The History and Methods of Cognitive Psychology Cognitive Psychology PSY307 Sorenson

What is Cognitive Psychology? The branch of psychology that studies how we perceive, attend, recognize, remember… what happens in our minds

Cognitive activities Perception Attention Memory Language Reasoning Decision making

What is the “mind” ? How can we study the inner workings of the mind when we can’t “see” the mind?

 Nativism The history of studying cognitions Greeks – 19 th century  Empiricism

Schools of psychology Gestalt psychology  It is the relationship between elements that matters  Method: Experimentation with perception, problem solving

Figure 1-1 (p. 11) Examples of Gestalt figures. Gestalt psychology

Schools of psychology Cognitive psychology  Proposed that mental states could be studied (reaction to behaviorists) Some results…  Human factors engineering  Limited-capacity processors The magical number seven, plus or minus two  Linguistics

Figure 1-4 (p. 29) A typical information-processing model. Paradigms of Cognitive Psychology

Figure 1-5 (p. 31) A typical connectionist model. Paradigms of Cognitive Psychology

Evolution  Our minds are biological systems which evolve and adapt to our environment, and is subject to the laws of natural selection  For each type of problem, we therefore have special- purpose programs to solve them Ecology  Cognition occurs in the context of culture, not in a vacuum

So how do we study cognition?

Methods Naturalistic observation  Ecological validity  Experimenter control  Observer bias  Observation causing changes in subjects’ behaviors

Methods Introspection  Insight  Ecological validity  Experimenter control  Observer bias  Can you really observe something while doing it?

Methods Controlled observation / Clinical interviews  Ecological validity  Only some experimenter control  Observer bias

Methods Experiments/Quasi-experiments  Experimenter control  Isolate causal factors  May not be ecologically valid

Methods of Experimentation Introspection Naturalistic observation Controlled observation Clinical interviews Experiments (and quasi-experiments)

Brain Imaging Computerized Tomography (CT) CT scanners use x-ray technology to view brain structure © Ribotsky/Custom Medical Stock Photo Normal Twin Twin w/ Schizophrenia

detects strong magnetic fields from hydrogen atoms Courtesy Todd A. Gould Brain Imaging Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Measures brain activity based on the utilization of radioactive glucose or oxygen. Courtesy Dept. of Energy Office of Public Affairs Brain Imaging Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

uses a series of images taken in a short period of time to analyze brain activity. Brain Imaging Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Issues with Brain Imaging Subtraction method Location of blood/nutrients Interactivity

Scalp electrodes provide information about the activity of large populations of neurons. Used to study states of consciousness (sleep/wake) and seizures. Copyright © 2004 Allyn and Bacon Other Recording Techniques Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Series of EEG responses to environmental stimuli Useful in studying perception Other Recording Techniques Evoked Potentials (ERP)

Divisions of the Brain

Divisions of the Forebrain

Lobes: Frontal Parietal Occipital Temporal Divisions of the Forebrain

Motor Cortex

Two important concepts: Localization of Function

Two important concepts: Lateralization of Function – Sensory/Motor Abilities LR LR

Two important concepts: Lateralization of Function – Cognitive Abilities