cognitive+psychology

© Agnieszka

1. Definition

Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring mental processes and their role in thinking, feeling and behaving. It is the study of how people think, perceive, remember, speak and solve problems.

This discipline portrays the human mind as a processor of information which computes answers to problems in a manner analogous to a computer. The human mind perceives a message as a symbolic code of zeros, analyses it according to rules and yields an answer. The analogy between mental operations and computation is a basis for consideration in a field of cognitive psychology.

This video presents how human brain captures and processes information from the environment. It defines cognitive psychology as a branch of psychology and presents its main goals. The very concepts such as human mind, symbol and process are explained. The video focuses on visual perception and constructivist theories. The main emphasis is put on Gestalt theory and its perceptual organisations.

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2. Assumptions


 * Human cognition can at least in principle be fully revealed by the scientific method - individual components of mental processes can be identified and understood.
 * Internal mental processes can be described in terms of rules or algorithms in information processing models (Lu 2007).

3. History of cognitive psychology

The origins of cognitive psychology can be dated back to 1940s and 1950s. During World War II [|A.M. Turing] formulated computational theory and in 1950 published a paper titled “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” This article contributed to the development of notions such as [|artificial intelligence] and cognitive science. Subsequently, Turing invented a test to establish whether Hull’s speculations about thinking machines can be confirmed. In the Turing test one participant was to use keyboard to ask questions of two respondents: a human being and a computer. Another participant was to define by whom the question is asked. The difficulties in distinction between human’s and computer’s questions indicate that thinking machines can exist.

The cognitive approach was brought to prominence by Donald Broadbent. He put forward a information processing model of cognition in which a human brain is perceived as a computer computing and processing information and providing output. These mental operations are regarded as software running on the computer.

The turning point in cognitive psychology was connected with Noam Chomsky’s review of Skinner’s book on language (Verbal Behaviour). Chomsky argued that language cannot be explained through a stimulus-response process. According to Chomsky, language is a way to express ideas and a cognitive process is the way these ideas are turned into language. Chomsky’s critique provoked interest in mental processes. In early 1960s, Herbert Simon explored computer simulations of intelligent behaviour and Allen Newell applied cognitive psychology to the design of the computer systems.

More detailed history of cognitive psychology is described in this video. It begins with a brief definition of cognition. Then the inventions of the early psychologists are presented:
 * 1) Ernst Weber
 * 2) Gustav Fechner
 * 3) Hermann von Helmholtz (unconscious interferences in visual perception)
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">Hermann Ebbinghaus (the forgetting curve)
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">Wilhelm Wundt (RT Method, psychological labolatory)
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">Edward Titchener (structuralism, introspective method)

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%;">4. Basic cognitive operations


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Sensation and perception
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Attention
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Memory


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Sensation and perception **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Sensation refers to transduction of physical energy such as sound waves or electromagnetic radiation, into a preliminary neural code that can be further processed and transformed over time (Kellogg 1995). Perception starts with sensory registration (sensation) by identification of sensory information that is necessary for mental processes to start. Perceptual transformations operate from the moment of sensory registration, therefore it is difficult to define when sensation ends and perception starts.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">One of the most important aspect of these cognitive operations is pattern recognition process. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">This term refers to the step between initial sensory registration of a stimulus and identification of the stimulus as a whole (Kellogg 1995). Without pattern recognition process conscious perception of the environment is impossible. In the next paragraph the interactive nature of patter recognition will be developed.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Like all cognitive functions, perception is situated in the environment. Therefore, the perceiver must interact with environment to construct an accurate internal model of external objects an events. Such interaction was called a cycle of perception by Neisser, 1976 (as cited in Kellogg 1995). The process begins with numerous schemas providing expectations about what one will encounter in the environment. These anticipations help us to direct exploration of the environment in the form of eye movements and other bodily movements that pick up the available information. The purpose of exploring the environment is to sample features that allow us to identify scenes and object. The sampled information either confirms or modifies the original expectations, which in turn lead us to renewed exploration. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The pattern recognition process involves two simultaneous processes: top-down and bottom-up refers to the use of expectations to ease the process of finding a match between incoming stimuli and schemas that store our knowledge about the world in long-term memory. Bottom-up process refers to the use of the features picked up from the environment.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Attention refers to the selection of certain stimuli for the processing exclusion of others. According to William James, 1980 (as cited in Kellogg 1995):
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%; line-height: 35px;">Attention **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> “attention is taking possession by mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible trains of thought.” (p.69)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Two broad classes of theories developed to explain attention. Filter theories address the selective nature of attention, whereas capacity theories address the allocation of resources to specific mental processes.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">//Filter theories// postulated a bottleneck in the flow of information from initial sensory processing to registration in conscious awareness. Early selection theory placed a bottleneck or filter immediately after sensory memory. Attenuation theory also placed the bottleneck after sensory registration but it assumed that the filter merely attenuated the signal strength of unattended material. Whereas, late selection theory placed the filter after pattern recognition of attended and unattended stimuli. According to this theory, all stimuli are fully analysed for their meaning. Yet the filter excludes all but the attended stimuli from entering conscious awareness and memory.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">//Capacity theories// recognized that one or more bottlenecks exists, but added the assumption that mental processes compete for limited resources. Two tasks can interfere with each other if they both demand the same a high level of general resources. The general pool is always limited. Multiple capacity theory assumes that pools of resources can be defined in terms of several independent dimensions.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Memory **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The Atkinson–Shiffrin model (also known as the multi-store model is a model of memory) is a psychological model proposed in 1968 by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin as a proposal for the structure of memory (Atkinson 1967). It proposed that human memory involves a sequence of three stages:
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Sensory memory (SM)
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Short-term memory (STM)
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Long-term memory (LTM)



<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Sensory memory is a very short-term buffer where senses store what they have received before any cognitive processing occurs. It allows individuals to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimulus has ceased. Furthermore, it is considered to be outside of cognitive control and is instead an automatic response. For example, we can recall events, situations that just ceased without paying attention to them. Sensory memory is very brief in duration; however, it is difficult to define the duration of each stage of memory as it is not static. Its capacity is large.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Sensory memory can be divided into three types:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Iconic memory represents the visual aspect of perception. Visual information is detected by photoreceptor cells in the eyes which is then sent to the [|occipital lobe] in the brain. According to Segner (as cited in Kellogg 1995) it lasts under 100 milliseconds.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Echoic memory represents the auditory aspect. Auditory information travels as sound waves which are sensed by hair cells in the ears. Information is sent to and processed in the [|temporal lobe].
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Haptic memory represents the tactile aspect. Sensory detector that are located all over body detect various stimuli like pain, pressure. Then the information is transported by neurons to the [|parietal lobe] in the brain.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Short-term memory (also called primary or active memory) is an ability to store information for a short period of time. As far as its duration is concerned it is believed to last from 20 to 30 seconds (e.g. when one remember the number to dial it). According to Miller 1956 (as cited in Kellogg) it contained 'seven, plus or minus two' slots, into each of which one chunk of information can be placed. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The size of any one chunk can vary depending on the associations that it has and hence how it can be thought of as a single concept. Thus, for example, RFB may be stored as three separate chunks, whilst GOD is held as a single chunk.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Long-term memory (also called secondary memory) is memory in which associations among items are stored. Contrary to previous types it is limitless in its capacity.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">There are two major types of long-term memory: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Different types of memory may be impacted by various diseases. For example Alzheimer's Disease particularly affects episodic memory whilst Semantic Dementia affects semantic memory.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Declarative (explicit) memory: Knowledge of facts and events.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Episodic (autobiographical) memory: memories of events and periods.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Flashbulb memory: memories of vivid periods.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Source memory: of where and when the event occurred (often fades with time).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Semantic memory: Knowledge of concepts and meaning.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Prospective memory: Thoughts about the future.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Procedural (nondeclarative, implicit) memory: Knowledge of how to do things.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Skills and abilities.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Conditioning and subconscious responses.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%;">Other research areas


 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">[|Solving Problems]
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">[|Decision Making]
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Intelligence and Thinking

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; line-height: 25px;">References

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">1. Atkinson, R. (1967). //Introduction to psychology// (4th ed.). New York, NY: Wadsworth Publishing Co Inc. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">2. Kellogg, R.T. (1995). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Cognitive psychology //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">. London, UK: SAGE Publications Ltd. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">3. Lu Z., & Dosher B.A. (2007). Cognitive psychology. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Scholarpedia, 2(8) //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">. Retrived from: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Cognitive_psychology <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">4. Smith J.J., & Titus H.E. (1997). History of cognitive psychology. Retrived from: http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/cognitiv.htm