Cognitive level of Analysis Cognitive processes

Principles of CLOA Cognitive psychology is concerned with the structure and functions of the mind Cognitive psychologists are involved in discovering how does the human mind come to know things and how does it use this knowledge Cognitive neuroscience combines knowledge about the brain with knowledge about cognitive processes

Principles of CLOA The mind can be conceptualized as a set of mental processes that are carried out by the brain Cognitive processes include: memory, perception, thinking, problem solving, language and attention. Cognition is based on mental representations of the world; images, words, and concepts. We each have different experiences and therefore have different mental representations, which influences the way we think about the world.

Principles of CLOA One of the most fundamental principles of cognitive psychology is that human beings are information processors and that mental processes guide behaviour. In relation to this principle, cognitive research seeks to discover the principles underlying the cognitive processes. Psychologists see the mind as an intelligent, information processing machine with hardware and software.( hardware: brain, software: mental images ) In this way of thinking, information is the input and comes into the system through bottom-up processing (from the sensory system). This input is then processed by top-down processing in the mind (through memory). The output is our behaviour.

Principles The second principle is that the mind can be studied scientifically by developing theories and using scientific research methods. Cognition is now studied both experimentally in the laboratory and within daily context. This helps to keep cognitive research real and beneficial instead of artificial.

Principles The third principle is that cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural processes. This idea was recognized early by Frederic Bartlett, who coined the term schema. Schema is a mental representation of knowledge. Bartlett was interested in how cultural schemas influence memory. His studies focused on remembering stories from other cultures. He found that people struggled to remember stories from other cultures and would often reword them to fit their own cultural schema. He helped to show that people remember not like machines but within a context that has meaning to them, therefore distorting the memory.

Cognitive Schemas The human mind is very complex and can store and manipulate mental representations of many things. These mental representations refer to objects, people and ideas in the real world, we use them to make plans, daydream or think. We hold in our minds self-representations and representations about others. Our ability to store and manipulate all of these mental representations allows us to think, imagine the outcome of certain scenarios, create literature and art, make plans and calculate risk and reward.

Cognitive Schemas Our pre-stored mental representations are called cognitive schemas. Cognitive schemas are how we store images and ideas in our memory. Many researchers believe that our cognitive schemas (what we already know) affect how we interpret events and store knowledge in our memory. Schema Theory: a cognitive theory about cognitive processing. A cognitive schema can be defined as networks of knowledge, beliefs and expectations about certain aspects of the world.

Schema Theory Schemas can describe how certain knowledge is organized and stored in memory. How it is stored and organized will impact how it can be accessed and used. Schema Theory suggests that what we already know will influence the outcome of information processing. This is based on the idea that humans are not passive in their response to knowledge but are active processors of information. The human mind interprets and integrates new information through existing schemas and that the brain fills in any blanks leading to distortions.

Cognitive Schemas Organize information about the world with fixed and variable slots. If a slot is left blank it is filled in by a best guess Can be related to form systems Are active recognition devices (pattern recognition) Help to predict future events based on what happened before Represent general knowledge rather than definitions