Cognitive Psych- Language & Development 30/01/2012 12:05:00

08/18/2011 (questions from syllabus included on 1st exam, just basic policies) NO class Sept 15th (dvd viewing and quiz in lieu of)

essay questions should only take 6-7 sentences if you really know what your talking about. Study Tips: Interaction w/teacher Regarding questions Compiling a glossary of terms in blue Highlighter Names of People (dont need to know correlating names and dates, just name and controbution) The Ebbinghaus curve 70% tests come from lectures 30% from OR Know about Experiments: why, how, what did they find, what results imply.

First and Last set of info usually well remembered, Middle usually the weakest.

CHAPTER 1:
1. Intro:

08/23/2011

2.3) NECESSARY VS. SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS: Brain and its processes necessary conditions for mental processes; not sufficient conditions.

CHAPTER 2:

We need a brain for a mind to exist. Sound in forest?; NO, no brain=no sound. The brain is IMPT for the mind to exist, but not the only factor.

Sufficient conditions- brain processes, reinforcement hx, cultural and socioeconomic factors, and so on.

Exp: Wining election is a sufficient condition to be the president.

2.4) Is SEEING like Imagining?

Imagining- most people think about vision, BUT the term could refer to ANY sensory system! (sound of thunder, scent of onions, etc.)

Vision is the most extensively studied sensory system.

VISUAL PERCEPTION- related to seeing. How the brain makes since of something. o (Two people can look at the same stimulus, but have a different perception)

VISUAL IMAGERY- seeing something in your minds eye. o (Close your eyes and imaging something, try to describe it.)

Key Similarity: Same Brain-Regions: o Something common in what you see and your minds eye. The Moyer expt: o Wanted to determine if Visual Perception was like Visual Imagery Conditions in the Experiment: o Mentally comparing pairs. Trial 1- Shown pictures of improper sized animals and asked to describe. Small elephant and Large rabbit. Trial 2- Rabbit and German Shepherd Trial 3- Rabbit and Poodle

(which reaction was shortest? Smaller the difference, longer reaction time.) o Perceptual Comparing pairs. o What was found. (refer to Slide Set pg 1) Greater the size difference, faster judgment. Same difficulty level: present in both conditions.

Key Differences: Imagery less detailed than perception. o In stories we remember the jist of the story, not the exact thing with all details. A note regarding imagery o Visual imagery- seeing in the minds eye o Auditory imagery- hearing in the minds ear

Vision- most investigated Brain Regions- more brain regions related to vision than to any other sensory system. Visual Capture- the dominancy of vision over other sensory systems. o The Ventriloquist Effect It looks like dummy is speaking, but KNOW its not. If you close your eyes you just hear the speech. (page 2-3 in Slide Set)

CHAPTER 3:
Methods used and conclusions drawn. 3.1 Cognitive Psychology 3.1.1 General Strategy: Collect Behavioral data- some measure of performance, Infer about mental Processes- which are Unobservable. Examples of behavioral data: Speed- how fast you can solve a problem. Accuracy Confidence ratings- not the same thing as accuracy. What you think you remember vs what you in fact remember. Errors- analysis. 3.1.2 Measuring behavior: (pg 4-5 in Slide Set) Important findings by Ebbinghaus *know this name* (German) * Conducted the first scientific study of memory.

o 3 fundamental discoveries: Forgetting rate for new learning- 60% in 8-9 hrs Savings- If Relearning material requires less effort. The Total-Time Hypothesiso How he did research, also tested himself his own subject o *Nonsence Syllables- see term list o Value not realized until several decades later when people were able to replicate what he found. 3.1.3 Central vs Conceptual Nervous System CNS- Central Nervous System o Brain o Spinal Cord Conceptual Nervous System o Abstract Representation (flowcharts, etc) Serial Recall- look at terms in term list Recall- the ability to recall a list of things in any order. (SS-5) Usually people chose to group categories together. Why ask people to free recall? People catagorize.

Free vs Free o o

Serial Recall- harder test, must recall them in a specific sequence. (harder)

Inference from clustering effect External output reflects internal orginization.

3.2.1 Neuroscience Brief Intro: CNS- Central Nervous System Brain and Spinal Cord Neural correlates of cognition Some Techniques: PET, fMRI, TMS, etc. (SEE Methods of Neuroscience doc)

Examples: (using fMRI to detect what brain regions are active when people are solving equations.) 0 Step: 1x + 0 = 04 1 Step: 3x + 0 = 12 2 Step: 7x + 1 = 29 (they are formatted the same)

3.2.2 Casual Factors Brain behavior/cognition relationship is a two way street. o Hippocampal damage- memory problems Either hemisphere o The hippocampus (and other structures) are modifiable Neuroplasticity- changes in the NS due to thought we have or actions (experiences) we perform. o Exp: Eleanor MacGuire (2003) London Taxi Cab drivers Hippocampal volume (spatial learning). Usually takes at LEAST 3 years to learn way around London. Jeff Schwartz- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Found he could change wiring in OCD persons brain by making them continuously think positive thoughts. Left-Handed Violinists- new neurons in right hemisphere. (things in brain change dependant on activities ones participate in.) (changes in brain are permanent)

08/30/11 3.3 Computer Science

AI= Artificial Intelligence o Trying to write computer programs to perform activities like a human. Simon and colleagues- 1st researcher to compare a mind to a computer. o Computer simulations of human problem solving. The Turing Test: o If any human made machine can do any act like a human can, it is said to have passed the Turing Test. Allan touring, a math professor at Cambridge. Exp given: computer passing touring test, if the computer knew f someone would leave a tip or not.

Searle, John: Strong vs. Weak AI. o Weak AI- from how a computer performs certain activities, we get some insight in how the human mind works. Does not compute any cognitive suits to computers. PROBLEM SOLVING. o Strong AI- as far as a certain activity it performs exactly like a human mind. COGNITIVE STATES. (understanding, comprehension, etc). o Made the point that computers only appear intelligent. Are computers intelligent? Only show the appearance of intelligence. o Searle made this point o Exp: Had two people read a conversation in a different language. Someone wouldnt KNOW that they didnt know the language, but it would APPEAR so. Searles Chinese Room Argument.

o He does not know any Chinese but it locked in a room with a sheet of paper w/Chinese symbols on it. He already had pre determined symbols to correlate what symbol was given. These symbols answered the questions written in Chinese even though he did not know the language, it just APPEARED that he did. Shortcomings of Behaviorism exposed o Input- output may be the same. o His point: our brain has evolved so much it cannot be fully duplicated. Only if you can duplicate the causes (chemical interaction) you can duplicate the effects. o Computers and Chess- a computer can do some things a human cannot. (thousands of things at once, etc) Computers can Process syntax; not semantics. o Syntax- sequence, order. In languages, etc o SemanticsNo Existing Program can solve problems, reason, learn and process language with human facility.

Chapter 4:
Methods for investigating cognition 4.1 Case Studies: 4.1.1

S lived 1890-1958.(dont need to know dates) after his death his name was made public Latvian- former soviet republic. Newspaper reporter in Russia. His claim to fame was that his memory was so good he had difficulty forgetting stuff. Never even took any notes at work. A.R Luria was where his boss sent him. One of the greatest soviet psychologist. He studied Ss memory and cognition for about 30 years o * Wrote the book: The Mind of a Mnemonist * abt S. * S helped himself find a method to help him forget. He would write it on a chalkboard then erase it. Like erasing the memory. Had 5-fold synesthesia, involved all senses. Very rare. o Stated this contributed to his good memory. Also had good Visual Imagery.

(SS Pg 7-8) Synesthesia: Cross-matching of sensory system. o When once since triggers another. Exp: scary story gives you goose bumps. Grapheme o Color synesthesia. The most common. Exp: someone can perceive something (colors, etc) as something different. Black is red, Square is Circle, etc.

o Hypothesis: The brain regions have more interconnections. Characteristics of Synthesia: o 1 in 100 o Involuntary o Strong Genetic Basis o Woman and Left-Handers o Good memory but poorer math and spatial abilities. Called Synesthetes

Ss visual Imagery capability STM and LTM S- no STM- he could not estimate since it was so profound that everything was grouped into LTM. o most people have a STM of 7 or 4. Unlimited LTM Forgetting has adaptive value. (its not a bad thing) Review session for test: Sept 6th 7pm-8pm Prob in WLS

30/01/2012 12:05:00
1:1

Cognitive Psychology- a discipline, (one of several) that investigates some mental processes. Normally NOT attitudes, aggression, etc. Learning, Memory, Decision Making, Language, etc are cognitive. What distinguishes this from other discipline? o The way/technique info is collection o Perspectives

Cognition- mental processes. (not brain processes) [example given, you cant see what the other person is experiencing in their heads, but imagine it. (teacher had classmate describe his room, he can see it, you cant)] Logical Error thinking they are both the same thing. Ch 3: Nonsence Syllables Used several rule to come up with it: CVC trigrams- consanant vowel consanant o GEZ, BUP Free Recall- the ability to recall a list of things in any order. (SS-5) Usually people chose to group categories together.

Why ask people to free recall? People catagorize.

Serial Recall- harder test, must recall them in a specific sequence. (harder) Clustering Effect- how people recall things based on category. Neuroplasticity- changes in the NS due to thought we have or actins we perform.

30/01/2012 12:05:00
Chapter 1: 1. Introduction 2. Mental & brain processes 3. Cog Psych & allied disciplines 4. Methods for investigating cognition 5. Organizing info: theories & models 6. Chapter Summary

Chapter 3: Cognitive Psychology Neuroscience Computer Science Cognitive Science Chapter 4: Methods for investigating cognition 4.1 Case Studies 4.2 Experimental Method 4.3 Verbal Reports o