Cognition Exam 1.pdf

Cognition: the scientific study of mental processes (thoughts) > What is meant by mental processes? - Remembering, attention, language, problem solving, perception, sensation, decision making > What is the mind? - Complex of cognitive faculties that enables mental functions (consciousne...

Cognition: the scientific study of mental processes (thoughts) > What is meant by mental processes? - Remembering, attention, language, problem solving, perception, sensation, decision making > What is the mind? - Complex of cognitive faculties that enables mental functions (consciousness, thinking, reasoning, perception, judgment) > Why is cognition important? - Humans overestimate our intuition and make errors Nativism: knowledge and abilities are natural to one, they are innate, one already has knowledge, “learning” is actually retrieval of concepts the soul already knows > Plato and Socrates - Science is perception: no such thing as an objective or absolute truth, everything is defined by how we experience it (perception) which is not objective but subjective Empiricism: knowledge and abilities are acquired, blank slate approach, one learns through new experiences > Aristotle - We learn through doing things and experiencing things Challenges of studying cognition: we can’t see mental processes, very complex processes Assumptions when studying cognition: 1) Mental processes exist - EX. we have to undergo a process to make a decision 2) Humans are active information processors - Humans have intent and are involved in processing information, it requires effort and the brain does not simply react to stimuli: the brain builds upon and pulls from preexisting knowledge, beliefs, and cognitive strategies to integrate information and use it - EX. we don’t simply hear words, we hear sentences and interpret meaning and emotions, etc 3) Mental processes can be identified though behavioral measures - EX. Looking at how long it takes for someone to respond to a stimuli and make a decision can tell us about decision making Timeline and Methods of Cognitive Psychology 1) Donders - reaction time experiment - Measured time between stimulus presentation and persons response to stimulus (light and buttons) - How did he find out how long it takes for someone to make a decision? - The time it took to make a choice AND react to a stimulus minus the time it took to just react to a stimulus - We can’t measure mental responses directly, but we can infer from the participant behavior 2) Wundt - father of psych, credited with first psych lab  - Observed and measured stimuli, energy affecting a person - Structuralism: experience is determined by structuring basic sensations and experiences together upon each other - Looks at fundamental components of human consciousness - Introspection: observation of the self and one’s thoughts and experiences, records them - Issues: can’t really confirm validity, lots of variability, reliant on consciousness > cognition also involves the unconscious mind 3) Ebbinghaus - forgetting curve 4) James - principles of psychology (subjective based on his experience, not experiments) 5) Watson - Behaviorism: focus on observable data (behaviors) using reinforcement and rewards as well to predict behavior, mind is a “black box” that can’t be observed. Looks at relationship between stimulus and response without looking at cognitive process in between - Limits to observable data 6) Skinner - operant conditioning Cognitive revolution: how can we study the mind? - Measure observable behavior - Make inferences about underlying cognitive ability - What does this behavior say about how the mind works? - Use measurement and observation to test hypotheses about how the brain works Information processing approach: the mind is like a computer - The operation of the mind occurs in stages: input stage > processing stage > organization stage > decision making stage > etc EX. Clever Hans - Math teacher Mr. von Osten - Intellectual ability of his horse, hans - My horse can add fractions and give values of german coins! - Horse would lift foot once or twice and answer with 90m- 95 % accuracy - Hans failed to answer correctly when he was blindfolded: observed the people around him, how they'd lean howard to see his feet, and change their body language EX. Horse Race Question - All four of a horse’s hooves are off the ground at the same time during a gallop - Paintings vs. photographs Scientific attitude - Empirical approach: data - Curious skepticism: how and why - Humility: aware of error-proneness Scientific theory: makes precise and consistent predictions while relying on a small number of underlying assumptions - A good scientific theory has 2 components - Falsifiability: precise predictions are made, and evidence can be given thereafter to confirm or contradict the theory - Law of Parsimony: with all else being equal, the simplest theory is the best (rely on the fewest and simplest possible assumptions) Claims can be supported scientifically through evidence that supports a hypothesis (any falsifiable prediction about new facts from a theory) - EX. horoscopes vs. People with high-stress levels will be more likely to contract a common cold after being exposed to the virus than people who have low-stress levels. Measurement problem in research - To measure phenomena accurately, we must develop observable definitions - Operational definitions: describes behavior so that it is observable and measurable - EX. attentional behavior of eye gaze shift, posture change - Specifications about the procedures, giving a numerical value Experiments must be replicable Research designs: - Correlation: finding relationships and connections between two measures or variables - Experimentation: controlled testing of one or more variables - Random assignment: ensures each subject has equal chance of being assigned to each group - Experimental group, Control group - Holding constant: ensures two groups are treated identically except for manipulation - Descriptive: systematic, objective observation of people to provide a clear accurate picture of people's behavior , thoughts and attributes - Case study: thorough observation and description of an individual in an unusual condition or circumstance - EX. Phineas Gage: rod in his front brain, personality change, prefrontal cortex - Survey: study of the prevalence of certain beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors based on people’s responses to questions - Naturalistic observation: careful monitoring and examination under natural circumstances - Limitations: may not predict future behavior, does not allow understanding of inner mechanisms of behavior, unable to control behavior to test specific questions How the brain relates to the mind - The mind arises from the brain - Localisation in the brain: certain brain areas specialize more in certain functions than others - Important in understanding how to study the brain - Does not mean that other areas of the brain are not being used when we say a certain area specializes in a function Human Nervous System - Materialism: mind and consciousness are caused by physical processes, such as the neurochemistry of the human brain and nervous system, without which they cannot exist - Physiological: mechanisms that produce behaviors Human experience is the product of the activity of the cells of the nervous system - Central Nervous System: made up of the brain and spinal cord - These neurons process and interpret information to send commands to the muscles, glands, and organs - Spinal cord: reflexes (rapid, automatic response to stimulus) - Voluntary responses: originate in brain and travel via spinal cord to muscles - Peripheral Nervous System: all the nerves that exit the brain and spinal cord - Carry sensory and motor messages throughout - How the brain responds: - There is a stimulus, to which the brain activates and gives a physiological response. Then, the brain perceives the stimulus, and decides how to respond, and sends out signals on how to respond. This induces a behavioral response. - EX. there is a light turned on, the brain registers the light, the brain decides it is too bright and thereby harmful, the brain sends a signal to close the eyes - Neurons: the cells that make up the nervous system - Sensory: neuron that detects changes in the external or internal environment - 5 senses, detects information and sends information to the CNS - Afferent Arrives to the neuron - Inter: neurons that are only in the CNS, connect motor to sensory - Motor: neuron located in CNS, controls contraction of muscle or gland secretion - Efferent Exits the neuron - Neuron structure  - Dendrite: branchy, extensions of neuron off cell body that receives messages and conducts impulses - Cell Body/Soma: cell body, contains nucleus, mitochondria, ribosomes - Axon: thin fiber of neuron, output structure responsible for transmitting nerve impulses - Tube like myelin sheath: white fatty casing that acts as electrical insulator, it catalyzes speed of neural signals down the axon - Branches at end that connect to other neurons’ dendrites - Terminal buttons: the buds at the end of the branch that connect to the membrane of another neuron - Connection is called a synapse, sends information Information is transmitted and received electrochemically - Action potential: combination of electrical and chemical processes used to convey information in axons - Signal travels along axon at constant strength regardless of distance traveled - All-or-none process: nerve cells either fire at full strength or do not fire at all - Process: Action potential travels down the axon > causes neurotransmitter to release from axon terminal > neurotransmitter travels across synapse > binds with receptor on receiving neuron Chemicals released at the synapse excite (more likely action potential) or inhibit (less likely action potential) neighboring cells - Neurotransmitter: a chemical released by the terminal button that allows another neuron to be excited or inhibited - Acetylcholine: enables muscle action, learning, & memory - Dopamine: influences movement, learning, attention and emotion (excess linked with Schizophrenia) - Serotonin: affects mood, hunger, sleep & arousal (too little: depression) - Norepinephrine: controls alertness & arousal, too little affects mood negatively Neurons constantly grow: new experiences and learning - Brain plasticity: brain can rewire itself by relocating information processing functions to different brain areas and or neural networks Phrenology (Gall): bumps on skill reveal out mental abilities and character traits - Was wrong about the bumps and traits > racism - Right about localisation of functions - Oversimplification, but very useful - Most processing really does occur locally in specified areas, but not all of it - Brain is always active, but region with peak activity Embryological development: vertebrate nervous system - Midbrain and Hindbrain: brain stem - Forebrain: cerebral cortex and other higher structure Brain organization: high priority to lower priority > Basic life functions: Brain stem - Breathing, heartbeat > Basic motor programs: Cerebellum - Integrates visual auditory, somatosensory information - Smooths movement and coordinates: damaged leads to jerky movement or can't stand > Sensory information : Thalamus - Receives info from cerebral cortex and projects information to specific regions of cerebral cortex > Emotion, motivation, simple judgment: Limbic system - Hypothalamus: regulates emotional and motivated behavior - Amygdala: emotion processing  - Hippocampus: memory processing > Voluntary action, complex judgment, symbolic thought Cerebral cortex: outer covering of forebrain, composed of gray matter - interior is white matter - Frontal lobe (forefront): reasoning, language, executive control - Parietal lobe (next to frontal, above temporal): attention, objects in space, counting - Temporal lobe (beneath frontal and parietal): audition, language, object recognition - Occipital lobe (far back corner): vision Contralateral organization of the brain: - Right hemisphere controls left side of body - Left visual field - Communicates with left hemisphere to name objects in visual field - Left hemisphere controls right side of body - Right visual field - Communicates with right to synthesize details into whole picture Corpus callosum: large bundle of neural fibers connecting two brain hemispheres - Communication essential - Split-brain patients: unable to synthesize left and right hemispheres because corpus callosum was severed to control seizures Neuropsychology: branch of psychological science examining how brain injury affects the mind - Brain damage: if an injury to a specific brain region reliably causes a specific dysfunction, this region is crucial for correct functioning - Broca’s area: speech - Wernicke’s area: word comprehension - Aphasia: impairment of language - Agnosia: inability to recognize objects, shapes, sounds, smells, people - How do we study the brain? - Ex vivo: after death - Ex vitro: cultures and slices - In vivo: living, invasive and non invasive Methods of recording brain activity: electrical and magnetic output - EEG - Electrodes placed on scalp - Activities of cortex zones recorded - Good temporal resolution, bad spatial resolution - PET - High resolution of brain, good spatial and bad temporal - Radioactive chemicals injected into blood, sees density signal of marker and blood flow in area of brain - Color > level of activity - Lie still on table - fMRI - magnetic detectors amounts of hemoglobin and oxygen in different areas of the brain: highly active areas use more oxygen - Good spatial resolution, bad temporal Sensation: process by which changes in the state of the world create changes in the brain Perception: process by which changes in the state of the brain give rise to our conscious experience of the world, experience resulting from stimulation of senses - Sensation + theory = perception - Uses prior knowledge and experience to interpret and make sense of sensations - Can change based on added info - Involves a process, occurs in conjunction with actions What pathway: occipital lobe primary visual area > temporal lobe (object recognition) - Damage: visual form agnosia, cannot recognize or depict objects - Damage: visual object agnosia, can’t categorize / name objects, give description instead Where pathway: occipital lobe primary visual area > parietal lobe (objects in space) - Damage: hemispatial neglect, lack of awareness or attention to one side of space Human perceptual system: environmental energy stimulating receptors + knowledge and expectations the observer brings to the situation - Why can’t machines perceive like humans? - Inverse projection problem: lets say a machine is tasked with determining the object responsible for a particular image on the retina. It starts with a retinal image, and then extends outward to the source of that image. - People can identify incomplete/obscured/blurry objects - Viewpoint invariance: objects look different from different viewpoints Approaches to perception - Direct perception theories: Bottom-up processing - Perception comes from environmental stimuli: starts with the senses - We identify parts and put them together until we recognize - Template matching: problem of imperfect matches, flexibility not accounted for - Feature analysis: recognition based on characteristics, assemble each feature into complex form - Recognition by components: geon breakdown and identification of relationship between geons - Constructive perception theories: Top-down processing - People actively construct perceptions using information based on expectations: starts with the brain - Helmholtz unconscious inference: perception depends on knowledge - Likelihood principle, squares example - Our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions - Gestalt laws of perceptual organization - The mind groups patterns according to intrinsic laws of perceptual organization - Principle of good continuation: lines following smoothest path, little change in direction, hidden also part of whole - Closure: resulting structure is seen as simple as possible, close lines where they are not present - Law of Pragnanz: principle of simplicity or good figure - We actively construct patterns and configurations - Bayesian inference: sensory input (data) is combined with prior knowledge or expectations (priors) to form perception = likelihood - Regularities of the Environment: common physical properties of the environment - Verticals and horizontals more easily perceived than other orientation - Light from above assumption: shadows give us info about depth and distance - Semantic regularities: Tiffany’s likely to have jewels than chips Depth Perception Cues - Relative size: inferred same size looks bigger > closer - Linear perspective: convergence of parallel lines - Texture gradients - Relative height Fusiform Face Area: high neuronal activity during facial recognition - Damage: prosopagnosia (only inability to recognize faces) - Associative agnosia: can't recognise objects but can faces - Also active if you have high expertise in any item to recognize (Gonchan clothes) Attention: concentrating on specific features of the environment or on certain thoughts or activities (can be overt or covert), the means by which we actively process a limited amount of information - Main Functions of Attention: signal detection and vigilance - Signal Detection Theory: can be incorrect and correct in two different ways - A hit: correct detection of an actual stimulus - A correct rejection: no stimulus is present and no detection is claimed - A miss: An incorrect rejection when a stimulus is present - A false alarm: An incorrect detection when no stimulus is present - Vigilance: attending to a set of stimuli over a length of time to detect a target - You have finite attention - Vigilance decreases rapidly over time, fatigue accumulates - Search: actively searching for a target - Number of targets and distractors influence accuracy - Feature search (find green among blue) vs. conjunctive search (find green or blue) - Attention filtering: filtering out some info and promoting other info for further processing - Selective attention: ability to focus on one message and ignore all the others - Dichotic Listening: trying to listen to different things on different ears - One message shadowed - Cherry: unattended ear filtered out vs attended ear registered - To some degree, unattended ear is being processed: cocktail party effect - Early in processing: Broadbent’s filter - Filtered before incoming information is analyzed for meaning - Can't explain cocktail party effect - Can be trained to detect unattended message - Intermediate processing: Treismen’s attenuation theory - Attended message separated from unattended in processing, just weakened unattended stimuli instead of blocking out - Late in processing: McKay - selection occurs later after analysis is done - Bank river money: participant choice affected by shadowed message - Divided attention: we have finite attention - Cognitive load: amount of a person’s cognitive resources needed to carry out particular cognitive task - Load theory of attention - Processing capacity: how much information someone can handle at once - Perceptual load: difficulty of given task - Inattentive blindness: happens from high cognitive load - Change blindness: failure to detect unexpected stimulus - Controlled processing: conscious control required - Automatic processing: no conscious control needed - Stroop effect: meaning of word interferes with ability to name ink color, we can’t avoid paying attention to word meaning - Emotional Stroop effect: emotional content takes longer to process, words relevant to concern more slow (clinical diagnosis) - Attention can be affected by anxiety, arousal, task difficulty, skills