Cognitive Psychology
Prototype Model Problems
how are prototypes represented neurologically?
Where are motor neurons located?
in the Premotor Cortex
Perception
interpretation or organization of sensory information
Parietal Lobe
sensations
What is a dendrite?
A structure in a neuron that receives information from other neurons
Concept related to B.F. Skinner:
Behaviorism
Template Matching
Bottum-Up, compare stimulus to set of templates or specific patterns stores in memory; when exact match is found, perception is complete
Prototype Model
Bottum-Up, we store prototypes (abstract, idealized patterns in memory and compare stimulus to prototype
CAT Scan
Computerized Axial Tomography: shows structure, looks for tumors/abnormalities, still photograph
What is the right hemisphere of the brain associated with?
Creativity, navigation, spatial processing, musical ability
EEG
Electroencephalography: electrodes on the scalp, measures brain waves and different states of consciousness
ERP
Event-Related Potential: electrodes on the scalp, measures the brain's response to different events/stimuli
What are the four lobes of the brain?
Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, Temporal
FMRI
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: looks at function/activity, lets you see how blood is moving through the brain, can ask individual questions and you can respond to see where the blood is moving
Good Continuation
GPPO; elements forming continuous lines or curves are grouped together
Proximity
GPPO; we tend to group things together when they are closer to one another
Closure
GPPO; when a viewer's perception completes a shape which is not complete, closure occurs example: USA logo
Similarity
GPPO; when items look alike, they tend to be grouped together
What is introspection?
The procedure in which trained participants desribe their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli presented under controlled conditions
What is a synapse?
The space between neurons
What is Cognitive Psychology?
The study of how we acquire, store, retrieve, and use information
Which Psychologists are associated with Structuralism?
Wundt and Titchener
Concept related to William James:
"Principles of Psychology"
Concept related to Gestaltist:
"the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"
Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization
(GPPO); how elements in environment are changes and how it affects perception
Movement's Affect on Perception
(top-down and bottum-up theories don't take this into account) can perceive on object better if it moves or if we can move around it or manipulate it.
MRI
Magnetic Resonance Imaging: no radiation, much clearer picture than a CAT scan, can't have if you have a metal implant or pacemaker, inject non-radiation material, shows sill photos
PET Scan
Positron Emission Tomography: radioactive injection, measures blood flow, shows where brain is active, still photograph
Concept related to Donders:
Reaction time experiments
What is the last part of the brain to develop?
The Frontal Lobe
What is Structuralism?
The idea that experience is derived from the combination of basic elements
What is localization?
The idea that specific areas of the brain specialized for specific functions and neurons in different areas respond best to different stimuli
What is distributed processing?
The idea that specific functions are processed in many parts of the brain
Purpose of Mirror Neurons
help us understand people, identify with them in order to react appropriately
Brain imaging has made it possible to...
determine which areas of the brain are invlved in different cognitive processes
Feature Analysis Problems
difficult to explain complex patterns
Top-Down / Conceptually Driven Processing
expectations and context affect perception, same stimulus with different interpretation
Problems with Template Matching
extremely inflexible, doesn't account for everything, and leaves too much time for processing (not viable, but leads to other theories)
Prototype Model Advantages
flexible, recognizes there are differences between stimuli
Temporal Lobe
hearing/auditory, language, facial recognition, little memory
What is the left hemisphere of the brain associated with?
logic, analytical processes, mathematics, language, serial processing
Cerebellum
movement, balance, attention shift across mentalities
Experience-Dependent Plasticity
neurons can be influenced by your experience so that these neurons respond best to the environment which they/you grew up in; seeing changes at the cellular level
Mirror Neurons
neurons that respond in the same way when actually performing an act and when observing someone else perform the act; sensitive to action
Pragnanz / Simplicity / Good Figure
objects in the environment are seen in a way that makes them appear as simple as possible
Bottum-Up/Data Driven Theories of Perception
perceiver uses information or data from environment to form a perception/relies on data
Physical Regularities
physical environmental factors can alter perception
Feature Analysis Advantage
physiological evidence
Frontal Lobe
planning, judgement, motor movement, personality, and higher executive functions
What is lateralization?
specialization of two hemispheres
Sensation
stimulation of sensory receptors and transmission of sensory information
What is plasticity?
the ability of the brain to "take over" functions of damaged areas
Semantic Regularities
the characteristics associated with the functions carried out in different types of scenes
Familiarity
things are more likely to form groups if the groups appear familiar or meaningful
Function of the Corpus Callosum
transfers information between the two hemispheres
Recognition by Components
upload version of feature detection, perceive geons or elementary features, combine geons to form objects
Occipital Lobe
vision
Feature Analysis / Distinctive Feature Model
we make discriminations among objects on the basis on a small set of characteristics or features
