1. Introduction to Cognitive Psychology Chapter 1

2. Questions to Consider  How is cognitive psychology relevant to everyday experience?  Are there practical applications of cognitive psychology?  How is it possible to study the inner workings of the mind, when we can’t really see the mind directly?  What is the field of cognitive psychology?

3. Learning Objectives  Challenges of the Field  History of the Field  Modern Approaches to Studying the Mind  Strategies for Successful Learning

4. Cognition and Cognitive Psychology  Cognition The mental processes that are involved in perception, attention, memory, problem solving, reasoning, and making decisions  Cognitive Psychology Branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of cognition

5. Challenges of Cognitive Ψ  Often times, “the processes involved in cognition are complex and hidden from view”  Take a moment and think about all that is happening around you (perception, attention, memory, reasoning)  Complexity examples Stroop effect  Described by J.R. Stroop in 1935  Name of word interferes with naming of the color— some stimuli influence us even when we don’t want them to do so Angela example in text—revisited grandparent’s and memories of childhood came back

7. History of Cognitive Ψ  1 st cognitive psychology experiment, 1868 Franciscus Donders, Dutch physiologist Used mental chronometry What is mental chronometry? What are 2 ways to measure reaction time?  ____________ Mental processes are ____________ from behavior

8. History of Cognitive Ψ  1 st cognitive psychology experiment, 1868 Franciscus Donders, Dutch physiologist Used mental chronometry  Measures time-course of cognitive processes Measured reaction time: time b/w presentation of stimulus and person’s response to that stimulus  Simple reaction time  Choice reaction time (push one of two buttons in response to a stimulus) Inferred mental process of perception  Mental response cannot be measured directly, but can be inferred from behavior (choice reaction time – simple reaction time = length of time to make a decision)  All research in cognitive psychology deals with inferred mental processes

11.  Helmholtz’s Unconscious Inference Helmholtz developed the ophthalmoscope; proposed theories of object perception, color vision, and hearing Theory of unconscious inference: some perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions that we make about the environment; past experiences with objects may impact our perceptions 2 sheets of paper exercise

13.  Ebbinghaus Learned lists of nonsense syllables (e.g., DAX, QEH) Why nonsense syllables? Repeated lists and noted how many repetitions it took to repeat the list with no errors; this was called __________ Waited a period of time and then relearned the list Computed a savings score  Savings = [(initial repetitions) – relearning repetitions]/initial repetitions; then multiply by 100 for a % Forgetting curve (Figure 1.6) Measured behavior to infer processes of memory  These early researchers were physiologists, physicists, and philosophers

14.  Ebbinghaus Learned lists of nonsense syllables (e.g., DAX, QEH) Why nonsense syllables?  Did not want actual words to influence his ability to memorize or recall certain words Repeated lists and noted how many repetitions it took to repeat the list with no errors; this was called savings method Waited a period of time and then relearned the list Computed a savings score  Savings = [(initial repetitions) – relearning repetitions]/initial repetitions; then multiply by 100 for a % Forgetting curve (Figure 1.6) Measured behavior to infer processes of memory  These early researchers were physiologists, physicists, and philosophers

16.  Wilhelm Wundt 1879, founded first laboratory of scientific psychology at the University of Leipzig, in order to study the mind scientifically Carried out reaction-time experiments Developed analytic introspection  Procedure used in which trained participants described their experiences and thought processes elicited by stimuli presented under controlled conditions  Problematic: introspection did not seem to reveal the structure of thought; results from different laboratories often disagreed

17. Decline and Rebirth  John Watson and Behaviorism Developed new approach to psychology by studying actual behaviors in their own right and not worrying about consciousness Argued behavior is observable and objective Studied impact of stimulus conditions on behavior (stimulus-response) Most famous study: Little Albert  B.F. Skinner Studied operant conditioning: believe reinforcements, not free will, determined behavior Published book on verbal behavior that claimed language developed through imitation and reinforcement

18.  Noam Chomsky, linguist Disagreed with Skinner, and believed language development was inborn and held across cultures Defended his theory with  Children say sentences they have never heard  Incorrect grammar Realization that to understand complex cognitive behaviors need to consider how the mind works in addition to S-R  Rise of the Information Processing Metaphor Broadbent’s flow diagram depicted the mind as processing information in a sequences of stages Information processing models conceive of cognitive activities as involving a series of steps, procedures, or processes that take time (e.g., 1/10 second)

19. Modern Approaches to Study the Mind  Behavioral Approach Measure behavior and explain cognition in terms of behavior e.g., reaction time Measuring mental rotation exercise (Figure 1.10 and Figure 1.11)  Physiological Approach Measure both behavior and physiology and explain cognition in terms of physiology; e.g., reaction time and brain wave activity or brain activation Davachi experiment Figure 1.12 (words that were remembered on the memory test had more brain activity when words were first exposed

24. Cognitive Psychology Scientific study of mental processes Simply put “it is the study of thought” Behavior is examined by cognitive psychologists the same way that physicists infer the force of gravity from the behavior of objects in the world. Mental Processes: remembering, attention, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions Thinking is something that is constantly happening, yet we rarely stop to think about it

25. Omnipresence of Cognitive Processes  Perception and Sensory Memory Organize and interpret incoming information (e.g., first lecture) Sensory memory holds information, like an information buffer, just long enough to determine whether it seems worthwhile  Attention Set of processes through which you focus on incoming information Ability to attend is flexible—can divert (cocktail party effect, police car) Attention is also limited

26.  Working Memory Like a mental juggling act: to fully process and understand facts and figures, have to repeat material/info and/or jot it down in your notes  Pattern Recognition and Concept Representation Recognize the term s-y-l-l-a-b-u-s and that activates some concept in memory

27.  Long-Term Memory Have to store what is being said for later use  Memory Distortion Forgetting, Misremember information Trying to think of a person’s last name  Autobiographical Memory Research focuses on how we remember information about ourselves, our personal past

28.  Knowledge Representation Mental representations are representations of your stored knowledge, and you access them when necessary  Language Your implicit knowledge of syntax (word arrangement rules) and semantics (rules for expressing meaning) allows you to comprehend instantly what makes sense and what does not

29.  Problem Solving Involves operating within constraints (such as time) and reaching a goal from a starting state that is nowhere near the goal  Decision Making If I miss a class will it affect my grade? How much time should I spend studying?

30. Cognitive Science  Cognitive Science Study of the mind (mental processes) as carried out by many different disciplines Disciplines: cognitive psychology, and research on the mind within the fields of computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, anthropology, artificial intelligence, and philosophy (Figure 1.14)

32. Study Techniques  Elaborate  Organize  Associate  Take breaks  Matching learning and testing conditions