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29 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Cognitive psychology |
the study of mental activity as an information-processing problem. information processing depends on internal representations. internal representations=mental models of the outside world mental representations undergo transformations |
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Levels of Representation |
example for "A" -has physical (orthographic) representation -phonological -category (vowel) |
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Cognitive Neuroscience Techniques (2) |
-Animal research -Human research |
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Animal Research Techniques (2) |
-allows us to do tightly controlled, invasive research -single-cell recording |
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Human Research Techniques (3) |
-Neurology: looking at patients who've sustained brain injury -Functional Neuroimaging: allows us to record the activity of the brain when someone performs a task -Virtual Lesions TMS: allows us to create temporary and reversible lesions in brain |
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Single-cell recording |
method used to monitor the activity of individual neurons. procedure consists of small recording electrode in a cell or near the neuron and it measures changes in the membrane potential & can determine the conditions that cause the cell to respond |
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Lesion studies in animals |
-necessity of brain structure for task -naturally occurring lesions messy -use of animals allows ore precise control -animals can be used as own baseline |
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Lesion techniques in animals |
-Aspiration: tissue removed via suction -Electrical charge: not very selective -Neurochemical: target neurons that use a certain transmitter |
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Reversible Lesions in animals |
-drugs -cooling |
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Lesion studies-caveats in animals |
-effects on lesion may not be isolated -disconnection effects-lesion of one area might affect operations of connected areas -compensation-alter performance/startegy |
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Knock out procedure |
A technique for creating a genetically altered version of a species. Specific genes are altered or eliminated. These procedures can be used to study behavioral changes occurring in animals that have developed w/o the targeted gene. |
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Advantages of Lesion studies in humans |
-can tell us if a brain area is critical for a particular function -ex. Broca's & Wernicke's work on language |
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Caveats in Lesion studies in humans |
-Does not necessarily mean that the function is localized in this area -Lesions may lead to lack of input to or output from a particular area -A function may depend on the cooperation of different areas -Each lesion is different -Typically, data from before lesion is not available -Lesions may occur more frequent in certain people ex. diabetes -Importance of control group |
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Single Dissociation |
-Requires a minimum of 2 groups & 2 tasks -Present when the groups differ in their performance on one task but not the other. -Provide weak evidence of functional specialization since it is possible that the 2 tasks differ in terms of their sensitivity to detect group differences |
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Double Dissociation |
-Requires a minimum of 2 groups & 2 tasks -Present when one group is impaired on task and the other group is impaired on other task -Provide strong argument that the observed differences in performance reflect functional differences between the groups, rather than unequal sensitivity of the 2 tasks |
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Group Studies vs Individuals Studies |
Group: -often high variability in subjects extent in damage -some damage maybe undetectable w/ CT or MRi Individual or Case: -large area may be damaged, so might be hard to associate deficits w/ specific regions |
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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) |
-Non-invasive way to create temporarory lesions -Avoids problems of generalized deficits in brain damage -Subject as own control -Large electric current passed through coiled wire -Generates magnetic field & causes neurons to fire -Repetitive TMS therapy is used to treat: -Parkinsons, Depresson, OCD, Schizophrenia |
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Functional Imaging Techniques (6) |
-Electrical & Magnetic signals: -Electroencephalogram (EEG) -Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) -Magonetoencephalogram (MEG) -Metabolic/Hemodynamic signals: -Positron Emission Tomography (PET) -Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
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Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) |
-Small, event-related signals embedded in ongoing EEG -Brought out via signal averaging -Precise picture of neural activity over time (ms resolution) -Direct measure of neuronal activity -Non-invasive -Spatial resolution=poor (cm or more) -Temporal resolution=good -Relatively inexpensive -Not many limitations n the possible experimental paradigms -Well established-well known components |
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Magnetoencephalography (MEG) |
-Direct measure of neuronal activity -Non-invasive -Spatial resolution=medium -Temporal resolution=very good 9ms) -Expensive -Tangential fields |
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Positron emission tomography (PET) |
-Active brain areas require more oxygen and glucose= more blood flow -Radioactive oxygen injected as water -Decay leads to positron emission -Measure regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) differences between control and experimental conditions |
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Functional MRI (fMRI) |
-Also a measure of blood flow -Depends on magnetic properties of hemoglobin -Deoxygenated hemoglobin more paramagnetic -Measure is ratio of oxy to deoxy hemoglobin -Deoxy-hemoglobin decreases with activity |
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Forward inference |
Cognitive subtraction - condition A and condition B differ in only cognitive process X Brain subtraction A-B, yields regions associated w/ X |
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Reverse inference |
Use brain data to infer engagement of cognitive process -In new task, region associated w/ X above is active therfore process X is happening -Region X active for process A. Whenever X is active, A is engaged. -Logical fallacy of affirming the consequent |
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Brain imaging techniques on humans (4) |
-Structural -Functional -Spatial Resolution -Temporal Resolution |
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Structural imaging technique |
-image the different anatomical strutures insdie the brain in a static fashion -ideal for identifying the presence of tumors, hemorrages, etc -individual/ clinical differences |
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Functional imaging technique |
image the brain activity in a dynaic fashion used to study changes in brain function |
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Spatial resolution technique |
-min. difference at which 2 separate structures can be distinguished -usually expressed in mm -applies to both structural and functional techniques |
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Temporal resolution technique |
-the abilitiy to track the time-course of brain function -usually expressed in ms or sec -applies only to functional techniques |
