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Introduction to Cognition

Chapter 1

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What is Cognition?

Cognitive Psychology

the scientific study of mental processes

Using controlled research methods to investigate questions of mind

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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?

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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?

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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?

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What is Cognition?An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Cognitive Science An interdisciplinary

approach to mind (Cognitive) Psychology Neuroscience Artificial intelligence Anthropology Linguistics Philosophy

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Psychophysics Relates physical aspects of experience to

subjective experience

Important psychophysicists Fechner

Quantified relationships between incoming stimuli and resulting sensations

Psychology B.C.Psychophysics

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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

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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

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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

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Ebbinghaus First experimental

investigation of memory Use of nonsense syllables “forgetting curve”

Psychology B.C.Laying the Foundation for Cognitive Psychology

Retention Interval

Reca

ll

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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

. . .

. . .

. . .

Rowsor

Columns?

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The Emergence of Cognitive PsychologyS-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? S-R view of learning

Learning as an S-R “chain” Critical components

Response Reinforcement

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The Emergence of Cognitive PsychologyS-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?

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The Emergence of Cognitive PsychologyS-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Learning without reinforcement

Reinforcement necessary for solidifying S-R associations

Tolman and Honzik found learning in the absence of reinforcement

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The Emergence of Cognitive PsychologyS-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”

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The Emergence of Cognitive PsychologyS-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

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The Emergence of Cognitive PsychologyS-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

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Psychology after BehaviorismBehaviorism Reconsidered

Behaviorism had considerable influence

Rigor of research

Observations of behavior still central

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Psychology after BehaviorismInformation 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

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Psychology after BehaviorismConnectionism: 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”

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Psychology after BehaviorismAlternative 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”