Cog. Psych. Ch. 8

Front 1

Ventral Pathways

Back 1

Occipital lobe to the Temporal lobe(the what pathway=identification)

Front 2

Dorsal Pathways

Back 2

The Occipital lobe to the Parietal lobe (Where/How=The action pathway)

Front 3

Ventral and Dorsal Pathways Diagrams (Slide 2, 3, 4)

Back 3

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Front 4

Watching Others: Mirror Neurons (Mirror neurons in monkeys)

Back 4

Mirror neurons respond the most when a monkey grasps the object or sees an experimenter grasp the object (a little less), and when the experimenter pick up an object with a clasp (the least)

Front 5

Possible Functions of Mirror Neurons

Back 5

To help understand others actions

- A function of society/group survival

To help copy an other's act (obs. learning)

Front 6

Imagery and Memory

Back 6

Producing a mental picture makes a memory stronger

Mnemonic strategies (are a special kind of transformational strategy because they apply specific language to learning, and connect information to be learned with key words or letters) often employ visual imagery

Front 7

Dual-Coding Hypothesis (In what form is memory retrieved)

Back 7

LTM is coded (represented) in both verbal and visual terms

Abstract terms are harder to learn because they are harder to visualize ("truth","freedom" vs. a chair or table)

Front 8

Relational-Organization Hypothesis

Back 8

Imagery creates more association to an object which improves memory

Front 9

Verbal and Spatial Encoding Test

Back 9

Dissociation between visual and verbal strategies

Two response methods: Say "yes" or "no" at various points or indicate "yes" or "no" spatially

slide 16,17,18

Front 10

Neuroanatomy: Parts of Brain that do Verbal Processing

Back 10

Wernicke's area/ Broca's area (Left Temporal Lobe)

Front 11

Mental Rotations Testings

Back 11

Blocks that vary along two planes: picture plane, depth plane

Front 12

Implicit Encoding

Back 12

We encode mental images of experiences whether we intend to or not

Automatic processing of spatial images

Front 13

Perceptual Equivalence

Back 13

Similar brain patterns at work during visual imagination of objects and images as during real interactions

Front 14

Transformational Equivalence

Back 14

the way we transform mental images (as during rotation experiments) corresponds to the same laws of motion we use when we physically rotate an object in space.

Front 15

Spatial Equivalence

Back 15

The relative spatial relationships among elements are preserved in the visual image
- Not exact but roughly correct in both distance and direction

Front 16

Structural Equivalence

Back 16

The structure of mental images corresponds to the actual objects

Coherent and well-organized enough to be represented in a drawing (Fine details may be missed)

Front 17

Spatial Cognitive tests on animals

Back 17

•Non-humananimal research allows for precise measurements of brain functioning

-All of what is known about the neuroanatomy of human spatial memory was first discovered in rats

Front 18

Animal vs Human Brain

Back 18

Although very different in size therat and human brain share the same neural architectureStructures are functionally similar(ex:hippocampus)Animal models usedto study memory loss such as during Alzheimer’s

Front 19

Egocentric Navigation

Back 19

•Egocentriccues involve physical responses to the environment
–Rateof turn
–Vestibularsense (balance)
–Speedand direction of travel (optic flow)

•Processedin the parietal lobe

Front 20

Optic flow

Back 20

Optical flow or optic flow is the pattern of apparent motion of objects, surfaces, and edges in a visual scene caused by the relative motion between an observer (an eye or a camera) and the scene.

Front 21

Egocentric Navigation

Back 21

A location is remembered relative to the self (object to object)

Front 22

Allocentric Navigation

Back 22

•Alocation is remembered relative to its position to landmarks and boundaries (object to self)

Front 23

Cognitive Map Theory (O’keefe & Nadel,1978) (Allocentric Navigation)

Back 23

Def'n: A spatial representation stored in long-term memory for later retrieval

–Viewpoint-invariant

•Stable across viewpoints

•Novel shortcutting

Processed within the hippocampal formation

•Parahippocampal place area (PPA) (Diagram on Slide 34)

•Entorhinal cortex (Diagram on Slide 34)

•Hippocampus (Diagram on Slide 34)

Front 24

Parahippocampal Place Area

Back 24

• Processes “scenes” as individualsnapshots

•Test on slide 36

Front 25

Place Cells

Back 25

Located in the Hippocampus

– Contains place cells which code for the navigator’s position in space

– A place cell fires when the navigator moves to a specific location

•Referred to as the cell’s place field

–Once established, a place field remains stable across time

•The result of learning and memory

Front 26

Grid Cells and Boundary Cells and Entorhinal Cortex

Back 26

•Entorhinal Cortex

– Contains grid cells and boundary cells

– Sends spatial information to place cells upstream in the hippocampus

•Grid Cells

– Form a metric blueprint-type (grid) map of a space when first learning a new environment

•BoundaryCells

– Codefor the boundaries of a space (e.g., walls, a sheer drop in elevation)

Front 27

Grid Cells: 2014 Nobel Prize and Def'n

Back 27

May-Britt Moser and Edward I. Moser discovered the grid cell

Grid cells produce a grid-like coordinate system . Provide framework of a cognitive map. Fire at mathematically precise locations in space

Front 28

Difference btw place/grid cells

Back 28

-A grid cell responds at multiple locations

- A place cell responds at a singlelocation.

Front 29

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Back 29

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Front 30

Combining Egocentric & Allocentric Cues

Back 30

•Egocentriccues are processed primarily in the parietal lobe (top of the brain behind frontal lobe)

–Trackingof physical movement

•Allocentric cues are processed in the hippocampal formation

–Responsiblefor cognitive mapping

•The retrosplenial cortex is where egocentric and allocentric information is combined

–Allowsfor spatial updating

Front 31

Sex Differences in Spatial Navigation

Back 31

•Menand women show no strong differences in navigational ability

– Equallyaccurate

•Menmake more use of geometric information

– Distanceand direction

– Morelikely to remember locations based on cardinal directions (N, S, E, W)

– Womenmore likely to remember locations based on landmarks

Front 32

Superior Spatial Memory: London Taxi Drivers

Back 32

•Londontaxi drivers undergo extensive training to learn the spatial layout of the city

– Increasedhippocampal volume compared to bus drivers

Front 33

Food-Storing Birds (Clark’s nutcracker high-elevationbird native to the Rockies)

Back 33

Hasextraordinary spatial memory abilities

Stores caches of seeds duringautumn (20,000+ caches)

Recover caches during winter whenlandscape has changed

Hippocampal volume changes with the seasons

Front 34

European Starlings

Back 34

Long Distance Navigation (migrate to Spain from Norway)

Displacement results in differentroutes for young birds (take vector navigation which is Follow specific course using celestial cues like the sun) vs. adult birds (take the true navigation which is to use avariety of directional, landmark, and social cues to maintain a course)

Front 35

Homing Pigeons

Back 35

Long Distance Navigation

•Travelhundreds of km to arrive at their home loft

– Usedas long-distance racing pigeons

– Routes tracked using GPS “backpacks”

– Capableof true navigation

Front 36

Homing Pigeon Cues

Back 36

Magnetic Cues: Sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field

• Magnetite-Based Magnetoreception: Sensedvia receptors located in the skin of the upper beak

•Chemical Magnetoreception: Sensed by photo receptors in the eyes; can “see” magnetic disturbances

•Olfactory Cues: Followfamiliar smells carried on the wind

•Sun Compass: Inconjunction with internal circadian clock

•Landmarks

Front 37

Ocean Birds

Back 37

Long Distance Navigation

Trackedusing lightweight GPS locaters on the bird

Either magnetic sense or olfactorysense disabled

Disabling sense of smell causedbirds to become lost

Front 38

Monarch Butterflies

Back 38

Long Distance Navigation in Insects

•Migrate3,600 km from Canada to breeding areas in central Mexico

•One-waytrip – can’t rely on prior experience

•Brainnot capable of forming cognitive map

Front 39

Honeybees

Back 39

• Honeybees forage for food to bring back to hive

– Routes are encoded as a series of snapshots

– Position their bodies to match previously learned viewpoints

– Communicate spatial knowledge to other bees through choreographed movements (“waggle dance”)

Front 40

African Desert Ants

Back 40

-Spatial Navigation in Insects

- Desert environment lacks stable landmarks

- Need to forage for food and return to nest quickly to avoid extreme heat

Rotate their bodies to the home base/ use the sun to track position

Front 41

Auditory Spatial Cognition

Back 41

• Location for sounds is not present within the sounds themselves - must be calculated

• Auditory space - surrounds an observer and exists wherever there is sound

• How to separate sounds in auditory space? Use location cues

• Binaural cues – depend on both ears

• Monaural cues – can depend on just one ear

•Separating sounds within 3-dimensional auditory space (on slide 63)

– Azimuth coordinates - position along a left to right plane

– Elevation coordinates - position along an up and down plane

–Distance coordinates - position from listener

Auditory information processed in the auditory cortex (both left and right temporal lobes)

Front 42

Interaural time difference (ITD)

Back 42

difference between when a sound reaches the left ear vs. the right ear (Azimuth)

Front 43

Interaural level difference (ILD)

Back 43

•difference in sound level reaching the two ears–Reduction in intensity for sounds reaching the far ear

•Only useful for higher frequency sounds (distance)

Front 44

Spectral Cues

Back 44

– Involve the spectrum of frequencies that reach each ear from different locations in space

– The folds within the outer ear create different frequency patterns for sounds entering the ear from different angles

- Monaural cues localize elevation cue of sound

Front 45

Bat Echolocation

Back 45

•Using the properties of sound waves to locate objects in space

– Nocturnal

– Ultrasonic sound waves echo off objects and surfaces and hunt with sound

Front 46

Bat Echolocation: Prey Countermeasures

Back 46

•Startle Hypothesis: Defensive clicks by insects act to surprise the bat, allowing escape

•Range Interference Hypothesis: Defensiveclicks “jam” the bat’s sonar by interfering with signals returning to the bat

•Phantom Echo Hypothesis: Defensive clicks create “phantom” sonar signals that attract the bat

Front 47

Elephant Vocalizations: Low Frequency Sound

Back 47

•Elephants vocalize at infrasonic levels below the range of human hearing (less than 20Hz) •Contact calls up to 2.5 km away