoning (bottom-up) (type of problem solving)

o   seeks to create a theory via generalizations … the conclusion is likely true, but not guaranteed (my cat has a tail, thus all cats must also have a tail)

Heuristics

“rules of thumb”, that is, simplified principles used to make decisions … kinda like what you expect to happen, but not necessarily or mathematically true to occur

Representativeness Heuristic

categorizing items on the basis of whether they fit the prototypical, stereotypical, or representative image of the category (Similarities = same group) … an animal that looks like a cat must be one, when in reality it could be something else

Availability Heuristic

When we base the likelihood of an event on how easily examples of that event come to mind (thinking something will happen again b/c you’ve heard it happen before multiple times, even when it is an incredibly rare event)

Disconfirmation Principle

if evidence shows a working solution does not work, then it should be discarded

Conformation Bias

the tendency to focus on information that fits an individual’s beliefs, while rejecting information that goes against them

Overconfidence

thinking you can’t be wrong

Hindsight Bias

“I know it all along” … the tendency to believe that you knew something in the past was true, yet you didn’t really and actually got it wrong

Intuition

“gut-feeling”, what’s actually going on is that your brain is sorting thru many old scenarios and looking for patterns, which leads to recognition-primed decision model

recognition-primed decision model

simply being able to sense something is happening and be correct, again, this “wisdom” is gained thru experience on the field

Consciousness

one’s level of awareness of both the world and one’s own existence.

Alertness

is a state of consciousness in which we are awake and able to think … here we also experience physiological arousal (increased heart rate, breathing rate, etc.). What is happening is that the prefrontal cortex is communicating with the reticular formation to keep the cortex awake and alert.

beta waves

are high frequency and appear when the person is still awake performing some mental task

alpha waves

occur when we are awake but relaxed with eyes closed

Stage 1 of Sleep Cycle

(also known as NREM1), which is characterized by theta waves, which are irregular waveforms with slower frequencies and higher voltage

Stage 2 of the Sleep Cycle

(NREM2). Here we see sleep spindles, which are bursts of high-frequency waves, and K complexes, which are singular high-amplitude waves

Stage 3 of the Sleep Cycle

(NREM3), also known as slow-wave sleep (SWS). Characterized by delta waves, which are low-frequency, high voltage and occur less … this is the stage associated with memory consolidation and cognitive recovery

REM

so NREM comes from non-rapid eye movement, while REM comes from rapid eye movement sleep. REM occurs interspersed between the cycles of NREM, and it’s where we dream. Physiologically, our minds mimic the arousal levels that of being awake, but our muscles are paralyzed, which is why REM is also known as paradoxical sleep.

Sleep Cycle Mnemonic

o   BAT-D → beta, alpha, theta, and delta … remember, a bat sleep during the day

o   Stages 1 and 2 have Theta waves, and Stage 3 and 4 have Delta waves

Wakefulness

happens b/c the levels of cortisol, which occur b/c of increasing light in the morning causes the release of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) from the hypothalamus, this CRF causes release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the anterior pituitary, which stimulates cortisol release from the adrenal cortex.

increasing light à hypothalamus releases CRF à CRF causes release of ACTH à ACTH causes adrenal cortex to release cortisol

Sleepiness

induced by increasing levels of melatonin in the blood; melatonin, which is released by the pineal gland as a response to less light hitting the retina, which is directly connected to the hypothalamus, and the hypothalamus is connected to the pineal gland

diminishing light hits retina à signal sent to the hypothalamus à signal sent to the pineal gland à pineal gland releases melatonin

Activation-Synthesis Theory

dreams are caused by widespread, random activation of neural circuitry

Problem Solving Dream Theory

dreams are a way to solve problems while you are sleeping

Cognitive Process Dream Theory

dreams are merely the sleeping counterpart of stream-of-consciousness

Neurocognitive Models of Dreaming

seek to unify the biological and psychological aspects of dreaming… meaning it happens b/c physiology

Dyssomnias

disorders that make it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or avoid sleep (insomnia, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea)

Parasomnias

are abnormal movements or behaviors during sleep (night-terrors and sleepwalking)

Narcolepsy

involuntary falling asleep randomly, usually b/c of emotional triggers.

Cataplexy

a loss of muscle control and sudden intrusion of REM sleep, occurs in narcolepsy

Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Hallucinations

occur when going to sleep or awakening

Depressants

reduce nervous system activity, results in a sense of relaxation and reduced anxiety

Alcohol

increases the activity of GABA receptors, and related to many negative physiological declines (depressant)

Sedatives

tend to depress central nervous system activity, resulting in feelings of calm, relaxation, and drowsiness

Barbiturates

§  anxiety reducing/ sleep meds (amobarbital and phenobarbital) (sedative)

Benzodiazepines

also increase GABA activity, causing a sense of relaxation, and are what barbiturates were changed for (alprazolam, lorazepam, diazepam, and clonazepam) (sedative)

Stimulants

cause an increase in arousal in the nervous system

Amphetamines

cause increased arousal by increasing release of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin at the synapse and decreasing their reuptake. Induces sense of euphoria, being on edge, anxiety, delusions of grandeur, and paranoia … can lead to stroke or brain damage (stimulant)

Cocaine

§  similar to amphetamines but decreases reuptake of the neurotransmitters instead, and it also has anesthetic and vasoconstrictive properties (stimulant)

Crack

a form of cocaine that can be smoked, works quickly and has potent effects

Ecstasy

§  both a stimulant and hallucinogen. A designer amphetamine, meaning it does much of the same. More specifically, it causes feelings of euphoria, increased alertness, and overwhelming sense of well-being and connectedness. (stimulant)

Opiates and Opioids

Opiates are naturally occurring (morphine and codeine), while opioids are synthesized (oxycodone, Norco, heroin). On top of feeling euphoric, they act as endorphin agonists, meaning they decrease pain

Hallucinogens

(LSD), cause introspection, distortions of reality and fantasy, and enhancement of sensory experiences

Marijuana

the active chemical is THC, this one instead inhibits GABA activity and increases dopamine activity, it falls under multiple categories such as stimulant, depressant, and hallucinogen

Subtances that increase GABA vs. subtances that increase catecholamines

alcohol, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines increase GABA activity, while marijuana inhibits it … on the other hand, amphetamines, cocaine, and ecstasy increase dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin

Mesolimbic Reward Pathway

One of four dopaminergic pathways in the brain. This pathway is normally involved in motivation and emotional response and its activation accounts for the positive reinforcement of substance use. It includes the nucleus accumbens (NAc), the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and the connection between them, the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). … it should seem obvious that its neurotransmitter is dopamine

Phonology

refers to the actual sound of speech

Morphology

refers to the building blocks of words (prefixes, suffixes, etc.), such as rules for pluralization

Semantics

refers to the meaning of words

Syntax

refers to the rules dictating word order

Pragmatics

refers to the changes in language delivery depending on context

Nativist (biological) theory

explains language acquisition as being innate and controlled by the language acquisition device (LAD), a theoretical pathway in the brain that allows infants to process and absorb language rules

Learning (behaviorist) theory

explains language acquisition as being controlled by operant conditioning and reinforcement by caregivers (you learned it b/c parents thought it)

Social interactionist theory

explains language acquisition as being caused by a motivation to communicate and interact with others (you learned it b/c desired to communicate)

Whorfian (linguistic relativity) hypothesis

language greatly affects how we see/understand the world

Broca’s (nonfluent aphasia) aphasia

you can comprehend but can’t articulate your words … b/c Broca’s area is for speech production

§  Broca’s = Broken

Wernicke’s (fluent aphasia) aphasia

you can communicate (albeit nonsensically), but can’t comprehend what you are saying … b/c Wernicke’s area is responsible for speech comprehension

§  Wernicke’s = Wacky