Cognitive psychology is the study of human mental processes that occur within the mind. It looks at such internal processes such as, memory, perception and attention. It came about in the 1950’s as a result of the behaviourist approach being flawed; internal mental processes cannot be observed. Therefore, from this an alternative method of looking at the physiological side of the brain had to emerge. Cognitive neuroscience was then born to identify the neural mechanisms, which are responsible for underlying cognition. These neural mechanisms are also important when it comes to manifestations in behaviour. Cognitive neuroscience helps to combine the works of cognitive science and cognitive psychology. However, it is important to consider how
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Therefore when looking at laterality in humans when looking at emotionally arousing stimuli and long-term memory, a relationship can be established but not a relationship to emotional reactions per second. The machinery can also be expensive and very noisy so may cause stress to participants. Although the benefits of using fMRI include them being non invasive as they require no foreign substance to be introduced into the bloodstream, and also they have good spatial resolution, so where brain activity may be occurring can be …show more content…
They also have poor temporal resolution, so how long activity is occurring is unknown. The machinery is also expensive. A benefit of using a PET scan is that a 3D image is provided, and so a detailed image can be produced, also, spatial resolution is high and so where the neural activity is occurring can be localised.
Another cognitive neurocognitive technique that has influenced our understanding of the mind is an electroencephalography (EEG). This is where electrodes are placed are a participants scalp and electrical activity is measured over time. A participant’s response to stimuli can be measured through the scalp electrodes recording their event-related potentials, if fluctuations in activity occur, a positive or negative electrical charge can be observed.
It has been shown in recent accounts that short-term retention may be sustained by this increased neural activity (Curtis & D’Esposito, 2003). In a previous study an EEG was implemented to see if there is a delay period in neural activity when participants were asked to recall things in their immediate attention or in their delayed attention (LaRocque & Lewis-Peacock). It was found through an EEG, that there was elevated neuronal activity for items in participant’s immediate attention, and decreased neuronal activity for items outside of participant’s
Therefore when looking at laterality in humans when looking at emotionally arousing stimuli and long-term memory, a relationship can be established but not a relationship to emotional reactions per second. The machinery can also be expensive and very noisy so may cause stress to participants. Although the benefits of using fMRI include them being non invasive as they require no foreign substance to be introduced into the bloodstream, and also they have good spatial resolution, so where brain activity may be occurring can be …show more content…
They also have poor temporal resolution, so how long activity is occurring is unknown. The machinery is also expensive. A benefit of using a PET scan is that a 3D image is provided, and so a detailed image can be produced, also, spatial resolution is high and so where the neural activity is occurring can be localised.
Another cognitive neurocognitive technique that has influenced our understanding of the mind is an electroencephalography (EEG). This is where electrodes are placed are a participants scalp and electrical activity is measured over time. A participant’s response to stimuli can be measured through the scalp electrodes recording their event-related potentials, if fluctuations in activity occur, a positive or negative electrical charge can be observed.
It has been shown in recent accounts that short-term retention may be sustained by this increased neural activity (Curtis & D’Esposito, 2003). In a previous study an EEG was implemented to see if there is a delay period in neural activity when participants were asked to recall things in their immediate attention or in their delayed attention (LaRocque & Lewis-Peacock). It was found through an EEG, that there was elevated neuronal activity for items in participant’s immediate attention, and decreased neuronal activity for items outside of participant’s