Cognitive Psychology - Final exam

BOLD

blood oxygen level dependent contrast; this is the signal measured by functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI)

implacable experimenter

the situation in experimental research in which the experimenter's behavior is uninfluenced by the participant's behavior

How do neural imaging techniques differ?

-EEG: Recording the brain's electrical potentials through a series of scalp electrodes -MEG: A non-invasive brain-scanning technique based on recording the magnetic fields generated by brain activity; it has good spatial and temporal resolution -PET: A brain-scanning technique based on the detection of positrons; it has reasonable spatial resolution but poor temporal resolution -efMRI: This is a form of functional magnetic resonance imaging in which patterns of brain activity associated with specific events (correct vs. incorrect responses on a memory test) are compared -fMRI: A technique based on imaging blood oxygenation using an MRI machine; it provides information about the location and time course of brain processes -ERPs: The pattern of electroencephalograph (EEG) activity obtained by averaging the brain responses to the same stimulus (or very similar stimuli) presented repeatedly. -Single-unit recording: An invasive technique for studying brain function, permitting the study of activity in single neurons -TMS: A technique in which magnetic pulses briefly disrupt the functioning of a given brain area. It is often claimed that it creates a short-lived "lesion". More accurately, TMS causes interference when the brain area to which it is applied is involved in task processing as well as activity produced by the applied stimulation. -tDCS: A technique in which a very weak electrical current is passed through an area of the brain (often for several minutes); anodal tDCS often enhances performance, whereas cathodal tDCS often impairs it.

Artificial intelligence

This involves developing computer programs that produce intelligent outcomes

What are the different types of amnesia?

1. Retrograde 2. Anterograde 3. Korsakoff 4. Dissociative

cognitive architecture

A comprehensive framework for understanding human cognition in the form of a computer program

Meta-analysis

A form of statistical analysis based on combining the findings from numerous studies on a given research topic

Sulcus

A groove or furrow in the surface of the brain

Back-propagation

A learning mechanism in connectionist models based on comparing actual responses to correct ones

What is the McGurk effect?

A mismatch between spoken and visual (lip-based) information leads listeners to perceive a sound or word involving a blending of the auditory and visual information

Case-series study

A study in which several patients with similar cognitive impairments are tested; this allows consideration of individual data and of variation across individuals

transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

A technique in which magnetic pulses briefly disrupt the functioning of a given brain area. It is often claimed that it creates a short-lived "lesion." More accurately, TMS causes interference when the brain area to which it is applied is involved in task processing as well as activity produced by the applied stimulation

What are the functions of consciousness?

Access consciousness and phenomenal consciousness

What does research regarding split-brain patients tell us about consciousness?

Although the two hemispheres are completely insulated from each other, the brain as a whole is still able to produce only one conscious agent

Cognitive neuroscience

An approach that aims to understand human cognition by combining information from behavior and the brain

Cognitive psychology

An approach that aims to understand human cognition by the study of behavior; a broader definition also includes the study of brain activity and structure

What is verb bias?

An imbalance in the frequency with which a verb is associated with different syntactic structures

Single unit recording

An invasive technique for studying brain function, permitting the study of activity in single neurons

What are the different types of attention?

Arousal, focused, sustained, selective, alternating, and divided

How do the different forms of aphasia differ?

Broca's have articulation planning, not directly involved in production of words, Wernicke's have an easier way to grammatically speak words.

What are the differences between declarative and non-declarative memory? Which types of memory fall into each category?

Conscious recollection of stored facts and events, explicit, semantic and episodic; No conscious recollection, implicit, priming procedural.

What are the different levels of consciousness?

Conscious, preconscious, and unconscious

What are the examples of monocular, binocular, and oculomotor cues?

Cues to depth that can be used by one eye, but can also be used by both eyes together; Cues to depth that require both eyes to be used together; Cues to depth produced by muscular contractions of the muscles around the eye; use of such cues involves kinesthesia (also known as the muscle sense)

Lesions

Damage within the brain resulting from injury or disease; it typically affects a restricted area

What is the difference between retrospective and prospective memory?

Disruption of memory for previously learned information by other learning or processing occurring during the retention interval; Disruption of memory by previous learning (often of similar material).

What area of the brain is most associated with processing faces?

Dorsal; posterior

What are the stages of learning and memory?

Encoding, storage, and retrieval

What is inattentional blindness?

Failure to detect an unexpected object appearing in the visual environment.

What are the different types of sensory stores?

Iconic and echoic memory

What is the cocktail party problem?

Inability to focus on one single object or person, rather trying to multitask in focusing on each individual/object; The difficulties involved in attending to one voice when two or more people are speaking at the same time.

Ventral

Inferior, or towards the bottom of the brain

How do we interpret and parse ambiguous sentences?

Interpret: Parsing: Analyzing the syntactical or grammatical structure of sentences.

How does working memory impact reading comprehension?

It is involved in linguistic processing, so when it is affected it decreases the comprehension we obtain in our short-term memory; high capacity individuals have superior reading comprehension due to reduced mind wandering

How do MRIs and fMRIs differ?

MRIs: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) involves using an MRI scanner containing a very large magnet (weighing up to 11 tons); fMRIs: A technique based on imaging blood oxygenation using an MRI machine; it provides information about the location and time course of brain processes

Connectionist model

Models in computational cognitive science consisting of interconnected networks of simple units or nodes; The networks exhibit learning through experience and specific items of knowledge are distributed across numerous units

What cues aid in depth perception?

Monocular, binocular, and oculomotor cues

What are mirror neurons?

Neurons that respond to actions whether performed by oneself or someone else; it is claimed these neurons assist in imitating (and understanding) the actions of others

What are the key processes involved in reading?

Orthography Phonology Semantics

What are rods?

Rods are specialized for vision in dim light.; produce much activity in retinal ganglion cells in poor lighting conditions; retinal ganglion receives hundreds of rods

What are the different forms of dementia?

Semantic dementia; retrograde amnesia

What are the differences between serial and parallel processing regarding attention?

Serial processing is in which one process is completed before the next one starts; Parallel processing in which two or more cognitive processes occur at the same time

What is the difference between serial and parallel processing?

Serial processing is in which one process is completed before the next one starts; Parallel processing in which two or more cognitive processes occur at the same time

Lateral

Situated at the side of the brain

Medial

Situated in the middle of the brain

How do spatial and temporal resolution differ?

Spatial identifies the brain areas active when a task is performed; Temporal is the time course of such activation

What is categorical perception?

Speech stimuli intermediate between two phonemes are categorized as one of those phonemes

Dorsal

Superior, towards the top of the brain

How do the different forms of dyslexia differ?

Surface dyslexia: Damage in semantic system Phonological dyslexia: general deficit in phonological processing

What is prosody?

Systematic modifications to the way that speakers utter words in order to specify or disambiguate the meaning of an utterance

Modularity

The assumption that the cognitive system consists of many fairly independent or separate modules or processors, each specialized for a given type of processing

What is cross-modal attention?

The coordination of attention across two or more modalities (e.g., vision and audition).

Association

The finding that certain symptoms or performance impairments are consistently found together in numerous brain-damaged patients

What is the Ganong effect?

The finding that perception of an ambiguous phoneme is biased towards a sound that produces a word rather than a non-word

Paradigm specificity

The findings with a given experimental task or paradigm are not replicated even when apparently very similar tasks or paradigms are used

Computational modeling

This involves constructing computer programs that simulate or mimic human cognitive processes

What is the encoding specificity principle?

The notion that retrieval depends on the overlap between the information available at retrieval and the information in the memory trace.

Syndrome

The notion that symptoms that often cooccur have common origin

What pathways are associated with vision?

The parvocellular (or P) pathways: it is most sensitive to color and to fine detail; most of its input comes from cones The magnocellular (or M): it is most sensitive to movement information; most of its input comes from rods

What is change blindness?

The tendency of observers to overestimate greatly the extent to which they can detect visual changes and so avoid change blindness.

How do facial and object recognition differ? How are they similar?

There is more holistic processing in face recognition which is a faster processing system

How is information stored in long-term memory?

Through the circuits throughout the nervous system

What are cones?

Used for colour vision and sharpness of vision; retinal ganglion cell receives only few cones

How does visual perception differ from visual imagery?

VP: refers to the brain's ability to make sense of what the eyes see; VI: pertains to graphics, visual scenes, pictures, or the sense of sight.

What are flashbulb memories?

Vivid and detailed personal memories of dramatic events (e.g., 9/11).

Magneto-encephalography (MEG)

a non-invasive brain-scanning technique based on recording the magnetic fields generated by brain activity

Converging Operations

an approach in which several methods with different strengths and limitations are used to address a given issue

What are the parts of speech?

noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection

What are the components of working memory?

phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive

What are the different types of interference?

retroactive and proactive