Study Sheet for Quiz 4

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Study Material:

Class presentations (see links below)

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The Brain: Basic Anatomy (presentation on Brain Basics)

The brain can, very roughly, be divided into brain stem, limbic system, cerebellum, and cerebrum. You should be able to identify these in a picture of a brain. How do these different parts differ in terms of function? How do animals differ from each other in terms of these parts of the brain? What are the 4 lobes of the cerebrum? Where are they located? And how do they, roughly, differ in terms of their function? What do we mean by the brain cortex? How does 'grey' matter differ from 'white' matter? Where is the visual cortex located? Auditory cortex? Somatosensory cortex? Motor cortex? Be able to identify the basic anatomy of neurons (neural cell body, axon, dendrite, synapse, neurotransmitters, receptors). How many neurons does a typical human brain have, and how many neural connections?

The Brain: Perception (presentation on Brain Perception)

What is the difference between rods and cones in the eye's retina? What kind of visual processing is already done in the retina? Why do we have a blind spot? What route through the brain does visual information take? What is sensory adaptation, and how can the bionocular rivalry phenomenon be explained by it? What is the difference between the 'dorsal' stream of visual information-processing, and the 'ventral' stream of visual information processing? What is the Ebbinghaus Illusion, and how can it be used to demonstrate the distinction between the dorsal and ventral streams of visual information processing? What is blindsight, and how might that be another demonstration of this distinction?

The Brain: The Two Hemispheres (presentation on Brain Hemispheres)

What is the popular notion of a 'left-brained' person vs a 'right-brained' person? How much of this is true? What are some specific differences in function between the left and the right hemipshere of the brain? Where is our ability to process language usually located? How do the two hemispheres seem to differ in the way they process information? What is a split-brain patient? How will split-brain patients respond to something that is in the right side of their visual field? And what if it is on the left side? What is the alien hand syndrome?

Animal Cognition (presentation on Animal Cognition)

Why may it be a good idea to avoid the term animal intelligence, and instead try to see which individual cognitive abilities animals have or don't have? Why is it hard to even do that? What is the mirror test, and what does it mean to 'pass' the mirror test? Which animals pass the mirror test?

Language (presentation on Language)

How can language make you smarter? In particular, how does natural language make you smarter? How can the words we use for things effect our thinking about those things? Know some examples of how specific languages effect our cognitive abilities.

Cognitive Robotics (presentation on Cognitive Robotics)

What are some different ways to think about cognitive robotics? What are some things that we have learned about human cognition that might be useful for robotics? In what sense can robotics be seen as experimental cognitive science? What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing robotics in simulations or doing robotics using actual physical robots?