Cognitive Psychology Overview: Chapters 1-12

ory memory storage prior to filtering relevant informCognitive Psychology Overview

• Cognitive psychology studies how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information.
• Heuristic methods serve as mental shortcuts for information processing.
• Dialectic development includes thesis, antithesis, and synthesis stages.
• Cultural influences impact cognitive processes, including concepts of intelligence.

Philosophical Foundations

• Cognitive psychology originates from rationalism (logical knowledge, Plato, Descartes) and empiricism (knowledge from observation, Aristotle, Locke).
• Immanuel Kant synthesized these views, while Hegel described dialectical progression of ideas.

Historical Development of Psychology

• Structuralism, founded by Wilhelm Wundt, analyzes the structure of the mind through introspection.
• Functionalism, led by William James, emphasizes the functions and processes of thought.
• Associationism links learning with mental associations, highlighting contiguity, similarity, and contrast.
• Behaviorism, championed by John Watson and B.F. Skinner, focuses solely on observable behaviors and their environmental contingencies.

Theoretical Evolution

• Edward Tolman introduced goal-directed behavior into behaviorism.
• Gestalt psychology promotes understanding phenomena as organized wholes.
• Cognitive psychology arose through a synthesis of behaviorism and Gestaltism in the 1950s, emphasizing internal mental processes.

Key Figures in Cognitive Psychology

• Karl Spencer Lashley emphasized the brain's organization of behavior.
• Noam Chomsky critiqued behaviorism's approach to language acquisition, advocating for innate cognitive structures.
• George Miller introduced concepts like the "Magic Number Seven" related to short-term memory.

Research Methodologies

• Cognitive psychologists employ various research methods:
  • Laboratory experiments with independent and dependent variables.
  • Neuroscientific studies linking cognitive processes to brain function.
  • Self-reports and case studies for insight into cognitive processes.
  • Computer simulations and artificial intelligence to model cognition.

Current Issues and Focus Areas

• Cognitive psychology addresses ongoing debates between rationalism and empiricism, and the importance of cognitive structures and processes.
• Major research topics include attention, memory, language, problem-solving, intelligence, and the effects of culture on cognition.

Brain Anatomy and Function

• Brain divided into forebrain (cerebral cortex, limbic system), midbrain (eye movement, arousal), and hindbrain (basic life functions).
• The cerebral cortex is vital for higher-level thinking, emotional regulation, and memory.
• Key structures include the basal ganglia for motion, hippocampus for memory formation, and thalamus for sensory information processing.

Hemispheric Specialization

• The brain has two hemispheres with distinct functions, connected by the corpus callosum.
• The left hemisphere is specialized for language and analytical functions, while the right hemisphere excels in spatial and holistic processes.
• Split-brain patients illustrate functional asymmetries between hemispheres.

Practical Implications

• Cognitive psychology’s integration with AI and neuroscience fosters advancements in understanding human cognition.
• The discipline continues to explore fundamental cognitive processes and their applications in real-world scenarios.### Frontal Lobe
• Involved in motor processing and higher thought processes, such as abstract reasoning, problem-solving, planning, and judgment.
• Crucial for speech production; damage can lead to speech difficulties.
• Prefrontal cortex integrates information over time, facilitating complex motor control tasks.
• Primary motor cortex is responsible for planning, controlling, and executing movements, with a contralateral organization for body control (homunculi maps).

Parietal Lobe

• Located at the upper back of the brain; plays a role in somatosensory processing and spatial awareness.
• Primary somatosensory cortex receives sensory information related to pressure, texture, temperature, and pain.

Temporal Lobe

• Situated below the parietal lobe; primarily handles auditory processing and language comprehension.
• Retains visual memories, aiding in the recognition of objects and events.

Occipital Lobe

• Located at the back of the brain; specialized in visual processing with various areas analyzing color, motion, and form.
• Contains the primary visual cortex, critical for interpreting visual stimuli.

Brain Orientation Terms

• Rostral: Refers to the anterior part of the brain.
• Ventral: Indicates the inferior surface of the brain.
• Caudal: Means posterior, resembling the tail region.
• Dorsal: Signifies the superior part of the brain.

Neuronal Structure and Function

• Neurons consist of four main parts: soma (cell body), dendrites, axon, and terminal buttons.
• Soma contains the nucleus and connects dendrites to the axon.
• Dendrites collect information from other neurons while axons send electrochemical signals to other neurons.
• Myelin sheaths around axons speed up signal transmission; nodes of Ranvier enhance conduction.
• Terminal buttons release neurotransmitters across the synapse to relay information.

Neurotransmitters

• Chemical messengers allow communication across synapses; categories include:
  • Monoamines, amino-acid neurotransmitters, and neuropeptides.
• Key neurotransmitters include:
  • Acetylcholine: Associated with memory, sleep, and arousal.
  • Dopamine: Linked to attention, learning, movement control, and motivation.
  • Serotonin: Regulates eating behaviors, body weight, aggression, and impulsivity.

Brain Research Methods

• Postmortem Studies: Connecting behaviors to brain anomalies, e.g., Broca's patient Tan.
• Nonhuman Animal Studies: Techniques like single-cell recordings, lesioning, and genetic knockout procedures.
• Live Human Studies: Include:
  • Electrical Recordings: EEGs track brain wave activity; ERPs measure changes in response to stimuli.
  • Static Imaging: CT and MRI scans assess structural and functional aspects of the brain.
  • Metabolic Imaging: PET scans and fMRI examine brain activity based on glucose and oxygen use.

Brain Disorders

• Stroke: Sudden blood flow disruption, leading to cognitive function loss. Two types: ischemic (blockage) and hemorrhagic (bleeding).
• Brain Tumors: Can be primary (originating in brain) or secondary (spread from elsewhere). Symptoms may include severe headaches, nausea, and cognitive changes.
• Head Injuries: Classified as closed (intact skull) or open (breached skull). Symptoms include abnormal breathing, speech disturbances, and cognitive issues.

Perception Concepts

• Sensation to Perception: Recognizing and organizing sensory information.
• Basic Perception Terms: Distal object (external), informational medium (stimuli), proximal stimulation (sensory receptor interaction), perceptual object (mental representation).
• Sensory adaptation can affect perception, e.g., the Ganzfeld effect where constant stimuli lead to perceived disappearance.

Visual System Function

• Vision begins with light entering through the cornea and passes through the pupil, lens, and vitreous humor, ultimately focusing on the retina.
• Contains photoreceptors: rods (night vision, peripheral sensitivity) and cones (color perception, concentrated in the fovea).
• Signals travel via bipolar and ganglion cells to form the optic nerve and transmit visual information to the primary visual cortex.

Visual Processing Pathways

• What-Where Hypothesis: Dorsal pathway processes spatial information while the ventral pathway identifies objects.
• What-How Hypothesis: Focuses on object identification and interaction pathways.

Bottom-Up Perception Theories

• Four primary theories:
  • Direct Perception: Emphasizes the sufficiency of sensory information for perception.
  • Template Theories: Suggest recognition occurs by matching stimuli to stored templates.
  • Feature-Matching Theories: Compare stimulus features to stored memory features.
• Pandemonium Model: Illustrates the hierarchical processing of stimulus features through metaphorical "demons" with specific responsibilities.### Feature Matching Theories
• Feature demons detect matches between stimuli and specific features, calling out relevant information.
• Cognitive demons identify stored patterns in memory corresponding to features noted by feature demons.
• Decision demons evaluate input based on the frequency of cognitive demons' outputs.
• Global features provide the overall shape, while local features concern detailed aspects of patterns.
• Global precedence effect: Slowed identification when recognizing small 'S's forming a large 'H' compared to small 'H's forming a large 'H.'
• Local precedence effect: Faster recognition of widely spaced local features than global forms, especially with contradictory stimuli.

Neuroscientific Evidence

• Visual cortex neurons respond to specific stimuli types, such as orientation.
• Each neuron corresponds to a specific retinal receptive field, illustrating a hierarchical complexity in responses.
• Gnostic units or “grandmother cells” are neurons linked to recognizing complex objects.

Recognition-by-Components (RBC) Theory

• Recognition of 3-D objects involves decomposing them into simpler geometric shapes known as geons.
• Geons possess viewpoint invariance, aiding general recognition but struggling with specific instances.
• Neurons in the inferior temporal cortex are sensitive to viewpoint invariance and may show varying responses based on object rotation.

Top-Down Theories

• Perception is influenced by high-level cognitive processes, prior knowledge, and expectations, forming a constructive approach.
• Constructive perception combines sensory data with cognitive understanding.
• Color constancy maintains the perception of color despite lighting changes.
• Hypotheses about percepts are formed from sensory data, memory knowledge, and inferences.
• Context effects demonstrate how surroundings influence perception; complex configurations improve recognition efficiency.

Gestalt Laws of Perception

• Gestalt principles explain perception through holistic approaches, emphasizing the organization of visual arrays into coherent forms.
• The law of Prägnanz favors simple organization of visual elements.
• Principles include figure-ground perception, proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, and symmetry.
• Human children utilize Gestalt principles, differing notably from other primates.

Recognition of Patterns and Faces

• Two systems for pattern recognition: feature analysis focuses on parts, while configurational analysis emphasizes whole configurations.
• Face recognition is primarily managed in the fusiform gyrus, with a distinct response to faces compared to other objects.
• The "face positivity" effect indicates older adults prefer happy faces.
• Amygdala activation connects emotional responses with face processing.
• Prosopagnosia illustrates severe difficulties in recognizing faces, linked to damage in the configurational system.

Perceptual Constancies

• Perceptual constancy ensures stable perception despite changing sensory conditions; includes size and shape constancy.
• Size constancy involves perceiving an object's size as constant, irrespective of proximal stimulus changes.
• Shape constancy retains perceived shape despite changes in proximal stimuli.

Depth Perception

• Depth is understood as the distance from surfaces, driven by binocular and monocular cues.
• Monocular cues include texture gradients, relative size, interposition, linear perspective, aerial perspective, and motion parallax.
• Binocular depth cues rely on the disparity and convergence of images from both eyes, interpreted by the brain to gauge distance.

Deficits in Perception

• Agnosias are deficits caused by brain lesions affecting the ability to recognize objects.
• Visual-object agnosia permits seeing parts without recognizing objects; simultagnosia limits attention to one object.
• Prosopagnosia severely impairs face recognition capabilities.
• (Optic) ataxia disrupts visual guidance of movements linked to the dorsal pathway.

Anomalies in Color Perception

• Color perception anomalies, more common in men, include rod monochromacy (no color vision) and various types of dichromacy.
• Types of color blindness vary by which color perception mechanisms fail: protanopia (red-green), deuteranopia (green), tritanopia (blue-yellow).

The Nature of Attention and Consciousness

• Attention actively selects information from environmental stimuli, enhancing reaction speed and accuracy toward salient stimuli.
• Consciousness encompasses awareness and linking past memories with present sensations.
• Functions of attention include signal detection, vigilance, search, selective attention, and divided attention.
• Signal-detection theory assesses effectiveness in identifying targeted stimuli among distractions.

Search Mechanisms

• Search involves scanning the environment for specific features, distinguishing between feature and conjunction searches.
• Feature search targets one characteristic unaffected by distractors, while conjunction search combines multiple features; complexity increases with the number of distractors.
• Feature-integration theory suggests a two-stage process in object perception, first recognizing features and then linking them.

Selective Attention

• The cocktail party problem illustrates the ability to focus on one conversation amidst distractions.
• Dichotic presentation reveals how individuals can notice sensory changes in unattended messages but miss semantic ones.
• The early filter model posits sensation.