PSYCH 213: intro-perception

These flashcards cover key concepts from the introduction to cognition, including definitions of important research types and phenomena.

Cognition

The study of sensory processes that produce complex behaviors such as memory, perception, and attention.

Basic Research

Research aimed at better understanding human experience and phenomena without a specific end-use.

Applied Research

Research that has the end goal of developing a solution to a specific problem.

Phenomenon

An 'effect' that is discovered and researched, such as studying placebo experiments.

Hypothesis

A theory that is tested through research.

Cognitive Psychology

The field that studies the mind using experiments.

Neuroscience

The study of the brain and its link to the mind.

Computational Modeling

An approach that looks at the mind-brain connection through models and simulations.

Emotional Enhancement Effect

The phenomenon where emotional stimuli are remembered more easily than neutral stimuli.

Amygdala

A brain structure whose activity is linked to better memory about emotional elements of an event.

Prediction of Remembrance

Using computational modeling to understand and predict behaviors related to memory.

Plato

teacher, thoughts are results of observation guided by innate prior knowledge (logic)

rationalism: thoughts driven by prior knowledge, not just experience we are faced w/

Aristotle

believed mind would be nothing without body to experience sensations firsthand, trust in experience of sensations to perceive world

empiricism: thoughts come from experience & perception, we know nothing before experience, emphasis on experimentation

Eastern philosophy (Buddhism, Taoism)

Emphasize interconnectedness/harmony when thinking about our experiences, everything, including the mind, is impermanent

Western science

uses methods & experiences to reduce processes to most basic level, Seeks analytic pattern for understanding

Eastern science

uses methods that pay more attention to context & integrating mental processes w/ the greater whole, More holistic understanding 

Structuralism

identifying most basic elements of thought & observing how elements combine to form complex thoughts

emphasized systematic observation of mental experiences : self-report & introspection

Wilhem Wundt

founded 1st laboratory for psychological research based on structuralism

Wanted to identify simplest units/elements of mind, then could combine these elements to see what makes up complex ideas (memory, imagination)

used self-introspection/report for results (mental chronometry)

functionalism

looked at how mental state/cognition changes/adapts to diff needs/environment

usefulness of knowledge— cognition changes depending on goals & context

william james

took practical/pragmatic approach to studying mind thru direct observation & fieldwork

consciousness studied in real world

critiques of functionalism

how do we study things that are always changing— like consciousness

behaviorism

psych struggling to be taken serious as science— look at studying behaviorism thru scientific method, on animals for experimental control

criticism of behaviorism

animals don’t directly equate to human behavior— can’t account for complexities like language acquisition thru latent learning rather than operant conditioning

Mary Calkins: opposed elimination of introspection—needed sometimes for complex behavioral studies

Cognitive Revolution

accept internal mind states as underlying behavior, study cognition driven by technology (saw mind as computer now)

information processing view

• brain processes info thru series of processing systems

• processed in systematic ways

• processing takes time

• we have limited capacity for our minds

waugh & norman model of memory

stimulus —> primary memory (forgotten or rehearsal) —> secondary memory

why is info processed?

to reduce uncertainty, more uncertain smthing is —> longer it takes to process

hick’s law

if there are more stimuli: it’ll take longer to make response to info

choice overload bias

harder to make choices when there are multiple

ex: picking netflix movie to watch— should limit categories so easier

decision fatigue

later in day (once decisions have accumulated) decisions get more difficult to make —> more impulsive, less rational decisions as outcome

ex: judge more likely to grant parole in morning vs night (more complex decision, needs time)

dualism

mind & body entities are equally important

interactionism

mind & body interact to induce events into each other, body affecting mind (hormones on cognition) — (thinking on brain activity)

where rene descartes believed interaction between 2 entities occur

pinneal gland, seat of soul

epiphenomenalism

one way interaction, physical events in brain affect the mind

ex: steam (mind) coming off a train (physical brain)— stream doesn’t affect train, just byproduct

monism

brain & body are same entity, just diff manifestations

idealism

all reality is mental construct, mind is what matters, matter doesn’t exist independently of mind (inmaterial), don’t care about physical changes in brain

neutral monism

underlying nature is not mental or physical but smthing else, avoids reducing experiences to mental/physical

materialism/physicalism

all reality is result of physical processes, brain is what matters, no mental states exist— they’re just physical processes (cognitive neuroscience view)

central nervous system

brain & spinal chord, supports conscious & voluntary actions

sends signals from brain to end of organs

peripheral nervous system

rest of body, voluntary control of muscles/senses: flexing muscles

somatic (voluntary) & autonomic (involuntary: parasympathetic & sympathetic)

up & down signals in body to regulate

dorsal

top of brain

ventral

bottom

rostral/frontal/anterior

front of brain

caudal/posterior

back of brain

frontal lobe

decision-making

temporal lobe

hearing

parietal lobe

sensory

occipital lobe

visual

phrenology

pseudoscience w/ specific brain regions designated for specific functions

exhibited thru dents (lack of usage) or bumps (used well)

how modern neuroscience identifies brain areas/networks that support particular functions & an example in brain

seen thru neurophysiological cases & neuroimaging tools

fusiform facial area: specifically receptive to facial areas/recognition

3 methods to study the brain

behavioral measurements

behavioral neuroscience methods

cognitive neuroscience methods: patient cases & neuroimaging techniques

how behavioral experiments are split up (CNS vs PNS)

(CNS— voluntary: objective (memory test) & subjective (attractiveness scale)) & physiopsychological measurements— involuntary (PNS: skin conductance)

weaknesses & strengths of animals models & how they’re used in behavioral neuroscience methods

allow causation thru lesioning of brain, lack of generalization to humans

what did split-brain patients demonstrate in cognitive neuroscience methods

showed brain is lateralized: L for language/speech & R for visuospatial abilities

also demonstrated reduced creative thinking

if a split-brain patient sees smthing in their right visual field will they be able to verbally describe what they’ve seen? what abt vice versa?

yes for right visual field— processed by L hemisphere.

no for left visual field— processed by R hemisphere-can depict it visuospatially (drawing) with their left hand tho

EEG function & benefits/weaknesses

helps examine brain thru measuring electrical activity produced during tasks by looking at large group neurons at certain times

(+) provides estimate of WHEN brain is active, good temporal resolution

(-) poor spatial resolution: where brain is active

MRI & fMRI function & weakness/strengths

looks at structural anomalies in brain

fMRI looks at function of brain at diff localized regions thru indirect measurement of oxygenated blood flow around brain

(+) good spatial resolution

(-) poor temporal resolution

(-) under assumption that blood flow = activity

(-) brain is very noisy, affects blood flow easily

brain stimulation techniques definition & example w/ pros/cons

noninvasive way of changing brain activity that inhibits or increases activity

TMS— induces temp change in brain activity, used to treat depression

(+) allows for causation to be concluded, whereas EEG & MRIs are correlation

(-) methods not fully clear abt functioning

regular route for sensations

stimulus → sensory receptors → neural impulses → brain for processing

extroreceptive sensations

from external stimuli, relies on sensory organs to pick up stimuli

interoreceptive sensations

from internal organs/inside our body, dancers have more accurate interoceptive accuracy (can detect heart rate better than ppl on average)

• propioception— kinesthesia

• equilibrioception— sense of balance

• noiception— sense of pain

propioception

sense of our limbs in space

nociception

sense of our pain due to body damage

equilibrioception

sense of balance

synthesia

when one sensation triggers another sensation not traditionally associated, cross-talking of brain’s talking circuits

what is the genetic/characteristic component of synthesia?

more common in artists & women

grapheme-color synthesia

colors evoke letters/numbers

chromethesia

sounds evoke colors

McGurk effect

when what you hear is also what you see

ex: green needle vs brainstorm

route for light wave

project onto retina, hit photoreceptors— converted into electrical activity, bipolar cells, retinal ganglion cells, exit via optic nerve (blindspot), project from thalamus into V1 (edges, corners processed), pathways to visual association area

pathways to visual association area

ventral (occipital → temporal)

• what pathway— object recognition

dorsal (occipital → parietal)

• where pathway— object localization

what is the significance of information compression in the eye?

millions of photoreceptors converge onto 100x fewer ganglion cells, compressing a lot of what we actually see (we miss a lot from actual visual field)

• perceptual filling-in

constructivist theory of perception

follows top-down processing/rationalism/plato’s view

• perception skewed from knowledge of world/expectations, top-down affects bottom-up

schemas

organizing concepts/ideas/objects to help interpret world more efficiently, rapid processing

monster illusion

“bigger” monster in background, depth cues shape how we perceive two monsters

ponzo illusion

lines on railroad, top looks bigger than bottom, depth cues affect how we interpret two lines

world lit from above

handprints in snow, we assume light comes from above which determines where we see the shadows in snow

ambiguous bistable figures

basically yeah and you perceive differently depending on ur vibe

letters in context effect

you can read sentence with jumbled letters bc of context & what you expect to read

colors in color context

surrounding/context of colors changes how we perceive colors

• darker blue if surrounding is lighter