Module 1: Cognitive Psychology

What is Cognitive Psychology?

● Perception of information
● It deals with understanding
● It deals with thought
● It deals with the formulation and production of an answer

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY - is the study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about
information.

Cognito - to apprehend or to understand

Cognition - is the collection of mental processes and activities used in perceiving, learning,
remembering, thinking, and understanding.

Ulric Neisser - Father of Cognitive Psychology

In 1967, he introduced the term cognitive psychology, which he defined as the study of the
processes behind the perception, transformation, storage, and recovery of information.

A dialectic is a developmental process where ideas evolve over time through a pattern of transformation.

Dialectical Process:

1. Thesis
2. Antithesis
3. Synthesis

Cognitive Psychology

⮚ Human Intelligence
⮚ Perception
⮚ Attention
⮚ Memory
⮚ Thinking & Problem Solving
⮚ Language

PHILOSOPHICAL ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY:

RATIONALISM VS EMPIRICISM

Philosophy seeks to understand the general nature of many aspects of the world, in part through
introspection, the examination of inner ideas and experiences (from intro-, “inward, within,” and -spect,
“look”);

Physiology seeks a scientific study of life sustaining functions in living matter, primarily through empirical
(observation-based) methods.

a. According to rationalist, the only route to truth is reasoned contemplation.

b. According to empiricist, the only reason to truth is meticulous observation.
Plato - was a rationalist.

Aristotle (a naturalist and biologist as well as a philosopher) was an empiricist. “We are what we
repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Immanuel Kant (1724- 1804) - he believed that rationalism and empiricism must work together in the
quest for truth.

Methods to Gain How Knowledge is Gained

Knowledge
Rationalism Through reflective thinking and
logical
analysis.
Empiricism Through observation.
Synthesis Through the use of observation as well
as thinking and logical analysis.

Psychological Origins of Cognitive Psychology: Understanding the Structure of the Mind: Structuralism

STRUCTURALISM - it seeks to understand the structure of the mind and its perceptions by analyzing
(configuration of elements) those perceptions into them constituent components (affection, attention,
memory and sensations)

Structuralist sought to deconstruct the mind into its elementary components; they are also
interested in how these elementary components work together to create the mind (Benjamin, 2014)

Prominent Structuralist:

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

● German Psychologist
● Founder of structuralism in Psychology

Method in Research:

Introspection - is the conscious observation of one’s own thinking processes.

Psychological Origins of Cognitive Psychology: Understanding the Structure of the Mind: Functionalism

Functionalism - it seeks to understand what people do and why they do it.

Pragmatists - they believe that knowledge is validated by its usefulness.

● they are concerned not only with knowing what people do; they also want to know what we can
do with our knowledge of what people do.

William James (1842-1910)

● A leader in guiding functionalism to pragmatism

John Dewey (1859-1952)

● Profoundly influenced contemporary thinking in cognitive psychology

 An Integrative Synthesis: Associationism

Associationism - it examines how elements of the mind, such as events or ideas, can become associated
with one another in the mind to result in a form of learning.

Associations may result from:

1. Contiguity
2. Similarity
3. Contrast

Prominent Associationist

HERMAN EBBINGHAUS (1850-1909) EDWARD THORNDIKE

Studied are own mental processes Law of Effect- the role of “satisfaction” to
forming
associations.
Rehearsal – the conscious A stimulus will tend to produce a certain
repetition of material to be learned response over time if an organism is rewarded
for that
response.
Experiment: he made up lists of nonsense The organism learns to respond in a given way (the
syllables that consisted of a consonant effect) in a given situation if it is rewarded
and a vowel followed by a consonant and repeatedly for doing so (the satisfaction, which
took a careful note how long it took him serves as a stimulus to future actions)
to
memorize those lists. He counted his
errors and recorded his response time.

Psychological Origins of Cognitive Psychology: Understanding the Structure of the Mind: Behaviorism

Behaviorism - focuses only on the relation between observable behavior and environmental events or
stimuli

Psychological Origins of Cognitive Psychology: Understanding the Structure of the Mind: Gestalt
Psychology

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY - it states that we best understand psychological phenomena when we view
them as organized, structured wholes.

- we cannot fully understand behavior when we only break phenomena down into smaller parts
- ” THE WHOLE IS MORE THAN THE SUM OF IT’S PARTS”

Approaches Methods Used What is studied

to
Studying
the
Mind
Structuralism Introspection Content/Structure of the mind
Functionalism Various; depends on the Process of how the mind works
question
 asked
Pragmatism Various Research that can be applied to the real
world
 Synthesis: Experiments: Ebbinghaus How learning takes place by associating things
Associationi used himself as the subject; with each other
sm Thorndike used cats as well
as
humans
Behaviorism Use of animals in research Relation between
in addition to observable behavior and
humans environmental
events/stimuli
Gestalt Introspection, Experiments Psychological phenomena
Psychology studied as organized wholes
Synthesis: Experiments, computer Understand behavior through
Cognitivism simulation, the ways people think
protocol analysis

EMERGENCE OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

⮚ Cognitivism is the belief that much of human behavior can be understood in terms of how
people think.
⮚ It rejects the notion that psychologists should avoid studying mental processes because they are
unobservable.
⮚ Cognitivism is, in part, a synthesis of earlier forms of analysis, such as behaviorism and Gestaltism.
⮚ Add a Dash of Technology: Engineering, Computation, and Applied Cognitive Psychology

COGNITION AND INTELLIGENCE

Intelligence is the capacity to learn from experience, using metacognitive processes to enhance
learning, and the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.
It may require different adaptations within different social and cultural contexts.
People who are more intelligent tend to be superior in processes such as divided and selective
attention, working memory, reasoning, problem solving, decision making, and concept
formation.
Three Cognitive Models of Intelligence
 Carroll: Three-Stratum Model of Intelligence

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence

● Verbal
● Mathematical
● Spatial
● Bodily Kinesthetic
● Musical
● Interpersonal
● Intrapersonal
● Naturalist
 Cognitive Research Methods:

⮚ Experiments
⮚ Case Studies
⮚ Self-reports
⮚ Naturalistic Observation

Experiments Methods – it is a method of data collection that manipulates one or more independent
variables to determine the effects on some behavior while controlling the relevant factors.

Self-Report Studies – it is a method of data collection that rely on the participant to report his/her own
behaviors, thoughts, or feelings.

Case Studies - it is a method of data collection in which one individual is studied in-depth in order to
identify behavioral, emotional and cognitive qualities that are universally true on average of others.

Natural Observation - it is a method of data collection that allows behavior to occur without intervention
at all.

FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

1. Empirical data and theories are both important

2. Cognition is generally adaptive
3. Cognitive processes interact with each other and with non-cognitive processes.
4. Cognition needs to be studied through a variety of scientific methods.
5. All basic research in cognitive psychology may lead to applications, and all applied research may
lead to basic understandings.

Module 2:
Cognitive Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience - is the field of study linking the brain and other aspects of the nervous system to
cognitive processing and ultimately to behavior.

- The brain controls our thoughts, emotions, and motivations.

- It is the central organ of the human nervous system
- Localization of functions refers to the specific areas of the brain that control specific skills or
behaviors.

Early Role of Cognitive Neuroscience

Karl Spencer Lashley - challenged the behaviorist view that the human brain is a passive organ. He
considered the brain to be an active, dynamic organizer of behavior.

Donald Hebb - proposed the concept of cell assemblies as the basis for learning in the brain.

- Cell assemblies are coordinated neural structures that develop through frequent stimulation.
 COGNITION IN THE BRAIN: THE ANATOMY AND MECHANISMS OF THE BRAIN

The nervous system is the basis for our ability to perceive, adapt to, and interact
It is highly complex part of human that coordinates its actions and sensory information.
It detects environmental changes that impact the body

PART OF THE FUNCTI

BRAIN ON
Amygdala - Influences anger and aggression
- Stimulation of the amygdala commonly results in fear. It can be
various in ways such as palpitations, fearful hallucinations or
frightening
flashbacks in memory.
Hypothalamus - Regulates temperature, eating, and sleeping.
- It is involved in emotion, pleasure, pain and stress reactions.
Cerebral Cortex - Controls thinking and sensing functions
-Involved in receiving and processing information, thinking and other
cognitive processing and planning.
Basal Ganglia Controls voluntary motor movements, procedural learning, eye
movements, cognition and emotion.
Thalamus - Relays sensory information to cerebral cortex
- Primary relay station for sensory information coming into the
brain, transmits information to the correct regions of the cerebral
cortex.
Hippocampus - Plays an essential role in memory function.
- It is essential for flexible learning and for seeing the relations among
items learned.
PART OF THE BRAIN FUNCTION
Pons - Serves as the relay station “bridge”
because it contains neural fibers that pass
on part of the brain to another.
- Involved in consciousness
Medulla Oblongata - Serves as juncture at which nerves cross
from one of the bodies to opposite side of
the brain.
- Involved in cardiorespiratory function,
digestion
and swallowing
Brainstem -Connects the forebrain to the spinal cord
Cerebellum - Essential to balance, coordination and
muscle tone
Midbrain - Superior
Colliculus
- Inferior
Colliculus
- Reticular activating system “RAS” – a network
of neurons essential to the regulation of
consciousness (sleep, wakefulness, arousal,
attention)
- Helps control eye movement and
coordination
 Types of Chemical substance involved in neurotransmission:

1. Monoamine neurotransmitters – synthesized by the nervous system through enzymatic actions

on one of the amino acids (constituents of proteins) in our diet (ex. Dopamine, serotonin)
2. Amino-acid - obtained directly from the amino acids in our diet without further synthesis (ex.
GABA)
3. Neuropeptides – peptide chains (molecules made from the parts of two or more amino acids)

VIEWING STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN

⮚ Postmortem Studies
⮚ Studying Live Nonhuman Animals
⮚ Studying Live Humans
a. Electrical Recordings
b. Static Imaging Techniques

BRAIN DISORDERS

1. Stroke - it occurs when the flow of blood to the brain undergoes a sudden disruption.

Two kinds of Stroke:

i. Ischemic stroke – occurs when a buildup of fatty tissue occurs in blood vessels over a period of
years, and a piece of this tissue breaks off and gets lodged in arteries of the brain.
ii. Hemorrhagic stroke – occurs when a blood vessel in the brain suddenly breaks.

Typical symptoms of stroke:

● Numbness or weakness in the face, arms, or legs (especially on one side of the body.
● Confusion, difficulty speaking or understanding speech
● Vision disturbances in one or both eyes
● Dizziness, trouble walking, loss of balance or coordination
● Severe headache with no known cause

2. Brain Tumors - Also called neoplasm which can affect cognitive functioning in very serious ways.
- Tumors can occur in either the gray or the white matter of the brain.

Two kinds of Brain Tumor:

i. Primary brain tumor – childhood brain tumors, starts tumor in the brain.
ii. Secondary brain tumor – start as tumor in other parts of the body.
 Typical symptoms of brain tumor:

Headaches (usually worse in the morning)

Nausea or vomiting
Changes in speech, vision or learning
Changes in mood, personality, or ability to concentrate
Problems with memory
Problems balancing or walking
Muscle jerking or twitching (seizures or convulsions)
Numbness or tingling in the arms or legs

3. Head Injuries - Result from many causes, such as car accident, contact with a hard object, or a
bullet wound.

Two kinds of Head Injury:

i. Closed-head injuries – the skull remains intact but there is damage to the brain, typically from
the mechanical force of a blow to the head.
ii. Open-head injuries – the skull does not remain intact but rather is penetrated or opened.

Immediate symptoms of head injury:

▪ Unconsciousness
▪ Abnormal breathing
▪ Obvious serious wound or fracture
▪ Bleeding or clear fluid from the nose, ear, or mouth
▪ Disturbance of speech or vision
▪ Pupils of unequal size
▪ Weakness or paralysis
▪ Dizziness
▪ Neck pain or stiffness
▪ Seizure
▪ Vomiting more than two or three times
▪ Loss of bladder or bowel control

Perception (“perceptio”) – “identification and interpretation of sensory information”

- Perception is the set of processes by which we recognize, organize, and make sense of the
sensations we receive from environmental stimuli (Epstein & Rogers, 1995; Goodale, 2000a,
2000b; Kosslyn & Osherson, 1995; Marr, 1982; Pomerantz, 2003)

Perception can be split in (2) two processes.

⮚ Processing the sensory input, which transforms this low-level information to higher-level
information (extracts shapes for object recognition)
⮚ Processing which is connected with a person’s concepts and expectations (or knowledge),
restorative and selective mechanisms (as attention) that influence perception.
 PERCEPTION OF OBJECTS AND FORMS

a. Viewer-Centered Perception - the individual stores the way the object looks to him or her.
b. Object-Centered Perception – the individual stores a representation of the object, independent
of its appearance to the viewer.
c. landmark-centered - the information is characterized by its relation to a well-known or
prominent item.
 The Perception of Groups – Gestalt Laws

GESTALT PRINCIPL
PRINCIP ES
LES
Figure- When perceiving a visual field, some objects(figures) seem
Ground prominent, and other aspects of the field recede into the
back ground (ground)
Proximity When we perceive an assortment of objects, we tend to
see
objects that are close to each other as forming a group.
Similarity We tend to group objects on the basis of their similarity.
Continuity We tend to perceive smoothly flowing or continuously
forms rather than disrupted or discontinues ones.
Closure We tend to perceptually close up, or complete, objects that
are not, in fact, complete.
Symmetry We tend to perceive objects as forming mirror images
about their center.

Law of Figure and Ground – viewers will perceive an object (figure) and a surface (ground) even in
shapes are grouped together.

Law of Closure – in perception there is the tendency to complete unfinished objects. We tend to ignore
gaps and complete contour lines.
Law of Similarity – objects that look alike, with similar components or attributes, are more likely to be
organized together.

Law of Proximity – elements that are placed close to each other will often be perceived as one group.

Law of Continuity - objects will be grouped as a whole if they are co-linear, or follow a direction.

Recognizing Patterns and Faces

Two Different Pattern Recognition System

1. Feature Analysis System - specializes in recognition of parts of objects and in assembling those
parts into distinctive wholes
2. Configurational System - specializes in recognizing larger configurations. (Face recognition)
 THE ENVIRONMENT HELPS YOU SEE

Perceptual Constancies

Occurs when our perception of an objects remains the same even when our proximal sensation
of the distal object changes.
The physical characteristics of the external distal object are probably not changing.

Two main constancies:

1. Size constancy - is the perception that an object maintains the same size despite changes in the
size of the proximal stimulus.
2. Shape constancy - is the perception that an object maintains the same shape despite changes in
the shape of the proximal stimulus.

Depth Perception

- Depth is the distance from a surface, usually using your own body as a reference surface when
speaking in terms of depth perception.

Depth Cues

⮚ Monocular depth cues (“mon” – “one”, “ocular” – “related to the eyes”.

● It can be represented in just two dimensions and observed with just one eye.
⮚ Binocular depth cues (“bin” – “both”, “two”)
● Based on the receipt of sensory information in three dimensions from both eyes.

The brain contains neurons that specialize in the perception of depth. These are, as one might expect,
referred to as BINOCULAR NEURONS. These neurons integrate incoming information from both eyes to
form information about depth. The binocular neurons are found in the visual cortex

DEFICITS IN PERCEPTION (Agnosias and Ataxias)

1. Agnosia is a loss or dimunition of the ability to recognize familiar objects or stimuli usually as a
result of brain damage. Difficulties perceiving the “WHAT”
2. Agnosias often are caused by damage to the border of the temporal and occipital loss or
restricted oxygen flows to areas of the brain, sometimes as a result of traumatic brain injury.

Types of Agnosia:

▪ Simultagnosia – an individual is unable to pay attention to more than one object at a time.
▪ Prosopagnosia – results in severely impaired ability to recognize human faces.

Optic Ataxia is the impairment in the ability to use the visual system to guide movement. People with
this deficit have trouble reaching for things.

1. Difficulties in Knowing the “HOW”

2. Ataxia results from a processing failure in the posterior practical cortex, where sensorimotor
information is processed.
 Anomalies in Color Perception

- Color deficiency are sometimes referred to “color blindedness”.

Kinds of Color Deficiency

1. Rod Monochromacy (achromacy) – a condition where a person have no color vision at all. It is
the true form of color blindedness.
2. Dichromacy – only two of the mechanisms for color perception work and one is malfunctioning
3. Protanopia (red-green color blindedness)
4. Deuteranopia (trouble seeing green)
5. Tritanopia (blue and green can be confused)

Approached to Perception: How Do We Make Sense of

What We See? Views on how we perceive the world

⮚ Bottom-up theories describe approaches where perception starts with stimuli whose
appearance you take in through your eyes. (Stimulus-driven theory)
⮚ Top-down theories a perception that is driven by high-level cognitive processes, existing
knowledge, and the prior expectations that influence perception.
⮚

BOTTOM-UP THEORIES (Form and Pattern Perception)

● Direct Perception the information in our sensory receptors, including the sensory context to
perceive anything.
● Template Theories templates that are highly detailed models for patterns we potentially
might recognize.
● Feature-Matching Theory it is the attempt to match features of a pattern to features stored
in memory, rather than to match a whole pattern to a template or a prototype.
● Recognition-by-Components (RBC) Theory it explains the ability to perceive 3-D objects with
the help of simple geometric shapes.

TOP-DOWN THEORIES

● The perceiver uses sensory information as the foundation for the structure but also uses other
sources of information to build the perception.
● The percepts of constructivists are based on three things:
What we sense (the sensory data)
What we know (knowledge stored in memory)
What we can infer (using high-level cognitive processes)
● The viewpoint of constructive or intelligent perception shows the central relation between
perception and intelligence.
● We do not perceive simply in terms of what is “out there in the world” rather, we perceive in
terms of the expectations and other cognitions we bring to our interaction with the world.