Transcript Cognitive Approach in Psychology

Introduction to Approaches in
Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Maggie Gale Office: Bungalow
Email: [email protected]
Overview of Session
By the end of this session together with
independent study you should:
• Understand what cognitive psychology is
• Understand its basic approach
• Have an understanding of
– 2 models of memory
– Research into problem solving
Where does cognitive
psychology come from?
• Developed over past 50 years
• Out of behaviourism
– observable, measurable events
• Post world war II
– new concepts - skill & attention
• Influence from other domains - Information
Theory
– People are processors of information & meaning
– cognitive processes rely on feedback and control
Information Processing
The basic idea..
STIMULUS
ATTENTION
PERCEPTION
THOUGHT
PROCESSES
DECISION
RESPONSE
OR ACTION
2 Assumptions
made....
One……..
PARIS
IN THE
THE SPRING
Bottom-up Processing or Top-down Processing?
Two………Serial Processing
• Serial processing:
– one process is completed before the next starts
• Parallel processing:
– some or all of the processes occur at the same time
• Some processes can occur together but others have
to wait for the completion of other processes
• Depends on:
– the type of problem
– how good someone is at the task
The Computer Analogy
• Good way to think about the mind?
• Mind likened to programmes
• Mind now set of procedures/processes for operating on
symbols
Influence of Behaviourism on
Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive psychology use experiments to collect
behavioural data
• Differ from behaviourist because they make
inferences from the behavioural data about
internal mental processes.
Experiment
chair
sofa
sofa
banana
apple
window
window
apple
tree
banana
chair
peach
cat
hamster
table
orange
orange
fern
desk
cat
table
desk
tree
hamster
dog
peach
fern
dog
People remember more words from different categories
when they’re in ordered lists than when they’re jumbled up
Conclusions
• Behaviourist concludes: ordered verbal
material produces better subsequent
memory than unorganised material.
• Cognitive psychologist concludes: human
memory system is internally organised and
the full power of the system can be
exploited when its internal structure is
supported by the organisation of the
material to be remembered.
So……….What is Cognitive
Psychology?
Interested in structures and functions of mind
• Assumption - mind is a set of processes that rely on the brain
• Assumption - mental processes are linked with observable
behaviour
• Takes a scientific perspective
• Perform controlled experiments testing theories about inner
mental processes.
• Observe the effects of these processes on outward measurable
behaviour
• Mind can not be directly studied - but observable effects can
be
Cognitive Psychology = the study of mental processes via
measurable behaviour
Contemporary Cognitive
Psychology
• Growing interest in constructing models and
simulations of theories
– Mimicked using artificial information-processing
devices e.g. computers
– Cognitive Science - uses experimental techniques of
cognitive psychology and computer modeling methods
of artificial intelligence to explore mind
• Cognitive Neuropsychology - the study of braindamaged patients
Models of Memory
The Modal Model (Atkinson and Shiffrin,1968)
SENSORY
REGISTERS
SHORTTERM
MEMORY
LONG-TERM
MEMORY
Retrieval
INPUT
Visual &
Auditory
Rehearsal
Capacity and Duration of each
Store
• Sensory store:
– Info lasts for a very short period of time (1-2 seconds)
– Information not selected decays rapidly
• Short-term store:
– Has limited capacity; 7 items +/-2 (Miller, 1956)
– Able to store information for approx 20 seconds
– Unrehearsed items are forgotten
• Long-term store:
– Unlimited capacity & contains very diverse information
• Key contribution of model:
– there are separate kinds of memory store
– the stores differ in their storage capacity & in the way information is
forgotten
Evaluation of model
• Assumption that the longer information stays in
STS the more likely it is to enter the LTS
– Morton (1967)
• Participants asked to reproduce the pattern of numbers on
British telephones
• Out of 50 nobody produced any correct numbers
• Assumption that both STS & LTS were unitary
– Later found this not to be true
– Tulving (1972)
• Episodic = memory for autobiographical events
• Semantic memory = memory for organised knowledge we
possess about language, the world
Working Memory Model
• Baddeley & Hitch (1974)
• Response to some criticisms of STM
• STM redefined as Working Memory
– Active system used to manipulate information, either
from environment or LTM
• 3 components
– Central executive
– Phonological loop
– Visiospatial scratchpad
Working Memory Model
Baddeley and Hitch, (1974)
Visio-spatial
Scratchpad
Central
Executive
Phonological
loop
Problem Solving
‘Consists of finding a method of getting from where
you are to where you want to be’ (Evans 1995, p
61)
• Everyday activity
• Distinction made between
– well-defined
• What is the best way to get to University?
– ill-defined problems
• How can I get a good grade on this assignment?
Spatial Metaphor
• Problem solving in terms of space
– Find path to solution
– Hitting a dead end
• Newell and Simon (1972) use spatial analogy for
problem solving activity
– Moving from initial state to goal state via problem
space
• Problem solving can be via
– Algorithm
– Heuristics
Algorithmic Problem Solving
• All possible routes to solutions explored
• Guarantees answer will be found
• Very time consuming, can cause ‘cognitive
overload’
Means End Analysis
• Heuristic method
– Identify difference between current state and goal state;
If none problem solved, otherwise proceed
– Select action (operator) to reduce difference
– If operator can be applied do so, if not develop new sub
goal at which operator can be applied.
– MEA applied to new sub-goal until operator applied or
attempt to use it abandoned.
– Cycle through stages until problem solved.
Barriers to Problem Solving
• Functional Fixedness
– Participants given several objects including box of
nails, candle, some matches
– Attach candle to wall without dripping onto table
• Mental Set
– People learn way of doing something and continue to
apply strategy when no longer appropriate
– Water jug problem
Insight Problem Solving
• Occurs when experience ‘aha’ moment
• Usually after impasse
• E.g. Missionaries and cannibals problem
http://bacaninha.cidadeinternet.com.br/home/secoes/testes/2002/03/teste_sua_
logica/logica.swf
Lecture summary
• From today’s lecture you should
– Know what cognitive psychology is
– Be able to describe two models of memory
– Be able to describe some of the problems used
in problem solving research and one model of
problem solving