GAY GAY GAY

Cognition

Thinking, encompassing the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgement, language, and memory.

Cognitive science

An interdisciplinary field that analyses mental functions and processes.

Concepts

Different files stored in the 'filing cabinet' of our brains, informed by our semantic memory.

Prototype

The best example or representation of a concept.

Natural concepts

Created through your experiences and can be developed from direct or indirect experiences.

Artificial concept

Defined by a specific set of characteristics that enhance understanding of a topic by building on each other.

Schemata

Mental constructs consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts.

Role schemata

Stereotypes.

Event schema

A set of behaviours that feel like routine.

Structuralism

Created by Wundt.

Wundt's experiments

Conducted on reaction time, where isolated subjects would receive a stimulus and record their reaction time.

James

Introduced Darwin's theory.

Functionalism

Mental activities helping an organism fit into the environment.

Ecological validity

The degree to which an effect has been obtained under conditions that are typical for what happens in everyday life.

Pavlov

Known for classical conditioning.

Watson and behaviourism

Associated with the experiment of little Albert and the white rat.

Skinner with positive reinforcement

An example is the kid who cleans his room and is rewarded with a cookie.

The Gestalt principle

Includes the figure-ground relationship and the law of continuity.

Closure

Organizing our perceptions into complete objects rather than as a series of parts.

Gestalt psych

Based on the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

Perceptual hypothesis

An educated guess to interpret sensory information.

Similarity

Things alike tend to be grouped together.

Noam Chomsky

Believed that some aspects of language can be innate, arguing that genes could code into the brain categories and organization learned from grammatical structure.

Parallel distributed processing model

A network model of memory made up of neural networks that interact to store information.

CNS

Central nervous system.

PNS

Peripheral nervous system.

fMRI

Generates a map of the brain.

Proprioception

Sense of the position of parts of the body relative to neighbouring parts of the body.

Ventral

On the front side of the human body, corresponding to the surface of an animal.

Dorsal

With respect to or concerning the side in which the backbone is located.

Medulla oblongata

The hindbrain, including the medulla oblongata, the pons, and the cerebellum.

The midbrain

Conveys motor information from the cerebral cortex.

Thalamus

'Grey matter is along the bottom of the cerebral cortex.

Corpus callosum

A wide, flat bundle of neural fibres beneath the cortex that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and facilitates interhemispheric communication.

Lateralization

Localization of a function, such as speech, to the right or left side.

Visuospatial

About the visual perception of spatial relationships.

Amygdala

A structure in the limbic system involved in our experience of emotion and tying emotional meaning to our memories.

Cerebellum

The hindbrain structure that controls our balance, coordination and movement.

Cerebral cortex

The surface of the brain associated with the highest mental capacity.

Forebrain

The largest part of the brain, containing the cerebral cortex, the thalamus and the limbic system.

Hindbrain

Division of the brain containing the medulla, pons and cerebellum.

Hippocampus

A structure in the temporal lobe associated with learning and memory.

Hypothalamus

Forebrain structure that regulates sexual motivation and several homeostatic processes.

Limbic system

A collection of structures involved in processing emotion and memory.

Medulla

Hindbrain structure that controls automated processes like breathing.

Pons

Connecting the spinal cord and regulating sleep.

VTA

The midbrain, where dopamine is produced, is associated with mood, reward and addiction.

Cortical processing

Sensory homunculus.

Sensory processing

Begins at the primary sensory cortex, then proceeds to an association area, and then into a multimodal integration area.

Spinal cord

Connects the brain to the outside world.

Gyri

Folds and bumps in the brain.

Sulci

Grooves in the brain.

Neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to change structure and function in response to experience or damage.

Neurogenesis

Formation of new neurons.

Executive function

Cognitive functions that lead to goal-directed behaviours.

Working memory

A mental scratch pad to help organize and represent information that is not in the immediate environment.

Cognitive psychology

Tries to explain how and why we think the way we do.

Aristotle

Emphasized empiricism; knowledge came from sensory experience and observation, not from innate ideas.

Rene Descartes

Believed the mind and body are separate but interact; known for 'cogito ergo sum,' meaning 'I think, therefore I am.'

Wilhelm Wundt

Focused on introspection for scientific studies and conscious experience; first person to see himself as a psychologist.

Introspection

Examination of one's own thoughts and feelings.

Subjective

Refers to personal perspectives and biases.

Event schemata

Cognitive script; feeling routine and discomfort when doing something different from what you're used to.

Monism

Coined by Baruch Spinoza; mind and body are one, reality is made of one substance.

Physical events

Cause mental events.

Dualism

The mind and matter are separate, even though they interact.

Lacuna

A hazy picture of how the mind and body interact influences each other.

René Descartes

The major proponent of dualism.

Dualism (function)

Explains the interaction between two separate substances.

Wilhelm Mundt

Believed in physiological psychology, likening the human mind to classifications in chemistry.

Basic elements of the mind

Thoughts, feelings, and sensations that are unchanging.

Survival and reproduction

Organism functions for survival and reproduction after natural selection.

Six perspectives on behaviour

Biological, Psychodynamic, Cognitive, Humanistic, Behavioural, Sociological.

Behavioural aspect

Behaviour is influenced by the environment.

Reinforcer

What follows a behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated.

Primary reinforcers

Satisfy a secondary reinforcer, which can be used to obtain a primary reinforcer.

Behaviourism

The belief that behaviours come from conditioning.

Cognitive perspective

Focuses on mental processes like attention, problem solving, and memory.

Neurons

Cells that carry electrical and chemical signals across the nervous system.

Glial cells

Provide a framework of tissues supporting neurons and their activities.

Mylein

Fatty substances that insulate the neuron.

Soma

Cell body

Axons

Long fibres connecting neurons to targets

Dendrite

A process that looks like a branch that emanates from the soma of the neuron

Nucleus

Cluster or group of cell bodies in the CNS (soma)

Ganglion

In the PNS these are a collection of neurons

Tracts

Bundles of fibres/axons in the central nervous system (CNS) within the brain and spinal cord

Nerves

Bundles of fibres/axons in the peripheral (PNS)

MRI

Helps doctors and researchers to clearly view the nervous system

Midbrain

Located between the hindbrain and forebrain, part of the brain stem

Substantia nigra

The VTA, which consists of numerous neurons rich in dopamine; a lack of dopamine indicates Parkinson's

Reticular formation

Plays a role in our cycles of sleeping and waking

Interbrain

Located between the cerebrum and the brainstem in embryos, located in the neural tube

Cerebral hemispheres

Two hemispheres, the left and right, can be found in the cerebrum

Frontal lobe

Has to do with executive functions, which are among the cognitive processes of the highest order

Temporal lobe

Processes what we hear and helps us understand language; controls sexuality and aggression; contains the brain's memory centre, known as the hippocampus

Wernicke's area

Helps us make meaning of speech

Broca's area

Helps us produce speech

Parietal lobe

Helps in navigation and integrates sensory information from different body parts, helps understand numbers

Somatosensory cortex

Serves as a map