c. 2008, Pearson Allyn & Bacon Introduction to Cognition Chapter 1

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon What is Cognition? Cognitive Psychology the scientific study of mental processes Using controlled research methods to investigate questions of mind

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon What is Cognition? Omnipresence of Cognitive Processes Perception How do we take in and organize information? Attention and Working Memory How do we focus on and manipulate information? Recognizing and Identifying How do we realize what something is?

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon What is Cognition? Omnipresence of Cognitive Processes Long-Term Memory How do store and retrieve information? Memory Distortion How does memory go awry? Autobiographical Memory What processes influence personal recollection?

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon What is Cognition? Omnipresence of Cognitive Processes Knowledge Representation How do we represent and retrieve stored knowledge? Language How do we use words and rules to communicate? Problem Solving How do we overcome obstacles to arrive at goals ? Decision Making How do we arrive at conclusions and make choices?

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon What is Cognition? An Interdisciplinary Perspective Cognitive Science An interdisciplinary approach to mind (Cognitive) Psychology Neuroscience Artificial intelligence Anthropology Linguistics Philosophy

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Psychophysics Relates physical aspects of experience to subjective experience Important psychophysicists Fechner Quantified relationships between incoming stimuli and resulting sensations Psychology B.C. Psychophysics

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Helmholtz Developed the notion of unconscious inference Three important insights about perception  Interpretive  Influenced by previous experience  Occurs outside of awareness Psychology B.C. Psychophysics

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Structuralism What is the structure of conscious experience? Wundt, Titchener, introspection Functionalism What are the functions of consciousness? Willam James emphasized the continuous nature of consciousness Psychology B.C. Structuralism and Functionalism

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Behaviorism “mind” and “consciousness” are unobservable, hence untestable Only behavior should be the subject of study Behavior can be characterized completely by stimuli and responses “Mind” is an impenetrable “black box” Psychology B.C. Behaviorism

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Ebbinghaus First experimental investigation of memory Use of nonsense syllables “forgetting curve” Psychology B.C. Laying the Foundation for Cognitive Psychology Retention Interval Recall

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Bartlett Investigated memory for stories Recall guided by “schemata” Gestalt psychologists Investigated mind’s organizational tendencies “whole is different than the sum of its parts” Psychology B.C. Laying the Foundation for Cognitive Psychology... Rows or Columns?

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? S-R view of learning Learning as an S-R “chain” Critical components Response Reinforcement

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Learning without responding Response is part of what is learned Learning cannot occur in the absence of a response McNamara, Long, Wike (1956) found rats prevented from running a maze still learned A “mental map” of the maze?

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Learning without reinforcement Reinforcement necessary for solidifying S-R associations Tolman and Honzik found learning in the absence of reinforcement

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Tolman proposed “cognitive maps” to account for learning in the absence of response or reinforcement cognitive maps = mental representation Necessity of investigating “mind”

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Other criticisms of behaviorism Lashley Skilled behavior is too complex for an S-R account Chomsky Linguistic expression is too creative and productive for an S-R account

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Technological influences on the development of cognitive psychology Communication Systems Computers These sequential, information-processing systems provided a possible metaphor for mind

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Psychology after Behaviorism Behaviorism Reconsidered Behaviorism had considerable influence Rigor of research Observations of behavior still central

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Psychology after Behaviorism Information Processing: A Computer Metaphor Information processing approach Models thinking on the computer Assumptions: Humans as symbol manipulators Human thought as active, interpretive Processing is step-by-step; stages can be isolated

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Psychology after Behaviorism Connectionism: A Brain Metaphor Connectionist Approach Models thinking on neural networks Assumptions: Cognitive processes occur in parallel Networks of neurons distributed throughout brain “parallel distributed processing”

c Pearson Allyn & Bacon Psychology after Behaviorism Alternative Approaches Criticisms of current conceptions of mind: Materialist critique: Is “mind” separable from “brain”? “Disembodied” approach to the study of mind Importance of studying cognition and action Importance of studying cognition in meaningful contexts “ecological validity”