PSYCH207 Study Guide - Final Guide: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Medulla Oblongata, Franciscus Donders
5 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSYCH 207 Lecture Notes
Chapter 1: The Brain
I. Dependent Measures
Behaviour
• Accuracy test by giving the subject information and seeing how well they can hold
onto it over time
• Time (RT) when accuracy is virtually perfect, because events occur over time in the
mind
• What does time reveal about the nature of cognitive processing? – Donders
Behaviour with modified brain
• Brain Damage
• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) repeated
magnetic pulses to the brain. Uses magnetic fields to
stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms
of depression
Processing
• fMRI signal depends on the difference in the
magnetic properties of oxygenated and de-oxygenated
hemoglobin
• Electroencephalograph (EEG) record electrical activity
in the brain. Records brain activity. Not good at
spatially locating things in the brain
II. Structures of the Brain
➢ Brain Planes
• Coronal (front and back), Axial (top and bottom), Sagittal/ Midsagittal (left and
right)
➢ Brain Anatomy
• Pons neural relay (left body – right brain)
• Medulla Oblongata transmits from body to brain. Regulates life support
• Midbrain neural relay (cerebellum to forebrain)
• Cerebellum coordinate muscular activity. General motor behavior, balance
• Corpus Callosum information can be transferred from one hemisphere to the
other
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• Parietal Lobe Sensation, spatial and numerical processing
• Temporal Lobe Memory
• Occipital Lobe Vision
• Frontal Lobe where most of the thinking happens, prefrontal – the heart of
thinking
III. Localization of Function
➢ Faculty Psychology Began with Gal’s Phrenology: Different mental abilities were
independent and autonomous functions carried out in different parts of the brain
• Brain localization size = power
• Independence of functions
➢ Double Dissociations
• Patient with damage to area X is impaired for cognition A but not cognition B
• Patient with damage to area Y is impaired for cognition B but not cognition A
• E.g. Cognition A: speech production Cognition B: comprehension. Lesion to Broca’s
area (X) impairs speech production but not comprehension
IV. Brain Imaging Techniques
➢ Functional Neuroimaging
• Electrical activity event-related potentials (ERP), derivative from EEG
• Metabolism – Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Blood Oxygenated Level
Dependent (BOLD) functional MRI when the neuron fires it is consuming the oxygen
in the blood
➢ Subtractive Logic measure the time for a process to occur by comparing two reaction
times, one which has the same components as the other, plus the process of interest
• Originated with reaction time experiments
• Stimulation – Control = Difference
• Individual Difference images = mean difference imaging
➢ The Magnet measures the degree to which specific brain regions are actually recruited
during certain cognitive tasks
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Chapter 2: History
Cognitive Psychology: refers to all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated,
stored, recovered, and used ~Neisser
➢ Attention, Perception, Pattern recognition and memory
➢ Antecedent Philosophies & Traditions
• Empiricism: Locke, Hume, Stuart Mill emphasis on experience/learning. The key is the
association between experiences
• Nativism: Plato, Descartes, Kant Emphasis on that which is innate
• Structuralism: Wundt & Baldwin Focus on elemental components of the mind through
introspection. Method: (1) report on the basic elements of consciousness, (2) not internal
perception but experimental self-observation, (3) Must be done in laboratory under controlled
conditions
o Seeks to discover the principles that explain our conscious experience and identify the
simplest essential units of the mind
• Functionalism: William James regarded the mission of psychology to be the explanation of
our experience. Function is more important than content. Method: introspection in natural
settings get out of the laboratory and study the whole organism in real-life settings
o Aim is to understand the function of the mind – the way in which mental functions let
individuals adapt to their environment
• Behaviourism: Watson, Skinner studied the relationship between inputs (stimuli) and outputs
(responses). Learning was emphasized
o Aim is the scientific study of behavior, an observable consequence of psychological
experience
• Gestalt Psychology: Wertheirmer, Koffka, Kohler focus on the holistic aspects of conscious
experience. Method was through introspection: experience simply described as given, never
analyzed (e.g. I saw a book) Gestalt figures: 8 random lines octagon
o Holds that psychological phenomena cannot be reduced to simple elements but must be
analyzed and studied in their entirety
• Individual Differences: Sir Francis Galton studies mental imagery in both laboratory and
naturalistic settings. He measured individual differences in these cognitive faculties
intelligence, morals and personality were innate
o The idea that individuals differ, even as adults, in their cognitive capacities, abilities, and
preferences
➢ The Cognitive Revolution
I. Human factors engineering presented new problems equipment design required knowledge
of human cognition
II. Behaviorism failed to adequately explain language Skinner: children learn language by
imitation and reinforcement (behaviourism). Chomsky: questioned operant conditioning
explanation of language (e.g. children say sentences they never heard and use incorrect
grammar even though it is not reinforced)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
