Cognitive Psychology: Donders vs Ebbinghaus

Cognitive Psychology and Methodologies

• Observable behavior and physiological responses are measured to infer cognitive processes, providing insights into mental activities.
• Donders’ subtractive logic helps analyze neuroimaging data by isolating the neural activity from different cognitive tasks.
• Tasks involving simple actions like looking at a fixation cross and reading a word allow for examination of associated neural activities.

Role of Models in Cognitive Psychology

• Cognitive psychology employs models to understand cognitive processes, focusing on process models (e.g., Broadbent, 1958) that characterize the mind rather than its physical workings (hardware).
• Models simplify complex mental phenomena, avoid unnecessary complexity tied to individual neurons, and inspire new research hypotheses.
• They are subject to continuous updating, revision, and potential falsification.

Contributions of Pioneers

• Simon & Cliff Shaw (1956) developed the Logic Theorist, early artificial intelligence that mimicked human-like reasoning for solving math problems.
• Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885) quantitatively studied memory using nonsense syllables, showing rapid memory decay followed by stabilization, illustrating that memory could be measured.
• Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological laboratory in 1879 at the University of Leipzig, pioneering structuralism and the method of analytic introspection.

Important Figures in Cognitive Psychology

• William James (1890) published influential work "Principles of Psychology" discussing a variety of mental functions including attention, memory, and perception; emphasized the subjective nature of mental experiences.
• John Watson (1913) advocated for behaviorism, promoting the study of observable behavior over unobserved mental processes, marking a shift in psychological research focus.

Evolution of Research Methods

• Advancements in methodologies for studying the brain and cognitive processes include:
  • First non-invasive EEG (Electroencephalogram) recordings in 1929
  • First MEG (Magnetoencephalography) recordings in 1937
  • First fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan in 1990
  • The introduction of eye tracking technology in 1972

Modern Research Approaches

• Behavioral approach: Involves reaction time studies, memory experiments, and eye-tracking to examine the relation between stimuli and observed behaviors.
• Physiological approach: Utilizes EEG, MEG, fMRI, and measures like heart rate to relate stimuli to physiological responses and cognitive activity.

Memory and Forgetting

• Ebbinghaus's findings on forgetting highlighted that memory retention declines sharply within the first few days before plateauing, which has been corroborated by later studies.
• His work laid the groundwork for understanding memory quantification and the cognitive process behind recall attempts.