Hello everyone,
this is a very concise summary of all slides and topics from the lectures held by prof. Vroomen. I managed to get a very high grade in his course with this summary so I hope that I might be able to help some of you with this one. Again: this is just a summary so don't expect elabor...
- core discipline that studies cognitive functions
- Perception
- Memory
- thinking & decision making
- motor skills
- attention & consciousness
- language
- learning
- emotion
- functions are the building blocks of which all complex behaviour (bake a cake) is made
- cognitive psychology
- is photographic memory real?
- is unconscious (subliminal) perception real?
- perception is sometimes inaccurate, why?
- can animals think etc?
closely linked to:
- cognitive neuropsychology: patients with specific disorders (local brain damage) allow more
specific & reliable inferences about brain functioning
- dyslexia, neglect, aphasia, prosopagnosia
-physiological psychology: investigates relationship between mental processes & their biological
foundations in the Central Nervous System (CNS). Certain types of behaviour are traceable in
brain activity.
- Dualism: Descartes proposed that there is an interaction between mind & body. Free will not
involved in reflexes
- Hermann von Helmholtz: first experimenter: conduction velocity of the nerve impulse
- Gustav Fechner: discovered math. relationship between physical & perceptual world
- JND used in psychophysics
- Darwins Evolution Theory—> comparative psychology: discipline that allows scientists to
compare behaviours in different species
- Donders: Mental chronometry: additive factor logic still used
- Wundt: Structuralism: psych is immediate experience
- sensation, images (memories), feelings—> combination of these rise conscious experience
- analytical introspection
- Behaviourism: Watson: observable behaviour —> mental (covert) behaviour can’t be studied
- part of the logical positivism movement —> introduced: operational definition:
hunger=duration of food deprivation measured in hours
- precise measurements could be made (replicateable)
- Classic Conditioning: Pavlov
- Operant Conditioning: Skinner: learning occurs through reward & punishment
- Gestalt psychology: the whole is more than the sum of its parts // rejected Wundt &
behaviourism
- used phenomenon of apparent motion as proof for their argument
- perception is a construct, not a reflection of the sensation
,- methods in cognitive neuroscience
- experiment. research with behavioural measures (RT) traditional
- non-invasive brain imaging techniques —> EEG, MEG, fMRI
- blocking normal brain function through medication or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
(TMS)
- patients with (in best case) focal lesions
- comp. stimulations
- methods in psychology
- biological factors: chemical, neural, hormonal, genetic
- individual factors: learning, psychodynamic & cognitive processes
- cultural & social factors
- each level has its own research method: important distinction between descriptive vs
experimental research
- descriptive: does not provide info about causality (whether A causes B)
- experimental: does provide info about causality
- descriptive research
- naturalistic observation: behaviour observed within its natural habitat/context
- case studies: detailed study based on one subject/event. (cogn. neuropsych)
- interview: subjects answer a number of q’s about behaviour, attitudes, beliefs etc
(questionnaires are more structured than interviews)
- poll: sample of subjects that make up a small part of the population on which conclusions for
the whole populations are drawn. Sample needs to be representative
- correlational research: measures association between two variables. E.g. large people are
heavy
- correlation varies between -1 and +1
- positive correlation: (0<x<1): both variables in the same direction height & weight increase
- negative correlation: (-1<x<0): variables change in opposite direction
- correlation of 0 implies no relationship between the two variables
- when the correlation between the variables approaches +1 or -1 you can predict it better
- correlation cannot be interpreted causally!
- correlation is measurable between every random pair of variables. High correlation does not
imply a causal relationship
- experimental research
- researcher manipulates just one aspect of the situation (A) while the rest stays the same.
Then measures the effect of the manipulation on behaviour. This does allow interferences
about causality
- timeline of an experimental study
- idea, observations, read the literature
- use theories to formulate a hypothesis (expectation that will be tested in the experiment)
- operationalisation: become concrete. —> which subjects (age, gender, background) and
how many and so on
- collect data & run statistical analyses
- evaluate hypothesis & theory
- independent variable: variable the researcher manipulates
- dependent variable: variable that is measured
- control variable: aspects of the experiment that are equal for the experimental & control
group (e.g. length of the film, room, test leader etc.)
- subject variable: criteria on which groups are matched (age, sex)
,- limitations in experimental research
- internal validity: Is the change of the independent variable A the actual cause of the change
in dependent variable B?
- external validity: To what extent can you generalise results to the real world & the (intended)
population?
- sensation & perception
- sensation: peripheral processing by sensory receptors
- perception: higher-order interpretation of the stimulus
- usually ‘seeing’ equals ‘understanding’ since it happens so fast. However the time between
the two can be separated
- classification of the senses:
- traditional 5 senses: seeing, hearing, taste, smell, touch
- additionally: kinesthetic info (limb posture & muscle tension), balance, touch (texture, pain,
temp., vibration)
- psychophysics: question how to measure sensory capacities
- absolute threshold: lowest intensity of a stimulus that is detectable for humans
- can be measured with the method of constant stimuli: present stimuli at different intensities
around the threshold in random order. usually S-shaped function
- tendencies or biases can obscure the picture
- difference threshold: smallest noticeable difference between two stimuli. just noticeable
difference (JND)—> depends on the ‘size’ of the standard
- —> Weber’s law: ∆l/l = Constant // small Weber fraction = good sensitivity
- signal detection theory (SDT)
- perception is not always an ‘all-or-none’ decision
- often: transition from not observing a stimulus to observing it
- there’s always a response bias
- hit, miss, false alarm, correct rejection—> sensitivity: correct relative to incorrect // bias:
‘yes’ relative to ‘no’ answers
- SDT also applied to research the quality of decisions
- vision
- light is electromagnetic radiation with a specific frequency that falls within the observable
spectrum (visible to the eye)
- the eye
- light first passes the cornea —> most refraction takes place there
- then light passes through the lens of the eye
- ciliary muscles control the accommodation of the lens
- thus allowing to be focused on the retina
- retina is the light-sensitive tissue inside the eye. with cones & rods
, - cones are mostly packed in the central part of the retina, the fovea
- cones are responsible for perception of colour & fine details
- rods are mostly centered around the fovea and are sensitive to low-intensity light
- rods are colourblind and responsible for the perception of movement, peripheral vision,
night vision
- blind spot is where the optic nerve leaves the eye —> difficult to notice because the brain fills
in the blind spot with the immediate surroundings
- nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hypermetropia), and astigmatism
- myopia: eye is too long. distant objects are blurry. concave lens corrects this
- hypermetropia: eye is too short. cannot see near objects. convex lens corrects this
- presbyopia: Alterssehschwäche. consequence of diminished elasticity of the lens. Eye
cannot accommodate enough. Reading glasses. near point increases with age
- astigmatism: imperfections in the spherical curvature of the cornea or the lens —> distorted
retinal image. Blurry vision at all distances, corrected with a cylinder
- cataract: clouding of the lens (age, diabetes)
- macular degeneration: retinal degeneration of the fovea. Focus is black and distorted
(smoke)
- glaucoma: worsening/loss of peripheral vision (failure of nerve cells due to increased eye
pressure) (tunnel vision)
- info from the 130 mill. receptors (rods & cones) is compressed via bipolar cells & ganglion
cells and then sent to the 1 mill. fibres of the optic nerve (nervus opticus)
- compression factor is highest in the periphery &
with a factor of 1
- compression factor is lowest in the macula (fovea
& surrounding area)
- Note: light has to pass through the bipolar cells &
ganglion cells before reaching the receptors
- ganglion cells (cells of the optic nerve) have a
donut-like receptive field that is either centerON/
surroundOFF or centerOFF/surroundON
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller hannamalinger. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.51. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
