Cognitive Bases of Behavior The study of the mind Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery Who am I How do I think ? How do I know what I Know ? What does it matter anyway ? !

Learning outcomes By the end of the session you will: Consider the process involved in cognitive development Have some understanding of the cognitive processes that we use to understand and make sense of our world How will we do that ? –Renew your basic knowledge of neurophysiology –Consider the role of the higher neurological functions and in particular the limbic system –Consider the effect of this functioning on the workings of the mind/soul –Discuss the field of cognitive psychology –Consider the question of how do I think ?

Cognitive Psychology Dominated since 1970’s by the information processing model Domains – experimental psychology – cognitive neuropsychology cognitive science – cognitive neuroscience What does this have to do with nursing, health or…?

Historical Antecedents Philosophy: concerned with understanding experience through introspection - rational Physiology: scientific understanding of life-sustaining processes in living matter - empirical

Rationalism vs. Empiricism Plato: theory of forms, reality resides not in concrete objects, but in the abstract forms (ideas) they represent - forerunner of rationalism; this idea picked up again by Descartes in 17th century; idea of innate knowledge Aristotle: reality resides only in concrete world of objects, abstract ideas are a derivation - forerunner of empiricism; this idea picked up again by Locke; humans born without knowledge, experience writes on the mind

Structuralism vs. Functionalism Structuralism: understand basic parts (akin to anatomy) of the mind (e.g., Wundt) Functionalism: understand basic processes (akin to physiology) of the mind (e.g., James)

Associationism and Behaviorism Ebbinghaus ( ) - studied how associations between stimuli were formed; used empirical methods Thorndike: ( ) - law of effect - stimulus will produce response if response is rewarded Rise of behaviorism - Pavlov, Watson, eventually Skinner (1930’s-1960’s)

However physical thinking is just part of how we think. Major topical research areas contributing to contemporary cognitive psychology

Starting with the Brain

I think therefore I am

Thomas Willis

Gall

Major Domains Visual cognition (e.g., object perception and recognition) Attention and resource allocation Learning/Memory - structures and processes Knowledge Representation: nature and organization of stored knowledge Language (development/use of symbol systems) Problem-solving (defining and working toward effective solutions) Reasoning/decision-making Cognition and emotion (effect of emotional arousal on cognition, affective nature of cognitive processing)

The role of the limbic system The limbic system Dr Jeanette Norden The limbic system Sensory systems allows us to learn about the world Motor systems allow us to engage with the world The limbic system allows us to interact with the world.

Information-Processing Paradigm We are autonomous and intentional, interacting beings The mind is a general-purpose, symbol-processing system This system represents the outside world symbolically Aim of cognitive science is to specify symbolic processes Cognitive processes take time (RT) The brain is a limited-capacity processor The symbol system depends upon a neurological substrate, but is not wholly constrained by it

Theories about how we think on a cognitive level Piaget – Emergence of reason – Assimilation Accommodation Equilibrium

Learning Vygotsky went onto develop the work of Piaget to look at how children use the active exploration of their worlds to develop. Piaget’s theory was that we develop through internal cognitive processes however Vygotsky’s theory was that it was a more social process. His theory was that we learn more from those who are not so far from us in terms of development which he called zones of proximal development. We are going to go on and think a bit more about how we learn this afternoon because the more we understand about how people learn about their health the more we can do to influence it.

References Becket, C. Taylor, H. ( 2009) Human Growth and development. Sage. London