Cognitive Science Final (Eliatamby) - Modules 7-12

Etic Properties

Understood in terms of physical properties of the world

Emic Properties

Understood in terms of the way the world is represented in the mind

Does human behavior have etic or emic properties?

Emic properties

Folk psychology

People behave based on their beliefs, desires, and goals

Computational Architecture

The basic operations available to the computer, as well as the way it encodes, stores, and retrieves information

Cognitive Architecture

The architecture of a mind; the kinds of structures and processes that give rise to cognitive behavior (blueprint for intelligent behavior)

What is cognitive architecture used to explain?

Questions about behaviors that are in between the algorithmic and implementational levels

Cognitive Capacity

What the mind can do, and the ways in which it can do it, thanks to its cognitive architecture

Cognitive Penetrability

Cognitive behavior that is knowledge-dependent and involves reasoning, even if we don’t realize it (example: mental color mixing)

What are the different parts to memory?

Memory, Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

Memory

Active system that receives, stores, organizes, alters, and recovers (retrieves) information

Encoding

Converting information into a usable form

Storage

Holding information in memory for later use

Retrieval

Taking memories out of storage

Working Memory (Short Term Memory)

“Workbench of the mind”; lasts longer than sensory memory and has a more limited storage capacity

Channel Capacity

Maximum amount of information that can be processed by the cognitive system at one time

Bit

Unit of information defined by number of possible states

What was the Sternberg Search Experiment?

You are shown a short list of letters or numbers (usually 1 to 6 items), then you are shown a specific item (probe). Then you are asked to find that specific item in the list of items you had been shown.

Working Memory Span

~7 slots

Chunking

Meaningful units made up of more basic pieces of information

Serial Processing

Slots are checked one at a time

Parallel Processing

All slots are checked simultaneously

Self-terminating Search

Stops searching after finding the target; search time depends on set size, target position, positive or negative trial

Exhaustive Search

Keeps searching after finding the target

Negative Trials

The number being searched for is not in the set; self-terminating and exhaustive search have the same result

Positive Trials

The number being searched for is present in the set

What kind of processing does visual search use?

Uses both serial and parallel processing at the same time

What type of search does parallel search use?

Only exhaustive search

What type of search does serial search use?

Both self-terminating and exhaustive search

What is the default working memory search algorithm?

Serial and exhaustive

Modularity

The idea that the mind is made up of independent systems (modules) that are specialized for certain computations

5 Features of a mental module

1. Fixed neural architecture

2. Domain specificity

3. Mandatory operation

4. Limited central accessibility

5. Informational encapsulation

Blind spot

A place in our eye that has no photoreceptors (for vertebrates only)

Rods and cones

Specialized light-detecting cells (photoreceptors) in the back of your eye

Photoreceptors

3 types of cones = short, medium, long
Rods
All respond to different wavelengths of light

Contralateral organization

The right hemisphere controls the left side of your body, and the left hemisphere controls the right side (left brain and right brain)

Contralateral organization (in terms of vision)

Left-side vision is provided by the right parts of both eyes; right-side vision is provided by the left parts of both eyes

Opponent-Process Theory

Automatic system = black/white
Chromatic system = red/green and blue/yellow
Differentiates colors using neurons, people think this exists due to red/green or blue/yellow colorblindness

Blindsight

The ability for people who are cortically blind to respond to visual stimuli even without conscious-level awareness

Sensation = ?

Detection

Perception = ?

Interpretation

Limited Central Accessibility

We only see the final result of a module's work, not all the steps it used

Bottom-Up Processing

Information flows from senses to perception

Top-Down Processing

Information flows from prior knowledge to perception (mind fills in the gaps)

Color Constancy

Your mind immediately tweaks your perception based on the environment

Encapsulation

Restriction of the flow of information into a system; the output of the system is immune to higher-level beliefs, desires, and goals

Cognitive Impenetrability

The processes involved in perception cannot be changed by information in central memory (beliefs, desires, and knowledge)

Perceptual Grouping

The tendency to see ordered structures in visual patterns (Examples: Law of Proximity, Law of Similarity)

Context-Dependent Perception

Associated with reading; think of the 13 and B looking identical, but based on the context, they are interpreted as different things (shows that perception and recognition are NOT THE SAME)

Modest Modularity

Low-level perceptual systems are modular; central cognition is not

Massive Modularity

The mind is modular through and through, including higher-level cognition

What module is used for faces?

Fusiform Face Area (FFA)

Fusiform Face Area (FFA)

Area of visual processing that specializes in facial recognition (not limited to visual input; selectively responds to the feeling of faces in people born blind)

Thatcher Effect (NOTE: associated with encapsulation)

Optical illusion where changes to facial features (upside-down eyes, flipped mouth) are difficult to notice when the face is inverted

Prosopagnosia

The inability to recognize faces