Cognitive Psychology Research Methods PDF

Cognitive Psychology Course Code: C-PSYM311 Professor Margaret T. Aribon | De La Salle University - Dasmarinas Photo Credit: https://julienpacaud.com/Usbek-Rica Week 3: Research Methods https://i.pinimg.com/474x/4f/25...

Cognitive Psychology Course Code: C-PSYM311 Professor Margaret T. Aribon | De La Salle University - Dasmarinas Photo Credit: https://julienpacaud.com/Usbek-Rica Week 3: Research Methods https://i.pinimg.com/474x/4f/25/8d/4f258d6928bf02a872e5e78f18309667.jpg  Research Methods in Cognitive Psychology Experimental Cognitive Psychology Cognitive Neuropsychology Computational Cognitive Science Cognitive Neuroscience Arti cial Intelligence fi Experimental Cognitive Psychology Uses controlled lab experiments on healthy individuals to study processes like attention, perception, learning and memory Uses experiments and hypothesis testing to study the representations and processes underlying cognition https://www.dezeen.com/2022/01/09/yinka-ilori-creates-maze-of- colour-and-sound-for-va-dundee/ Experimental Cognitive Psychology Key challenge: task impurity problem, where tasks mix multiple processes, making results harder to interpret https://www.dezeen.com/2022/01/09/yinka-ilori-creates-maze-of- colour-and-sound-for-va-dundee/ ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE  Foot-in-the-door Experiment Freedman & Fraiser (1966) Subjects: 156 Californian housewives were selected at random from a telephone directory Variables: 1) First Group = subjects were contacted twice, rst with a small request; second with a large request; 2) Second Group = subjects were only contacted once for a large request Hypothesis: more subjects in the rst group would agree to a larger request fi fi  Results The rst group who agreed to a smaller request rst were most likely to comply with a larger request The second group who were only contacted once and did not agree to a small request most likely will not agree to a larger request http://persuasion-and-in uence.blogspot.com/2014/02/get-your-foot-in-door.html fi fi fl Cognitive Neuropsychology Involves studying patterns of congitive impairment manifested by brain-damaged patients to provide valuable information about normal human cognition https://i.pinimg.com/474x/dd/62/15/dd6215f9a51fc6bd8340b4f272b9b337.jpg ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE  Case of Tan Studied by Paul Broca Tan had been unable to speak for many years Discovered that there was damage in his left frontal lobe, near the front of the temporal lobe (Broca’s Area) Such damage causes a person to have di culty in producing speech, also known as Broca’s Aphasia Hence, it concluded that the area near the front of the temporal lobe (Broca’s Area) is responsible for producing speech. ffi Computational Cognitive Science Involves developing computational models to further our understanding of human cognition https://i.pinimg.com/474x/ad/5c/5c/ad5c5c006808d5522d89c0e3f6a49913.jpg Cognitive Neuroscience Concerned with the study of the biological processes that underlie condition Investigates the emergence of cognitive function from the physical and chemical activity of neurons in the brain https://i.pinimg.com/474x/08/c5/3a/08c53a4074a56b8f36d8d9afe72c39ea.jpg Techniques in Cognitive Neuroscience Single Cell Recording Electroencephalography (EEG) Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Brain Imaging Techniques: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a7/78/46/a778468be10ea28df9d2238bf590d6d7.jpg  Single Unit Recording The technique requires the insertion of microelectrodes (needles) into the brain The microelectrodes and the computer record the electrical signals from the neurons An invasive experiment which is why it is least used in humans ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE Monkeys and Mirror Neurons Rizzolatti, Fadiga, Gallese, and Fogassi (1996) Mirror neurons - class of neurons that are activated when an individual executes a speci c motor act and when they observe the same or similar act performed by another individual. Found that neurons red when the monkeys picked up an object and were watching other monkeys performing that action The neurons were found to be active when performing such action fi fi  Electroencephalography (EEG) Technique that records electrical signals from neurons by putting a set of electrodes on the head The electrodes record the electrical signals from groups of neurons in di erent areas of the brain Used to determine if there is an e ect of stimulus presentation on neuron activity Researchers use EEG recordings to examine event-related potential (ERP) https://i.pinimg.com/564x/cb/59/6c/cb596c25c042af5647f53ec1a66a20a2.jpg ff ff Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) Refer to neurophysiological signals that allows us to study the timing of various cognitive processes involved in working memory (encoding, retention, recognition, etc) Repeats a stimulus and averages electrical activity from the scalp electrodes to track cognitive processes’ timing ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE https://news.mit.edu/sites/default/ les/download/201502/MIT-BrainRhythm-01-press.jpg fi Increase in Memory Retrieval through Meditation Nyhus, Engel, Pit eld, et.al (2019) Subjects were subjected to EEG procedures after having mindfulness meditation trainings EEG shows an increase in Theta oscillations (which played a role in episodic memory retrieval) after mindfulness meditation trainings Therefore, the results of the study suggests that mindfulness meditation increases source memory retrieval and theta oscillations in a fronto-parietal network https://news.mit.edu/sites/default/ les/download/201502/MIT-BrainRhythm-01-press.jpg fi fi Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Brain recording technique that records activity of large sections of neurons from di erent areas of the scalp using a large magnet placed over the head Involves placing the head in or near an electrical scanner that can detect electrical activity accurately than EEG. ff Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Technique in which a coil is placed close to the participant’s head, brie y disrupting activity in a speci c brain area. It creates a temporary “lesion”. The coil creates a short-lived magnetic eld that leads to electrical stimulation in the brain https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a1/3b/3e/a13b3ea03beb592d969b0455804f6c75.jpg fi fi fl ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE https://news.mit.edu/sites/default/ les/download/201502/MIT-BrainRhythm-01-press.jpg fi TMS for Enhanced Cognitive Function The magnetic eld generated by the TMS penetrates the skull and the electrical current triggers an action potential in the cortical neurons Several studies indicated improvements in memory after TMS treatment Applying TMS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex enhanced working memory https://neuromodec.org/what-is-transcranial-magnetic-stimulation-tms/tms_1.png fi Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) A technique to image the internal portions of the body using magnetic eld present in the cells Allows researchers to learn which areas of the brain are active when one engages in an activity https://i.pinimg.com/564x/47/37/14/4737140300bcbf4aa17411dae9a9f3d8.jpg fi Funcitonal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Shows which areas of the brain are active Measures blood oxygenation in the brain using MRI More blood ow in the brain indicates brain activity What is measured in fMRI is known as BOLD (blood oxygen- level-dependent contrast). fl ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE https://media.sciencephoto.com/image/c0306408/800wm/C0306408- fMRI_during_Visual_Stimulation.jpg fMRI on Human Visual Perception Huth et al. (2016) Used neural decoding techniques (decoding which neurons were activated when presented with visual stimuli) Presented participants with clips taken from Star Trek and Pink Panther 2 and used fMRI Decoding accuracy was successful in identifying general object (ex. Animal), speci c objects (ex. canine) and various actions (ex. Talk or run) presented in the movie clips https://media.sciencephoto.com/image/c0306408/800wm/C0306408- fMRI_during_Visual_Stimulation.jpg fi Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Based on the detection of positrons - atomic particles emitted by some radioactive substances Radioactively labelled water is injected into the body When part of the cortex becomes active, the labelled water moves rapidly to that area Thus, etects positrons from radioactive substances to map brain activity Suggested Reading Book: Cognitive Psychology: A Student’s Handbook by Michael W. Eysenck & Mark T. Keane (8th Edition) Chapter 1 - Approaches to Human Cognition Book Sources Eysenck, M., Keane M., (2020) Cognitive Psychology A Student's Handbook 8th Edition., Psychology Press, ISBN: 9781138482234 Brainsby, N & Gellatly, A (2012). Cognitive Psychology. 2nd ed. Oxford: OUP Oxford ISBN 9780199236992. McBride, D., Cutting J., (2019) Cognitive Psychology Theory, Process and Methodology. Second Edition Web Sources https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/cognitive- neuroscience https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/event-related- potential#:~:text=An%20event%20related%20potential%20(ERP,visual %20or%20auditory%20language%20stimulus. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/ 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00311/full https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6401552/