Transcript Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

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How would you rate your memory? Does this
number vary from day to day? Morning to
evening?
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The human mind is quite sophisticated. It can
manipulate abstract symbols like words and
images. These mental representations can refer
to objects, ideas, and people in the real world;
people use them when they think, make plans,
imagine, or daydream.
You have an idea of how you look somewhere
in your mind – a self-representation. You also
have ideas about how other people are.
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Mental representations are organized in
categories, and the mind contains all sorts of
mental representations stored in memory.
Cognitive schemas – pre-stored mental
representations.
Mental representations – how we store images
and ideas in memory.
Researchers believe that what we already
know (cognitive schemas) affects the way we
interpret events and store knowledge in out
memory.
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Study of mental processes
Study of the way in which the brain processes
information
It concerns the way we take in information
from the outside world, how we make sense
of that information and what use we make of
it.
Definition: "the process of thinking"; "the
cognitive operation of remembering" (Stanford,
2010)
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Ex. Functions or processes such as perception,
introspection, memory, creativity, imagination,
conception, belief, reasoning, and emotion—
in other words, all the different things that we
can do with our minds.
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1. Our physiological processes (such as the
physical brain, neurotransmission, etc.) give rise
to cognitive processes (such as language,
memory, decision making, perception,
learning, etc.)
2. Models of mental processes can be
proposed and investigated scientifically
3. Cognitive processes are influenced by social
and cultural factors
What do we already know about the role of
physiological processes in language, memory,
etc., that can help us to outline this principle?
 In other words, specific parts of the brain can
directly correlate to cognitive processes.
 Damage to the frontal lobe can directly
affect the cognitive process of decision
making
 Damage to the hippocampus can directly
affect the cognitive process of short term
memory
 Damage to Broca’s area can directly affect
the cognitive process of language
production
◦ In summation, all of our mental processes are
physiological based. Thus, we can better understand
cognitive processes by understanding the
physiological processes that give rise to cognitive
processes.
◦ Cognitive processes are difficult to study. They often
occur rapidly, and inside the mind so they cannot be
observed directly.
◦ It is only the responses that participants make when
given some cognitive task to perform that can tell us
about cognitive processes.
◦ These tasks usually take place under tightly controlled lab
experiments where the main aim is to isolate a particular
component of the cognitive process for the study. (This
can be used to assist you with objective 1.2)
◦ Theories and models can be proposed to better
understand cognitive processes.
◦ Examples:
◦ The Stroop Effect (cognitive process of attention)
◦ The Multi-Store Memory Model (cognitive process of
memory)
◦ The Two-Factor Theory (cognitive process of emotions)
◦ Critical Period Hypothesis (cognitive process of
language)
◦ Social Learning Theory (cognitive process of learning)
◦ By creating models of cognitive processes, we are able
to isolate theses processes (through laboratory
experiments) to see how various environmental factors
influence them.
◦ In summation, models of cognitive theories allow us to
empirically investigate the cognitive products of our
physiological processes.
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That is, our memories, learning, language,
perception, decisions, etc. can be influenced
by our culture and by environmental factors.
What does this mean?
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Frederic Bartlett coined the term “cultural
schema” to refer to the process of social and
or cultural norms playing a role in how we
process and categorize our memories.
This is true with all cognitive processes (social
learning, culturally based language
acquisition, socially learned fears, etc.)
What do we already know about the role of the
environment in learning, language, etc.?
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From the case of genie, we already know that
social deprivation/enrichment can influence
our acquisition of language and our capacity
for learning.
In summation, our cognitive processes are
environmentally dependent.
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State and outline principle one of the
cognitive level of analysis.
State and outline principle two of the
cognitive level of analysis.
State and outline principle three of the
cognitive level of analysis.