COGNITIVE SCIENCE – MIDTERM EXAM REVISION
QUESTIONS. THE BEST MIDTERM EXAM REVISION
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS (GRADED A+) (100%
GUARANTEE) (2024 UPDATE).
To "program" the brain to perform a cognitive task, we also need supervised learning - the system
is told what the desired output is for each set of inputs.
Orientation Map in Visual Cortex - ANSWER- The different pinwheels here correspond to
different spots in our visual field.
Retinotopic Maps in Visual Cortex - ANSWER- At the very left-back of the brain, we find that
all the cells here correspond to the middle of the visual field. As you move from the top to bottom
of the visual field, we see different parts of the brain sensitive to it.
Interesting interplay in which some of these maps are innate, and top of it we learn useful cognitive
representations → may be why people end up having similar orientations in their brains.
Functional Hierarchy (Unimodal vs. Transmodal) - ANSWER- Unimodal - they respond to a
single modality of sensory input or single type of output (i.e. visual, auditory, visual,
motor/somatosensory cortices). Directly connected to the external world (sensory inputs).
Transmodal - they bridge between different modalities. Don't correspond with a specific sensory
input/modality; construct relatively abstract representations of the environment (what kinds of
events are happening around us). Just talks to different parts of the brain.
,Sensorimotor-Association Axis - ANSWER- Sensorimotor Pole - regions that respond to one
sensory modality, connect to our muscles, pretty conserved in size; directly connected to the world.
Association Pole - regions more responsible for doing things like building up our representation
of complicated stuff going on in the world. More connected to our memory system.
Turns off when people are doing very simple tasks.
Implanted Electrodes - ANSWER- Advantages: direct measurement of firing rates in neurons
Disadvantages: limited coverage of the brain & requires surgical removal of skull
Electroencephalography (EEG) - ANSWER- Advantages: non-invasive, cheap + portable
Disadvantages: electrical signals at the scalp are very blurred
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) - ANSWER- Advantages: non-invasive, magnetic signals
better pass through skin/skull
Disadvantages: magnetic signals very weak; requires huge, expensive, special-purpose machine
(may be changing)
Functional MRI (fMRI) - ANSWER- When neurons fire, extra oxygen flows in from nearby
blood vessels → oxygenated vs. deoxygenated blood cells are different magnetically.
IDEA: measure this blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal
Advantages: non-invasive, good spatial resolution, access to deep brain regions
Disadvantages: terrible temporal resolution (BOLD changes over seconds); unclear what causes
BOLD.
,Diffusion MRI - ANSWER- Measures direction and integrity of axon bundles, but cannot
measure circuits below ~mm scale. Can tell us structurally which parts of the brain are connected
to other parts.
Measures Fractional Anisotropy (FA)
- Low FA - not much organization in this particular part of the brain.
- High FA - very strong organization; many neurons in the same direction.
How is studying the physical brain connected to understanding cognition? - ANSWER- The
fact that a cognitive process has a specific location is a useful thing to learn from neuroimaging.
Informs debate between:
Empiricists - brain is "equipotential" (not specialized into regions) and implements general
intelligence
Rationalists - brain implements distinct types of cognition, supported by different regions.
Consistency Fallacy - ANSWER- The false argument that data supports a theory because the
theory can be made consistent with that data. Need the theory to be falsifiable with neuroimaging
data (i.e. there is some pattern of that wouldn't be consistent with the theory).
What can we measure with neuroimaging? - ANSWER- 1. Region(s) involved in cognitive
processes
Hippocampus responds more to structured sequence (after some learning). Effect present even at
3 months old.
2. Timing of different operations during cognition.
, EX: Pairing Recognition - faster response/recognition of words that only appear once.)
3. Testing whether a cognitive process is occurring.
EX: vibrators produce a brain response that allows coma patients to say YES by focusing on the
left hand & that allows the patient to say NO by focusing on the right hand.
EX: In a study, they had participants try to memorize different pictures of satellites, and afterwards,
were given a memory test. Afterwards, they were given an fMRI rest period.
Found that the episodic memory system (hippocampus) would "replay" weak memories in the
background during rest.
Found that worse-remembered satellites were replayed more during rest (things we made mistakes
on).
4. Measuring individual differences in cognition.
EX: took a group of smokers trying to quit smoking & showed them anti-smoking ads. Group
dropped from 21 cigarettes/day to 5. Can we predict how much each person will change?
Those who had much greater neural responses in the medial frontal cortex were much more likely
to have a behavior change.
EX: studied reading skills of 39 children (7-12 yo) over 3 years. Used diffusion MRI to measure
fractional anisotropy (FA) in two critical axon bundles.
Found that good readers showed faster development of FA in both pathways & good readers started
with lower initial FA.
5. Measuring representations of different inputs
QUESTIONS. THE BEST MIDTERM EXAM REVISION
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS (GRADED A+) (100%
GUARANTEE) (2024 UPDATE).
To "program" the brain to perform a cognitive task, we also need supervised learning - the system
is told what the desired output is for each set of inputs.
Orientation Map in Visual Cortex - ANSWER- The different pinwheels here correspond to
different spots in our visual field.
Retinotopic Maps in Visual Cortex - ANSWER- At the very left-back of the brain, we find that
all the cells here correspond to the middle of the visual field. As you move from the top to bottom
of the visual field, we see different parts of the brain sensitive to it.
Interesting interplay in which some of these maps are innate, and top of it we learn useful cognitive
representations → may be why people end up having similar orientations in their brains.
Functional Hierarchy (Unimodal vs. Transmodal) - ANSWER- Unimodal - they respond to a
single modality of sensory input or single type of output (i.e. visual, auditory, visual,
motor/somatosensory cortices). Directly connected to the external world (sensory inputs).
Transmodal - they bridge between different modalities. Don't correspond with a specific sensory
input/modality; construct relatively abstract representations of the environment (what kinds of
events are happening around us). Just talks to different parts of the brain.
,Sensorimotor-Association Axis - ANSWER- Sensorimotor Pole - regions that respond to one
sensory modality, connect to our muscles, pretty conserved in size; directly connected to the world.
Association Pole - regions more responsible for doing things like building up our representation
of complicated stuff going on in the world. More connected to our memory system.
Turns off when people are doing very simple tasks.
Implanted Electrodes - ANSWER- Advantages: direct measurement of firing rates in neurons
Disadvantages: limited coverage of the brain & requires surgical removal of skull
Electroencephalography (EEG) - ANSWER- Advantages: non-invasive, cheap + portable
Disadvantages: electrical signals at the scalp are very blurred
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) - ANSWER- Advantages: non-invasive, magnetic signals
better pass through skin/skull
Disadvantages: magnetic signals very weak; requires huge, expensive, special-purpose machine
(may be changing)
Functional MRI (fMRI) - ANSWER- When neurons fire, extra oxygen flows in from nearby
blood vessels → oxygenated vs. deoxygenated blood cells are different magnetically.
IDEA: measure this blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal
Advantages: non-invasive, good spatial resolution, access to deep brain regions
Disadvantages: terrible temporal resolution (BOLD changes over seconds); unclear what causes
BOLD.
,Diffusion MRI - ANSWER- Measures direction and integrity of axon bundles, but cannot
measure circuits below ~mm scale. Can tell us structurally which parts of the brain are connected
to other parts.
Measures Fractional Anisotropy (FA)
- Low FA - not much organization in this particular part of the brain.
- High FA - very strong organization; many neurons in the same direction.
How is studying the physical brain connected to understanding cognition? - ANSWER- The
fact that a cognitive process has a specific location is a useful thing to learn from neuroimaging.
Informs debate between:
Empiricists - brain is "equipotential" (not specialized into regions) and implements general
intelligence
Rationalists - brain implements distinct types of cognition, supported by different regions.
Consistency Fallacy - ANSWER- The false argument that data supports a theory because the
theory can be made consistent with that data. Need the theory to be falsifiable with neuroimaging
data (i.e. there is some pattern of that wouldn't be consistent with the theory).
What can we measure with neuroimaging? - ANSWER- 1. Region(s) involved in cognitive
processes
Hippocampus responds more to structured sequence (after some learning). Effect present even at
3 months old.
2. Timing of different operations during cognition.
, EX: Pairing Recognition - faster response/recognition of words that only appear once.)
3. Testing whether a cognitive process is occurring.
EX: vibrators produce a brain response that allows coma patients to say YES by focusing on the
left hand & that allows the patient to say NO by focusing on the right hand.
EX: In a study, they had participants try to memorize different pictures of satellites, and afterwards,
were given a memory test. Afterwards, they were given an fMRI rest period.
Found that the episodic memory system (hippocampus) would "replay" weak memories in the
background during rest.
Found that worse-remembered satellites were replayed more during rest (things we made mistakes
on).
4. Measuring individual differences in cognition.
EX: took a group of smokers trying to quit smoking & showed them anti-smoking ads. Group
dropped from 21 cigarettes/day to 5. Can we predict how much each person will change?
Those who had much greater neural responses in the medial frontal cortex were much more likely
to have a behavior change.
EX: studied reading skills of 39 children (7-12 yo) over 3 years. Used diffusion MRI to measure
fractional anisotropy (FA) in two critical axon bundles.
Found that good readers showed faster development of FA in both pathways & good readers started
with lower initial FA.
5. Measuring representations of different inputs
