Class notes

Intro to Cognitive Functions + Practice Questions

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Course
PSYB55H3

Institution
University Of Toronto (U Of T )

A summary on lectures notes on the cognitive control (executive functions). Practice questions are also supplied at the end to test the student's knowledge.

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Uploaded on January 7, 2025
Number of pages 9
Written in 2024/2025
Type Class notes
Professor(s) Michael souza
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PSYB55 Lecture Notes and Practice Questions

CA$ 82.39 CA$ 35.49 11 items

1. Class notes - Intro to cognitive functions + practice questions
2. Class notes - Intro to language + practice questions
3. Class notes - Intro to emotion + practice questions
4. Class notes - Intro to memory + practice questions
5. Class notes - Intro to motor control + practice questions
6. Class notes - Intro to attention + practice questions
7. Class notes - Intro to object recognition + practice questions
8. Class notes - Intro to perception + practice questions
9. Class notes - Methods in neuroscience + practice questions
10. Class notes - The fundamentals of neurons and neurotransmitters
11. Class notes - The history of neuroscience
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‭Lecture 11 - Cognitive Control‬

‭Conceptualizing Goals and Goal-Directed Behaviours‬
‭🧠‬‭goals‬‭= something you aim to do‬
‭○‬ c ‭ ould be long-term (i.e. being a good mom) or short-term (i.e. making it through a‬
‭B70 lecture without zoning out)‬
‭🧠‬‭identifying goals and behaving accordingly is a key function of the brain‬
‭🧠‬‭goal-directed behaviours‬
‭○‬ ‭how do we maintain goal-relevant information‬
‭■‬ ‭working memory‬‭-‬‭the mental space that helps in keeping‬‭goals and goal relevant‬
‭information in the mind‬
‭○‬ ‭how do we manage distractions and suppress actions appropriately‬
‭■‬ ‭inhibition‬‭-‬‭the ability to put on the mental “brakes”‬
‭○‬ ‭how do we alter behaviour when we experience error or when circumstances change‬
‭■‬ ‭cognitive flexibility‬‭-‬‭switching gears in the way‬‭we think when the original plan‬
‭changes or doesn’t work out‬
‭●‬ ‭opposite to being ‘rigid’‬
‭○‬ ‭how do we break down complex goals into reasonable steps that are prioritized‬
‭■‬ ‭planning‬‭-‬‭determining when to do what by accounting‬‭for priority and‬
‭maximizing efficiency‬
‭○‬ ‭how do we navigate and solve novel problems that stand between us and goal completion‬
‭■‬ ‭reasoning/problem-solving‬‭-‬‭overcoming challenges‬‭that are in the way of‬
‭achieving our goals‬
🧠
‭ ‬‭goal-oriented behaviour is‬‭crucial‬‭for staying on‬‭task and achieving goals‬
‭○‬ ‭damage to any of the behaviours can be detrimental to achieving goals‬

‭Cognitive Control‬
‭🧠‬‭executive function = cognitive control‬
‭○‬ ‭used‬‭interchangeably‬
‭○‬ ‭psychologists didn’t like using the term ‘executive’, because it wasn’t entirely‬
‭inclusive and suggested only one area being responsible for cognitive functions‬
‭(which isn’t true)‬
‭■‬ ‭“cognitive control” tackled this as it feels to indicate there being many control‬
‭areas in the brain‬
🧠
‭ ‬‭CEO and executive committee analogy‬
🧠
‭ ‬‭the‬‭prefrontal cortex‬‭is mainly focused on the‬‭thinking‬‭parts of the frontal lobe, considered‬
‭the‬‭cognitive portion‬‭of the‬‭frontal lobe‬
‭○‬ ‭[frontal lobe] - [motor cortex] = PFC; it’s the frontal lobe without the motor cortex‬
‭portion‬
‭○‬ ‭subregions have functional specificity‬
🧠
‭ ‬‭frontal lobe damage is quite common, stroke being one of the main causes followed by‬
‭traumatic brain injury‬
🧠
‭ ‬‭there are 4 principles to why the frontal lobe is good for cognitive control, according to‬
‭Miller & Cohen‬
‭○‬ ‭generate neural activity that biases other regions‬
‭○‬ ‭maintenance in the face of distractions‬
‭○‬ ‭house “appropriate representations”‬
‭○‬ ‭plasticity‬

, ‭Generate Neural Activity That Biases Other Regions‬
‭🧠‬‭frontal lobe controls behaviour while also reigning control over other‬
‭brain areas‬
🧠
‭ ‬‭the brain is split into‬‭three units‬
‭○‬ ‭unit 1 -‬‭generalized function, regulates levels of‬‭activation and‬
‭states of vigilance‬
‭○‬ ‭unit 2 -‬‭registrars, analyzes and stores information‬‭in‬
‭sensory-related cortices‬
‭○‬ ‭unit 3 -‬‭programs and controls mental activity and‬‭behaviour‬
‭■‬ ‭this accounts for the prefrontal cortex‬
‭■‬ ‭when this area (the frontal lobe) is damaged, individuals are seen to act‬
‭independently and struggled w/ goal-directed behaviour‬

‭Inhibition‬
‭🧠‬‭a necessary component of an executive regions = the use of inhibition (‬‭the mental brakes‬‭)‬
‭○‬ ‭i.e.‬‭the stroop task‬
‭■‬ ‭the process of inhibition reduces the level of salience of a competing stimulus‬
‭that you don’t want to focus on (putting the breaks on reading the word in‬
‭order to name the colour it’s inked in)‬
‭○‬ ‭this process of inhibition ties in with enhancement and suppression, brain areas that‬
‭assist with what you want to focus on become > activated while those you want to‬
‭ignore “pipe-down”‬
‭■‬ ‭i.e.‬‭the houses vs faces task‬

‭Repression‬
‭🧠‬ ‭the notion that we “lock out” traumatic memories from our consciousness in order to‬
‭prevent causing damage, but that can lead to actually‬‭forgetting about it‬
‭○‬ ‭an idea proposed by Freud‬
🧠
‭ ‬‭a study was done to test out whether it really does get forgotten‬
‭○‬ ‭participants were told to study word pairs (‬‭words‬‭that go together - i.e.‬
‭teeth|jaw‬‭)‬
‭○‬ ‭words inked in red are meant to be forgotten while words inked in‬
‭green are meant to be remembered‬
‭○‬ ‭the results showed that to an extent, we forget things we intentionally‬
‭mean to forget‬
🧠
‭ ‬‭the prefrontal cortex‬‭suppresses‬‭the‬‭hippocampus‬‭when‬‭told to forget something‬

‭Frontal Lobe Lesion Impact on‬‭Personality‬
‭🧠‬‭frontal lobe damage also impacts an individual’s personality where they have a difficulty‬
‭controlling their emotions‬
‭○‬ ‭seen in the case study of‬‭Phineas Gage‬
‭○‬ ‭particularly experience > anger, hostility, frustration (‬‭have difficulty controlling them,‬
‭worse off from prior to the damage‬‭)‬
‭○‬ ‭a study saw this when looking at individuals w/ frontal lobe damage (‬‭frontal only‬‭),‬
‭damage beyond the frontal lobe (‬‭non-frontal‬‭) and damage‬‭that includes frontal lobe‬
‭(‭f‬ rontal involvement‬‭)‬

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