The History and Methods of Cognitive

Psychology

What is Cognitive Psychology?

The branch of psychology that studies how we perceive, attend, recognize, remember…

what happens in our minds

Cognitive activities

Perception Attention Memory Language Reasoning/decision making

Some elements of cognitions…

Often complex Occur rapidly Occur automatically (unconsciously) May occur with other cognitions

What is the “mind” ?

How can we study the inner workings of the mind when we can’t “see” the mind?

Variables that could change a cognition

Age How well rested the subject is Cultural background …

Experimental Design

Hypothesis

IndependentVariable

DependentVariable

Testor Experiment

Methods of Experimentation

Introspection Naturalistic observation Controlled observation Clinical interviews Experiments (and quasi-experiments) Brain imaging

Methods

Introspection

Insight Ecological validity

Experimenter control Observer biasCan you really do something while doing it?

Types of Experiments

Naturalistic observation

Ecological validity

Little experimenter control Observer bias

Methods

Experiments

Experimenter control Isolate causal factors

May not be ecologically valid

Methods

Controlled observation / Clinical interviews

Ecological validity

Only some experimenter control

Observer bias

Methods

Brain Imaging

Methods Brain Imaging

CAT/MRI – shows anatomy Magnetic fields, not usable on some subjects Small, noisy location for subject Does not show function

PET - shows function Brain activity averaged over time

fMRI – shows anatomy and function Similar to MRI

EEG/ERP – overall general electrical activity of brain

The history of studying cognitions

Greeks 17-19 c.

Empiricism

Schools of psychology

Nativism

Schools of psychology

Structuralism Functionalism Behaviorism Gestalt psychology Genetic epistemology Individual differences Cognitive psychology (cognitive revolution)

Schools of psychology

StructuralismAttempted to find simplest units of the mind

(like a period table of elements)More complex behaviors explained by

combining different elements (research never really got this far)

Method: Introspection

Schools of psychology

FunctionalismAsked the question “Why?”

Why does the mind work the way it does? Why does this behavior help a person adapt to

their environment?

Method: Observations in “real life”

Schools of psychology

BehaviorismGoal: to predict and control behavior

Method: Observation of only visible, measurable behaviors

(mental states cannot

be studied)

Schools of psychology

Gestalt psychologyThe mind is not divisible The mind is a whole entity, and imposes its

own structure on how to interpret stimuli It is the relationship between elements that

matters

Method: Experimentation with perception, problem solving

Figure 1-1 (p. 11)Examples of Gestalt figures.

Gestalt psychology

Schools of psychology Genetic epistemology – the “mind”

changes over time The mind goes through different stages, which

can be separated from each other by the different cognitive abilities present at each stage (Piaget)

Schools of psychology

Individual differencesTried to determine if a mental characteristic

(eg., intelligence) was inherited or acquired later from the environment

Type of statistics typical used in cognitive psychology developed

Schools of psychology

Cognitive psychologyProposed that mental states could be studied

(reaction to behaviorists) Some results…

Human factors engineeringLimited-capacity processors

The magical number seven, plus or minus two

Linguistics

More results…Localization of function / plasticity of nervous

systemComputer metaphor / artificial intelligenceCognitive neuroscience

Paradigms of Cognitive Psychology

Information Processing Connectionism Evolution Ecology

Figure 1-4 (p. 29)A typical information-processing model.

Figure 1-5 (p. 31)A typical connectionist model.

Paradigms of Cognitive Psychology

Evolution Our minds are biological systems which evolve and

adapt to our environment, and is subject to the laws of natural selection

For each type of problem, we therefore have special-purpose programs to solve them

Ecology Cognition occurs in the context of culture, not in a

vacuum

Outline

Syllabus What is cognitive psychology? Elements of cognition What are experiments? History of cognitive psychology Current methods of study Paradigms of cognitive psychology