Cognition and Physiology
Examine one interaction between cognition and physiology in terms of behaviour.
Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. Physiology refers to the way the organisms work in response. These interactions between a cognitive process and physiology create human behavior. one example of this interaction is the way mirror neurons work and how the body acts in response to these neurons. A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. The animal then ‘mirrors’ the behavior of the other. These neurons play a vital role in learning from another person.
Mirror neurons are widely cited by research in psychology. In 1964 Gallese et al tested this theory on monkeys. Monkeys were connected to a brain scanner so that when the mirror neurons fired, an electrical noise was made. The investigators reached for peanuts and the monkey’s watched. The monkey’s neurons fired when watching somebody else perform the action that they had just done. Then again they fired when the monkeys mirrored this action and repeated it for themselves.
The famous bobo doll experiment by Bandura strongly supports mirror neurons. Children watched an adult play with a bobo doll. 24 children watched an aggressive act, 24 watched non- aggressive acts, and the remaining 24, acting as a control group, saw neither aggressive or non-aggressive acts. The children were then left to play with the bobo dolls by themselves. The children in the non-aggressive group showed almost no aggression in this play. Those who watched the aggressive models imitated their behaviour and were aggressive. Children who watched the aggressive models showed both physical and verbal aggression. 88% of the children imitated the aggressive behaviour. The acts were clearly those that the adult had carried out, not just general aggression. This behaviour was mirrored
Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. Physiology refers to the way the organisms work in response. These interactions between a cognitive process and physiology create human behavior. one example of this interaction is the way mirror neurons work and how the body acts in response to these neurons. A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. The animal then ‘mirrors’ the behavior of the other. These neurons play a vital role in learning from another person.
Mirror neurons are widely cited by research in psychology. In 1964 Gallese et al tested this theory on monkeys. Monkeys were connected to a brain scanner so that when the mirror neurons fired, an electrical noise was made. The investigators reached for peanuts and the monkey’s watched. The monkey’s neurons fired when watching somebody else perform the action that they had just done. Then again they fired when the monkeys mirrored this action and repeated it for themselves.
The famous bobo doll experiment by Bandura strongly supports mirror neurons. Children watched an adult play with a bobo doll. 24 children watched an aggressive act, 24 watched non- aggressive acts, and the remaining 24, acting as a control group, saw neither aggressive or non-aggressive acts. The children were then left to play with the bobo dolls by themselves. The children in the non-aggressive group showed almost no aggression in this play. Those who watched the aggressive models imitated their behaviour and were aggressive. Children who watched the aggressive models showed both physical and verbal aggression. 88% of the children imitated the aggressive behaviour. The acts were clearly those that the adult had carried out, not just general aggression. This behaviour was mirrored