In cognitive psychology, what does it mean when researchers say that the brain is frugal in variability?

• A. The brain tends to minimize unnecessary changes in neural activity, maintaining consistent patterns to optimize cognitive efficiency.
• B. The brain uses a large amount of energy to produce highly variable neural responses.
• C. The brain frequently alters its neural activity to adapt to every minor change in the environment.
• D. The brain avoids any form of variability, resulting in completely uniform neural responses across all situations.

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the concept of 'variability' in neural activity, which refers to how much the brain's neural responses change over time or across different situations.
2. Step 2: Recognize that the brain is described as 'frugal in variability' because it aims to avoid unnecessary or excessive changes in neural activity, which can be energetically costly and inefficient.
3. Step 3: Consider that maintaining consistent patterns of neural activity helps the brain optimize cognitive efficiency by reducing the energy required to process information and respond to stimuli.
4. Step 4: Differentiate this from the idea that the brain produces highly variable or constantly changing neural responses, which would be less efficient and more energy-demanding.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the phrase means the brain minimizes unnecessary variability, keeping neural activity stable unless changes are needed for adaptation or learning.