misc Flashcards
what is cognitive psychology
could be defined as the scientific study (usually controlled experiments) of mental processes.
It is often referred to as the information-processing approach – based on an analogy between the mind and the digital computer
propositional representations
’token’ mental representations with semantic properties (tokens with meaning)
indirect realism
(representationalism): we access external reality through representations
- Structuralist approach
introspection (e.g. Wundt, 1873)
– Problematic: (1) can’t be verified, (2) different reports, (3) can alter thought processes, (4) assumes mental events conscious
– Behaviourism (hugely influential)
human behaviour explained by relationship between stimuli (S) and response (R)
- Classical conditioning (passive S-R association) e.g., Pavlov, Watson
- Operant (behaviour modified through positive/negative reinforcement) e.g., Skinner
bottom up
data driven
- begins with an analysis of sensory input
- e.g. light on retina
- perception is built up from low level infomation
top down
concept driven
- high level cognitive influences
- knowledge and experience influence perceptions of the world
serial information flow
it is sequential or limited processing of information.
piecemeal processing
- bottleneck
- sequential
parallel information flow
it is bulk processing or processing more than one thing at a time.
bulk processing
- late/ no bottleneck
- consectutive
experimental cognition
- Experimenter controls the variables (e.g. items in word list) in an attempt to study only one particular variable or system (memory capacity)
- Structures are deduced indirectly as a result of measurements of accuracy and reaction time
cognitive neuropsychology
• Uses tests and experiments with patient sample sometimes comparing to non-patient sample or other patients.
• How cognitive systems work is deduced based upon brain injuries or abnormalities
– This involves using a very small sample (i.e. 1)
– Relies heavily on double dissociations
cognitive neruoscience
brain imaging techniques
computational cognition
• Artificial intelligence
– Physical electronics and computer programs
• Connectionism
• Abstract associative networks
symbolic representation
something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible; “the eagle is a symbol of the United States”
representational accounts
Representational accounts assume that we have some sort of activity in our nervous system (including the brain) that indirectly represents the world around us.
