Cognitive Psychology Overview: Chapters 1-12

Questions and Answers

What does the cerebellum control?

Bodily coordination, balance, muscle tone, and some aspects of memory involving procedure-related movements.

What structures make up the convolutions of the cerebral cortex?

Sulci

Fissures

Gyri

All of the above (correct)

The left hemisphere specializes in spatial visualization.

False

What is the primary function of the primary motor cortex?

Planning, control, and execution of movement. Signup and view all the answers

Which lobe is primarily responsible for auditory processing?

Temporal Lobe Signup and view all the answers

The corpus callosum connects both _____ of the brain.

hemispheres Signup and view all the answers

What type of stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain suddenly breaks?

Hemorrhagic Stroke Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of neurotransmitters?

Transmit information across the synaptic gap to the receiving dendrites of the next neuron. Signup and view all the answers

What technique uses a thin electrode to record changes in electrical activity of a single neuron?

Single-cell recording Signup and view all the answers

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is less invasive than other imaging techniques.

True Signup and view all the answers

What do PET scans measure?

Increases in oxygen consumption in active brain areas during particular kinds of information processing. Signup and view all the answers

Which type of brain injuries involve an intact skull but damage to the brain?

Closed-head injuries Signup and view all the answers

_____ refers to the back part of the brain.

Caudal Signup and view all the answers

What is defined as the study of the brain structures and functions postmortem?

Postmortem studies Signup and view all the answers

What are cones?

Short and thick photoreceptors that allow for the perception of color. Signup and view all the answers

What is the function of photo pigments?

They react to light and transform physical electromagnetic energy into an electrochemical neural impulse. Signup and view all the answers

What forms the optic nerve?

The axons of the ganglion cells. Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of the lateral geniculate nucleus?

It processes visual information before it reaches the primary visual cortex. Signup and view all the answers

What does the dorsal pathway process?

Location and motion Signup and view all the answers

Which pathway is referred to as the ventral pathway?

What pathway Signup and view all the answers

What is bottom-up perception?

An approach where perception starts with stimuli taken in through the eyes. Signup and view all the answers

What is direct perception according to Gibson's theory?

Perception is solely based on the information in our sensory receptors. Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of feature-matching theories?

To match features of a pattern to those stored in memory. Signup and view all the answers

What are geons in recognition-by-components theory?

Simple geometric shapes used to recognize 3-D objects. Signup and view all the answers

What does the law of Prägnanz state?

We tend to perceive visual arrays in the simplest way possible. Signup and view all the answers

The ability to perceive an object as stable despite changes in the proximal stimulus is known as _____ constancy.

perceptual Signup and view all the answers

What is simultaneous agnosia?

Inability to pay attention to more than one object at a time. Signup and view all the answers

What is prosopagnosia?

Severely impaired ability to recognize human faces. Signup and view all the answers

Which theory emphasizes that perception is constructed using prior knowledge and sensory data?

Top-down theory Signup and view all the answers

What are the main bottom-up theoretical approaches to pattern perception?

All of the above Signup and view all the answers

What are agnosias?

Deficits of form and pattern perception associated with brain lesions, causing inability to recognize objects. Signup and view all the answers

What is the definition of attention?

The means by which we actively select and process a limited amount of information. Signup and view all the answers

Signal-detection theory (SDT) explains how people pick out important stimuli embedded in a wealth of __________ stimuli.

irrelevant Signup and view all the answers

Consciousness has no overlap with attention.

False Signup and view all the answers

Match the attentional models with their characteristics:

Early Filter Model = Filters information at the sensory level Attenuation Model = Weakens the strength of stimuli other than the target Late-Filter Model = Filters out stimuli after analyzing physical properties and meaning Selective Filter Model = Allows high-importance messages to break through the filter Signup and view all the answers

What are the three primary symptoms of ADHD?

Inattention, hyperactivity, impulsiveness Signup and view all the answers

Change blindness refers to the inability to detect changes in objects or scenes.

True Signup and view all the answers

What does the term 'automatic processes' refer to?

Processes performed without conscious awareness that require little effort. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary neurotransmitter involved in the alerting function of attention?

Norepinephrine Signup and view all the answers

Which factor can influence our ability to pay attention?

All of the above Signup and view all the answers

What is a 'slip' in the context of automatic processes?

Error in carrying out an intended means for reaching an objective Signup and view all the answers

What does priming in psychology refer to?

Facilitating recognition through prior exposure to a stimulus Signup and view all the answers

What is a good predictor of academic success?

Working memory capacity Signup and view all the answers

Which areas are involved in the visuospatial sketchpad? (Select all that apply)

Prefrontal cortex Signup and view all the answers

What type of memory does Endel Tulving distinguish between?

Semantic memory Signup and view all the answers

Lesions in the frontal lobe affect recollection of when a stimulus was presented.

True Signup and view all the answers

What is the phenomenon called when memory retrieval of seemingly forgotten memories is achieved?

Hypermnesia Signup and view all the answers

What kind of amnesia is characterized by the inability to recall events prior to a traumatic event?

Retrograde amnesia Signup and view all the answers

What is the main effect of Alzheimer's disease on memory?

It leads to progressive memory loss. Signup and view all the answers

What is Amnesia?

Severe loss of explicit memory Signup and view all the answers

The model called HERA demonstrates greater activation in the left prefrontal hemisphere for tasks requiring retrieval from ______ memory.

semantic Signup and view all the answers

The neural connections among nodes in connectionist models are essential for the representation of knowledge and ______.

memory Signup and view all the answers

What is the dyad of triads task?

Participants identify which of two triads is coherent and which word links the coherent triad. Signup and view all the answers

What does the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon refer to?

A situation where a person cannot readily retrieve a stored memory but can retrieve related information. Signup and view all the answers

Blindsight occurs when someone has no conscious awareness of visual sensations.

True Signup and view all the answers

What is one of the main functions of attention?

Identifying important objects Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes controlled from automatic processing?

Controlled processes are slow and intentional, while automatic processes are fast and unconscious. Signup and view all the answers

What technique do researchers use to measure sensitivity to targets?

Signal-detection Theory Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between recall and recognition tasks?

Recall involves producing information from memory, while recognition involves identifying it from options. Signup and view all the answers

The traditional model of memory includes three stores: sensory store, short-term store, and __________.

long-term store Signup and view all the answers

What is the capacity of the sensory memory according to research?

12 items Signup and view all the answers

What is procedural knowledge?

Knowledge of how to perform tasks and skills, often acquired through practice. Signup and view all the answers

Which phenomenon reflects facilitation of the ability to utilize missing information?

Priming Signup and view all the answers

The higher the level of processing, the lower the probability of remembering the item.

False Signup and view all the answers

In which model of memory is working memory a central focus?

Working Memory Model Signup and view all the answers

What is cognitive psychology?

Cognitive psychology is the study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information. Signup and view all the answers

Which philosophical perspective emphasizes knowledge through logical analysis?

Rationalism Signup and view all the answers

Who is considered the father of structuralism?

Wilhelm Wundt Signup and view all the answers

Behaviourism focuses on observable behaviour and not on mental states.

True Signup and view all the answers

What is the law of effect according to Edward Lee Thorndike?

A stimulus will tend to produce a certain response over time if an organism is rewarded for that response. Signup and view all the answers

What did Ivan Pavlov study?

Classical conditioning Signup and view all the answers

Who proposed the concept of cell assemblies?

Donald Hebb Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following methods is used in cognitive psychology research?

All of the above Signup and view all the answers

What is the main criticism of behaviourism?

Behaviourism did not account for complex mental activities, such as language learning and problem-solving. Signup and view all the answers

Neuroscientific research looks at the relationship between cognitive performance and cerebral events.

True Signup and view all the answers

The ________ is essential for thinking and other mental processes.

cerebral cortex Signup and view all the answers

What is the upper limit with which an observer can match a response to information given called?

Magic Number Seven Signup and view all the answers

Which research method involves individuals describing aloud all their thoughts during a task?

Verbal protocol Signup and view all the answers

What concept did Noam Chomsky criticize in regards to language acquisition?

Skinner's theory Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the network of neurons essential for regulating consciousness and attention?

Reticular activating system Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

ory memory storage prior to filtering relevant informCognitive Psychology Overview
- Cognitive psychology studies how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information.
- Heuristic methods serve as mental shortcuts for information processing.
- Dialectic development includes thesis, antithesis, and synthesis stages.
- Cultural influences impact cognitive processes, including concepts of intelligence.
Philosophical Foundations
- Cognitive psychology originates from rationalism (logical knowledge, Plato, Descartes) and empiricism (knowledge from observation, Aristotle, Locke).
- Immanuel Kant synthesized these views, while Hegel described dialectical progression of ideas.
Historical Development of Psychology
- Structuralism, founded by Wilhelm Wundt, analyzes the structure of the mind through introspection.
- Functionalism, led by William James, emphasizes the functions and processes of thought.
- Associationism links learning with mental associations, highlighting contiguity, similarity, and contrast.
- Behaviorism, championed by John Watson and B.F. Skinner, focuses solely on observable behaviors and their environmental contingencies.
Theoretical Evolution
- Edward Tolman introduced goal-directed behavior into behaviorism.
- Gestalt psychology promotes understanding phenomena as organized wholes.
- Cognitive psychology arose through a synthesis of behaviorism and Gestaltism in the 1950s, emphasizing internal mental processes.
Key Figures in Cognitive Psychology
- Karl Spencer Lashley emphasized the brain's organization of behavior.
- Noam Chomsky critiqued behaviorism's approach to language acquisition, advocating for innate cognitive structures.
- George Miller introduced concepts like the "Magic Number Seven" related to short-term memory.
Research Methodologies
- Cognitive psychologists employ various research methods:
  - Laboratory experiments with independent and dependent variables.
  - Neuroscientific studies linking cognitive processes to brain function.
  - Self-reports and case studies for insight into cognitive processes.
  - Computer simulations and artificial intelligence to model cognition.
Current Issues and Focus Areas
- Cognitive psychology addresses ongoing debates between rationalism and empiricism, and the importance of cognitive structures and processes.
- Major research topics include attention, memory, language, problem-solving, intelligence, and the effects of culture on cognition.
Brain Anatomy and Function
- Brain divided into forebrain (cerebral cortex, limbic system), midbrain (eye movement, arousal), and hindbrain (basic life functions).
- The cerebral cortex is vital for higher-level thinking, emotional regulation, and memory.
- Key structures include the basal ganglia for motion, hippocampus for memory formation, and thalamus for sensory information processing.
Hemispheric Specialization
- The brain has two hemispheres with distinct functions, connected by the corpus callosum.
- The left hemisphere is specialized for language and analytical functions, while the right hemisphere excels in spatial and holistic processes.
- Split-brain patients illustrate functional asymmetries between hemispheres.
Practical Implications
- Cognitive psychology’s integration with AI and neuroscience fosters advancements in understanding human cognition.
- The discipline continues to explore fundamental cognitive processes and their applications in real-world scenarios.### Frontal Lobe
- Involved in motor processing and higher thought processes, such as abstract reasoning, problem-solving, planning, and judgment.
- Crucial for speech production; damage can lead to speech difficulties.
- Prefrontal cortex integrates information over time, facilitating complex motor control tasks.
- Primary motor cortex is responsible for planning, controlling, and executing movements, with a contralateral organization for body control (homunculi maps).
Parietal Lobe
- Located at the upper back of the brain; plays a role in somatosensory processing and spatial awareness.
- Primary somatosensory cortex receives sensory information related to pressure, texture, temperature, and pain.
Temporal Lobe
- Situated below the parietal lobe; primarily handles auditory processing and language comprehension.
- Retains visual memories, aiding in the recognition of objects and events.
Occipital Lobe
- Located at the back of the brain; specialized in visual processing with various areas analyzing color, motion, and form.
- Contains the primary visual cortex, critical for interpreting visual stimuli.
Brain Orientation Terms
- Rostral: Refers to the anterior part of the brain.
- Ventral: Indicates the inferior surface of the brain.
- Caudal: Means posterior, resembling the tail region.
- Dorsal: Signifies the superior part of the brain.
Neuronal Structure and Function
- Neurons consist of four main parts: soma (cell body), dendrites, axon, and terminal buttons.
- Soma contains the nucleus and connects dendrites to the axon.
- Dendrites collect information from other neurons while axons send electrochemical signals to other neurons.
- Myelin sheaths around axons speed up signal transmission; nodes of Ranvier enhance conduction.
- Terminal buttons release neurotransmitters across the synapse to relay information.
Neurotransmitters
- Chemical messengers allow communication across synapses; categories include:
  - Monoamines, amino-acid neurotransmitters, and neuropeptides.
- Key neurotransmitters include:
  - Acetylcholine: Associated with memory, sleep, and arousal.
  - Dopamine: Linked to attention, learning, movement control, and motivation.
  - Serotonin: Regulates eating behaviors, body weight, aggression, and impulsivity.
Brain Research Methods
- Postmortem Studies: Connecting behaviors to brain anomalies, e.g., Broca's patient Tan.
- Nonhuman Animal Studies: Techniques like single-cell recordings, lesioning, and genetic knockout procedures.
- Live Human Studies: Include:
  - Electrical Recordings: EEGs track brain wave activity; ERPs measure changes in response to stimuli.
  - Static Imaging: CT and MRI scans assess structural and functional aspects of the brain.
  - Metabolic Imaging: PET scans and fMRI examine brain activity based on glucose and oxygen use.
Brain Disorders
- Stroke: Sudden blood flow disruption, leading to cognitive function loss. Two types: ischemic (blockage) and hemorrhagic (bleeding).
- Brain Tumors: Can be primary (originating in brain) or secondary (spread from elsewhere). Symptoms may include severe headaches, nausea, and cognitive changes.
- Head Injuries: Classified as closed (intact skull) or open (breached skull). Symptoms include abnormal breathing, speech disturbances, and cognitive issues.
Perception Concepts
- Sensation to Perception: Recognizing and organizing sensory information.
- Basic Perception Terms: Distal object (external), informational medium (stimuli), proximal stimulation (sensory receptor interaction), perceptual object (mental representation).
- Sensory adaptation can affect perception, e.g., the Ganzfeld effect where constant stimuli lead to perceived disappearance.
Visual System Function
- Vision begins with light entering through the cornea and passes through the pupil, lens, and vitreous humor, ultimately focusing on the retina.
- Contains photoreceptors: rods (night vision, peripheral sensitivity) and cones (color perception, concentrated in the fovea).
- Signals travel via bipolar and ganglion cells to form the optic nerve and transmit visual information to the primary visual cortex.
Visual Processing Pathways
- What-Where Hypothesis: Dorsal pathway processes spatial information while the ventral pathway identifies objects.
- What-How Hypothesis: Focuses on object identification and interaction pathways.
Bottom-Up Perception Theories
- Four primary theories:
  - Direct Perception: Emphasizes the sufficiency of sensory information for perception.
  - Template Theories: Suggest recognition occurs by matching stimuli to stored templates.
  - Feature-Matching Theories: Compare stimulus features to stored memory features.
- Pandemonium Model: Illustrates the hierarchical processing of stimulus features through metaphorical "demons" with specific responsibilities.### Feature Matching Theories
- Feature demons detect matches between stimuli and specific features, calling out relevant information.
- Cognitive demons identify stored patterns in memory corresponding to features noted by feature demons.
- Decision demons evaluate input based on the frequency of cognitive demons' outputs.
- Global features provide the overall shape, while local features concern detailed aspects of patterns.
- Global precedence effect: Slowed identification when recognizing small 'S's forming a large 'H' compared to small 'H's forming a large 'H.'
- Local precedence effect: Faster recognition of widely spaced local features than global forms, especially with contradictory stimuli.
Neuroscientific Evidence
- Visual cortex neurons respond to specific stimuli types, such as orientation.
- Each neuron corresponds to a specific retinal receptive field, illustrating a hierarchical complexity in responses.
- Gnostic units or “grandmother cells” are neurons linked to recognizing complex objects.
Recognition-by-Components (RBC) Theory
- Recognition of 3-D objects involves decomposing them into simpler geometric shapes known as geons.
- Geons possess viewpoint invariance, aiding general recognition but struggling with specific instances.
- Neurons in the inferior temporal cortex are sensitive to viewpoint invariance and may show varying responses based on object rotation.
Top-Down Theories
- Perception is influenced by high-level cognitive processes, prior knowledge, and expectations, forming a constructive approach.
- Constructive perception combines sensory data with cognitive understanding.
- Color constancy maintains the perception of color despite lighting changes.
- Hypotheses about percepts are formed from sensory data, memory knowledge, and inferences.
- Context effects demonstrate how surroundings influence perception; complex configurations improve recognition efficiency.
Gestalt Laws of Perception
- Gestalt principles explain perception through holistic approaches, emphasizing the organization of visual arrays into coherent forms.
- The law of Prägnanz favors simple organization of visual elements.
- Principles include figure-ground perception, proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, and symmetry.
- Human children utilize Gestalt principles, differing notably from other primates.
Recognition of Patterns and Faces
- Two systems for pattern recognition: feature analysis focuses on parts, while configurational analysis emphasizes whole configurations.
- Face recognition is primarily managed in the fusiform gyrus, with a distinct response to faces compared to other objects.
- The "face positivity" effect indicates older adults prefer happy faces.
- Amygdala activation connects emotional responses with face processing.
- Prosopagnosia illustrates severe difficulties in recognizing faces, linked to damage in the configurational system.
Perceptual Constancies
- Perceptual constancy ensures stable perception despite changing sensory conditions; includes size and shape constancy.
- Size constancy involves perceiving an object's size as constant, irrespective of proximal stimulus changes.
- Shape constancy retains perceived shape despite changes in proximal stimuli.
Depth Perception
- Depth is understood as the distance from surfaces, driven by binocular and monocular cues.
- Monocular cues include texture gradients, relative size, interposition, linear perspective, aerial perspective, and motion parallax.
- Binocular depth cues rely on the disparity and convergence of images from both eyes, interpreted by the brain to gauge distance.
Deficits in Perception
- Agnosias are deficits caused by brain lesions affecting the ability to recognize objects.
- Visual-object agnosia permits seeing parts without recognizing objects; simultagnosia limits attention to one object.
- Prosopagnosia severely impairs face recognition capabilities.
- (Optic) ataxia disrupts visual guidance of movements linked to the dorsal pathway.
Anomalies in Color Perception
- Color perception anomalies, more common in men, include rod monochromacy (no color vision) and various types of dichromacy.
- Types of color blindness vary by which color perception mechanisms fail: protanopia (red-green), deuteranopia (green), tritanopia (blue-yellow).
The Nature of Attention and Consciousness
- Attention actively selects information from environmental stimuli, enhancing reaction speed and accuracy toward salient stimuli.
- Consciousness encompasses awareness and linking past memories with present sensations.
- Functions of attention include signal detection, vigilance, search, selective attention, and divided attention.
- Signal-detection theory assesses effectiveness in identifying targeted stimuli among distractions.
Search Mechanisms
- Search involves scanning the environment for specific features, distinguishing between feature and conjunction searches.
- Feature search targets one characteristic unaffected by distractors, while conjunction search combines multiple features; complexity increases with the number of distractors.
- Feature-integration theory suggests a two-stage process in object perception, first recognizing features and then linking them.
Selective Attention
- The cocktail party problem illustrates the ability to focus on one conversation amidst distractions.
- Dichotic presentation reveals how individuals can notice sensory changes in unattended messages but miss semantic ones.
- The early filter model posits sensation.

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Dive into the foundational concepts of Cognitive Psychology as outlined in the 7th edition of Sternberg's text. This quiz covers various topics such as the definitions and philosophical origins of cognitive psychology, heuristics, dialectics, and the influence of culture on cognition. Enhance your understanding of how cognitive processes shape perception, learning, memory, and thought.