Psychology Chapter: Writing and Structuralism

Module Outcomes and Aims

• Cognitive psychology introduces basic theory, research findings, and investigative methods.
• Students will be able to describe important theories and research findings.
• The course covers key theoretical and research findings.
• Development skills covered include analysis, communication, critical thinking, independent working, and research skills.

Cognitive Psychology

• Focuses on mental processes (thinking and knowledge).
• Investigates how mental processes are organized and coordinated.
• A subfield of psychology focusing on thinking and knowledge.

Cognition

• Occurs throughout various activities, like listening to a lecture.
• Includes acquisition, storage, transformation, and use of knowledge.

What is Cognition?

• Cognition is acquiring, storing, transforming, and using knowledge.
• Cognition is present across species but this study will focus on human cognition.

Example: Video Viewing and Recall

• Watching a video involves creating an internal representation.
• Memory access and retrieval are utilized.
• Mental processes include language use, auditory and visual inputs.
• Linking inputs to prior knowledge facilitates recall.
• Representing information involves storage, recall and conversion into a linguistic form to be written down.

Major Topics in Cognitive Psychology

• Perception
• Attention
• Memory
• Learning
• Language
• Thinking
• Reasoning
• Problem Solving
• Consciousness

Implications for Other Fields

• Cognitive research applies to many fields, including psychology, law, computer systems and instructional design.
• Application can be observed in understanding brain disorders, improving study habits and more.

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

• Considered the "father" of experimental psychology.
• Established the first formal psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879.
• Established psychology as a separate scientific discipline.
• Founded the first journal for psychological research in 1881.

Structuralism

• Developed by Wundt.
• Studies immediate experience.
• Analyzes consciousness into basic elements like ideas and sensations.
• Employs introspection (examining one's own thoughts and feelings).

Wundt - Introspection

• In Wundt’s laboratory, a subject (e.g., eating an apple) would report sensations like "sweet, crisp, cold".
• The goal was to isolate the experience by describing the "mental processes" during the action rather than the object of the experience itself.

William James (1842-1910)

• A pioneering American psychologist and philosopher.
• Emphasized psychology as a functional science.
• Focused on how the mind functions, how individuals interact within their environment.
• Introduced the concept of the "stream of consciousness".

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

• Emotions result from physiological changes followed by interpretation.
• Event → arousal → interpretation → emotion.
• Psychological changes follow an event and are then interpreted as an emotion.

Functionalism

• Influenced by Darwin's theories.
• Emphasizes the purpose and function of conscious mental activity.
• Investigates how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environments

John B. Watson (1878-1958)

• Father of Behaviourism.
• Argued that psychology's subject matter should be observable behavior.
• Focused on learning and environments, not mental states.

Behaviourism

• Focuses on observable behaviours.
• Does not focus on mental events because they cannot be directly accessed.

Operant Conditioning (B.F. Skinner)

• Learning through rewards and punishments.
• Learning occurs when a behavior is followed by a consequence.
• Positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment.

The Cognitive Revolution

• A reaction against behaviorism.
• Started in the 1950s.
• Focuses on the role of mental processes in behavior.
• Combines developments in computer science, linguistics, and other disciplines.
• Intellectual movement emphasizing the study of cognitive processes (memory, perception, judgement).

Scientific Method in Psychology

• Includes experimentation, observation, and case studies as methods for research.

Steps in Experimentation

• Defining the problem and formulating a hypothesis.
• Designing the experiment.
• Conducting the experiment.
• Evaluating the hypothesis through data analysis.
• Communicating the conclusions.

Experimental Cognitive Psychology

• Experiments in controlled laboratory conditions.
• Focus on healthy participants, unlike other types of cognitive studies.
• Limitations - results may not perfectly reflect the real world because the environment is highly controlled.

Ecological Validity

• The degree to which experimental results can be generalized to real-life settings.
• A concern with lab experiments in cognitive psychology.

Observation

• Involves observing participants in their natural environment (overt observation).
• Involves observing participants without their knowledge (covert observation, e.g., structured observation for data collection).
• Useful in situations where manipulating variables or controlling factors is not possible or ethical (covert observation).

Structured Observation

• Researchers develop a structured coding scheme beforehand.
• Observations are a quantitative, rather than qualitative, data source.

Case Studies

• Often focus on brain-damaged individuals to understand the relationship between the brain and cognitive functions.
• Investigates performance patterns with intact and impaired cognitive functions.
• Attempts to build a general theory from observing specific cases.
• Focuses on single or double dissociations (different behaviours show different performances).

Cognitive Neuroscience

• The study of the neural substrates (biological mechanisms) of mental processes.
• Employs brain-imaging techniques.
• Investigating where and when cognitive processes occur.

Summary

• Cognitive psychology covers a wide range of mental activities (e.g., perception, thinking).
• Built on earlier psychological ideas and is now a multidisciplinary field.
• Uses various methods and techniques.

This quiz explores the cognitive processes involved in writing letters, as well as the historical context of psychology, particularly focusing on structuralism. It covers key concepts and figures associated with the development of writing skills and psychological theories. Test your understanding of how these elements interact in the study of psychology.