Intro + History Flashcards
Is intuition a reliable guide to cognitive processing?
No; mind spontaneously and unconsciously solves many problems
What is introspection? Who?
Cognitive processes composed of elements. Highly trained observers report own consciousness under controlled conditions
Wundt, Titchener
What is behaviorism? Who?
Psychology is about external, observable behavior, not analysis of mind and internal processes and representations
Watson, Skinner
Introspection: problems?
Data cannot be verified or reproduced; disputes cannot be resolved
Behaviorism: problems?
Operational definitions hopeless
Reinforcement not necessary for learning
Reinforcement not always sufficient for learning
Difficult to account for novelty/creativity
Nativism vs Empiricism. Behaviorism was which?
People born with innate behavior or learned behavior. Behaviorism was empiricist
Congitive Maps: Who? What?
Edward Tolman. Rat maze showing purposive behavior in rats. Rats memorized environment stimuli to judge maze rather than simple stimuli-response and reward
Noam Chomsky
MIT linguist. Language too complex to be explained by behaviorist theory
What is cognitivism?
Cognition involves structured, internal representations that process information.
Cognition can be studied through systematic, controlled experiments measuring behavior.
Best of both worlds: mental representation of introspectionism and experimental rigor of behaviorism
Information-processing
Analyze cognition as set of steps in which an abstract entity called “information” is processed. Flowchart of steps
Sternberg Paradigm
Sternberg (1966). Participants memorize set of numbers and are probed, asked if a number was part of set. Linear relationship, increase reaction time as increase memory set
Marr’s Three Levels of Explanation. Example. Relation?
Computational (calculation), algorithmic (how represented), implementation (how physically realized). Mutually constraining, not mutually exclusive
What is topographic organization of brain? Examples
Information processing is structured spatially in brain.
Eg. Visual cortex, adjacent areas represent information from adjacent areas of visual field. Somatosensory/motor cortex have maps
How can illusions help study cognition?
Illusions reveal how the visual system solves the problems of ambiguity and variability by making reasonable guesses based on reliable cues. Illusions occur when the visual system gets things wrong, and reveal which guesses the visual system makes and which cues it relies on
