Mental Processes
Mental Processes - Related Videos
05:56
Mental Rotation
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2023
Source: Laboratory of Jonathan Flombaum—Johns Hopkins University Visual mental imagery refers to the ability to conjure images in one’s mind’s eye. This allows people to process visual material above and beyond the constraints of a current point-of-view; for example, a person could imagine, using their mind’s eye, how something might look in a different color, or what it would look like if it were made from a different material or rotated and seen from a different perspective. Mental imagery...
35:03
Mental Status Examination
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2023
Source: Carmen Black, Matthew Goldenberg, and Jaideep Talwalkar; Yale School of Medicine The mental status exam is a clinical evaluation of emotional, perceptual, and cognitive functioning that spans both the fields of psychiatry and neurology. Developing skill in the psychiatric portions of the examination are important to describe salient aspects of the patient's mental state that may be observed during routine history and/or physical exam. Proficiency in the cognitive portions of this...
01:24
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
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2026
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) serves as the primary classification system for mental health disorders, providing standardized diagnostic criteria for clinicians and researchers. First published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1952, the DSM has undergone several revisions to reflect evolving psychiatric understanding. The fifth edition, DSM-5, was published in 2013, followed by its text revision, DSM-5-TR, in 2022. This revision incorporates...
01:30
Stress and Mental Health
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2025
Chronic stress profoundly affects mental health, significantly influencing mood, behavior, and overall quality of life. Research closely links chronic stress with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Ongoing exposure to stress can lead to physiological and psychological changes, initiating a cycle of emotional distress and maladaptive coping mechanisms. Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
01:10
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
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2024
Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres. Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
FAQs
Sensory information first enters processing systems, while attention selects which parts receive priority. Working memory then temporarily maintains selected information so it can be considered, interpreted, or used in a decision. Learning changes later responses based on earlier processing. Together, these operations explain how incoming information can influence behavior beyond the immediate moment.
Attention determines which sensory input receives priority instead of treating all available information as equally influential. This selection affects what enters temporary working memory and therefore what can be interpreted, remembered, or used for decisions. Examining attention helps psychology connect the flow of information through the mind with differences in observable behavior.
Learning modifies how people respond to information after earlier experiences have been processed. Because later responses can reflect these changes, researchers can examine learning alongside perception, memory, thinking, feeling, and decision-making. This perspective is useful for understanding behavior across development and for explaining why the same type of input may produce different responses over time.
Researchers can examine observable behavior as an outward indicator of interacting internal operations, including sensory processing, attention, working memory, and learning. They can then relate patterns in behavior to the underlying activity of the mind rather than treating behavior as isolated. This approach supports psychological investigation of perception, interpretation, memory, decisions, and emotional experience.
Studying these processes provides a basis for examining how people perceive, remember, think, feel, and make decisions. In cognitive assessment, this perspective helps organize attention, memory, and related operations as areas of investigation. In mental health treatment, understanding internal processing can inform approaches that address the relationship between mental activity and behavior.
Their relevance extends across settings in which people interpret information and respond to it. In education, researchers can consider development, attention, working memory, and learning. In human-computer interaction, mental processing helps frame how users engage with information. Decision-making research uses the same broader framework to connect internal activity with choices and observable responses.