Cognitive Science

What is a cognitive system

A system that transforms environmental input into internal representations into and action

What is the basic cognitive flow

Environment → Perception → cognitive system → Action

What is the animal mind model

World → Perception → senses/brain/body → Action

How do robotics model cognition

World → Sensors (perception) → Actuators → Action

What is disembodied cognition

Input → software processing → output (e.g. recommender systems)

Distributed Cognition

Cognition shared across people, tools and environment

Who studied distributed cognition on ships

Edwin Hutchins

Key idea from Hutchins research

The system (people +machines) not an individual, performs cognition

What is cognition

Manipulation of representations

What is a representation

Something that stands for something else

What is an emergent property

A property of a group that individuals do not have (a circle formed by children)

Whta are the three stages of memory

Sensory → short-term → long-term

What is sensory memory

Brief, constantly overwritten storage

What is short-term memory

Temporary storage

What is long-term memory

Long-lasting storage (retrieve may fail)

What is declaritive memory

Facts you can state (e.g. capital cities)

What is implicit memory

Unconcious associations

What is procedural memory

Skils and habits (e.g. walking)

What is associative memory

One thing triggers another

What is the hippocampus responsible for

Converting short-term to long-term memory

What happens when hippocampus is damaged

Cannot form new long-term memories (amnesia)

Where is procedural memory stored

Cerebellum, basal ganglia, motor cortex

Examples of software memory

Hash tables, schemata, frames, scripts

Examples of computer memory

Disk, Flash memory

Examples of distributed memory

Books, notes, brains, fingers

What is learning

changing memory to improve future action

what is habituation

Reduced response to reported stimulus (hearing really loud noise)

What is sensitization

Increased response to repeated stimulus (becoming more sensitive to phone vibrations)

What is classical conditioning

Associating two stimuli (e.g. food → sickness → dislike food)

What is operant conditioning

Changing behaviour based on consequences

What does reinforcment do

Increases behaviour

What does punishment do

Decreases behaviour

What does positive mean

add something

what does negative mean

Remove something

Positive reinforcement

Add reward → increase behaviour

Negative reinforcment

Remove something bad → increase behaviour

Positive Punishment

Add something baf → decrease behaviour

Negative punishment

Remove something good → decrease behaviour

What is practice

Repitition that improves skill

What is automatization

Skills become fast, unconscious, automatic

Why is play important

practice for future behaviours

What is imprinting

Time sensitive learning in early life (goose identifying its mother)

What is observational learning

Learning by watching others

What is testimonial learning

Learning from being told

What is mentorship

Learning through guidence and teaching

When does cultural learning dominate

When environments change moderatley fast

When does genetic learning dominate

When environments change slowly

What happens in very fast changing environments

Less cultural transmission, more individual learning

What is perception

The process of interpreting and organizing sensory input into meaningful experience

What does perception transform

Raw sensory input → meaningful internal representations

What is sensory modality

A type of sensory experience tied to a physical signal

light corresponds to what modality

Light

Sound vibrations correspond to what modality

Audition

Physical pressure correspond to what modality

Haptics

Chamicals correspond to what modality

Taste and smell

Body position correspond to what modality

Proprioception / Kinesthetics

What are atypical senses

Internal senses (pain, heat, stomach, etc)

What is extramission theory

Eyes emit rays to see

What is intromission theory

Eyes recieve reflected light

Which theory of vision is correct

Intromission

Where is light focused in the eye

Retina

What is transaction

Converting light into electrical signals

What are rods specialized for

Low light (night vision)

Are rods or cones more sensitive

Rods (100x more sensitive)

What is the downside of rods

Low visual acuity (blurry detail)

What are cones specialized for

Colour and detail in bright light

What colours do cones detect

Blue (short), Green (medium), Red (long)

Where are rods most useful

Peripheral vision (motion detection)

What does SPOT FM stand for

Size, perspective, Occlusion, Texture, Focus, Motion

What is occlusion

One object blocking another

What does perspective tell us

Distant objects appear smaller

What does stauration indicate

Closer = more vivid

What is the dorsal stream

Where pathway (location, motion)

What happens when the dorsal stream is damaged

Can’t locate objects

What is the ventral stream

What pathway (object recognition)

What happens when the ventral stream is damaged

Cant identify objects

What is the pandemonium model

Feayure detecting “demons” build perception step-by-step

What is template matching

Matching input to stored patterns (inefficient)

What is neural network perception

Layers of weighted units process input into recognition

How does hearing begin

Sound waves vibrate the eardrum

How do we localize sound

Differences between ears

What is echolocation

Usiong reflected sound to detect objects (bats dolphins, whales)

What is haptics

• perception through touch

• Object manipulation

• Active perception

what does smell detect

Chemicals

• food tastes bland with a stuffy nose because taste relies heavily on smell

Basic taste types

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami

What detects spicy food

pain receptors

How long do taste receptors last

About 1-2 weeks

What is proprioception

Knowing body position

What is kinaesthesia

Knowing body movement

What is the vestibular system

Balance and motion (inner ear)

What causes motion sickness

Conflict in vestibular signals

What is interoception

Perception of internal bodily states (e.g. Hunger, heartbeat, breathing, urge to cough)

Core, contemporary and secondary fields of cognitive science

• Psychology

• Philosophy

• Computer Science

• Linguistics

• Contemporary core field: Neuroscience

• Secondary fields: Education and Anthropology

Whyare handwriting notes more effective than typing

Forces deeper processing and summarization

What type oof processing improves memory the most

Deep processing (summerizing, understanding)

What activity before studying improves recall

Walking

What is an effective study cycle

Walk → study → sleep → repeat

What is the best tool for memorization

Flashcards

What improves memory more than re-reading

Testing (retrieval practice)

Recommended weekly study time

20+ hours