Cognitive Neuroscience vs Cognitive Psychology

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Questions and Answers

What is the main focus of cognitive neuroscience compared to cognitive psychology?

Cognitive neuroscience focuses more on how biological processes influence thoughts and behaviors, whereas cognitive psychology emphasizes how the mind works without significant consideration of physical brain structure.

Define signal detection theory and its components.

Signal detection theory involves the detection of stimuli through decision-making and sensory processes, incorporating the concepts of signal, noise, and criterion.

What distinguishes a liberal bias from a conservative bias in signal detection?

A liberal bias favors identifying the presence of a signal, even when uncertain, while a conservative bias is more cautious, preferring to say the signal is absent unless very certain.

Describe the difference between feature search and conjunctive search tasks in visual search.

Feature search involves looking for a single distinctive feature, while conjunctive search requires finding an object based on a combination of features. Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes the mechanistic view of conditioning from the cognitive view?

The mechanistic view considers conditioning a low-level process without higher order cognition, while the cognitive view acknowledges that conditioning can involve higher order cognition. Signup and view all the answers

What do Ganzfeld experiments demonstrate about sensory adaptation?

Ganzfeld experiments show that continuous stimulation can lead to sensory adaptation, where responses to the stimuli diminish over time. Signup and view all the answers

How does informed pairing influence behavior in conditioning?

Informed pairing, where participants are told about CS-US relationships, can lead to changes in their behavior towards the conditioned stimulus. Signup and view all the answers

What are the four basic processes of observational learning identified by Bandura?

The four basic processes are attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of motivation in the process of observational learning?

Motivation influences whether an individual will reproduce the behavior they have observed, affecting the likelihood of learning. Signup and view all the answers

How does bilateral amygdala damage affect emotional learning and memory?

Bilateral amygdala damage impairs emotional learning and the ability to form new emotional memories. Signup and view all the answers

Explain the concept of reinforcement expectancy in the context of observational learning.

Reinforcement expectancy refers to how participants' responses can be influenced by information provided regarding the intensity of reinforcers or the meaning of ambiguous stimuli. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary role of the hippocampus in memory consolidation?

The hippocampus is crucial for consolidating new memories and facilitating the transition of information to long-term storage. Signup and view all the answers

Explain the significance of the phrase 'neurons that fire together, wire together' in the context of learning.

This phrase illustrates that synchronous activation of neurons strengthens their synaptic connections, enhancing learning and memory formation. Signup and view all the answers

Describe the impact of damage to both the hippocampus and amygdala on memory function.

Damage to both the hippocampus and amygdala severely disrupts the ability to form new memories and manage emotional responses in relation to those memories. Signup and view all the answers

What role do the parietal lobes play in relation to working memory?

The parietal lobes are involved in sensory processing and spatial location, which are important for maintaining information in working memory. Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes non-living things from living things in terms of categorization?

Non-living things are categorized by their functional features, while living things are categorized by their sensory features. Signup and view all the answers

Define the term 'prototype' in the context of category learning.

A prototype is the most typical example of a category that represents its essential features. Signup and view all the answers

Describe an example of a disjunctive concept.

An example of a disjunctive concept is 'strike' in baseball, which can occur under various conditions. Signup and view all the answers

What do necessary and jointly sufficient features refer to in concept formation?

Necessary features are essential characteristics for category membership, while jointly sufficient features ensure that any combination of them can define the category. Signup and view all the answers

What are fuzzy boundaries in categories?

Fuzzy boundaries refer to the unclear or overlapping limits of category membership, where it is difficult to draw precise distinctions. Signup and view all the answers

Explain how Rosch’s principles of categories influence object categorization.

Rosch’s principles emphasize that categories are not rigid but rather have different levels of inclusiveness based on typicality and context. Signup and view all the answers

What are the two types of tasks often used to study category learning?

Selection tasks and reception tasks are used to study category learning. Signup and view all the answers

How do prototype theory and exemplar theory differ in explaining category learning?

Prototype theory suggests that we categorize based on an ideal representation, while exemplar theory proposes that we categorize based on specific examples we've encountered. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary distinction between episodic and semantic memory?

Episodic memory involves personal experiences and specific events, while semantic memory pertains to general knowledge and facts. Signup and view all the answers

What does Endel Tulving's theory suggest about episodic and semantic memory?

Tulving proposed that episodic and semantic memory are distinct systems, each with different characteristics and functions. Signup and view all the answers

How does the study by Carmichael et al. contribute to our understanding of biases in episodic memory?

The study highlights that biases can distort encoding and retrieval processes in episodic memory, suggesting that memory is influenced by expectations. Signup and view all the answers

What does Paivio's Dual-coding hypothesis indicate about the relationship between episodic memory and meaning?

Paivio's Dual-coding hypothesis suggests that information is more effectively remembered when it is encoded both verbally and visually. Signup and view all the answers

Describe Craik & Lockhart’s Levels of Processing approach and its primary challenge.

Craik and Lockhart proposed that the depth of processing affects memory retention, with deeper processing leading to better recall; the main challenge is its vagueness in defining 'depth.' Signup and view all the answers

What is the basic premise behind Transfer Appropriate Processing?

The premise is that memory performance is enhanced when the processing at encoding matches the processing at retrieval. Signup and view all the answers

What findings did the study by Clayton & Dickinson reveal about episodic memory in non-human animals?

The study demonstrated that non-human animals possess a form of episodic memory, indicating they can remember the 'what,' 'where,' and 'when' of events. Signup and view all the answers

In what way does the processing approach to memory challenge the notion of separate implicit and explicit memory systems?

It suggests that implicit and explicit memory are not distinct systems, but rather outcomes of specific task demands encountered during processing. Signup and view all the answers

What is the main difference between a prototype and an exemplar in category formation?

A prototype is a representative member summarizing features of a category, while an exemplar is an individual instance that belongs to that category. Signup and view all the answers

Explain the concept of typicality in relation to category membership.

Typicality refers to how closely an item resembles a prototypical member of a category, affecting its perceived membership and categorization speed. Signup and view all the answers

What are Rosch’s Principles and their significance in concept formation?

Rosch’s Principles include cognitive economy and perceived world structure, which help in simplifying the mental representation of categories. Signup and view all the answers

Describe the difference between conservative focusing and focus gambling in the selection task.

Conservative focusing involves selecting instances that fit established category criteria, while focus gambling allows for the exploration of less typical category members. Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of family resemblance in determining typicality?

Family resemblance refers to the shared features among category members that are common in the category but not in others, influencing typicality assessments. Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of vertical and horizontal structures in the organization of concepts?

Vertical structure refers to superordinate, basic, and subordinate levels of categories, while horizontal structure refers to how different categories relate on the same level. Signup and view all the answers

How do distributed practice and the generation effect differ in improving recall?

Distributed practice enhances recall by spacing learning sessions over time, while the generation effect improves recall by encouraging active engagement through self-generated answers. Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean when we say category membership can be fuzzy in real-world contexts?

Fuzzy categories imply that the boundaries of category membership are not rigid and that items may belong to multiple categories to varying extents. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Cognitive psychology is a field dedicated to researching and understanding how people think.
Key processes include memory, attention, problem solving, language, intelligence, higher-level perceptual processes, and the interaction of thought and emotion.
The world contains information that is selected, processed, interpreted, and responded to by humans.
These active processes vary between situations and individuals.
Information theory posits that unusual or improbable events provide more information.
Limitations on information processing include time constraints, limited capacity, complexity, and interference.
Neisser's perceptual cycle describes a continuous process of sampling, exploration, and modification of schemas in relation to objects.
Cognitive psychology evolved from structuralism/functionalism, behaviourism, and humanism, drawing on context from real-world events.
Common themes in cognitive psychology include studying situations where things go wrong, and how past experience, expectations, and ongoing processes affect information processing.
Cognitive neuroscience differs from cognitive psychology in its heavier focus on biological processes affecting thought, memory, learning, and emotions, often employing animal subjects and neuroimaging.
Learning objectives for Sensation and Perception include signal detection theory, visual search tasks, and Ganzfeld experiments.
Signal detection theory involves both decision-making and sensory processes, with outcomes like hits, false alarms, misses, and correct rejections.
Visual search tasks include feature search (e.g., finding a red circle in a field of green circles), contrasting with conjunctive search (e.g., finding a red T among various Ts).
Ganzfeld experiments examine sensory adaptation; a constant visual field fades to gray, and some experience hallucinations.
The eye has different structures contributing to vision, including photoreceptors (rods and cones) distributed in the retina.
Visual pathways, like "what" and "where" pathways, transmit information from the eye to the visual cortex.
Damage to the dorsal (where) stream can result in optic ataxia, hemipatial/contralateral neglect, and akinetopsia.
Damage to the ventral (what) stream leads to apperceptive visual agnosia and associative visual agnosia.
Color vision is determined by light properties, with trichromatic theory positing three receptor types (red, green, blue), and opponent-process theory describing antagonistic responses to color pairs (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white).
Color blindness comes in different forms, such as anomalous trichromat, dichromat, and monochromat.
Theories of bottom-up processing include Gibson's direct perception (environment provides sufficient context for interpretation), template theories (stored templates match patterns), and feature matching theories.
The Navon task demonstrates hierarchical processing in visual perception, with both global and local features impacting processing time.
Feature analysis, using feature detectors in the brain to recognize patterns, are crucial in feature integration theory, involving preattentive (automatic) and focused attention (controlled) stages.
Top-down processing uses previous knowledge and expectations to guide perception, contrasting with bottom-up processing.
Specialized face-detecting cells in the visual cortex (fusiform face area) have been identified, impacting prosopagnosia (face-recognition disorder).
Auditory localization occurs through interaural time differences and level differences, which depend on the differing timing and intensity of sounds received by the two ears, which are processed to determine the source's location.
Monaural cues, from the ear itself, help localize sound in terms of spectral notches. These involve variations in sounds depending on location.
The hippocampus plays a crucial role in memory consolidation, while the amygdala is important for basic emotional responses and emotional learning.
The role of the basal ganglia lies in habit learning and motor skills.
The cerebellum is involved in fine muscle movement, balance, motor skills learning, and procedural learning.
Learning and the brain are related in many ways, particularly through different regions of the brain.
Cognitive factors influence learning.
Explicit memory involves conscious recall, while implicit memory is unconsciously retrieved and expressed in changes in behaviour.
Classical conditioning involves associating a new stimulus with an existing stimulus, thus eliciting a particular response.
Priming influences subsequent processing, perception, and recall through various stimuli.
Procedural learning involves skills and procedures, exemplified by tasks like riding a bicycle.
Artificial grammar learning illustrates implicit memory processes.
Different systems of memory, explicit (e.g., episodic, semantic) and implicit (e.g., procedural) exist, and can show separate impairments.
Cognitive psychologists disagree whether learning is a cognitive process.
Observational learning occurs by observing models, rather than actual personal experiences.
Four basic processes include attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation.
Factors like motivation, attention, and time affect learning.
The total time hypothesis, distributed practice, generation effect; expanding retrieval, and feedback are factors that influence learning.

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Description

This quiz explores the distinctions between cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology, including topics like signal detection theory, conditioning views, and the processes involved in observational learning. Additionally, it addresses the roles of brain areas such as the amygdala and hippocampus in emotional learning and memory consolidation.