Cog. Psyc.

What is Cognative psychology

Study of mental processes such as memory and perception

What is Neuropsychology / how does it differ

Study of how brain injuries can affect someone’s mental processes. Focuses on people with brain injuries.

What is Cognitive Neuroscience / how does it differ

Study of how the brain’s structure and functions produce mental processing. Focuses on specific parts of the brain and what they do.

What is Computational Cognitive Science / how does it differ

Uses computers to model mental processes. Focuses on recreating human mental processes.

Before Cognitive psychology what were we focused on studying?

Behaviorism

How is the cognitive approach different from behaviorism/associationism?

It focuses on the internal mental processes instead of behavior shaped by outside stimuli

Early cognitive psychology models such as Information Processing Models thought of the

brain/mind as analogous to what?

Computers

What is Bottom-Up Processing?

Starts with environmental stimuli which send signals to the brain where it can be processed

What is Top-Down processing?

You use prior knowledge to interprets information which shapes your perspective

What is Serial Processing?

Step by step processing

What is parallel Processing?

Different processes can happen at the same time

What is a limitation of Cognitive psychology

It is done mostly in a lab

Why is a lab a limitation of Cognitive Psychology?

You may find something works in a lab but not in the outside world

Assumption 1 of neuropsychology

Modularity

What does Modularity mean

Assumes that the cognitive system is made up of separate modules that work independently of each other

Assumption 2 of neuropsychology

Substantivity

what does Substantivity mean

A brain injury does not change the function of an area or add new functions

Assumption 3 of neuropsychology

Uniformity of functional architecture across people

What does Uniformity of functional architecture across people mean

We can assume all individuals have the same cognitive architecture

Assumption 4 of neruopsychology

Anatomical Modularity

What does Anatomical Modularity mean

Assumes that each module is in a specific area of the brain

Assumption 5 of neuropsychology

Domain specificity

What is Domain specificity

Assumes that each module is specialized for a specific purpose

What is a (single) dissociation

When someone can perform normally on one type of cognitive task but not another due to brain damage

What is a double dissociation

Proves that 2 different mental tasks use separate parts of the brain

Where is the frontal lobe

Towards the forehead

Where is the parietal lobe

Top of the head and back

Where is the temporal lobe

On either side of the head from ears and back

Where is the occipital lobe

Towards the back of the skull

Dorsal/Superior

Towards the top

Ventral/Inferior

Towards the bottom

Rostral/Anterior

Towards the front

Posterior

Towards the back

Lateral

Towards the side

Medial

Towards the middle

What are converging operations

multiple research approaches that all point to the same conclusion

what are rods

Photoreceptors cells in the eyes that detect light and help us see in dim light

What are cones

Photoreceptor cells that are responsible for color vision and detailed vision

Law of proximity

Elements that are closer together tend to be grouped together

Law of similarity

more similar elements tend to be grouped together

Law of pragnanz

we perceive stimuli following the simplest possible organization

2 system model

Object recognition primarily occurs in the ventral stream and the greatest neuronal activity/largest receptors fields occur at higher levels of visual processing

Recognition-by-components theory

objects consist of basic shapes called “geons”, where different combinations of geons provide representations of more complex objects

Holistic processing

the way the human brain perceives and recognizes faces by integrating the spatial relationships between facial features into a unified whole, rather than treating them as independent parts

What types of stimuli is the Fusiform Face Area especially activated by?

face processing

Simplified Model (Bruce)

Simplified version of the Bruce and Young model of face recognition with the addition of a face detection stage. A face is first detected by a specialized module. At the next stage, a mechanism represents the structure of the face. Finally, this representation is matched to a memory representation in the final stage. The box on the left indicates that the perceptual representation is also used for other face processing tasks, such as expression recognition and gender discrimination

M pathway

Cell type in retina: Parasol ganglion cells (large cell bodies)

LGN layers: Inner two layers (1 and 2)

Information type: Motion, depth, and low spatial frequency (large, fast changes)

P pathway

Cell type in retina: Midget ganglion cells (small cell bodies)

LGN layers: Outer four layers (3, 4, 5, 6)

Information type: Motion, depth, and low spatial frequency (large, fast changes)

Ventral

What, visual processing

Dorsal

where/how, visual processing

Achromatopsia

Cant see color

Akinetopsia

cant see movement

Optic Ataxia

cant reach for things well

Visual Form Agnosia

cant recognize objects

Dichromacy

only 2 types of cone cells (color)

Prosopagnosia

face blindness

Object Agnosia

cant recognize object