The original wordlist seems to be offlineThe wordlist containing your word and definition doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.Page 0 1
Abstract Idea For general memory theory purposes, an abstract idea is the same thing as a concept [but if you want to see the extended philosophical definition, click here]. Abstraction At the heart of cognition there is really only one fundamental ability, namely that of abstraction. This is the ability to take the essentials out of something, as when spotting perceptual common factors such as pitch and volume (sound) or colour and shape (vision), or the common attributes which id Ackerman-Banks Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Battery (A-BNRB) [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] Multi-scale neuropsychological battery devised by Ackerman and Banks (1992) [see website]. Action Potential [See firstly resting potential.] Having grasped the principles of the neural resting potential, the next question is what would happen should the metabolic pumps in the neural cell membrane stop working momentarily? The answer is that it would drastically disturb the equilibrium which produced that Action Potential Threshold The minimum stimulus needed to produce an action potential is known as the 'threshold' stimulus (or simply the 'threshold'). It is the potential at which voltage-dependant gating turns off the sodium pumps in the neural cell membrane. Action Schema One of the proposals of the Norman-Shallice Model of Supervisory Attentional Function. This model regards the basic unit of action as the action schema, a 'sensori-motor knowledge structure' (Norman, 1981, p3) 'that can control a specific overlearned action or skill such as [.....] doing long divisi Activities of Daily Living Test (ADL) [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] ADL is a relatively unstructured screening test for possible problems with the forward planning component of human executive function, and, as such, is commonly included as a frontal battery test. ADL testing was developed as an adjunct to ADL See Activities of Daily Living Test. Adrenergic Transmitter A class of neurotransmitters, including adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine. Unlike cholinergic transmitters, they are not broken down during the recovery phase of synaptic transmission. Instead, they are metabolised back into the pre-synaptic membrane for re-use. Anion A negatively charged ion. Antidromic Conduction The propagation of a neural impulse in the 'backwards' direction, that is to say, from a point of stimulation on the axon back towards the cell body. The opposite of orthodromic conduction. Articulatory Loop [See firstly Working Memory Theory.] This is Baddeley and Hitch's (1974) first proposed slave system [the other being the visuo-spatial sketchpad]. It is the hypothetical structure which allows you to rehearse a short list by saying it to yourself over and over again. The use of the word articulator Articulatory Suppression Effect [See firstly Working Memory Theory.] Reductions in the capacity of the phonological loop when the cognitive system is required to carry out a simultaneous articulatory interference task. Thus Baddeley, Lewis, and Vallar (1984) found a reduction in digit span from seven to five digits when subjects s Association The linking of two concepts within semantic memory, usually by contiguity. The fact that association occurs so readily probably indicates that the power to associate by contiguity is another basic neural process, second only to abstraction in importance, and allowing yet more regularities in the ext Associationism A philosophical doctrine usually attributed to the works of David Hartley (1705-1757), and predicated upon the assertion that higher states of consciousness emerge from prolonged experience with simpler mental phenomena such as sensations, emotions, and fragmentary memories. Anticipating Hebb's Rule Associationist Follower of Associationism as a philosophical school and set of explanatory principles. Attribute The process of abstraction is at the heart of our ability to make representations of the world, but to do the process proper justice we must firstly consider the difference between a thing, and the 'attributes' of that thing. Attributes are thus the properties, features, or parts of an object, and m Auditory Input Lexicon Term popularised by Ellis and Young (1988) for the mental storehouse for whole heard word forms. [For further details see the longer entry under the same heading in our Psycholinguistics Glossary.] Autobiographical Memory Memory which is related to the self. When autobiographical memory relates to events in one's personal past, this will involve the appropriate episodic memory resources, and when it relates to the identities, meanings, and attributes of our own self and/or the things and other people around us, this Bachman Diagram A graphic representation of the set relationships between owner and member record types used to analyse and document a database design [source]. A less abstract representation of system data than that set down in the entity-relationship diagram, specifically one which contains physical implementatio BADS See Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome Test. Bartlett (1932) Sir Frederick C. Bartlett's 1932 classic monograph 'Remembering', in which research with both the method of repeated production and the method of serial reproduction was described in detail, and various suggestions made as to the nature of memory for gist. Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome Test (BADS) [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] The BADS test set [buy one from the publisher] assesses the all-points integrity of human executive function, and, as such, can either be included in a broader frontal battery or applied as it stands. The test package was developed by Wilso Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test This test is grounded theoretically in the Gestalt laws of perception, and stimulus sets consist of simple line drawings designed to probe such early visual abilities as the law of continuity and resolving figure-ground. The test was devised by Bender (1938), and Anastasi (1990) mentions that it was Binding Site Sites on the post-synaptic membrane where neurotransmitters act to induce either an EPSP or an IPSP. Bloom's Six Levels of Knowledge In the period 1949-1953, the American educationalist Benjamin Bloom chaired an influential 'think tank' looking into the role of cognition in education. By a process of painstaking analysis, Bloom's team identified and ranked many different types of learning, memory, and thinking, setting them out f Brown-Peterson Technique A memory experiment in which subjects listen to a list of items and then free recall as many as they can remember in any order either immediately or after a delay. In the delayed recall condition, an interpolated activity may be used. This is a distractor task inserted between the final stimulus ite Bubble Lexicon Term coined by Liu (2003/2003 online) to describe a lexico-semantic network structure capable of representing (as most such networks do not) nuance and context effects. [For a definition of context, and onward links on that topic, see this entry in our Psycholinguistics Glossary.] Calcium Switch See protein kinase studies. Capacitance The ability of a structure - biological or otherwise - to hold an electrical charge. Category Two or more concepts having one or more attributes or relationships held in common, such that the commonality may itself become conceptualised and named. Thus the manifest physical and behavioural similarities between sparrows, eagles, and ducks would, by the process of abstraction, soon give rise t Category Test [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] This test present patients with a short series of categorial exemplars (eg. Cation A positively charged ion. Cell Assembly [See firstly synaptic learning.] The most influential early statement of the neuronal interconnection approach to memory was in Donald Hebb's book, 'The Organisation of Behaviour', in which he described the interlinking of neurons as creating what he called a cell assembly, 'a diffuse structure comp Cell Membrane This is the outer surface of the cell, that is to say, the continuous layer which separates the cytoplasm within the cell from the interstitial fluid outside it. The membrane itself is a four-layered molecular structure, namely a bimolecular lipid layer 'sandwiched' between two protein layers. Becau Central Executive [See firstly Working Memory Theory.] Term coined by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) for the hypothetical cognitive structure which manages the routing of material between the slave systems and WMG, and which is accordingly the conductor of the mental orchestra, as it were. Baddeley later described the cen CFST See Weigl Colour-Form Sorting Task. Cholinergic Transmission Neurotransmission where the transmitter substance happens to be acetylcholine. [Compare adrenergic transmission.] Cholinesterase Enzyme responsible for the breakdown of acetylcholine during the recovery phase of synaptic transmission. Chromosome This is a thin filament of DNA double-helix found in the cell nucleus. It is vitally important to biological systems because it carries the body's genes. The nucleus of the human cell contains 46 chromosomes, each with a molecular weight of the order of 100 billion. Chunking A concept introduced by Miller (1956) to explain how more and more information might be handled without any increase in the brain's processing power. Thus, where previously unconnected items are learned together (such as putting individual numbers together in a novel way when learning a new telephon Cognition The acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of knowledge (Matlin, 1989). Cognitive Estimates Test [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] DETAIL TO FOLLOW Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] DETAIL TO FOLLOW. Broadbent et al (1982). Cognitive Flexibility (Avoidance of Perseveration) Self-Ordered Pointing Task; Weigl Sorting Task; Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; Delayed Alternation Test Cognitive Map A mental representation of the physical setting of the world. Cognitive Psychology By definition, the study of cognition, but, more critically, the study of the functional architecture of the brain as opposed to its structural architecture. Alternatively, the study of how the brain works at a level of analysis above the anatomical and physiological. The science of mind. Concentration How many things - in this case, ions - there are at a single point in three-dimensional space. Concentration Difference A difference in concentration between two points; a 'slope' of concentration between these two points; a concentration gradient. Concentration gradients are important because ions tend to 'flow down' the gradient until the concentration difference is cancelled out. This is what is happening whenever Concentration Gradient See concentration difference. Concept Concepts are abstractions from, and categorisations of, experience. They are 'mental representations of objects, entities, or events, stored in memory' (Roth and Frisby, 1986, p19). Alternatively, a concept is 'a mental representation of a category, which allows one to place stimuli in a category on Confabulation A clinical sign of an orienting deficit in neurological disease (and especially in dysexecutive syndrome). Attempting to make sense of a present situation not truly understood, and characterised (a) by inventing a plausible (but factually false) explanation, and (b) (as far as can be established) by Confusibility Studies A confusibility effect is a memory deficit which emerges when the stimuli to be retained are similar in a certain respect. This is because the corresponding engrams are presumed to be confusible in that same respect, and therefore tend to get irretrievably overlain. However, this only happens if the Connectionism The doctrine that cognition can be modelled (and therefore better understood) by connecting up artificial neurons, either in fact, or in simulation on a computer. [For further details, see our e-paper on 'Connectionism'] Connectionist Follower of Connectionism as a philosophical school and set of explanatory principles. Consolidation Term coined by Muller and Pilzecker (1900) to describe the process by which short-term memories became physically permanent as structural engrams. However, the term is also commonly used to describe the transition between STM and LTM as psychological phenomena. Thus, we may describe our experiences Contention Scheduling Term borrowed by the Norman-Shallice Model of Supervisory Attentional Function from virtual machine operating systems in computing [as described in some detail in our e-paper on 'Short-Term Memory Subtypes in Computing and Artificial Intelligence', Part 5 (Section 1.2)], where it is describes the ab Context Rehearsal [See firstly pragmatics and rehearsal.] Term coined by Parker-Rhodes (1978) to describe the refreshing of the high-level conceptual (i.e. pre-linguistic) codes during sentence production, using feedback from, and presumably some sort of re-perception of, the sentence(s) being produced. Hence a form Contiguity Literally, closeness to, or adjacency. The term needs to be applied in two ways in psychology, firstly contiguity in space (i.e. physical proximity) and secondly contiguity in time (i.e. simultaneity, or nearly so), both of which seem to be able to promote the association of the things contiguous. C Controlling Impulsivity Stroop Task Corsi Blocks Test This is a test of sequential memory involving nine blocks irregularly laid out on a base board. The investigator points to a number of blocks in turn at a rate of one per second, and the patient then has to repeat the sequence in the same order. The test sequences then get longer and longer until th Cytoplasm This is the fluid medium of the non-nuclear part of the cell. It is 90% water, with a variety of other substances - salts, sugars, dissolved blood gases, and proteins - in colloidal (gel-like) solution. The main difference between the cytoplasm and the interstitial fluid is that the cytoplasm contai Cytoskeleton This is a microscopic framework of intracellular protein filaments spreading like scaffolding throughout the cytoplasm and giving it additional rigidity. Dale's Law The principle that while there are many different neurotransmitters to choose from, each individual neuron relies on only one (implying, of course, that all synapses from a given neuron use the same neurotransmitter). Daneman and Carpenter (1983) Sentence Span Technique This technique involves presenting subjects with sequences of two to six sentences, each of 13 to 16 words. Subjects have to read the sentences out loud, and attempt to remember the last word of each. They are then asked to recall as many last words as possible (in any order). The sentence span is t Daneman and Tardiff (1987) Technique This technique was developed to assess the processing and storage aspects of the central executive separately. In this paradigm, four words are presented which can be combined to make longer words. Thus (for example) MUSE, AU, VENT, and BERGE, can be combined to make MUSEAU, AUVENT, and AUBERGE. The Decay This is the doctrine (originally from Ebbinghaus, 1885) that forgetting can be caused by the gradual disappearance of a memory trace over time. That is to say, you forget because your engrams spontaneously become fainter and fainter over time, unless you revisit them occasionally to refresh them. [C Declarative Memory Same as propositional memory. Decremental Propagation Small local changes in potential across the cell membrane are easy to induce both electrically and chemically, but if they do not reach the action potential threshold, will simply die away like ripples in a pond. No action potential develops. Until they die away, however, there is a potential gradie Deep Learning [See firstly Bloom's six levels of knowledge.] Term coined by Marton and Saljo (1976a,b) to characterise the learning of issues and principles. [Contrast surface learning.] Delayed Alternation Task [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] MAIN ENTRY TO FOLLOW DEX See Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome Test. Duplex Model of Memory [See firstly consolidation.] Any 'two-box' model of memory which separates STM and LTM. Duplex models were rendered largely obsolete by the discovery of sensory memory in 1960. Dysexecutive Questionnaire See Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome Test. Dysexecutive Syndrome [See firstly Working Memory Theory.] Term coined by Baddeley (1986, p238) as a synonym for frontal lobe syndrome, and nowadays perhaps the preferred term. The concept was introduced in a chapter entitled 'The Central Executive and its Malfunctions', in which the 1970s working memory concepts were co Echoic Memory An auditory version of iconic memory. Ecphory [From the Greek ekphorein = to make known; reveal.] A valuable, but oft-ignored, term devised by Tulving (1972) to describe a largely pre-conscious process in which retrieval cues are brought into contact with stored information, causing parts of that stored information to be reactivated, and thus r Eidetic Imagery A particularly vivid form of visual imagery, more fully described in Haber (1969). Electrostatic Force [See firstly resting potential and equilibrium.] The charged particles which move back and forth across the cell membrane in excitable tissues are capable of exerting relatively strong intermolecular forces. Like charges (both positive or both negative) repel, and unlike charges (i.e. one of each) a Electrotonic In general, a stable, rather than constantly changing (clonic) electrical potential. In the present context, the neuron's resting potential is an electrotonic potential. Encoding Encoding is what the nervous system does to the stimuli which impinge upon it. It is the mechanism by which the various attributes of the external stimulus are converted to an internal - that is to say, neural - signal. With a visual stimulus, for example, you need to encode size, shape, colour, bri Endoplasm Same as cytoplasm. Endoplasmic Reticulum This is a complex network of intracellular microtubules and cisterns (small chambers) which permeates the cytoplasm. Its walls - the reticular membrane - share the four-layered molecular structure of the cell membrane. Indeed, at some points on the cell membrane there are pores where selected endopl Engram It has long been suspected/agreed that the process of retaining information over time requires some sort of structural change within the nervous system, but opinions as to the nature of this trace continue to differ. However, its name at least is fairly well established Entity ..... a person, object, place or event for which data is collected. For example, if you consider the information system for a business, entities would include not only customers, but the customer's address, and orders as well [source]. Alternatively, entities are 'the elements or parts of a system' Entity-Relationship Diagram See entity-relationship modelling. Entity-Relationship Modelling (ERM) [See firstly entity, relationship, and attribute.] ERM is of the basic skills of modern systems analysis. It is a method of modelling which requires the identification and naming (a) of all the entities dealt with or touched upon by an information processing system, (b) of the attributes of said ent Ependymins [See firstly calcium switching.] If calcium-switched post-synaptic sensitisation has a lifetime measured in hours, then it cannot explain memory for longer periods. Membrane sensitisation, in other words, is NOT the sort of structural change long believed to be involved in the formation of LTM engra Episodic Memory The concept of episodic memory derives from a 1972 paper by Endel Tulving, who argued that the material used in memory experiments was far from 'natural' (Tulving, 1972). In particular, it did not tap the ability of subjects to record their personal life events in the form of an internal autobiograp Episodic Memory Organisation Packet (E-MOP) [See firstly the entry in the LayNetworks e-glossary.] The episodic memory access mechanisms proposed here help provide the indexing necessary to achieve effective random access to the body of LTM. Episodic vs Semantic Memory [See firstly episodic memory.] Tulving gave many examples to illustrate the difference between episodic memory and semantic memory. Episodic memories would include the fact that ten years ago one moved house, or that last Saturday one went to a wedding, or that one passed one 's driving test in 1991 Epistemology The study of theories of knowledge or ways of knowing, particularly in the context of the limits or validity of the various ways of knowing [source]. The science and philosophy of semantic memory. EPSP See excitatory post-synaptic potential. Equilibrium The ion concentration at a given point on the neural cell membrane at which the three competing molecular transport forces (random molecular movement, metabolic pumping, and electrostatic forces) balance out. This results in a resting potential of -70mV. Errands Tests [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] DETAIL TO FOLLOW Event Memory Another view of the episodic vs semantic memory distinction comes from Roger Schank of Northwestern University. Schank is a leading AI researcher who has been forced to postulate different subtypes of episodic memory in order to make progress with cognitive modelling on computers. To start with, he Excitatory Post-Synaptic Potential (EPSP) [See firstly post-synaptic potential.] A local 3-4mV depolarisation of the post-synaptic neural membrane, following the arrival of an action potential at the pre-synaptic side of the synaptic cleft, provided only that the neurotransmitter involved is excitatory. This depolarising event is important, Executive Function [See firstly frontal lobe syndrome.] That which occupies the processor(s) at the top of the motor hierarchy, and therefore the faculty (or cluster of faculties) which is failing in dysexecutive syndrome. In fact, four major components of executive functioning may be identified, namely (a) orienting Executive Function Route Finding Test [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] A formally standardised and published psychometric test of executive function (and thus part of a typical modern frontal battery). Devised by Boyd and Sauter (1985), and intended to quantify performance at the forward planning component of Exocytosis The releasing of neurotransmitter chemicals into the synaptic cleft by passing 'bubbles' of them - synaptic vesicles - out through the pre-synaptic cell membrane. Experiential Learning Term devised by Kolb (1983) to refer to conceptual knowledge acquired over time from simple performance, and generally applied specifically within educational theory rather than within mainstream memory theory. The principle of experiential learning is that conceptual knowledge [ie. semantic memory] Explanatory Gap The practical problem faced by followers of Reductionism in relating micro observations to macro observations. To take a memory phenomenon as a convenient example, we know what ependymins are and how they behave, and we can readily demonstrate memory consolidation at a psychological level. However, Extracellular Fluid (ECF) This is the generic term for all non-cellular bodily fluids. There are three main types of ECF, two of which, lymph and blood, are confined into circulatory systems and do not concern us here. The third type, the interstitial fluid is not circulated as such, but simply fills in all the gaps between First Messenger Neurotransmission See second messenger neurotransmission. Flashbulb Memory See episodic memory and imagery. Forward Planning Multiple Errands Test; Porteus Maze; Six Elements Test; Tower of Hanoi; Tower of London Free Recall The recall of stimulus items in any order (as, for example, in the Brown-Peterson technique). (Those interested in studying free recall will find some useful standardised data on 925 English nouns in Rubin and Friendly, 1986.) Frontal Amnesia See frontal lobe syndrome. Frontal Battery [See firstly frontal lobe syndrome and dysexecutive syndrome.] A loose collection of psychometric tests - both adhoc and formally standardised - applied over a period of time to build up a bigger picture of a frontal patient's executive function. To do the frontal assessment properly, therefore requ Frontal Lobe Syndrome The intriguing but puzzling pattern of deficits sometimes associated with damage to the frontal lobes (Baddeley, 1986, p236). One of the earliest accounts of the effects of a frontal lobe lesion is Bigelow's (1850) [timeline] account of the brain-injured American railway labourer Phineas Gage. This Functional Architecture The arrangement and organisation of process as opposed to structure. Functional Decomposition Another of the basic skills of modern systems analysis [alongside entity-relationship modelling]. The recursive analysis of the sub-processes within a process, beginning ideally at the very top, and continuing down the hierarchy of processes until one of two things happens - either (a) you reach the Functional Primitive See functional decomposition. Gene This is a subsection of a chromosome. It contains just enough genetic material to manufacture a single molecule of protein (although it can do this many times). Each human chromosome contains of the order of 100,000 genes, each of which has a molecular weight of the order of 1 million and contains p Generalised Event Memory (GEM) See event memory. Gist The key points in a story. [See now Bartlett (1932) and memory for gist.] Golgi Apparatus This is an extension of the endoplasmic reticulum, seemingly responsible for directing newly formed proteins back into the cytoplasm. It does this by forming them into small vesicles known as secretory granules which can then be passed in through the reticular membrane by a process known as endocyto Graded Potential [See firstly potential difference and propagation.] Small changes in membrane potential which die away by decremental propagation, that is to say, smoothly with time or distance and without inducing an action potential. Halstead-Reitan Battery [See firstly frontal lobe syndrome and dysexecutive syndrome.] This test is described in Section 5 of our e-paper 'From Frontal Lobe Syndrome to Dysexecutive Syndrome'. One disadvantage of the test is that it takes around six hours to work through all the sub-tests (Anastasi, 1990). Hebb-Marr Network Same as neural network. [For a broader introduction to this topic, see our e-paper on 'Connectionism'.] Hebb's Rule [See firstly cell assembly.] The law of contiguity applied to synaptic learning. Originally stated as follows: Let us assume then that the persistence or repetition of a reverberatory activity (or 'trace') tends to induce lasting cellular changes that add to its stability. The assumption can be prec Higher (Mental) Functions A term initially devised by neurologists to encompass all cognitive functions over and above those concerned with reflex, perceptual, and motor behaviour. Broadly speaking, the same set of processes now treated as executive function. Iconic Memory Very short-term visual memory, first formally investigated by Sperling (1960). Imagery The non-conceptual memory of past visual and/or auditory scenes. Presumably, therefore, some sort of partly reactivated perceptual memory, with associations to both episodic memory (for the context within which the scene was originally experienced) and propositional memory (for the interpretation pl Impulsivity A clinical sign of a response-inhibiting deficit in neurological disease (and especially in dysexecutive syndrome). Responding with the first thing which comes into your head, despite knowing this to be an inappropriate strategy. Indexing [See firstly event memory and story memory.] The concept of 'indexing' is a valuable, but oft-ignored, aspect of Schank and Abelson's (1995) story-based approach to memory, and it earns its value from the simple fact that a prior experience is only useful if it can be used. That means being able to Inhibitory Post-Synaptic Potential (IPSP) [See firstly post-synaptic potential.] A local 3-4mV hyperpolarisation of the post-synaptic neural membrane, following the arrival of an action potential at the pre-synaptic side of the synaptic cleft, provided only that the neurotransmitter involved is inhibitory. This hyperpolarising event is impo Inner Speech Thinking by talking silently to oneself. One of the most important (and mysterious) cognitive abilities, and typically modelled as a feedback loop, as, for example, Route #11 (northbound) on the Ellis and Young (1988) transcoding model. Interference This is the doctrine (originally from Ebbinghaus, 1885) that forgetting can be caused by competing demand for memory resources, rather than by simple time lapse alone. You forget, in other words, because one engram can become mixed up with, and eventually indistinguishable from, earlier or later one Interpolated Activity See Brown-Peterson technique. Interstitial Fluid A type of extracellular fluid. It is mainly composed of water, with traces of other substances - salts (predominantly sodium chloride), sugars, dissolved blood gases, and proteins - in solution. The main difference between interstitial fluid and the cytoplasm is that the interstitial fluid contains Ion An atom with one or more electrons in surplus or deficit. Because each electron carries a unit negative charge, if there is a surplus of them the overall atomic charge is a net negative (making the ion in question an anion), and if there is a deficit of them the overall atomic charge is a net positi IPSP See inhibitory post-synaptic potential. Knowledge Loosely speaking, the sum total of the representations of the world contained in the mind, on all subjects (including our own selves) and involving all memory types. But avoid specific use of this term in technical arguments in favour of the more precise propositional knowledge (or as appropriate). Label See indexing. LNNB See Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. Logic (of a Process) The sequence of events by which a problem can be solved. These events can be, for example, movements of, manipulations of, or tests of, memory content. Long-Term Working Memory (LTWM) [See firstly working memory.] Ericsson and Kintsch (1995) [useful commentary and extracts] have recently introduced the concept of long-term WM (an assertion which would once have been considered a contradiction in terms) to account for tagging phenomena in complex cognitive behaviours like the comp Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] The LNNB is a 14-subscale battery of 'unstructured qualitative' neuropsychological tests [see sales material]. The full test takes around two and a half hours to complete (Anastasi, 1990), and the final paperwork includes a 'mountain range' Lysosome This is a small spherical organelle containing digestive enzymes. Lysosomes help 'sweep up' foreign substances entering the cell. Managerial Knowledge Units [See firstly frontal lobe syndrome, planning, and script execution.] Term coined by Grafman (1989) for cognitive structures in the frontal lobes which coordinate lesser blocks of memory into meaningful sequences [1994 press release]. More or less synonymous, therefore, with the terms action schema a Mannikin Test [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] MAIN ENTRY TO FOLLOW Maze Following (Visual) [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] MAIN ENTRY TO FOLLOW MCST See Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Memory for Gist [See firstly gist and Bartlett (1932).] Understanding a complex narrative or a technical argument requires what the man in the street would call 'grasping' or 'getting the gist' of a very deep message; what Bartlett (1932) called the 'bare outline' (p75) or 'the general form, or scheme, or plan' (p8 Memory Span A memory test in which subjects are presented with strings of test items for short term rehearsal. Performance levels off in normals as soon as the string exceeds about seven items in length, and is one of the first abilities to fail following neurological trauma. Memory Trace Same as engram (which use). Metabolic Pumping [See firstly random molecular movement.] Our bodies are made up of billions of cells, each one surrounded by a porous cell membrane. The passing of chemicals across these membranes due to osmosis is a significant biological problem because if steps were not taken to prevent it, the cytoplasm within Method of Repeated Production A memory test in which subjects are presented with test stimuli and required to reproduce them from memory after a series of intervals. Wulf (1922) used this method to investigate progressive changes in the memory trace for simple visual shapes, and Bartlett (1932) used it to investigate progressive Method of Savings This is a powerful but complex memory measure dating back to Ebbinghaus (1885). The subject is firstly trained to criterion on the learning task in question. Learning is then discontinued for a period, as a result of which some forgetting will take place. At the end of this period, the subject is re Method of Serial Reproduction A memory test in which subjects are presented with test stimuli and required to reproduce them from memory after an interval. This reproduction is then used as the test stimulus for a second subject, whose output is used as the stimulus for the third subject, and so on. Bartlett (1932) used this met Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) Quick bedside screening test for higher cognitive functions. For details of questions and scoring, click here. Note the ten short questions addressing orientation to time and place. Minimum Stimulus Current The smallest continuous stimulation required to exceed the action potential threshold. Mitochondrion (Pl: Mitochondria.) This is a sausage-shaped organelle of which several hundred may be present in a given cell. It acts as the cell's 'powerhouse', that is to say, it is where the energy source adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is stored pending demand. MMSE See Mini Mental State Examination. Mnemonic An encoding strategy for enhancing memory performance. Modal Model of Memory (MMM) A consensus (hence 'modal') approach to memory theory which emerged during the 1960s, and which was most clearly expounded by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1971). The MMM treats memory phenomena as beginning with sensory memory, advancing to STM, and consolidating to LTM, and as being supported along the w Modified Card Sorting Test (MCST) See Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Motor Hierarchy See dedicated support article. Multiple Errands Tests [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] The Multiple Errands Test is a simple test of the integrity of the planning-execution components of human executive function, and, as such, is commonly included as a frontal battery test. The test was developed by Shallice and Burgess (1991 Neural Network [See firstly Connectionism.] A non-biological simulation of a biological cell assembly, either (a) simulated 'in hardware' using purpose-built electronic circuitry, or (b) simulated 'in software'. [For further details, see our e-paper on 'Connectionism'.] Neuroanatomy See basic nervous system macroanatomy for the structures visible to the naked eye, and basic neuron microanatomy for the cellular and sub-cellular stuff. Neuron, Non-Spiking Type of neuron whose normal mode of operation involves transmitting graded potentials only (rather than action potentials) during decremental propagation. Neuronal Network A network of neurons. Same thing as cell assembly. NOT A NEURAL NETWORK!! Neuroplasm A neuron's cytoplasm. Neurotransmission Reduced to basics, there are actually three ways for chemicals to leave a given cell, namely (a) by simple diffusion through the cell membrane, (b) by passing out through pores in the cell membrane such as the sodium ion channel (possibly - but not necessarily - helped on their way by metabolic pump Neurotransmitter [See firstly neurotransmission.] The contents of the synaptic vesicles released from the pre-synaptic neuron into the synaptic cleft. These chemicals induce a post-synaptic potential in the receiving neuron. Node of Ranvier The space between adjacent Schwann cell sheaths on a myelinated axon. The only points on such an axon where an action potential can occur. [See now saltatory conduction.] Non-Decremental Propagation Propagation whereby an action potential at one point on a cell membrane induces a full action potential either (a) at an immediately adjacent point in the neural membrane, or (b) some way off at the next node of Ranvier. Because each action potential consumes metabolic energy, its power does not dec Norman-Shallice Model of Supervisory Attentional Function A more powerful development of Norman and Bobrow's (1975) Resource Allocation Theory. The Norman-Shallice model is a three-layer/five-box control hierarchy (similar to Craik, 1945) sculpted on top of a sixth box containing a schema selection process. This latter process is characterised as relying a Nuclear Membrane This is the outer surface of the cell nucleus, that is to say, the layer which confines the nucleoplasm. Outside the nuclear membrane there is cytoplasm. It is a two-layered molecular structure, namely a bimolecular lipid layer (lacking the outer 'sandwich' of protein layers which characterises the Nucleolus (Pl Nucleoplasm This is the fluid medium of the cell nucleus. It contains the nucleoli and the chromosomes. [Compare cytoplasm and interstitial fluid.] Nucleus This is physically and functionally the central component of the cell. It is a near-spherical structure, containing the nucleoplasm, the nucleoli, and the chromosomes, and is bounded by the nuclear membrane. Most cells have a single nucleus, although muscle cells have several and red blood cells hav OAT See Object Alternation Test. OAT-PE See Object Alternation Test. Object Apart from its everyday usage, the word 'object' also has a specific technical meaning within the 'object-oriented' field of computing [see our e-paper on 'Short-Term Memory Subtypes in Computing and Artificial Intelligence', Part 6 (Section 3.9), if interested in this aspect of memory theory]. Object Alternation Test (OAT) This is a test first devised for use with animals (eg. Pribram and Mishkin, 1956) and then adapted for use with humans (Freedman, 1990). It requires the integration of short-term visual memory and simple rule learning. The patient is seated in front of two black 'plaques', either, both, or neither o Organelle A subcellular structure (or class of structures), such as the Golgi apparatus, the mitochondria, or the ribosomes. Orienting Maintaining general everyday awareness. One of the first things to be established in the Routine Neurological Examination is 'orientation to time, person, and place'. This involves asking such questions as 'Do you know where you are, Ethel?', 'Can you tell me who the Prime Minister is?', and so on. Orienting to Time, Person, and Place Price Estimation Tasks; Cognitive Estimates Test; Mannikin Test Orthodromic Conduction The propagation of a neural impulse in the 'forwards' direction, that is to say, from a point of stimulation on the axon away from the cell body. The opposite of antidromic conduction. Partial Report Paradigm A memory test set-up in which subjects are presented with an array of test items, but required to process only a subset thereof. This involves cueing before, during, or after the display with instructions as to which subset is to be recalled. Providing the cue is received early enough, this allows a Perception This is the name given to the process by which information acquired from the environment is transformed into experience of objects and events (Roth and Frisby, 1986). It is a selective placing of input into one category of identity rather than another (Bruner, 1957), thus making it essentially an ac Perceptual Memory [See firstly perception.] This is LTM for external stimulus pattern (primarily visual or auditory). Its contents help you recognise things you have interacted with in the past (particularly familiar faces and objects), and this act of recognition is at the heart of the process of 'perception'. The v Perseveration [See firstly frontal battery.] An inability to discontinue (i.e. cancel) an ongoing planned behaviour, despite instructions to do so, and a common feature of dysexecutive syndrome. Perhaps a failure of the mind's contention scheduling mechanism. Phonological Loop [See firstly Working Memory Theory in general and articulatory loop in particular.] Later theoretical adjunct to the articulatory loop, introduced by Baddeley (1986) to explain the phonological similarity effect. Characterised as 'a function of the short-term store which is maintained and refreshed Phonological Recoding Effect [See firstly Working Memory Theory.] This is the name given to the recruitment of both the phonological loop and the articulatory loop memory resources for material initially presented to the four senses other than hearing (i.e. vision, touch, smell, and taste). It reflects our ability (indeed prefe Phonological Similarity Effect [See firstly confusibility studies.] This is the name given to an STM impairment when presented with acoustically similar material. It was first detected by Conrad (1964), who found that misrecollections of target letters were more likely to be acoustically similar than not. Thus 'D' would be more c Planning Although planning is strictly speaking a cognitive process, not a form of memory (i.e. it is something the mind does, not something it contains or creates), it is nevertheless a process which requires memory, (a) to store its primary products (i.e. the plans), (b) to store the action schemas needed Porteus Maze [See firstly executive function and dysexecutive syndrome.] DETAIL TO FOLLOW Post-Synaptic Generally relating to the neuron on the 'down' side of a synapse. Post-Synaptic Membrane [See firstly cell membrane.] The receiving (or 'down') side of the synaptic cleft. Post-Synaptic Potential Refers to the electrotonic effects at the receiving neural cell membrane when the neurotransmitter substances arrive. Can be inhibitory or excitatory (i.e. it can either discourage or encourage a further action potential in the receiving neuron). Post-Tetanic Potentiation The reduction of the action potential threshold for a short period following a given action potential. Potential The presence of ions at a given point. Loosely speaking, the same thing as 'voltage'. Potential Difference A difference in potential between two points; a 'slope' of potential between these two points; a potential gradient. Potential gradients are important because ions tend to 'flow down' them until the potential difference is cancelled out. This is what is happening whenever a current is flowing. This Potential Gradient See potential difference. Pragmatics The science of communicational motivation, that is to say, of the effects that immediate motive, context, and custom have on discourse. [For further details see the longer entry under the same heading in our Psycholinguistics Glossary.] Pre-Synaptic Generally relating to the neuron on the 'up' side of a synapse. | SearchTyp a word and hit `Search`.
Recent searchesThe most recent searches on Encyclo. Between brackets you will find the number of results and number of related results.• deep water fauna (1) • marsh plant (2) • Trophi (3) • Carangidae (4) • plutonomics (1) • Partney monastery (1) • Empire World Towers (1) • Enhort (2) • donts (1) • Pasvanoghlu Osman Pash (1) • Go Man Go (2) • Birthing Ball (2) • Sesquitertian (3) • unbeat (2) • Ragna Nikolasdatter (1) • Necessitattion (2) • Anders Carlsson (3) • Abdul Hamid Bassiouny (1) • Uniformity Coefficient (1) • Cuban Rap Agency (1) • Jangansan (1) • Piseinotecidae (1) • Dym (1) • Spathoglottis paulinae (1) |
|||||||||||||||||
| © Encyclo MMXII | Contact | Privacy | ||||||||||||||||||
