Cog Sci 1 Midterm 2

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linguistic relativity

Back 1

The idea that the varying cultural concepts and categories inherent in different languages affect the cognitive classification of the experienced world in such a way that speakers of different languages think and behave differently because of it.

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linguistic determinism

Back 2

The idea that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought.

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the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Back 3

Strong version: Language determines our thoughts. Weak version:Language affects our thoughts.

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frames of reference

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Refers to a coordinate system or set of axes within which to measure the position, orientation, and other properties of objects in it.

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absolute, intrinsic, relative frames of reference

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absolute frame of reference
The location of an object is defined in relation to arbitrary fixed bearings such as cardinal directions.[Wikipedia]
"The tree is east of the house." is an example of absolute frame of reference , which refers to an absolute coordinate system.

intrinsic frame of reference
The location of an object is defined in relation to a part of another object (its side, back, front, etc.)[Wikipedia]
"The tree is right to the house." is an example of intrinsic frame of reference when this statement is described in the persepective of the tree.

relative frame of reference
The location of an object is expressed in relation to both the viewpoint of the perceiver and position of another object.[Wikipedia]
"The tree is left to the house." is an example of relative frame of reference when this statement is described in the persepective of the observer.

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modularity

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the notion that mental phenomena arise from the operation of multiple distinct processes rather than a single undifferentiated one.

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preferential looking paradigm

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A cognition task which presents two different stimuli and records the durations that people look at each stimulus.The assumption behind this task is that if someone make distinctions between the two stimuli, the looking times for the two stimuli are different.

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color categories

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linguistic classifications of colors. In different culture, people use different number of linguistic terms to categorize different colors.

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conceptual metaphor

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The understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of another, for example, understanding quantity in terms of directionality (e.g. "prices are rising").

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A-not-B error

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A typical task goes like this: An experimenter hides an attractive toy under box "A" within the baby's reach. The baby searches for the toy, looks under box "A", and finds the toy. This activity is usually repeated several times (always with the researcher hiding the toy under box "A"). Then, in the critical trial, the experimenter moves the toy under box "B", also within easy reach of the baby. Babies of 10-months or younger typically make the perseverance error, meaning they look under box "A" even though they saw the researcher move the toy under box "B", and box "B" is just as easy to reach. This demonstrates a lack of, or incomplete, schema of object permanence. An errormade by young children during what Piaget defined as "coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions" (substage 4) of their sensorimotor stage, typically around 8-12 months. Children of 12-months or older typically do not make this error.

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attention

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The process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things, perhaps related to the allocation of processing resources.

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attention sharing

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The ability of two humans to coordinate the focus of their mutual attention. In developmental psychology, it considers infants' ability to attend to adult care-givers' attention. According to Deak, it includes "do you see what i see?", "looking where someone is looking", and "getting someone to look where you are."

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

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A complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first two years of life and is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Both children and adults on the autism spectrum typically show difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities

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cognitive ethnography

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A methodology is used to study the cognitive processes that effect the work carried out within a setting, whilst recognising the effect of the material world and social context on the actions carried out and the meanings attributed within the setting.The focus of the study is the events carried out and the meanings of social practices and the absence of these to the participants.

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emergence

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In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence is the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. Emergence is central to the theories of integrative levels and of complex systems.

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emotional memory

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Emotional events are processed in sensory systems and then transmitted to the medial temporal lobe for the formation of an explicit memory about the emotional situation and to the amygdala for the formation of an emotional memory. When a cue from the memory occurs and is processed by the sensory system, it leads to the retrieval of a conscious memory about the emotional event in the medial temporal lobe but leads to the expression of emotional responses when retrieved in the amygdala.

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face perception

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The process by which the brain and mind understand and interpret the face, particularly the human face.

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gaze following

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changing direction of ones' eyes to follow those of another. A significant behavioral change in the development of infants, for example in play with adults

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habituation

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The psychological process in humans and animals in which there is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure to that stimulus over a duration of time.

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orienting

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The reflex that causes an organism to respond immediately to a change in its environment.

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pointing

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Purposeful extending of arm and finger towards a location, with the purpose of drawing another's attention to that place. A significant behavior of the emergence of social attention that infants are able to pay attention to the object other point to or start to point to the object they are interested.

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social attention

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Attention to social interactions among the self and others (generally of the same species)

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atrophy

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The wasting away of a part of the body (muscle, brain, etc)

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axon

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An extension of a neuron's cell body that transmits electrical signals to other neurons.

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brain atrophy

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The loss of neurons and of the connections between them.

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brain maturation

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A life-long process in which the structure of the brain changes beginning from the embryonic stage and continuing till the finals years of life.

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brain morphometry

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As a subfield of both morphometry and the brain sciences, brain morphometry (or neuromorphometry, particularly in the earlier literature, e.g. Haug 1986) is concerned with the quantification of anatomical features in the brain, and changes thereof, particularly from ontogenetic and phylogenetic perspectives. These features include whole-brain properties like shape, mass, volume, encephilization quotient, the distribution of gray matter and white matter as well as cerebrospinal fluid but also derived parameters like gyrification and cortical thickness or quantitative aspects of substructures of the brain, e.g. the volume of the hippocampus, the relative size of the primary versus secondary visual cortex, the amount of neurons in the optic tectum or of Dopamine D1 receptors in neurons in the mouse basal ganglia

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cerebral cortex

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The outermost part of the brain hemispheres that is made up of gray matter. Structurally, it consists of 6 layers and has about 2-4 mm thickness. Functionally, it is considered to be the anatomical structure that is associated with cognitive skills (e.g. attention, memory, language, etc.).

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cerebral spinal fluid (CSF)

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A normally clear and cell-free fluid that fills the ventricular system of the central nervous system [''Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience'', Purves et al.]

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cortical thickening

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Increase in the thickness of the cerebral cortex.