1 introduction to cognitive psychology Flashcards
What is cognition?
Cognition encompasses all activities and processes related to the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and processing of information, whether these processes are explicit or conscious.
Etymology: The term originates from the Latin “cognoscere,” meaning “to get to know, recognize.”
founding book, Ulric Neisser (1967)
What are the core aspects of cognition?
Mediation Processes: Cognitive processes involve intermediating steps between stimulus and response (e.g., thinking, memory).
Information Processing: The brain processes information similarly to a computer, involving input, storage, and output.
Schemas: Cognitive frameworks that help organize and interpret information.
Reductionism: Simplifies complex behaviors by breaking them into smaller components.
Nomothetic Approach: Studies cognitive processes across groups to establish general principles.
What was the historical development of cognitive psychology?
Early Influences:
Gestalt Psychology (Kohler, 1925): Suggested animals could exhibit insightful behavior, opposing behaviorism.
Cybernetics (Wiener, 1948): Introduced terms like input/output, contributing to cognitive psychology.
Cognitive Maps (Tolman, 1948): Demonstrated internal mental representations in animals.
Key Milestones:
Miller’s Magic Number (1956): Highlighted the limited capacity of short-term memory.
Neisser’s “Cognitive Psychology” (1967): Marked the formal establishment of cognitive psychology.
Cognitive Revolution: A shift from behaviorism to focusing on internal mental processes, heavily influenced by advancements in computer science.
What is the purpose of models in cognitive psychology?
Explanation and Prediction: Models aim to explain cognitive processes and predict behavior.
Process Models: Used to represent stages of cognitive processing, such as memory or attention.
Analogies: Often draw parallels between human cognition and computer operations, helping to structure research hypotheses and design experiments.
How does cognitive psychology differ from biological psychology and cognitive neuroscience?
Cognitive Psychology: Focuses on mental processes like perception, memory, and reasoning, often using models and experiments to infer cognitive processes.
Biological Psychology: Emphasizes the physiological and genetic underpinnings of behavior, such as brain structure and neurotransmitters.
Cognitive Neuroscience: Integrates principles from both, aiming to understand the neural mechanisms behind cognitive processes, often using neuroimaging techniques.
How are process models being used in psychology?
Experiment Design: Process models guide the creation of experiments to test specific hypotheses about cognitive functions.
Understanding Information Flow: Models depict how information moves through different stages of processing (e.g., from sensory input to response output).
Predictive Power: These models allow predictions about behavior, which can be tested and refined through experimentation.
What are the primary research methods of cognitive psychology?
Controlled Experiments: Often conducted in laboratory settings to isolate variables and test specific cognitive functions.
Neuroimaging: Used to measure brain activity and correlate it with cognitive tasks (e.g., fMRI, EEG).
Behavioral Measures: Includes tasks like reaction time experiments and verbal protocols to infer cognitive processes.
Case Studies: Especially in cognitive neuroscience, where specific brain injuries or conditions are studied to understand cognitive functions.
What are key assumptions made while studying cognition?
Psychology should be studied scientifically.
Information received from our senses is processed by the brain, and this processing directs how we behave.
The mind/brain processes information like a computer. We take information in, and then it is subjected to mental processes. There is input, processing, and then output.
Mediational processes (e.g., thinking, memory) occur between stimulus and response.
What is introspectionism?
subjective self-examination
nature of mental images
‘observersʼ formed mental images and then answered a series of
questions about what they held in their mind
totally subjective
observer bias
William James posed many of the central questions which psychology has to answer
What is behaviourism?
John B. Watson
psychology should be solely based on observable events
not based on mentalistic concepts
Pavlov and Darwin influence
conditioned reflex - classical conditioning
‘Psychology will be based on a new foundation, that of the …
acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation.´
psychology could be studied by systematic investigation of animal
learning
mental concepts = epiphenomena
happens as the end result of a process
What is gestalt psychology?
Koffka, Kohler, Wertheimer
gestalt = shape, form, figure
a group of stimuli can have emergent properties
ˮthe whole can be more than the sum of its partsˮ
law of pragnanz - “good formˮ
if a number of different gestalts of stimuli are possible, it is the most
stable or best that will be preferred
powerful demonstrations but weak theoretical background
there must be some internal structure that mediates perception and determines that a particular configuration is preferred
isomorphism - gestalt has corresponding electrical force
nativists - perceptual organisation is inherited
What did Skinner posit about language and how did Chomsky critique his hypotheses?
skinner and language
established that conditioning took two forms
operant conditioning
depending on the outcome, the response might be repeated
positive/negative reinforcement/punishment
Walden Two Skinner, 1948
Verbal Behaviour Skinner, 1957
speech is not the expression of ideas, rather the emission of verbal responses
all language is under the control of some stimulus so that any utterance is considered to have an identifiable external cause
chomsky - argued for the opposite
problem: much of what we hear and say is novel
we have internalised grammar and language
internal representation!!
problem of speaking more than one language?
What is a paradigm shift, what is paradigm theory?
one of the central concepts in the work “the structure of scientific revolutionsˮ
by Kuhn 1962
paradigm theory - broad theoretical framework
“conceptual scheme”
paradigm shift - one theory is replaced by another
-> based on finding new, unexplainable things
science progresses through paradigm shifts
How is the human mind like a computer? How is it unlike a computer?
at organisational level there are some attractive parallels
- information streams
- flow between different components of the system
- central processing unit - brain
- data bases, information stores
- permanent representations of knowledge
- information buffer - processing memor
