Modularity & Visual Pathways

• What are the primary receiving areas for the senses in the brain?

  Occipital lobe for vision, temporal lobe for hearing, and parietal lobe for skin senses
• What are the examples of physiologically defined visual processing modules in the brain?

  • Middle Temporal (MT) area: responds to visual movement
  • Inferotemporal cortex (IT): responds to different forms
  • Simple stimuli: slits, spots, ellipses, squares
  • Complex stimuli: faces (Fusiform face area)
• How can modules be defined in terms of sensation information processing?

  Modules can be defined by the types of sensation information they process and can exist at different levels of sensory processing
• What is the role of ganglion cells in the retina?

  Ganglion cells take sensory information along the optic nerve
• What does retinotopic mapping refer to in the visual system?

  Retinotopic mapping means that each location on the retina corresponds to a location in the visual cortex
• How does the cortical magnification factor relate to visual processing?

  The area of cortex devoted to a visual field varies with eccentricity, with more peripheral areas having fewer cells on the retina
• What is the largest projection in the visual pathways?

  The largest projection goes to the visual cortex via the lateral geniculate nucleus
• What is the phenomenon of blindsight?

  Blindsight occurs when patients can respond accurately to visual stimuli in damaged parts of their visual field without conscious visual experience
• How do Kentridge et al. (1997) explain the phenomenon of blindsight?

  They argue that blindsight is explained by processing in sub-cortical pathways
• What is parallel processing in visual pathways?

  Parallel processing refers to different pathways processing the same visual information for different functions
• What do the terms "ventral" and "dorsal" refer to in visual pathways?

  Ventral refers to perception, while dorsal refers to action
• What is double dissociation in the context of visual pathways?

  • Double dissociation occurs when two functions involve different mechanisms that work independently.
  • It can be tested by examining patients with damage to the dorsal and ventral streams.
• What are the characteristics of the case of DF with visual form agnosia?

  DF has good acuity and color vision but cannot visually recognize pictures of objects or shapes due to ventral pathway damage
• What abilities does DF retain despite her visual form agnosia?

  DF can put her hand into an oriented slot and post a card through a slot
• How does DF's condition illustrate the distinction between the ventral and dorsal pathways?

  DF has ventral pathway damage leading to deficient vision for perception, while her dorsal pathway is preserved allowing vision for action
• What is the condition of patients with optic ataxia regarding their perceptual abilities?

  Patients with optic ataxia have unimpaired recognition and perceptual abilities despite having dorsal pathway damage
• What does the summary of parallel processing indicate about visual pathways?

  • There are parallel streams of processing for action (dorsal pathway) and perception (ventral pathway).
  • Double dissociation in performance illustrates the independence of these pathways.
  • There is some "cross-talk" between these pathways in normal individuals.
• How are physiological modules defined in cognitive science?

  Physiological modules are defined in terms of what they process and described by their precise localization
• What are the defining features of modules according to Fodor?

  Modules are domain specific, innately specified, informationally encapsulated, fast, hardwired, and autonomous
• What does domain specificity mean in the context of modules?

  Domain specificity means that modules only process a particular type of information
• How do modules achieve speed in processing information?

  Modules are fast because they only access the information required for their specific function
• What are the key characteristics of modules in cognitive psychology?

  • Functionally defined, not physiologically localized
  • Can be domain specific, informationally encapsulated, fast, and hardwired
  • Domain specificity is considered the most critical feature
• What is the overall summary of the concepts discussed in the session on modularity and visual pathways?

  • Physiologically defined modules respond to specific sensory inputs.
  • Multiple visual pathways exist from the retina.
  • Vision involves more than just visual experience.
  • Vision for action and perception are processed separately.
  • Modularity is a central concept in cognitive science.
• How are modules specialised?

  To process information of a particular perceptual type
• How are modules defined

  By what kinds of sensation information they process