1: Introduction

Question 1

Definitions

Answer 1

Cognition- mental processes relating to perception, memory, attention, reasoning etc.

Cognitive psychology- field concerned with scientific study of cognition.

Question 2

Why study it?

Answer 2

Relates to other fields:
Social psychology- Can’t understand how humans interact if we don’t understand how they process info.

Applied psychology- Can’t understand behaviour of employees without first understanding their perceptions and how they reason.

Question 3

Methods of studying

Answer 3

Experimental cognitive psychology- Controlled experiments.

Cognitive neuropsychology- Patient evidence (Brain damage).

Cognitive neuroscience- Brain imaging (establishing which areas correlate with particular tasks).

Question 4

Experimental cognitive psychology: Basics

Answer 4

• Information processing approach rooted in the APA.
• Technology used as an analogy for the mind- like the human mind, computers encode, store and match information. Before manipulating it to produce an output response which gives idea of what goes on internally.
• A stimulus is presented, this causes certain processes, to produce desired response.
• Bottom up processing= processing directly affected by the stimulus.

Question 5

Experimental cognitive psychology: Information processing

Answer 5

‘Biology Vs Technology’
Information processing approach represents an oversimplification of complex reality.

Computers are formal and don’t possess human qualities- meaning, knowledge, awareness etc.
The mind is not constrained by a script or programme like a computer.
Computers don’t- have problems with memory, let attention drift, get driven by emotion.
However cannot process meaning.

Top down processing= processing information influenced by individuals knowledge and expectations.

Question 6

Modern cognitive psychology: Experimentation

Answer 6

• Use IPA but acknowledge performance on cognitive tasks.
• Behaviour is measured in lab tasks.
• Human mind still seen as information processor; acknowledge it can do much more.
• Used for displaying intangible concepts as models; can make predictions about cognitive processes.

Evaluation/Limitations:
Ecological validity- doesn’t correspond to everyday processing.
Task impurity- If it relies on multiple processes, interpretation may be difficult.
Task specificity- Results don’t generalise to other experiments searching for the same thing.

Question 7

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 7

Aims to observe why areas in the brain are activated during tasks.
Methods- single unit recordings; event related potentials; magnetic resonance imaging etc.

Evaluation:
Findings are correlational- doesn’t give any direct information; just where and when parts are activated.
Controlled criticisms apply.
Combining experimentation and neuroscience advanced our understanding of cognitive psychology.

Question 8

Cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 8

Assesses task performance on brain damaged patients.
By finding where things go wrong, we can learn about processing in healthy patients.

Evaluation:
Brain damage may extend beyond areas in question.
Findings need to be treated with caution.
Replications difficult; no two patients have identical damage.