Psch 366 — Exam 4 Flashcard Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Chapters 12 (Cognitive Control), 13 (Social Cognition), and 14 (Consciousness) from the Psch 366 Exam 4 study guide.

Cognitive control (executive function)

Allows information processing and behavior to change adaptively based on current goals and prevents rigid, inflexible responses; without it, behavior becomes stimulus-driven.

Four core executive functions

Cognitive flexibility (pivoting strategies), cognitive and emotion regulation, working memory (WM), and attention.

Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) and Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)

The brain regions critical for cognitive flexibility, where the ACC acts as a supervisory system and the PFC is the executive hub.

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)

Tests the ability to shift sorting rules (color/shape/number). Patients with PFC damage show perseveration, using the old rule regardless of feedback.

Tower of Hanoi

A measure of abstract reasoning and planning that requires multi-step forward planning to move discs across pegs according to specific rules.

N-back task

Tests working memory; activation in the Dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) increases as the value of N increases. Match stimulus to stimulus shown N trials ago

Stop Signal Task

Measures inhibitory control, which is the ability to stop a ballistic (already-initiated) motor response.

Dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC)

Known as the 'CEO' (Brodmann areas $9/46$); essential for working memory, planning, and reasoning.

Ventrolateral PFC (VLPFC)

Brodmann areas $44/45/47$; assists with selective attention.

Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC)

Involved in decision-making and reward evaluation, representing the 'subjective value' of rewards like specific food preferences (Brodmann areas $10/11/47$).

Medial Frontal Cortex

Involved in self-perception and emotional regulation; over-activity is linked to rumination in depression.

ACC role in the Stroop Task

Acts as a supervisory attention system for response selection to resolve conflict between reading a word automatically and naming the ink color. (what task is this describing)

Phineas Gage

A famous case of PFC damage resulting from an iron rod; his personality changed to become impulsive and socially inappropriate.

Utilization behavior

A symptom of PFC damage where the patient compulsively uses objects in view, causing behavior to become stimulus-driven rather than goal-directed.

Temporal (delay) discounting

The phenomenon where rewards decrease in perceived value as they are delayed; highly impulsive individuals discount steeply.

OFC lesion effect on discounting

Causes a profound bias toward immediate rewards; patients are typically unwilling to wait more than $\sim 2$ weeks for a larger payoff.

Ventral Striatum (Nucleus Accumbens)

The 'Reward Hub' that mediates motivation, risk-taking, and reward sensitivity; the primary site altered in addiction.

Dorsal Striatum

The 'Habit Hub' which develops automated response sets for skilled habits and fires for 'salience.'

Addictive drug mechanism

Floods the Nucleus Accumbens with dopamine, causing receptor desensitization and leading to tolerance and loss of PFC regulation.

Three waves of the opioid epidemic

Wave 1 (1990s): prescription opioids; Wave 2 (2010): heroin; Wave 3 (2013-present): illicitly manufactured fentanyl.

Fentanyl

A potent opioid ($100 imes$ more than morphine, $50 imes$ more than heroin); overdose (stupor, pinpoint pupils, respiratory failure) is reversed by NARCAN (Naloxone) $4 ext{mg}$ nasal spray.

ACC tracking variables

The ACC contains the highest percentage of neurons tracking probability, payoff, and cost simultaneously, unlike the Lateral PFC or OFC.

Subjective value

The personal worth of an outcome integrating payoff, probability, effort, and temporal discounting; encoded by the OFC.

Medial PFC (MPFC) in Social Cognition

The hub for self-perception. Self-referential processing here is considered the brain's default 'resting state.'

Dorsomedial PFC vs. Ventromedial PFC

Dorsomedial is active during daydreaming and inward focus; Ventromedial is active during predictions of future mental states or value-based choices.

Body ownership regions and how they work

The Extra-striate Body Area and Temporo-parietal Junction (TPJ); they integrate multisensory input to create the sense that the body belongs to oneself.

Out-of-Body Experience (OBE)

Perceiving the world from outside the physical body; can be triggered by electrical stimulation of the angular gyrus.

Xenomelia (Body Integrity Identity Disorder)

The feeling that a limb does not belong to one's body, linked to a failure of sensorimotor integration in the Superior Parietal Lobule (SPL).

Theory of Mind (ToM)

The ability to understand others' thoughts and beliefs (different from one's own); develops around age $4-5$ and is tested by the Sally-Anne Task.

Emotional vs. Cognitive empathy

Emotional empathy is automatic and viscerally embodied; cognitive empathy is a deliberate reasoning about another's perspective.

Mirror neurons

Neurons in the premotor and parietal cortex that fire when performing an action and when observing someone else perform it.

Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS)

Integrates non-verbal social cues like intentional eye shifts and gaze direction to infer others' goals.

Trolley Problem

Reveals that direct personal actions causing harm trigger stronger emotional responses than impersonal actions like pulling a lever.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Characterized by deficits in social skills, communication, and emotional regulation, repetitive routines, and sensory sensitivities.

Behavioral markers of ASD (Stimming)

Includes hand flapping, echolalia (repeating phrases), toe-walking, and sensory meltdowns.

Sensory meltdown vs. Tantrum

Meltdowns are triggered by sensory overload and can last hours without the child in control; tantrums are goal-directed to obtain something.

ASD Neurobiological differences

Dysfunctional connectivity, reduced PFC activity, altered Amygdala function, and atypical Fusiform Face Area (FFA) activation.

Cognitive maturation milestones

1. Object permanency; 2. Overcoming egocentrism; 3. Understanding metaphors (an indicator of advanced maturation).

ASD Treatment Tools (Apps/Computers)

Recommended because they are more predictable and consistent than human interaction, reducing stress and sensory overload.

Superior Parietal Lobule (SPL) in Xenomelia

The brain area where sensorimotor integration fails, causing a limb to not be incorporated into the body schema as 'self.'

Arousal vs. Consciousness

Arousal is wakefulness (necessary but not sufficient); consciousness requires both wakefulness and awareness.

Anatomical hierarchy of consciousness

Brainstem (RAS) for wakefulness; Thalamus for 'core consciousness'; Cerebral Cortex for 'extended consciousness' (cognitive narrative).

UWS, MCS, and Locked-in Syndrome

UWS is awake but not conscious (reflexive); MCS is partially conscious (can follow commands); LIS is fully conscious but totally paralyzed (ventral pons lesion).

Arousal pathways

Dorsal pathway (cholinergic through thalamus) and Ventral pathway (noradrenergic/serotonergic through hypothalamus); inhibited by GABA from VLPO sleep neurons.

Sleepwalking neural profile

Occurs during Non-REM sleep; involves cerebellar/parietal activation without prefrontal awareness or memory formation.

Blindsight

A condition where patients with visual cortex lesions respond to visual stimuli without any conscious awareness of seeing them.

Subliminal perception

Demonstrates that stimuli below conscious awareness can influence emotional preferences and behavior.

Tennis/spatial task

An fMRI task used to detect hidden (covert) awareness in non-responsive patients by having them imagine motor or spatial activities.

Left Hemisphere 'Interpreter' (Gazzaniga)

A module that synthesizes information to create a unified personal narrative and sense of self, even in split-brain cases.

Heautoscopy

Perceiving one's body from an external vantage or seeing a 'double' due to the brain's failure to reconcile proprioceptive and visual body information.

Hydranencephaly

A condition where children with minimal cortex but an intact brainstem feel emotions and show preferences, suggesting subcortical structures are sufficient for basic sentience.

Clinical death brain activity

Research suggests the brain can show measurable activity for minutes to hours after cardiac arrest, with reports of vivid subjective experiences.

Normative vs. Descriptive decision theories

Normative theories define how an agent should rationally decide; Descriptive theories study how humans actually behave (often irrationally).

Integrative role of the ACC

The only region with neurons that simultaneously track probability, payoff, and cost, making it essential for environmental exploration.