Cog5 lecppt chapter01

© 2010 by W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.

The Science of the Mind

Chapter 1Lecture Outline

Chapter 1: The Science of the Mind

Lecture OutlineThe Scope of Cognitive PsychologyA Brief History

Introspection Behaviorism Cognitive Revolution

Research in Cognitive Psychology: An Example

Working Memory

The Scope of Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology is the study of knowledgeHow do we study and memorize?How do we focus our attention and

concentrate?How do we make decisions?

The Scope of Cognitive Psychology

H.M. Unable to form new memories

Could not grieve for a dead uncle Had little sense of himself

Video

A Brief History: Introspection

Wundt and his student Titchener began the study of experimental psychology in the late 1800s.


IntrospectionObserving your own thoughts


Problems with introspectionThoughts are not directly observable Impossible to test objectively

A Brief History: Behaviorism

Behaviorism overcame the limitations posed by introspection It focused on observable behaviors


Behaviorism uncovered principles of how behavior changes in response to stimuli, such as rewards and punishments


Problems with behaviorismStimulus-response accounts are not enoughBehavior has a “mental” cause


Different stimuli elicit the same behaviorCan you please pass the salt?Salt, please.My food would be more palatable with sodium

chloride crystals. Same stimulus elicits a different behavior

My friend asked his mother to please pass the salt.

A Brief History: Cognitive Revolution

From introspection and behaviorism, experimental psychologists learned that: Introspective methods for studying mental

events are not scientificHowever, we need to study mental events in

order to understand behavior


Transcendental method of Immanuel KantWork backward from

observations to determine cause


An analogy can be made to a police detective using clues to figure out how a crime was committed

An analogy can also be made to a physicist studying electrons, which cannot be directly seen


Cognitive psychologists study mental events, but do so indirectlyMeasure stimuli and responsesDevelop hypotheses about mental eventsDesign new experiments

Research in Cognitive Psychology: Working Memory

Working memory is temporary memory storage


The span test measures working-memory (WM) capacity

Span scoresobservable

WM capacityNot observable


Working memory is not unitarySystem composed of a central executive

Assistant components


Inner voice

Inner ear


Evidence from cognitive neuroscience is also brought into the model Anarthria（構音障礙）

The inability to produce overt speech Confusion between words with the same sound


Evidence from cognitive neuroscience is also brought into the model

Areas involved In subvocal rehearsal


Deaf people confuse words with similar hand shapes, not similar sounds


Multiple lines of evidence must be used when hypothesizing mechanisms used to explain observable data

Often a single piece of data can be explained by a variety of hypotheses


Working memory is more than just the span task It is involved in many of the activities we

perform on a daily basis It is also important for learning


Experiments allow cognitive psychologists to understand internal complex mechanisms in a simpler, more constrained manner

Data gathering Data analysis Theory development Hypothesis formation Hypothesis testing Application to real world

Goals of Research

Research Methods

Controlled experiments Psychobiological research Self reports Case studies Naturalistic observation Computer simulations and artificial

intelligence

In an Experiment…

Manipulate the independent variableCreate experimental groupCreate control groupRandomly assign participants

Measure the dependent variableSame for all groups

Control all other variablesPrevent confounds

Typical Independent Variables

Characteristics of the situationPresence vs. absence of a stimulus

Characteristics of the taskReading vs. listening to words for

comprehension

Characteristics of participantsAge differences

Typical Dependent Variables

Percent correct/error rate Accuracy of mental processing

Reaction time (milliseconds)Speed of mental processing

Cannot infer causation Simply measure variables of interest Nature of relationship

Positive correlationNegative correlation

Strength of relationshipDetermined by size of “r”

Correlational Studies

An examination of the relationship between confidence and accuracy of eyewitnesses

What do you think the relationship is?

Positive? Negative? Strong? Weak?

It is not a strong positive correlation!Many studies indicate that high confidence does not mean high accuracy

Example: Correlational Study

Psychobiological Studies

Postmortem studiesExamine cortex of dyslexics after death

Brain-damaged individuals and their deficitsStudy amnesiacs with hippocampus damage

Monitor a participant doing a cognitive taskMeasure brain activity while a participant is

reciting a poem

Other Methods

Self-reportsAn individual’s own account of cognitive

processes Verbal protocol, diary study

Case studies In-depth studies of individuals

Genie, Phineas Gage

Other Methods

Naturalistic observationStudies of cognitive performance in

everyday situations outside of the lab Monitor decision-making of pilots during flights

Computers in Research

Analogy for human cognition The sequence of symbol manipulation

that underlies thinking The goal: discovery of the programs in

human memory Computer simulations of artificial

intelligence Recreate human processes using

computers

Fundamental Ideas

Theory

Data

• Data can only be fully explained with theories, and theories are insufficient without data – thus creating the cycle of science

Fundamental Ideas

Cognition is typically adaptive, but errors made can be informativeExample: Spoonerisms

A lack of pies (A pack of lies) It’s roaring with pain (It’s pouring with rain)

Errors can be used to infer how speech production occurs

Fundamental Ideas

Cognitive processes interact with each other and with noncognitive processes– Emotions may affect decisions– Working memory capacity contributes to reading

speed– Perception contributes to memory decisions

Fundamental Ideas

Many different scientific methods are used to study cognition

Basic research often leads to important applications, and applied research often contributes to a more basic understanding of cognition

Chapter 1 Questions

1. Cognitive psychology is primarily concerned with which of the following?

a) what we know

b) what we remember

c) how we think

d) all of the above

2. The famous psychologist Edward Titchener claimed to have identified and catalogued nearly 10,000 sensations that he observed within himself. What method best describes his approach?

a) introspection

b) behaviorism

c) psychoanalysis

d) transcendentalism

3. A psychologist who adheres to the behaviorist school of thought would most likely attribute someone being afraid of a spider to

a) an interaction between memory and fear. b) a chemical imbalance produced by a deficit

in nutrients. c) a learned behavior in response to specific

environmental triggers. d) inadequate maternal supervision and love

during infancy.

4. Because psychology forms hypotheses about processes that cannot be observed directly it relies on _____ methods to describe the behaviors that can be observed.

a) transcendental

b) inferential

c) both A and B

d) neither A nor B

5. Which of the following is a similarity between psychology and physics?

a) Both test their theories using the

scientific method. b) Both do not allow for direct

observation of the causes of phenomena.

c) Both base their theories on objective, quantifiable data.

d) all of the above

6. Which of the following is NOT TRUE of the working-memory system?

a) The central executive serves coordinates the role of the assistant systems.

b) Working memory has a limited capacity.

c) The assistants are responsible solely for storage of information.

d) Working memory is a single entity with virtually no peripheral mechanisms.

7. Memory performance on a span task is typically reduced when the participant has to perform concurrent articulation. This is due to

a) cognitive load

b) rhythmic movements.

c) subvocalization.

d) brain damage.

Cog5 lecppt chapter01

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