Chapter 1: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Cognition- The mental processes that are involved in perception, attention, memory, problem solving, reasoning and making decisions. Cognitive Psychology- Branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of cognition. Mental Chronometry (by Franciscus Donders)- Measures how long cognitive processes takes. Donders measured the reaction time to perceiving a light. In the simple reaction-time task there was one location for the light, and participants pushed a button as quickly as possible after the light was illuminated. In the choice reaction-time task, the light could appear on the left or on the right, and the participants were to push one button if the light was illuminated on the left, and the other button if the light was illuminated on the right. The reaction time is the time between presentation of the stimulus and the behavioral response. Donders reasoned that the choice reaction time would be longer than simple reaction time because of the time it takes to make the decision.
Unconscious Inference (by Hermann von Helmholtz)- Some of our perceptions are as a result of unconscious assumptions that we make about the environment. Ebbinghauss Memory Experiments- Ebbinghaus performed experiments on memory by learning lists of nonsense syllables so that his memory would not be influenced by the meaning of a particular word. He read the list over and determined how many repetitions it took to repeat the lists with no errors, this initial learning is known as the savings method. Savings= [(Initial Repetitions) (Relearning Repetitions)] / Initial Repetitions It usually took fewer repetitions to relearn the list than it had taken him to initially learn it.
Structuralism- According to structuralism, over overall experience is determined by combining basic elements of experience called sensations. Analytic Introspection- Wilhelm Wundt wanted to create a periodic table of the mind which would include all of the basic sensations involved in creating experience and used analytic introspection, a technique which trained participants described their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli. However events early in the 20th century would shift the focus of psychology away from the study of mental processes and toward the study of observable behavior. One of the major forces that caused psychology to reject the study of
mental processes was a negative reaction to the technique of analytic introspection (hard to verify; extremely variable results from person to person.) Behaviorism (by John Watson)- 1) Rejects introspection as a method, 2) eliminates consciousness as a topic for study, and 3) suggests that psychologys main topic for study should be behavior. Operant Conditioning (by B.F. Skinner)- Focused on how behavior is strengthened by presentation of positive reinforcers. Skinner argued that children learn language through operant conditioning. They imitate the speech they hear and repeat correct speech because it is rewarded. However, Neil Chomsky saw language development as being determined not by imitation or reinforcement, but by an inborn biological program that holds across cultures.
Cognitive Revolution- A shift in psychology from the behaviorists stimulus response relationships to an approach in which the main thrust was to explain behavior in terms of the mind, leading to a new way to study the mind known as information-processing approach. Approaches to Cognition: 1) Behavioral Approach- involves measuring the relationship between stimuli and behavior, and 2) Physiological Approach- involves measuring the relationship between physiology and behavior. Modal Model of Memory (1968, by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin)Explains the basic processes that occur in memory. The first stage in this model is Sensory Memory. Sensory memory can take in a large amount of information, but most of it fades rapidly, within about half a second. Some of the information from sensory memory is then transferred into Shortterm Memory, where information can be held for about 15-20 seconds, uncless it is rehearsed. Some enters Long-term Memory, in which information can be stored for long periods of time.