Cognitive Psychology Is it what Psychology is mostly about? Lucie Johnson 12/4/02
What does Cognitive Psychology do? It asks the question: how do we think, reason, know, learn? It is a fundamental question of Psychology --which is probably why there is no specific division of Cognitive Psychology
Then why are we having a separate chapter on this? Wundt’s structuralism, James’ functionalism fell out of favor Strong influence of behaviorism Psychology becomes “the science of human behavior” The cognitive aspect needed to be reclaimed, especially in the US
Early cognitivists Fechner who studied sensation Ebbinghaus (and later Calkins) who studied memory Wundt: model of how ideas were formed Sir Frederick Charles Bartlett ( ) in his book Remembering, pionneers the notion of schema.Frederick Charles Bartlett schema
Jean Piaget ( ) Publishes more than 50 books and monographs on genetic epistemology We construct reality through our cognitive schemas (Kantian influence) These schemas change dialectically (equilibration) (Hegelian influence)
Piaget today The Jean Piaget Society.The Jean Piaget Society Explore the site.
The birth of information theory Norbert Wiener ( ) founder of cybernetics -- demonstrates “purposive behavior” through feedback systems (i.e. “turtle”)Norbert Wiener cybernetics Claude E. Shannon, and Warren Weaver start studying the transformation of information
Machines that think At MIT’s media labMIT’s media lab Used in assistive technologyassistive technology
During the 1950’s Symposium in 1956 at MIT –George A. Miller: STM size: 7+-2George A. Miller –Allen Newell and Herbert Simon: computer logicAllen Newell and Herbert Simon –Noam Chomsky: inherited structure of languageNoam Chomsky Donald Broadbent: foundational conceptsDonald Broadbent
Jerome Bruner Together with Miller, founds the Center for Cognitive Studies at Harvard in Center for Cognitive Studies Miller, Galanter and Pribram write Plans and the Structure of BehaviorMiller, Galanter and Pribram
Current cognitive research centers At Tufts UniversityTufts University MIT Artificial Intelligence labArtificial Intelligence lab A list of Institutes around the worldlist of Institutes
Journals A list of journals in the field: note how many!list of journals Psycoloquy, an online journalPsycoloquy Psyche an online journalPsyche
On the edge… Ray Kurzweil’s viewsRay Kurzweil’s
The End