M1.

Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

• Cognitive Psychology is how we process information. The study of how people perceive, learn,
remember, and think about information.
• Cognition is our thoughts, perspective, and expectations. It consist of knowing remembering,
understanding, communication, and learning.
◦ We used cognition by forming Concepts and to be able to form concepts we used
prototypes.
◦ Cognition also works through problem solving.
• Ideas often involves a DIALECTIC – developmental process where ideas evolve overtime
through pattern of transformation.

Thesis Antithesis Synthesis

Formal Contradicts Resolves the
statement and contradiction
illustrating negates within thesis
a point thesis and antithesis

Philosophical Antecedents
• Rationalist (Descartes)
◦ Acquire knowledge through thinking and logical analysis
◦ “Cogito, ergo sum” – “I think, therefore I am”
• Empiricist (Locke)
◦ Acquire knowledge via empirical evidence
◦ “Tabular Rasa” – “Blank Slate”

 PHILOSOPHY – seeks to understand the general nature of many aspects of the world in part
thru introspection.
 PHYSIOLOGY – seeks a scientific study of life sustaining functions in living matter primarily
through empirical methods.
 GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY – states that we best understand psychological phenomena when
we view them as organized, structured wholes.
 COGNITIVISM – the belief that much of human behavior can be understood in terms of how
people think.

Psychological Antecedents
• Structuralism (Wundt)
◦ What are the elementary contents (structure) of the human mind?
◦ Seeks to understand the structure (configuration of elements) of the mind and its perceptions
by analyzing those perceptions into their consistent components (affection, attention,
memory, sensation, etc.)
◦ He use the method of INTROSPECTION – deliberate looking inward at pieces of
information passing through conciousness

• Functionalism (James)
◦ How and why does the mind work?
◦ Seeks to understand what people do and why they do it.
◦ PRAGMATIST believed that knowledge is validated by its usefulness
 • Associationism (Thorndike)
◦ How can events or ideas become associated in the mind?
◦ Associations may result from: Contiguity – associating things that intend to occur together
at the same time; Similarity – associating things with similar features or properties;
Contrast – associating things that show polarities.
◦ Satisfaction is the key to forming associations
◦ Law of effect

• Behaviorism (Pavlov)
◦ What is the revelation between behavior and environment?
◦ John Watson – father of radical behaviorism
◦ Focuses only on the relation between observable behavior and environmental stimuli
◦ Operant Condition by Skinner.

Emergence of Cognitive Psychology

• Lashley emphasized that the brain actively processes information
• Hebb targeted cells as center of learning
• Chomsky’s review of Skinner’s verbal behavior: “reductio ad absurdum”
• 1950s: development of computers
• Turing test and artificial intelligence
• A cognitive revolution occurred and increased interest in the study of mental processes
(cognitions)

Cognition and Intelligence

• Intelligence involves the capacity to learn from experience, using metacognitive processes to
enhance learning. It also involves the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.
 METACOGNITION – people’s understanding and control of their own thinking process.
 CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE – understanding of cultural differences in terms of
intelligence.

Three Models of Intelligence

• Three Stratum Model of Intelligence (Caroll)
◦ Stratum I: Specific abilities (e.g., spelling ability)
◦ Stratum II:Broad abilities (e.g., fluid – speed and accuracy of abstract reasoning,
especially of novel problems; and crystallized – accumulated knowledge and ability)
◦ Stratum III:General intelligence (g)

• Theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner)

◦ Linguistic intelligence
◦ Logical-mathematical intelligence
◦ Spatial intelligence
◦ Musical intelligence
◦ Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
◦ Interpersonal intelligence
◦ Intrapersonal intelligence
 ◦ Naturalist intelligence

• Triarchic theory of intelligence (Sternberg) – Intelligence consists of creative, analytical, and

practical abilities
◦ Practical – Apply, use, and utilize (used to implement ideas and persuade others of their
value)
◦ Analytical – Analyze, compare, and evaluate (ascertain whether your ideas are good ones)
◦ Creative – Create, invent, and design (are used to generate novel ideas)

 THEORY – organized body of general explanatory principles, regarding a phenomenon,

usually based on observations
 HYPOTHESIS – tentative proposals
 STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE – indicates the likelihood that a given set of results would
be obtained if only chance factors were in operation

Goals of Research
• Data gathering
• Data analysis
• Theory development
• Hypothesis formation
• Hypothesis testing
• Application to real world

Research Methods
• Controlled experiments – an independent variable is manipulated and the dependent variable is
measured
• Psychobiological research – study the relationship between cognitive performance and cerebral
events and structures
• Self reports – an individual’s own account of cognitive process
• Case studies – detailed study of a specific object
• Naturalistic observation – detailed studies of cognitive performance in everyday situations
• Computer simulations and artificial intelligence
 IV – manipulated
In an Experiment…  DV – outcome responses
• Manipulate the independent variable  Control Variables – irrelevant
◦ Create experimental group variables that are held constant
◦ Create control group  Confounding Variables – left
◦ Randomly assign participants uncontrolled
• Measure the dependent variable
◦ Same for all groups  ECOLOGICAL ACTIVITY –
• Control all other variables degree to which findings in one
◦ Prevent confounds environmental context may be
considered relevant outside of
Typical Independent Variables that context
• Characteristics of the situation  Cognitive Science – cross-
◦ Presence vs. absence of a stimulus disciplinary field
• Characteristics of the task
◦ Reading vs. listening to words for comprehension
 • Characteristics of participants
◦ Age differences

Typical Dependent Variables

• Percent correct/error rate
◦ Accuracy of mental processing
• Reaction time (milliseconds)
◦ Speed of mental processing

Correlational Studies
• Cannot infer causation
• Simply measure variables of interest
• Nature of relationship
◦ Positive correlation
◦ Negative correlation
• Strength of relationship
◦ Determined by size of “r”

Example: Correlational Study

• An examination of the relationship between confidence and accuracy of eyewitnesses
• What do you think the relationship is?
◦ Positive?
◦ Negative?
◦ Strong?
◦ Weak?
• It is not a strong positive correlation!
• Many studies indicate that high confidence does not mean high accuracy

Psychobiological Studies
• Postmortem studies–Examine cortex of dyslexics after death
• Brain-damaged individuals and their deficits–Study amnesiacs with hippocampus damage
• Monitor a participant doing a cognitive task–Measure brain activity while a participant is
reciting a poem

Other Methods
• Self-reports
◦ An individual’s own account of cognitive processes
◦ Verbal protocol, diary study
• Case studies–In-depth studies of individuals
◦ Genie, Phineas Gage

Computers in Research
• Analogy for human cognition
◦ The sequence of symbol manipulation that underlies thinking
◦ The goal: discovery of the programs in human memory
 • Computer simulations of artificial intelligence
◦ Recreate human processes using computers

Fundamental Ideas
• Data can only be fully explained with theories, and theories are insufficient without data – thus
creating the cycle of science
Theory

Data

• Cognition is typically adaptive, but errors made can be informative

◦ Example: Spoonerisms
▪ A lack of pies (A pack of lies)
▪ It’s roaring with pain (It’s pouring with rain)
◦ Errors can be used to infer how speech production occurs
• Cognitive processes interact with each other and with noncognitive processes
◦ Emotions may affect decisions
◦ Working memory capacity contributes to reading speed
◦ Perception contributes to memory decisions
• Many different scientific methods are used to study cognition
• Basic research often leads to important applications, and applied research often contributes to a
more basic understanding of cognition

Key Themes
• Nature vs. nurture
• Rationalism vs. empiricism
• Structures vs. processes
• Domain generality vs. domain specificity
• Validity of causal inferences vs. ecological validity
• Applied vs. basic research
• Biological vs. behavioral methods