Foundations of Cognition Psychology PDF

Foundations of Cognition Psychology Readings: Ch. 1 JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 1 What is cognitive psychology? The scientific study of how the mind encodes, stores, and uses information i.e., how is knowledge acquired...

Foundations of Cognition Psychology Readings: Ch. 1 JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 1 What is cognitive psychology? The scientific study of how the mind encodes, stores, and uses information i.e., how is knowledge acquired, retained, and used? JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 2 The Cognitive Revolution Cognitive psychology emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. Cognitive psychology arose partly from the limitations of previous research traditions: 1. Introspectionism 2. Behaviorism JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 3 Introspectionism (AKA Structuralism) Pioneered by Wilhelm Wundt (& Edward Titchener) Focus on studying conscious thoughts and experiences But who can observe thoughts? What about unconscious thoughts? JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 4 Introspection The only person who can directly experience or observe someone's thoughts is that person. Introspection—“looking within” Observing and recording your own thoughts and experiences Required systematic training JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 The Limits of Introspection Problems with introspection: Some thoughts are unconscious. It is often impossible to test claims made via introspection. Cannot directly observe or measure thoughts Self-report accuracy is often unknown JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03  Behaviorism Dominated psychology in America for the first half of the 20th century John Watson was biggest advocate Behaviorists argued that psychology needed objective data Observable, testable, and verifiable JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 7 The Limits of Behaviorism Focused only on observable behaviors Behaviorism uncovered principles of how behavior changes in response to stimuli Pavlov’s stimulus-response pair was key BUT can stimulus-response pairs explain all behaviour? JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 The Cognitive Revolution Cognitive psychology arose (1950-60s) partly from the limitations of previous research traditions: Introspectionism → focus entirely on inner thoughts about our perceptions Methods for studying mental events are not scientific Behaviorism → focus entirely on observable behavior To fully understand behaviour, we cannot ignore mental events JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 9 The Intellectual Foundations of the Cognitive Revolution Philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Transcendental method: Reason backward from observations to determine the cause. “Inference to best explanation” JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03  The Path from Behaviorism to the Cognitive Revolution Notable examples that contributed to the revolution: Behaviorists argued that language acquisition and use could be understood in terms of behaviors and rewards/conditioning and reinforcement. Noam Chomsky argued that this does not explain the creativity of language. How do we produce and understand new sentences? JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 11  The Path from Behaviorism to the Cognitive Revolution Notable examples that contributed to the revolution: Behaviorists argued that learning was simply a change in behavior. Edward Tolman argued that learning also involves the acquisition of new knowledge and could occur without changes in behavior (using rats in a maze) JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 12 The Cognitive Revolution JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 13 Cognitive Psychology The focus of cognition ended up being on mental processes and events instead of the stimulus-response connection For example: The process of knowing rather than merely responding to stimuli How the mind structures or organizes experiences How an individual actively and creatively arranges stimuli received from the environment JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 14 Researching cognition Process of research in cognitive psychology: 1. Form a hypothesis. 2. Derive predictions from the hypothesis. 3. Collect data to test predictions. 4. Confirm hypothesis or modify (or reject) the hypothesis. Common measures: Performance (e.g., accuracy) Response time (RT) Neuroimaging techniques JABBARI-PSYCH HASHEMI – PSYCH2H03 2H03 15