CHAPTER 5:
Sensation: The detection of external stimuli and the transmission of this information to the brain
in electrical or chemical signal
Perception: The processing, organizing, and interpretation of sensory signals that make sense
of an input and identify it
Transduction: The process by which sensory stimuli are converted into signals the brain can
interpret
Basic Flow of Sense: Sense activates receptors, information (the sensation) then travels to the
brain where it is transduced (made sense of (perception))
Two Types of Processing:
- Bottom-Up Processing: perception based on the physical features of the stimulus
Ex: identifying a certain taste
- Top-Down Procession: how knowledge, expectations, or past experiences shape the
interpretation of sensory information
Ex: filling in the missing pieces of information, stopping when a ball bounces into the street
Absolute Threshold: the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur before you
experience a sensation (the instant something goes from nothing to something)
Difference Threshold: (just noticeable difference) the minimum amount of change required to
detect a difference between stimuli (when you can tell 2 things apart)
Weber’s Law: The more intense the stimulus, the bigger the change required to notice it
(volume of 30 and 35 vs 5 and 10
Vision External Stimulus: photons
Precise Site of Transduction: photoreceptors (cones and rods)
Cones: Activate in high light levels, day vision, and color vision, found only in the fovea (small
dip in the retina), 4 million
Rods: Activate in low light levels, night vision, no color, found everywhere in retina except the
fovea, 100 million
Vision Pathway: photons, cornea (funnels light into the eye), pupil, lens (focuses and directs
light onto the retina), retina, photoreceptors (cones/rods. Sight of transduction), ganglion cells,
and ganglion leave the eye via the optic nerve, the optic nerve goes to the thalamus, and then
the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe, where it either goes to the ventral stream or the
dorsal stream
Cortical Projections for Vision:
- Ventral Stream: occipital lobe to temporal lobe, “what stream” identifies objects
- Dorsal Stream: occipital lobe to the parietal lobe, “where stream” navigation determines
where something is
Causes of Blindspot: ganglion cells leaving the eye via the optic nerve
Photons travel: in waves
Wavelengths of light: have different physical properties (amplitude and frequency), short,
medium, and long waves create the perception of color
Different Wavelengths:
- Short: 420 nm (blue)
- Medium: 530 nm (green)
- Long: 560 nm (red)
All perceived colors are a result of a pattern of activation across three types of cones
Trichromatic Theory: the concept that the human eye perceives color by combining the three
primary colors of light (red, blue, green)
● All perceived colors are a result of a pattern of activation across three types of cones
● The brain compares the degree of activation and extracts color information
Opponent Processing Theory: (either or system) the cell receives input from one of two
different wavelengths (colors) that are opposite (red or green) (blue or yellow), and when a cell
is activated by one color the other color that cell can receive is inhibited.
Color blindness:
- Cannot distinguish certain hues
- The most common form is insensitivity to M cones (green and yellow)
- Most common in males
Afterimages: after some extended firing, photoreceptors become fatigued, and looking away
activates the opposite color creating an afterimage.
Gestalt Psychology: Described a series of laws to explain how our brains group the perceived
features of a visual scene into organized wholes.
- Proximity: the closer two figures are to each other, the more likely we are to group them
and see them as part of the same object
- Similarity: we tend to group figures according to how closely they resemble each other
- Continuity: we tend to group together edges or contours that have the same orientation,
which is known as “good continuation.”
- Closure: we tend to compare figures that have gaps
- Illusory contours: we sometimes perceive contours and cues to depth even when they
do not exist.
Proximity
Similarity
Continuity
Closure
Illusory Contours
Other Assumptions that Guide Perception:
- One light source, usually from above
- Context matters
● Interpreting stimuli in relation to other stimuli (Ebbinghaus and Munker illusion)
Depth Cues
- Binocular Depth Cues: (retinal disparity) Depth perception cues arise from the fact that
people have 2 eyes, disparities between images allow distance calculation - adjusting
muscles
- Monocular Depth Cues: cues of depth perception that are available to each eye alone
Monocular Depth Perception
Pictorial Depth Cues:
- Occlusion: a near object occludes (blocks) an object that is farther away.
- Relative Size: if the far-off and close objects are the same physical size, far-off objects
will project a smaller retinal image than close objects. (things further away look smaller)
- Familiar Size: because we know how large familiar objects are, we can tell how far
away they are by the size of their retinal images
- Linear Perspective: seemingly parallel lines appear to converge in the distance
Occlusion
Relative Size
Familiar Size
Linear Perspective
-
Hearing External Stimulus: changes in air pressure (vibrations)
Sound Wave Amplitude: determines loudness
Sound Wave Frequency: determines pitch, measures by hertz
Purpose of the middle ear (malleus, incus, stapes): focuses and amplifies sound
Cochlea: receives sound information (base = high pitches, end = low pitches)
Basilar Membrane: transduces sound information
Hair Cells: precise site of transduction - connect to the auditory nerve
Place Coding: pitch is determined by the location of the activated hair cells
- Location matters - different parts of the basilar membrane vibrate in response to different
sounds
Temporal Coding: encodes the frequency of auditory stimuli in the firing rate of auditory
neurons
- Timing matters
- More Action Potential = higher pitch, fewer AP = lower pitch
Hearing pathway: sound vibrations enter the pinna (works as a funnel), sound goes down the
ear canal and vibrates the tympanic membrane (eardrum), malleus/incus/stapes (middle ear)
vibrate which focuses and amplifies sound, goes to the cochlea, basilar membrane (place and
temporal coding), hair cells, auditory nerve, thalamus, primary auditory cortex in the temporal
lobe
Hearing Aids: Amplify sound
Cochlear Implant: uses sound processor, electrically stimulates parts of cochlea, bypasses hair
cells, has to relearn hearing
Taste External Stimulus: tastants
Taste Buds: (site of transduction) 8-10k taste buds detect sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami
Taste pathway: tastants dissolve in the mouth and activate taste buds (receptors), sending
information to the thalamus, then the frontal lobe to experience the perception of taste
Perception of Taste: taste is impacted by smell, texture, visual cues, and expectations
Super Tasters: Up to 25% of individuals are more sensitive to bitter and spicy tastes & textures,
genetic
Cultural Factors influence: taste preference - food producers work to find bliss points and
create cravings that sell more product
Olfaction External Stimulus: odorants
Olfaction system is the only system that bypasses the: thalamus
Olfaction Pathway: Odorants pass into the nasal cavity and contact the olfactory epithelium
(contains receptors for smell), bind to olfactory receptors (site of transduction), olfactory bulb
(brain’s smell center), prefrontal cortex processes information, hippocampus(memory), and
amygdala(emotion).
Vomeronasal System: second olfactory system, detects pheromones which are secreted odor
signals
Vomeronasal organ: where receptors are found
Vomeronasal receptors: very sensitive, can detect sex hormone metabolites, signals of
genetic relatedness (to avoid inbreeding)
Synesthesia: cross-activation of different senses, leads to odd perceptions, linked to creativity
Pain Processing
Activation of Nociceptors (pain receptors): peripheral receptors on free nerve endings that
respond to painful stimuli
2 types of Fibers carry pain information
- C fiber: chronic pain and hot temp, ache and burn of pain, unmyelinated (small)
- Delta Fibers (A Delta): acute pain and cold temperature pricking heat pain, stab of pain,
myelinated (large)
Periaqueductal Gray (PAG): pain gateway
- Ascending pain pathway: passes signals to the thalamus
- Descending pain pathway: can inhibit pain (opioids)
Pain Pathway: a delta and c fibers activate and send signals to PAG then the thalamus then the
somatosensory cortex
Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC): perception of pain, activated after physical pain and social
rejection (neurally identical)
Mirror Neurons: pick up the emotional states of others, empathy (allows you to feel others'
pain), tied to strong feelings of attachment and love
Pharmaceutical Treatments for pain:
Opiate drugs and endogenous opioids: including endorphins, bind to specific receptors in the
brain to reduce pain
Epidural or Intrathecal Injections: place opiates directly into the spinal cord (direct pain
blockers stop ascending signals)
Tylenol: COX1-2 inhibitor - decreases swelling
Cannabis: Stimulates CB1 receptors in the spine and brain
CHAPTER 6:
Learning: a relatively enduring change in behavior, resulting from experience
3 Types of Learning:
- Nonassociative Learning: responding after repeated exposure to a single stimulus, or
event, learning of stimulus (sight/sound) in the external world
- Associative Learning: linking two stimuli, or events, that occur together
- Observational or Social Learning: (learning by watching) acquiring or changing a
behavior after exposure to another individual performing that behavior
Nonassociative Learning:
Habituation: a decrease in behavioral response after repeated exposure to a stimulus
(especially if the stimulus is neutral, decreased NT release over time)
Dishabituation: an increase in response because of a change in something familiar
Sensitization: an increase in behavioral response after exposure to a stimulus (usually painful
or threatening, increase NT released)
2 types of Associative Learning:
Classical Conditioning: time and strength matters - stimulus predicts another stimulus learning what goes together (Pavlov Dog)
Pavlovian Conditions Key Terms
- Neutral Stimulus: anything the animal can see or hear as long as it is not associated
with a reflex being tested
- Unconditioned Stimulus: a stimulus that elicits a response, without prior learning (an
instinct - causes something to happen automatically
- Unconditioned Response: a response that doesn't have to be learned (reflex) the thing
that happens automatically
-
Conditioned Stimulus: a stimulus that elicits a response only after learning occurs
(neural until learning happens)
Conditioned Response: response to a conditioned stimulus, that has been learned
Second-Order Conditioning: a CS becomes associated with other stimuli associated
with the US, which helps account for the complexity of learned associations
Acquisition: gradual formation of an association between the conditioned and
unconditioned stimuli (the process of learning the association) - timing matters
Extinction: animals learn when associations are no longer adaptive - CR weakens with
many CS presentations without the US (girl who cried wolf)
Spontaneous Recovery: process in which a previously extinguished conditioned
response reemerges after the presentation of the conditioned stimulus
Stimulus Generalization: (stimulus close enough to cause a CR) learning that occurs
when stimuli that are similar but not identical, are conditioned stimuli produce a
conditioned response - metronome vs beeping
Stimulus Discrimination: (stimulus too different to cause CR) a differentiation between
two similar stimuli when only one of them is consistently associated with the
unconditioned stimulus - metronome vs tuba
Increase Learning can: Increase discrimination
Importance of Classical Conditioning: provides a basis for future researchers but
does not explain everything (complex behaviors)
Operant Conditioning: behavior leads to a consequence
Law of Effect: The principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences
become more likely and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less
likely.
Reinforcement: Any event that strengthens a preceding response and increases the
likelihood of that behavior occurring again
- Positive Reinforcement: Increases behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers
(presenting stimulus strengthens the response)
- Negative Reinforcement: Increases behavior by stopping or reducing negative
stimuli (removing stimulus strengthens response)
Punishment: an event that weakens a preceding response and decreases the likelihood
of the behavior occurring again
- Positive Punishment: Presenting a negative consequence after an undesired
behavior is exhibited, making it less likely to occur in the future
- Negative Punishment: Removing a desired stimulus after a particular undesired
behavior is exhibited, making the behavior less likely to happen in the future
Skinner Experiments: designed and used the Skinner box for experiments and
recorded responses (ranged from simple to complex behaviors)
Shaping: Reinforcers gradually guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations
of the desired behavior
Successive Approximations: start with any behavior that even slightly resembles the
desired behavior
Importance of Operant Conditioning: Explains a wide range of behaviors, and can
explain things classical conditioning cannot.
Punishment is: limited
Reinforcement is: ideal
Factors that influence learning (operant conditioning)
1. Timing matters - the short time between behavior and consequence
2. Strength of reinforcement - better reward = faster learning
3. Specific pairing matters - certain pairings are more likely to occur than others
4. Conditioned Taste Aversion
5. Schedule of Reinforcement (continuous/partial)
Conditioned Taste Aversion: the association between eating a food and getting sick
-
Scheduling of Reinforcement:
Continuous Reinforcement: a type of learning in which behavior is reinforced every
time it occurs
Partial Reinforcement: a type of learning in which behaviors are reinforced
intermittently
● Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR): occurs when reinforcement is provided after a
certain number of responses has been made
● Variable Ratio Schedule (VR): occurs when reinforcement is provided after an
unpredictable number of responses
● Fixed Interval Schedule (FI): occurs when reinforcement is provided after a
certain amount of time has passed
● Variable Interval Schedule (VI): occurs when reinforcement is provided after the
passage of time, but the time is not regular
Fixed: Predictable
Variable: Random
Interval: Time
Ratio: Number of times
Continuous vs Partial:
Continuous Reinforcement (vs): is highly effective for teaching a behavior, but easily
extinguished (easy to learn, easy to forget)
Partial Reinforcement extinction effect (vs): greater persistence of behavior under
partial reinforcement than under continuous (harder to learn, harder to forget)
Which Partial Schedule is the Best?
- Variable ratio (teaches persistence, use anticipation)
Superstition: seeing relationships that do not exist - accidental actions are reinforced
and thought to drive rewards (common in athletes)
- The biggest factor for superstition: is timing - a shorter gap in time higher
chance of forming
Conditioning In the Brain:
- Increases activity in the nucleus accumbens
- Increased dopamine = increased reward value of stimuli
- Determined by innate preferences (evolutionary)
Dopamine = craving - increased before and after you get the reward
*Liking is Complicated:
- Opioids
- Dopamine
- Serotonin
- Oxytocin
IMPORTANT
4 Factors that influence operant conditioning:
1. Timing between action and consequences
2. How strong the reward is
3. The type of pairing
4. Schedule of reinforcement
Phobias: learned and innate
- Learned: conditioning can cause us not to be terrified of something we did not used to
fear
- Innate: snakes, spiders, death, etc.
Exposure Therapy: psychological treatment that helps people confront their fears in a safe
environment
Phelps Study: you can be afraid of something without experiencing it yourself
Observational Learning: modification of behavior after exposure to another individual
performing that behavior
Bandura Experiment: demonstrated that children learn through observation
Vicarious Learning: learning the consequences of an action by watching others being
rewarded or punished for performing the same action
Reciprocal Determinism: (surroundings shape how you are) - Cognition behavior and
environment all mutually influence each other
- Thoughts, behavior, and environment all constantly interact and shape each other
Emotional Contagion: the process by which emotions spread from one person to another
(happiness can be infectious)
Observational Learning in the Brain: mirror neurons in the motor cortex, fire when you see
someone perform an action
Can you get better at something by just watching? Not really but sometimes, need a level of
existing mastery to maximize benefits
CHAPTER 7:
Computer Memory: perfect but limited, literal, facial recognition
Human Memory: imperfect but adaptive, conceptual and flexible, relationships, info is relative
Types of Memory: Sensory Memory, Short Term Memory (STM) and Working Memory, Long
Term Memory
Fundamentally, Memory is a: progression
Sensory Memory: memory for senses (vision, hearing, touch, etc.), allows us to experience the
world as a continuous stream
Sensory Memory Capacity: large capacity, very short duration (⅓ of a second),
unlimited capacity
Perceptual Processes:
- Iconic Memory: vision
- Echoic Memory: hearing
Sperling: flashed 3 letters on screen for 1/20th of a second, those could name 3 or 4 letters but
remembered seeing all of them, time it took to say letters, memory went away.
Short Term Memory (STM): information decays quickly (several seconds), limited capacity,
passive system, small capacity, short duration
Digit Span Test: remember numbers in order, when you hear write in order
The capacity of short-term memory?: 7 plus or minus 2 (phone numbers), can be expanded
by memory tricks like chunking.
Working Memory: Active system, mental manipulation (10-15 seconds), limited capacity, linked
to intelligence, critical thinking, etc.
4 components of working memory: Central Executive, Phonological Loop, Visuospatial
Sketchpad, Episodic Buffer
- Central Executive: Direct Attention, Coordination
- Phonological Loop: language (2-second duration/ 7 items plus or minus 2), important
for learning language
- Visuospatial Sketchpad: mental imagery (holds info you see)
- Episodic Buffer: Integrates visual-spatial and verbal units
How to Improve Working Memory: Practice, Try to keep several things in your mind at once
(lists, mindfulness, mental math)
Brain Region that Underlies STM and working memory?: Prefrontal Cortex
Brain Region that Underlies Sensory Information: Temporal and Occipital Lobe\
Long-Term Memory: information lasts years, near unlimited capacity
Implicit Memory: Unconscious, cannot describe (walking, parking a car, playing an instrument)
Procedural: Skill memory - riding a bike, reading a book, tying shoes
Priming: one stimulus influences future action subconsciously
LTM Classical Conditioning: association between 2 or more things
Explicit Memory: consciously aware of, memory for facts and events
Episodic Memory: memory for past events, consciously recalled and described (like a
movie, can recall precise details
Semantic Memory: memory for facts, more general, helps organize the world into
categories
What Brain Structure is Important for LTM: Hippocampus
Patient HM (Henry Molaison) Revealed:
1. The hippocampus is an important structure mediating learning and memory
2. No new memories could be formed but he still has his long-term memories (the
hippocampus requires the formation of new memories)
3. The patient could still learn to mirror tracing tasks and other procedural tasks
Cognitive Map: a mental representation of a spatial environment
Important for spatial learning: Hippocampus and entorhinal cortex (contain place cells)
Place Cells: become active when in, or moving toward a particular location
What happens when you damage the hippocampus?: Amnesia
- Retrograde Amnesia: loss of memories formed before the onset of amnesia
- Anterograde Amnesia: inability to form memories after onset of a disorder
Basic Structures of Sensory Memory: Secondary association areas, Integrate sensory
information
Basic Structures of STM and Working Memory: Prefrontal Cortex, Attention
Basic Structures of LTM: Medial temporal lobe structures, hippocampus, and amygdala
Implicit LTM: cerebellum and cortex
Processes that Underlie Memory: Encoding, Consolidation, Storage, Retrieval,
Reconsolidation
Encoding: gets information into your memory (sensory to STM)
Consolidation: Strengthens the memory, (STM to LTM)
Storage: Houses the information
Retrieval: Gets the memory back out, (LTM to STM, makes it malleable)
Reconsolidation: Saves the changes, Updates the memory, (STM to LTM)
What happens when we can't remember something?: Hippocampal Damage (amnesia etc.)
Retroactive Interference: when recently learned information makes it difficult to recall new
information, new info gets in the way (new address or phone number)
Proactive Interference: when previously learned information makes it difficult to recall new
information, old info gets in the way (passwords, computer updates)
How to stop Interference?: make new information different from the information you already
know, more rehearsal, and make memories memorable
Flashbulb Memory: extremely vivid and detailed memory, may recall exactly where you were
and other facts of events
Epinephrine (adrenaline) release during mild stress / strong emotion: enhances memory
formation
Decreasing Emotion = Decreasing Memory
Too much Stress = Decreases the Hippocampus
False Memories: problem with accurate recall of events, common in the retrieval stage, caused
by altering the reconsolidation of memories
Preserving Memory: cognitive reservoir, healthy habits, exercise, distributed practice
Enhancing Memory: Method of Loci
Method of Loci: memory palace, uses visualization to enhance memories, used throughout
history
Why do memory palaces work: spatial memory, emotion, integration
How do memories work at a synaptic level? Donald Hebb proposed that when two neurons
are repeatedly activated together, their synaptic connections will become stronger
Hebbian Synapses: could act together to store memory traces
Long Term Potentiation (LTP): the process by which synapses become stronger with frequent
activation (thought to underlie learning)
NMDA receptor: activates Aha moment only after a set level of excitation (learning)
Long Term Depression (LTD): the process by which unused connections are broken down,
synapses weaken and break down - if you don't use it, you lose it
IMPORTANT
1. Information comes in VIA sensory memory
2. Central Executive focuses on what information is relevant - irrelevant info gets
discarded/ignored
3. Info gets pushed to either a visuospatial sketchpad or phonological loop, depending on
infor type - most things get turned into verbal
4. Information sticks around for a short duration (20 seconds or 7 items +/- 2
5. Episodic buffer puts everything together
CHAPTER 8
Cognitive Psychology: Assesses how we think, know things, solve problems, make decisions
Knowledge: representations of the world (road map represents streets, menu represents food)
Thinking: manipulating representations (navigating yourself somewhere, deciding which food
item you like best)
Analogical Representations: mental representations that have some of the physical
characteristics of objects, analogous (comparable in certain respects) to the objects
Symbolic Representations: abstract mental representations that do not correspond to the
physical features of objects or ideas - can lead to errors
Mental Maps: can include both analogical and symbolic representations
Errors, Symbolic Representation: can lead to errors because we can represent only a limited
range of knowledge analogically and thus use memory shortcuts unconsciously
Categorization: grouping things based on shared properties into concepts - reduces the
amount of knowledge we must hold in memory and is therefore an efficient way of thinking
General Process (categorization): we experience a new stimulus, a concept in memory is
triggered, we make a judgment of resemblance, and draw a categorization conclusion
How do we make categories and concepts?: prototypes and exemplars
Prototype model: a way of thinking about concepts: within each category, there is a best
example or prototype for the category
How the Prototype model works: when you see a new exemplar (an example) you compare it
to the prototype - the more similar the exemplar is to the prototype, the more confident you are
that it belongs in that category
Takeaway (prototype): we are faster to place items into categories the more they resemble the
prototype - this allows for fast decisions but does not work as well when something does not fit
the prototype
Exemplar Model: a way of thinking about concepts: all members of a category are examples
(exemplars); together they form the concept and determine category membership
Takeaway (exemplar): we make slower judgments in the exemplar model but it is more flexible
and can better account for atypical examples
Schemas: cognitive structures that help us perceive, organize, and process information knowledge of how to behave in different settings relies on schemas
Scripts: schemas that dictate appropriate behavior - (how to be in a library vs at a party) unconscious
Stereotypes: a type of schema that allows for fast procession, widely held simplified beliefs
about people based on their membership in certain groups
Con of Stereotypes: creates many problems and barriers
Similarities between prototypical and exemplars: both emphasize the importance of
similarity, the same general process
Differences between prototypical and exemplars = Protypical is comparing a new stimulus to
1 existing prototype (fast but less flexible), while exemplar is a new stimulus compared to
multiple known exemplars in a category (slower but more flexible)
Decision-making is guided by: heuristics and emotions
Heuristics: common mental shortcuts that we use to make decisions, usually subconscious,
large source of internal bias
Common Heuristics: Affect Heuristic, Availability Heuristic, Representativeness Heuristic,
Scarcity Heuristic
Affect Heuristic: based on initial positive or negative emotions “gut feelings”
Availability Heuristic: make decisions based on the answer that most easily comes to mind
Representativeness Heuristic: judging the situation based on how similar the prospects are to
the prototypes the person holds in their mind - logic
Scarcity Heuristic: The more difficult is it to obtain an item the more value that item has (ticket
prices, collectibles, etc.)
Anchoring: a reference point in decision making, we rely more heavily on the first piece of
information offered when making decisions
Framing: in decision making, the tendency to emphasize the potential losses of potential gains
from at least one alternative ( would u take a course with an 80% pass rate or 20%)
Loss Aversion: the tendency for people to be more concerned about losses than gains
Why is it hard to resist a sale?: people love to think they are getting a bargain, so having high
regular prices and big discounts is very effective marketing
Affective Forecasting: the tendency for people to overestimate how events will make them feel
in the future
Decision-making is influenced by emotion: unrelated emotions can influence behavior, mood
often directs actions, weather influences life satisfaction, the feeling of luck
Endowment Effect: tendency to value things we own more than we would pay to buy them
(fantasy football trades)
When relationship, emotions, and behavior is understood: incidental feelings influence
judgment less
Do more choices make us happier: not really
Choice Paralysis: overwhelmed by options, cannot make decisions - avoid realistic
expectations, having a plan, not overthinking or second-guessing, reflecting on positive
experiences
How do we solve problems: break big problems down into smaller problems or sub-goals,
change representations
Restructuring: a new way of thinking about a problem that aids its solution
Mental Set: problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past
Functional Fixedness: in problem-solving, having fixed ideas about the typical functions of
objects (avoid, maintain cognitive flexibility)
Other solutions to solving complex problems: using algorithms, working backward, finding
an appropriate analogy
Insight: the sudden realization of a solution to a problem - momentary
Intelligence: the ability to use knowledge to reason, make decisions, make sense of events,
solve problems, understand complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental
challenges
General Intelligence: the idea that one general factor underlies intelligence (2 types)
Fluid Intelligence: intelligence that reflects the ability to process information, understand
relationships, and think logically, particularly in novel or complex circumstances - Frontal lobe
association
Crystalized Intelligence: intelligence that reflects both knowledge acquired through experience
and the ability to use that knowledge - No Frontal Lobe association
Does intelligence Change over time?: crystallized intelligence grows steadily throughout the
adult years, while fluid intelligence declines steadily
The Main Factors that Influence Intelligence: Genes (set bounds), environment (determines
where you fall), opportunity
What is Intelligence: speed and accuracy, increased intelligence = quicker & consistent
performance on reaction time tests, faster brains, general intelligence scores related to working
memory but are not identical, increased gray matter in frontal lobes
How do we Measure Intelligence: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Wechsler Adult Intelligence: verbal, performance, 100 - average, 120 - above average, 130+
genius, reliable, age not factored in for adults
Does IQ Matter: matters up to a point but then hard work matters
Highest IQ: Christopher Lengan, Einstein
Gardener Theory of Multiple Intelligences: the idea that there are different types of
intelligence that are independent of one another
1. Visual - Spatial
2. Linguistic - verbal
3. Logical - mathematical
4. Body - kinesthetic
5. Musical
6. Interpersonal (emotional)
7. Intrapersonal - understanding yourself
8. Naturalistic - nature understanding
Exceptions:
- True Born Prodgies - savants (show an exceptional ability in some “intelligent” process
like math, music, art, etc)
True born prodigies examples: Stephen Wiltshire (artist), Daniel Tammet (learned language in
7 days), Kim Peek ( can read 2 pages at once and remembers everything read)
Savants are the: exception, not the rule
Language: a system of communication using sounds and symbols according to grammatical
rules - unique in that it’s not memorization but conceptual relationships
Morphemes: the smallest language units that have meaning, including suffixes and
prefixes (letter s, the word: word)
Phonemes: the basic sounds of speech, making them the building blocks of language
(sounding out a word)
Linguistic Relativity Theory: language influences worldview and cognition, language shapes
understanding, language, and culture can influence each other (color perception - different
categorization influences how we perceive color)
Is language Innate: No - mechanisms for language are built into the brain
Language is a Logical Progression: as the brain develops, so does the ability to speak and
form sentences, listening preferences in newborns are influenced by the language mom spoke
during pregnancy, early interactions matter
How do we learn language (as an infant):
1. Trial and error heavily based on what they hear when they are little
2. Babbling (under 18 months)
3. Two-word stage (18 months or older) - put together words based on rules (more outside)
4. Telegraphic speech - rudimentary sentences that follow logical syntax & convey meaning
(doggy do)
5. Overgeneralization - overgeneralize grammar rules (add “ed” to everything)
Critical Periods for Language:
● Must experience language in first 2 years of life - turns on inherent language
mechanisms
● Learn before age 10 = native speech (no accent)
● Learn language up to 17-18 - very skilled at learning grammar
● Learn language after 18 = less proficient, more difficult
Bilingual - worse at both languages initially than children only speaking one language, better
problem-solving skills and task switching, may enhance memory
Neuroscience for Language: The brain processes language differently depending on when
you learn
Bilingual from childhood = both languages processed in the same hemisphere (left)
Learning a Second Language later in life = second language processing in different
cortical areas
Dominant Hemisphere for language = left hemisphere
Speech production in the brain = Broca's area
Speech Comprehension in the brain = Wernicke's area
Procession and Interpreting what is said = right hemisphere
Broca’s aphasia: difficulty producing speech
Wernicke's aphasia: difficulty with making comprehensible speech
General aphasia: a person cannot produce or comprehend language