Finish: Overview of the Course Organization then, History of Cognitive Psychology Psychology 355: Cognitive Psychology Instructor: John Miyamoto 3/31 /2015: Lecture 01-2 This Powerpoint presentation may contain macros that were used to create the slides. The macros aren’t needed to view the slides. If necessary, you can disable the macros without any change to the presentation.

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 2 Outline Correct an error from yesterday's lecture What is cognitive psychology? Organization of topics in Psychology 355 BRIEF HISTORY OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY Early cognitive psychology: Donder’s method of subtraction Helmholtz’s concept of unconscious inference Behaviorist psychology – an opponent to cognitive psychology Rise of modern cognitive psychology Correct Error from Yesterday Possible end?

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 3 Grading Scheme Sections & Add Codes Date% Grade Labs & Catalyst Questionnaires Assigned on 1 st lecture day of the week. Due by 5 pm on Monday of the following week. 5 Quizzes Weekly on 1 st lecture day12 Midterm Exam I Monday April Midterm Exam II Monday May 1825 Final Exam Wednesday June 10 2:30 - 4:20 pm in MGH Stated wrongly that the exam is on April 30.

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 4 More Questions About the Class Organization It’s ok to go to a different section from the one you are enrolled in, BUT if we run out of room in a section, we will restricted attendance to people who are actually enrolled in the section. I will be giving add codes to students on the waiting list for Psych 355 as soon as other students drop the course. ♦ Comment: During this quarter (Spr '15), a few additional students will get add codes. Course Outline: Weeks 1 - 5

Week Reading Assignment from Goldstein 1 Ch 1: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology Ch 2: Cognitive Neuroscience 2Ch 3. Perception 3Ch 4. Attention 4Ch 5. Short-Term Memory & Working Memory 5Ch 6. Long-Term Memory: Structure 6Ch 7: Long-Term Memory: Encoding & Retrieval Ch 8. Everyday Memory & Memory Errors Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 5 Course Outline Course Outline, Week

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 6 Course Outline WeekReading Assignment from Goldstein 7Ch 9. Knowledge (Categorization) 8 Ch 10: Visual Imagery Skip Ch 11. Language 9Ch 12. Problem Solving 10Ch 13. Reasoning and Decision Making What Is Cognitive Psychology? Any questions?

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 7 What is Cognitive Psychology? Cognitive psychology attempts to explain how humans perform cognitive activities. What are cognitive activities? ♦ Seeing objects and events in one’s surroundings. ♦ Remembering something, e.g., facts, personal experiences, etc. ♦ Understanding what is happening in a situation. ♦ Communicating through spoken and written language. ♦ Learning something new, e.g., how to use a computer, an Ipod, public transportation, introductory statistics, etc. ♦ Solving problems, making decisions, drawing inferences. ♦ Other examples: The mental activity that lets us perform specific tasks, e.g., reading, driving a car in traffic, play games like basketball, shop in a store, etc. What is Cog Psych (continued)?

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 8 What is Cognitive Psychology? (cont.) Theory of human information processing including perception, attention, memory, language, reasoning, learning, development Emphasis on experimental studies of human information processing (behavioral studies)... brain activity while humans engage in cognitive processing (cognitive neuroscience)... models of human information processing (computational modeling) De-emphasis on: motivation, emotion Begin: History of Cognitive Psychology

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 9 Overview of the History of Cognitive Psychology Precursors to cognitive psychology ♦ Aristotle, Plato – epistemology, theory of ideas and their relation to human action Experimental psychology begins in 19th century Germany ♦ Franciscus Donders (response time analysis, method of subtraction) ♦ Hermann von Helmholtz (perception, unconscious inference) ♦ Hermann Ebbinghaus (experimental study of memory) ♦ Wilhelm Wundt (analytic introspection, analysis of conscious experience) Behaviorist hiatus in America: roughly 1920 – 1960 ♦ During the behaviorist period ( ), cognitive psychology continued to be studied in Europe. Revival of cognitive psychology in America (1950 – 1970) 1970 – present: Cognitive psychology plays a major role in psychology pretty much everywhere in the world Donder’s Mental Chronometry

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 10 Early Cognitive Psychology: F.C. Donders ( ) Mental chronometry: Measuring the duration of a cognitive process Reaction-time (RT) (a.k.a. response time): RT = the time interval between stimulus presentation and the response to the stimulus Method of Subtraction: Used to infer how long a mental process takes when the process is not directly observable. ♦ Method of subtraction is an example of a behavioral research method. Definition of Simple RT and Choice RT "Donders, Franciscus Cornelis ( )" by Alexander Seitz (Photographic company) - SIL14-D4-14a.jpg from the Scientific Identity: Portraits from the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology (reworked). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons _(1818_-_1889).jpg#/media/File:Donders,_Franciscus_Cornelis _(1818_-_1889).jpg TIME Stimulus Presentation Response RT

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 11 Tuesday, March 31, 2015 : The Lecture Ended Here

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 12 Method of Subtraction Applied to the Comparison Between Simple and Choice Reaction Time Simple RT task: Participant pushes a button quickly after a light appears. Choice RT task: Participant pushes one button if light is on the right side, and a different button if light is on left side Donder’s goal: To measure how long it takes a person to decide which button to press in the choice RT task. How long is the decision process? Diagram Showing Time Course of Simple RT

Diagram of Cognitive Processes During Simple RT Simple RT = (Response Completion) – (Stimulus Onset) In a simple RT task, the subject does not have to decide how to respond. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 13 Diagram Showing Time Course of Choice RT Time

Diagram of Cognitive Processes During Choice RT Choice RT = (Response Completion) – (Stimulus Onset) In a choice RT task, the subject has to decide which response is appropriate. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 14 Time Diagram showing the Decision Stage in the Information Process

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 15 Decision time = the length of time that it takes to decide which response is appropriate. Diagram of Cognitive Processes During Choice RT Question for the Class: How to Measure Decision Time? Decision Time

Question for the Class: How Can We Measure the Duration of the Decision Stage in a Choice RT Task? Donder’s goal: To measure how long it takes a person to decide which button to press in the choice RT task. How long is the decision process? Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 16 Diagram comparing simple and choice RT

Method of Subtraction: Compare Simple RT to Choice RT Method of Subtraction: Choice RT – Simple RT = Duration of Decision Stage (red) Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 17 Simple RT Choice RT Diagram Showing that the Perceiving Stages are Identical

Method of Subtraction: Compare Simple RT to Choice RT Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 18 Simple RT Choice RT Diagram Showing that the Responding Stages are Identical Same Duration

Method of Subtraction: Compare Simple RT to Choice RT Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 19 Simple RT Choice RT Diagram Showing that the RT Difference Measures the Duration of the Decision Stage Same Duration

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 20 Method of Subtraction: Choice RT – Simple RT = Duration of Decision Stage (red) Method of Subtraction: Compare Simple RT to Choice RT Simple RT Choice RT What does Donder’s Method Show About Cognitive Psych? Same Duration

Why is Donder’s Method of Subtraction Important for Cognitive Psychology? It combines a behavioral study with a simple computational model of a cognitive process. ♦ In Psych 355, we will see many behavioral studies of cognition. ♦ In Psych 355, we will not study the mathematical details of computational models of cognition. Purely or strictly behavioral studies – no physiological measurements; no brain imaging. The method of subtraction provides valid measure of mental duration if all of the assumptions are valid. ♦ Unfortunately, the assumptions of this method are often not valid. ♦ Donder's ideas inspired improved methods that do lead to valid measurements of the duration of mental processes. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 21 fMRI Method of Subtraction

Subtraction Methods in fMRI Brain Imaging Activations are regions of significant change from a control condition to a test condition. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 22 Brain image shows regions of significant activation when comparing Test Condition to Control Condition. (Slice of brain is viewed from above.) The purpose of this slide is simply to show that subtraction methods are used in modern fMRI studies. Specific details are not important. Test Condition: Subject views picture. Control Condition: Subject fixates a blank screen. Possible End of Lecture OR Helmholtz & Unconscious Inference

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 23 Possible End Point for the Lecture Helmholtz & Unconscious Inference

Early Cognitive Psychology: H. L. F. von Helmholtz (1821 – 1894) Great mathematician, physicist, psychologist Contributions to psychology: perception, especially color vision, hearing, optics, unconscious inference Unconscious inference ♦ Some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions we make about the environment ♦ We infer much of what we know about the world Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 24 Diagram that Illustrates Unconscious Inference (Occlusion)

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 25 Unconscious Perceptual Inference The display in (a) looks like (b) a gray rectangle in front of a light rectangle; but it could be.... … (c) a gray rectangle and a six-sided figure that are lined up appropriately or (d) a gray rectangle and a strange-looking figure that are lined up appropriately. Repeat this Slide without the Rectangles

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 26 Unconscious Perceptual Inference The display in (a) looks like (b) a gray rectangle in front of a light rectangle; but it could be.... … (c) a gray rectangle and a six-sided figure that are lined up appropriately or (d) a gray rectangle and a strange-looking figure that are lined up appropriately. Why is Unconscious Inference Important?

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 27 Why Is the Idea of Unconscious Inference Important? Unconscious inferences contribute in many ways to the formation of our perceptions and beliefs. Cognitive psychology attempts to reveal the processes by which such inferences are made. Other Early Cognitive Psychologists – Ebbinghaus & Wundt

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 28 Other Important Early Cognitive Research Ebbinghaus (1850 – 1909) and the Method of Savings ♦ Important memory research ♦ We will talk about this later in the course Wundt (1832 – 1920) ♦ How sensations combine to form percepts ♦ Analytic introspection Behaviorist Hiatus

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 29 Behaviorist Hiatus – Roughly John Watson ♦ Influenced by positivist philosophy. The goal of science is to predict whatever is observable. ♦ Science should eliminate assumptions about whatever is not observable. (Questionable) ♦ Consciousness is not observable. Eliminate it from psychological theory. Anti-introspectionist. ♦ Opposed to theories that postulated unobserved psychological processes Clark Hull – Stimulus/Response (S/R) learning model. Edwin Guthrie B. F. Skinner – Reinforcement theory Behaviorism was an American approach to psychology – not so influential in Europe and elsewhere. Cognitive Psychology During the Behaviorist Period

William James (1842 – 1910; cognitive psychology) Jean Piaget – genetic epistemology Lev Vygotsky – cognitive development and education Sir Frederick Bartlett (constructive memory processes) Gestalt psychology – Kurt Lewin, Wolfgang Kohler The beginnings of the computer revolution. Alan Turing, Norbert Wiener, John von Neumann Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 30 Behaviorism Loses Its Grip on Psychology

Behaviorism lost its grip on American psychology during the 1960's. Why did this happen? Problematic results ♦ Learning without responding ♦ Learning without reinforcement Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 31 Revival of Cognitive Psychology – Information Processing

Behaviorism lost its grip on American psychology during the 1960's. Why did this happen? Problematic results Behaviorism couldn’t explain what scientists wanted to understand, e.g., language, perception, attention, reasoning. (Lashley, Chomsky, Miller-Galanter-Pribram). Alternative approaches came along that looked more promising. ♦ Structural models, e.g., transformational grammar, genetic epistemology. ♦ Computer models, e.g., the General Problem Solver of Newell and Simon. ♦ Change of focus to experimentation on human information processing. Is it unscientific to postulate unobserved psychological processes in a psychological theory? Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 32 Revival of Cognitive Psychology – Information Processing

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 33 Revival of Cognitive Psychology: Alan Newell & Herbert Simon: Computer models of problem solving Noam Chomsky - Grammar of natural language Lashley – Neuroscience Hubel & Wiesel – Receptive fields in the visual cortex Cognitive Psychology Since 1960 – END

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 34 Cognitive Psychology Since 1960 Experimental cognitive psychology – Emphasizes the behavioral approach ♦ Perception & Attention, Memory, Language, Reasoning & problem solving, Cognitive development Computer modeling of cognitive processes – Usually a mixture of the behavioral and computational approach Cognitive neuroscience – A mixture of the behavioral and physiological approach ♦ Single-cell recordings ♦ PET, fMRI, ERP Tomorrow: Some examples of behavioral approaches and neuroscience approaches to cognitive psychology. END