History and Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

[Pages:16]History and Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

Chapter 1

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What is Cognitive Psychology?

Cognition co- + gnoscere to come to know. Knowing requires mental activity which involves acquiring, storage, transformation and use of knowledge (Matlin, 2002).

Cognitive Psychology deals with how people perceive, learn, remember and think about information (Sternberg, 2003) and how do they use

this information (Matlin, 2002).

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Why study Cognitive Psychology?

1. Cognitive psychology holds a major domain in human psychology.

2. It studies the mind and how it works.

3. And it has a widespread influence on other

areas of psychology.

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History of Cognitive Psychology

Generally speaking two approaches have been used to study the mind.

1. Historically, philosophical approaches have rendered an understanding to the workings of the mind using introspection.

2. And biology, has used observational (and empirical) methods to study the mind.

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Mind & Reality

Plato (ca. 447-327 BC)

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Reality does not reside in concrete objects but

in abstract forms represented in our

mind.

Reality lies only in the concrete world of objects accessed through the senses.

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Comparison

Rationalism

Understanding of mind (or knowledge) through logical analysis and introspection

(rationalism). Innateness of mind or

mental faculties.

Theory building in psychology today.

Empiricism

Observations of the external world are the only

means to arrive at truth (empiricism).

Acquired experiences through interaction with

the environment.

Experimentation in psychology today.

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Seventeenth Century

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

John Locke (1632-1704)

Descartes agreed with Locke favored Aristotle

Plato and emphasized

and emphasized

reflective methods

observation as a

(rationalism) over method (empiricism) to

observation to study study mental processes.

mind. 7

Immanuel Kant

In eighteenth century German philosopher Kant addressed the issue

of rationalism and empiricism and said that both approaches must be used to decipher truth

and about reality of mind.

(1724-1804)

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Structuralism

1. First psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany (1879).

2. To analyze the structure of the mind. Through the method of introspection.

3. Elements of mind: sensation, feelings, and images.

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

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Functionalism

1. Mind or consciousness cannot be divided into elements.

2. Introspection cannot yield measures about the mind.

3. Mind or consciousness have adaptive value.

William James (1842-1910) Self-portrait

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Behaviorism

1. No room for mind or consciousness.

2. Overt behavior needs to be the scientific domain of psychology.

3. Behaviorism is an extreme form of associationism between environment (S) and observable behavior (R).

John Watson (1878-1958)

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Gestalt Psychology

1. Opposed behaviorism and structuralism.

2. S-R components or mental elements could not explain behavior or mind of an individual.

3. Holistic approach to understanding behavior or mind.

Wolfgang Kohler (1887-1967)

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4

Associationism

1. Studied "higher mental processes", like memory and forgetting.

2. Used systematic experimental introspection.

3. Followed Aristotelian law of association. Repetition improves memory.

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)

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Memory Studies

Ebbinghaus

Bartlett

In the late 19th and early 20th century we see differences in approaches to the problem of memory. Ebbinghaus

promoted quantitative study of memory using nonsense material, Bartlett on the other hand used qualitative methods to study memory.

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Is the debate over?

Certainly not! Understanding mind and its reality has its adherents belong both to nurture (acquired

mind) or nature (innate mind) or both domains.

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Early Beginnings of Cognitive Psychology

1. Lashley's research showed that large amounts of the brain could be destroyed without affecting learning.

Stimulus

2. Hebb, Lashley's student proposed stimulation (learning) led to forming strong connections among neurons called cell assemblies.

Brain

Response

Cell Assembly

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Birth date of Cognitive Psychology

1. Cognitive psychology was born on Sep. 11, 1956, when Neisser, Miller, and Simon read seminal papers at a symposium at MIT.

2. Neisser wrote the first book of Cognitive Psychology (1967).

3. Defined how people learn, structure, store and use knowledge.

Ulric Neisser

George Miller

Herbert Simon 17

Computer Sciences

1. In 40s and 50s, electronic engineering and computer sciences started developing machines and programs that mimicked human learning and thinking.

2. Turing developed a test (Turing test) for a computer to think like a human.

Alan Turing (1912-54 )

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1960s

A number of sciences and disciplines like psychobiology, linguistics, anthropology, computer sciences and artificial intelligence started gathering

data that developed the strong foundations of cognitive psychology.

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Current Trends in Cognitive Psychology

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Cognitive Science

Cognitive science is a broad category of loosely associated disciplines that include psychology,

philosophy, computer science, linguistics, anthropology, neuroscience and of course cognitive

psychology is also a part of its domain. Most researchers are likely to work in an

interdisciplinary fashion.

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Cognitive Neuroscience

Can we explain cognitive processes by studying the anatomy (structure) and physiology (function) of the

brain? The field of cognitive neuroscience expanded around the 1980s when neuroscientists started using imaging techniques on people performing

different cognitive functions.

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Neuroscientific Methodology

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History of Brain Lesions

Human brain damage (gladiators) and its consequences were noted by Hippocrates who wrote that people's behavior changed after such

damage. Similar observations had been made in wars victims in the 19th century. It was not until world war II that physicians started to document disorders that were caused by damage to certain regions of the brain.

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