Mount Saint Vincent University PSYC 2215 Cognitive Psychology Fall 2024 Lecture Notes PDF

PSYC 2215 Dr. Angie Birt Sept. 09, 2024  Course Syllabus ◦ On Moodle ◦ Review carefully ◦ Consult regularly  Course Text ◦ 8th ed. ◦ Online  Register Your Text ◦ Registration code + Student Set ID ◦ Registration/Access instructions to our course are...

PSYC 2215 Dr. Angie Birt Sept. 09, 2024  Course Syllabus ◦ On Moodle ◦ Review carefully ◦ Consult regularly  Course Text ◦ 8th ed. ◦ Online  Register Your Text ◦ Registration code + Student Set ID ◦ Registration/Access instructions to our course are on Moodle under “Textbook Information”  REQUIRED for you to receive quiz and lab grades.  InQuizitive Quizzes ◦ Complete “How to Use InQuizitive” Quiz to familiarize yourself with how the quizzes work.  Quiz #1: Ch. 01 due Sept. 11th by 11:59 pm  ZAPS Lab Assignments ◦ Complete “How to Use ZAPS” demo to familiarize yourself with how they work. ◦ If you want more practice, do so on the ZAPS that have NOT been set as assignments.  IMP! See more detailed instructions for the ZAPS assignments on Moodle  Notetaker Required ◦ PLEASE volunteer ◦ See email you received from Accessibility Services re: Notetakers  For ALL classes, you will need paper and either a pencil or pen. Come to class with these! ◦ Be prepared for in-class activities that require some writing  Taking notes results in better learning & memory  Be an “Active Learner”—NOT a passive one  QUESTIONS?  First, what is Psychology? ◦ The scientific study of ??  Cognitive Psychology ◦ More specifically, the scientific study of ??  Cognitive psychology started as the scientific study of knowledge ◦ How is knowledge acquired? ◦ How is knowledge retained? ◦ How is knowledge used?  The Broad Role of Memory in Cognition  Let’s think! Get a piece of paper, write your name on top. Discuss in groups of 2-3:  Example #1:  Does this make sense? WHY/WHY NOT? ◦ “Betsy wanted to bring Jacob a present. She shook her refrigerator. It made no sound. She went to look for her mother.”  Does this make sense? WHY/WHY NOT? ◦ “Betsy wanted to bring Jacob a present. She shook her piggy bank. It made no sound. She went to look for her mother.”  Main point: Understanding a story, conversation, book, game, lecture, etc. depends on the knowledge we already have. ◦ BUT! What if we don’t have all of the necessary knowledge? ◦ Have to make inferences to fill in gaps.  What are some inferences in the “Betsy” example?  BUT! Inferences are not always correct. ◦ Examples from the “Betsy?”  Other examples?  Something about a duck?  Something about someone loving someone?  Many inferences are unconscious  Hermann von Helmholtz’s—Theory of Unconscious Inference  e.g., many of our perceptions result from unconscious inferences about the environment ◦ Based on EXPERIENCE → memory. Occlusion Heuristic  Possible  More likely  What inferences do you automatically make?  Example #2:  Amnesia and memory loss: The case of H.M. ◦ In his mid-20s had brain surgery to control his epilepsy.  After the surgery, H.M.: ◦ Could remember info. from before surgery ◦ Unable to form new explicit memories after surgery  e.g., doctors had to reintroduce themselves each time, no memory for tests he completed repeatedly, each time he heard of the same uncle’s passing it was “for the first time.” ◦ Had little sense of himself as an adult  The Cognitive Revolution--took place across the 1950s and 1960s ◦ involved a major shift in the ways psychological phenomena were conceptualized ◦ and the ways in which they were studied ◦ It was the BIRTH of Cognitive Psychology  Cognitive psychology arose partly from the limitations of previous research traditions: 1. Structuralism’s Introspection 2. Behaviorism  1879: Wilhelm Wundt established 1st psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany.  Structuralism: experience is determined by combining the simplest, definable components of the mind  Problem: Can’t directly observe someone else’s thoughts. Answer: Ask them  Introspection: “looking within” ◦ Method = Analytic introspection: participants trained to describe experiences and thought processes → sensations & feelings in response to stimuli  describe an object in terms of the basic perceptions it invoked  e.g., Apple  Describe what you see  What about touch, smell, taste, sound, etc.?  Wundt = “father of introspection” & “father of experimental psychology”  Attempted to develop tools to measure psychological processes as objectively as possible.  Problems with introspection:  1) Introspection focuses on conscious experiences. Many thoughts are unconscious. What about those?   Problems with introspection: 2) It is often impossible to test claims made via introspection. Lack of objectivity & reliability Can’t directly observe or measure thoughts Self-report accuracy is often unknown Results extremely variable across individuals Difficulty in reproduction/replication