PSYB57H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Corpus Callosum, Roger Wolcott Sperry, Steam Whistle
Document Summary
Specific cognitive functions are associated with specific brain areas. Cognitive neuroscience: a branch of psychology which combines cognitive psychology and neuroscience in order to discover the brain mechanisms that give rise to mental functions mental functions like learning, memory, language, attention. Brain is composed of specific parts called modules modules are responsible for particular cognitive operations. Localization of function: idea that there is a direct correspondence between specific cognitive functions and specific parts of the brain. Two laws came out of this result: law of mass action: learning and memory depend on total mass of brain tissue remaining rather than the properties of individual cells. Quantity versus. quality: law of equipotentiality: even though some areas of the cortex may become specialized for certain tasks, any part of an area can do the job of any other part of that area represents plasticity. Consciousness: the narrow concept referring to what we"re aware of at any point in time.
