L1 Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

Question 1

The Philosophical foundations of cognitive psychology come from…

Answer 1

Behaviourism - only gain knowledge through observable evidence

Information processing - output (Mind) a product of an input, like a computer.

Question 2

what is Representationalism?

Answer 2

Mental Representations are the hypothetical symbols stored in our minds to represent tangible concepts.

Question 3

Describe how a theory is built.

Answer 3

At the very base, Data is collected, providing evidence, these are arranged into paradigms such as LST or DIT which provide evidence in variour ways, these paradigms join to support a theory at the top which attempts to account for the data seen.

Question 4

How does is a theory used?

Answer 4

A theory is used to make predictions. A strong theory makes specific predictions and predicts with high accuracy, eg the orbit of the moons. a weak prediction is general and is not supported by accurate data.

Question 5

Describe Newells criticism of psychology, and proposed solutions.

Answer 5

Thought all data had no direction, nothing fitted together. Suggested we use data driven models to support theories. had to include;

• Formal models (computational models)
• Complete models (model that can recreate every aspect of what we are trying to understand)
• General models (models that integrate together in a coherent way)