Chapter 4 - Cognition, Consciousness, and Language

information processing model

states that the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information like a computer

piaget’s stages of cognitive development

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational

sensorimotor

focuses on manipulating the environment to meet physical needs through circular reaction, object permanence ends this stage

preoperational

focuses on symbolic thinking, egocentrism, and centration

concrete operational stage

focuses on understanding the feelings of others and manipulating physical objects

formal operational stage

focuses on abstract through and problem solving

biological factors that affect cognition include

organic brain disorders, genetic conditions, metabolic derangements, and drug use

problem solivng

requires identification and understanding of the problem of potential solutions, testing of potential solutions, and evaluation of results

a mental set is

a pattern of approach for a given problem, where a wrong mental set may negatively impact problem solving

functional fixedness

tendency to use objects only in the way they are normally utilized

types of problem solving

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

deductive reasoning

deriving conclusions from general rules

inductive reasoning

deriving generalizations from evidence

factors that assist decision making

heuristics, biases, intuition, and emotions

heuristics

shortcuts or rules of thumb when making decisions

biases

exist when a decision maker is unable to objectively evaluate information

intuition

gut feeling regarding a decision

Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences

7 areas of intelligence: linguistic, logical, musical, visual, kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal

states of consciousness include

alertness, sleep, dreaming, and altered states

alertness

state of being awake and able to think, perceive, process, and express information

waves of alertness

beta and alpha waves predominate on electroencephalography

sleep stage 1

light sleep dominated by theta waves

sleep stage 2

slightly deeper and includes theta waves, sleep spindles, and K complexes

stages 3 and 4

deep slow wave sleep, delta waves predominate, most disorders occur here, non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM)

REM sleep

rapid eye movement is called paradoxical sleep where the mind appears close to awake on EEG, dreaming focuses on consolidating procedural memories

sleep cycle is around

90 minutes for adults, 1-2-3-4-3-2-REM or 1-2-3-4-REM

changes in light in the evening trigger

release of melatonin by the pineal gland resulting in sleepiness

cortisol

increases in the morning and promotes wakefulness

most dreaming occurs during

REM

hypnosis

state of consciousness in which an individual appears to be in control of themselves but are in a suggestive state

meditation

involves a quieting of the mind

consciousness altering drugs are grouped into

depressants, stimulants, opiates, and hallucinogens

depressants

include alcohol, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines, promote or mimic GABA activity

stimulants

amphetamines, cocaine, ecstasy, increase dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin are the synaptic cleft

opiates and opioids

include heroin, morphine, opium, prescription drugs, cause death by respiratory depression

hallucinogens

include LSD, peyote, mescaline, ketamine, and psilocybin containing mushrooms

marijuana

has depressant, stimulant, and hallucinogen effects, active ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol

drug addiction is mediated by the

mesolimbic pathway including the nucleus accumbens, medial forebrain bundle, and ventral tegmental area where dopamine is the main transmitter

selective attention

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

divided attention

uses automatic processing to pay attention to multiple things at once

language consists of

phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics

phonolgy

refers to the sound of speech

morphology

refers to the building blocks of words

semantics

refers to the meaning of words

pragmantics

refers to the changes in language delivery

theories of language

nativist/biological, learning/behaviorist, social interactionist

nativist

explains language acquisition as bein innate and controlled by the language acquisition device LAD

learning

explains language acquisition as being controlled by operant conditioning and reinforcement by caregivers

social interactionist theory

explains language acquisition as being caused by a motivation to communicate with others

whorfian/linguistic relativity hypothesis

states that the lens through which we view and interpret the world is created by language

speech areas in the brain are found

in the dominant hemisphere, normally the left

motor function of speech is controlled by

Broca’s area where damage results in Broca’s aphasia where generating words requires effort

language comprehension is controlled by

wernicke’s area, damage results in wernicke’s aphasia which results in lack of comprehension

what connects the Broca’s and Wernicke’s

the arcuate fasciculus, damage results in conduction aphasia marked by the inablity to repeat words hear despite intact speech and comprehension