Test 1

• Sensation

  detecting stimulus energy and converting it to electrochemical energy
• Perception

  Mental representation that the brain creates using information detected by the senses.
• Process of sensation


  Stimulus - stimuli interacting with the body via sensory receptors

  Sensation - the detection of environmental stimuli by the sense organs and converting sensory information to electrochemical energy

  Sensory organs - specialised organs in the body containing sensory neurons that function as sensory receptors

  Sensory receptors - specialised cells in the body that detect sensory information
• Sensation physiological response


  1. Reception - detection of sensory information in the sense organs by sense receptors
  2. Transduction - changing of sensory information into electrochemical energy
  3. Transmission - movement of electrochemical energy from sensory receptors to the brain for interpreting
• Process of Perception

  1. Selection - crucial features of the information are selected for further processing and insignificant content is disregard
  2. organisation - selected information is categorised allowing for the arrangement of meaningful patterns. (categorisation depends on past experiences)
  3. interpretation - meanings are assigned to the groups of patterns
• Attention - the mental capacity to concentrate on a specific stimulis while ignoring other stimulus
• Memory - the cognitive function through which information and past experiences are actively processed, stored and retrieved
• Selective attention - process of focusing on choosen stimuli, while disregarding others


  Divided attention - ability to concentrate on two or more stimuli simultaneously
• Process of memory

  Storage - retention of information within the stores of memory

  Retrieval - the movement of information from the long term memory store to conscience awareness

  Encoding - form in which information is stored

  • Acoustic - based on sound
  • Visual - based on image
  • Semantic - based on its meaning
• Lobes of the brain

  
• Multi - Store model of memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin)

  
• Sensory Register - where sensory information is held briefly before decaying or transferring to the short term store

  • unlimited capacity
  • different stores for each of the senses
  • visual information held for 0.2-0.4 seconds and auditory information held for 3-4 seconds
• Short term memory - temporary memory store for limited information received from sensory register and long term store

  • limited capacity of 5 - 9 pieces of information that can be held at one time
  • information dacays and is lost after 15-30 seconds unless rehearsal is used to help encode into the long term memory store
• Long term memory - relatively permanent memory store for a limitless amount of information that sends and recieves information from the short term store

  • unlimited capacity but some decays over time
  • information is encoded semanticaly
• Long term memory

  Procedural - skills or actions

  Declarative - factual information that can be expressed in words

  • Semantic - impersonal factual knowledge
  • Episodic - personally significant events
• Badley's 2000 Working memory model

  Working memory model - a view of short term memory as a dynamic storage system capable of simultaneously holding multiple pieces of information

  
• Central executive - responsible for coordinating slave systems as well as controlling attention given to information and decision making

  • Also receives information from the sensory register and controls information retrieved from long-term store
• Phonological loop - temporarily stores and processes auditory information

  • Phonological store - storage for words that are heard
  • Articulatory Process - repeats heard words in a loop allowing for inner voices
• Visuospatial Sketchpad - stores and manipulates visual and spatial information
• Episodic buffer - temporarily stores information from the central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad and long term memory
• Hippocampus - located deep within each temporal lobe

  • involved in the formation of declarative memories
  • memories are temporarily held in the prefrontal cortex before going to the prefrontal cortex
• Cerebellum - underneath the cerebrum

  • involved in balances, judging distacne and coordinating fine motor movements
  • forms procedural memories
  • stores procedural memories especially associated with sensorimotor skills
• Amygdala - a collection of nuclei deep within each temporal lobe

  • plays a role in emotional and fear response
  • has a role in the formation of memories associated with fear
  • strengthens episodic memories stored in other regions of the brain
• Thalamus - double lobed structure located just above the brain stem

  • receives sensory information except smell and transmits information to the cerebral cortex
  • also has an influence on sleep
• Hypothalamus - sits below the thalamus

  • regulates sleep, eating, body temperature and sex drive
  • also regulates the release of hormones from the pituitary gland
• Pre-frontal cortex - front layer of the frontal lobe

  • coordinates executive functions, such as ability to predict consequences and ability to recognise and regulate emotions
• Henry Molaison Case Study

  • First case to indicate that procedural memories aren't controlled by the hippocampus or amygdulla, but by the cerebellum and basal ganglia
  • Had surgery that removed the medial portions of the temporal lobes. Had difficulty transferring information from the STM to the LTM
  • Was able to improve on incomplete picture test and mirror drawing which led to the understanding that long term memory is made up of procedural and declarative memories and hippocampus plays a major role in declarative memory production
• Amnesia

  • Retrograde Amnesia - inability to recall past memories prior to the onset of amnesia
  • Anterogate amnesia - inability to form new memories after developing amnesia