COGNITIVE PROCESSES

Historical notes – chapter 1

Structuralism

Although man has been interested in psychology for several centuries, its recognition as a science
coincides with the foundation of the first experimental psychology laboratory established by
Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig in 1879.
He had gathered a group of researchers who primarily studied the physiology of the
sensory organs and the organization of the nervous system.
The innovative idea is that psychology can be considered a true science:
domain of knowledge that applies a clear and coded investigation method (method
scientific
It began to study the way in which stimuli from the external environment (visual, acoustic...) once
translated into nerve impulses and, through the sensory pathways, transmitted to the brain became
elementary sensations and finally complex perceptions
To interact with the outside world, man must perform mental processes.
They were convinced that complex perceptions, through which we form a
representation of the world, they were an elaboration of the elementary sensations resulting
of the immediate experience.
It was necessary to start studying the elementary sensations, which are the same for everyone.
The method used was that of introspection, that is, looking inside oneself.
mind.
It consists of capturing and reporting the mental processes that take place during the
presentation of an external stimulus.
Data collection takes place with the verbal report.
It was necessary to have training that allowed to bring back the elementary sensations.
resulting from immediate experience and not the complex perceptions that arise from experience
past and the processing of these sensations.
Whoever is trained is able to recognize their immediate elementary sensations from
meaning and the function of the object to which they refer.
This method was supposed to decompose psychic processes until reaching their
the smallest part and not further divisible, the so-called "psychic atoms"
Tichener defined this approach as structuralist because it had as its object of study
the structure of the mind.
Answer the question: 'what are mental processes and how do they work?'
Structuralism and the method of introspection were not meant to last long,
especially at home of the very assumption on which the data collection method was based
and that is the verbal account of one's sensations.
 1) A verbal report will never be able to study the mind of children, mentally ill people and
animals
2) Does not include the unconscious activity that is partly responsible for human behavior.
3) The experience of the elementary sensation that a sensory stimulation evokes is of
everything personal.
Thus structuralism had to make way for functionalism.

Functionalism

It was born in the United States by William James and John Dewey who argued that the
human behavior must be considered an adaptation process
of the organism to the environment.
Similarities with Darwin's theory of evolution
Mental processes would be put into action to help the organism survive.
I am trying to answer the question: 'what are mental processes for?'
Psychology thus becomes a biological science as mental processes are expressed
by the same organism that carries out the other biological processes
Just as the limbs have evolved adapting to the mind, the same applies to the mind.
his mental processes.
They also deal with motivation, thought, and learning according to the approach.
evolutionist

Behaviorism

Founded in 1913 with the "behaviorist revolution", John Watson asserts that the
psychology should focus on a specific object of study that can be
observed in an intersubjective manner by all the interested scholars
The object of study is behavior understood as the set of muscular responses and
glands of an individual to a specific stimulus
Dominant school until the mid-1960s
 The mind is seen as a black box inside of which not
we know and we cannot observe what happens.
Psychology should only concern itself with what is manifest and can be measured, therefore the only
The subject of study must be the manifest behavior.
It must focus only on the laws that determine behavior and stimuli that
they provoke observable responses
The organism is seen as an intermediate station between incoming stimuli and the
outgoing responses
It is also defined as 'stimulus-response psychology'.
He began to show himself unfit and incapable of generating and accumulating new knowledge.
psychological
Limiting the study object to observable and measurable behavior proved to be a
sterile approach
It resulted in a new movement, neobehaviorism.
Neobehaviorism
 it admits the existence of unmanifest psychological components that act between the
can influence and modify behavior
Koch hypothesized the presence of 'intermediate internal variables', Toleman and Hebb had
started to elaborate on concepts such as "intentional behavior" and "processes"
mediators in the integration and organization of behavior
It admits the presence and action of something between stimulus and response and from psychology S -
R transforms into
S->O->R

Dove O indicates some unobservable activity carried out by the organism.

It will be the movement that paves the way for cognitivism

The psychology of Gestalt

Alongside American behaviorism, psychology of... was born in Europe.

Gestalt, which means 'organized form' or 'configuration'
It takes shape as a reaction to the atomic approach of structuralism.
His birth date is in 1912 when Wertheimer published his experiment on
stroboscopic movement (the apparent movement)
It is the foundation of cinematography
The stroboscopic movement is an apparent phenomenal movement induced by stimuli.
statistics presented in sequence
our perception of the external world is not an objective reality but what
we believe it is the outside world
What matters is the entirety of a phenomenon and not the individual parts that compose it.
"The 'whole' is something different from the simple sum of its parts."
therefore a complex perception is not the sum of individual elementary sensations
All of this precedes the parts, and the parts in turn take on a different value depending on the
"everything" that make up
They use the phenomenological method
It consists of a bottom-up observation of phenomena and takes into account what we perceive.
it is only what appears during observation
They do not recognize any importance to past experience.
It is based only on what is present at the moment.
When a figure is composed in a certain way, our mind completes it.
they are inductors

Cognitivism

Find a way from behaviorism/neo-behaviorism

 The subject of study shifts from observable behavior to cognitive processes that have become
now an undeniable presence for information processing and decision-making
decision aimed at the response
He sees man as an active processor of information but with limited capacity.
Neisser is considered the founder when in 1967 he published the book "psychology".
cognitive
Everything we know about reality has been mediated not only by the organs of sense but by
complex systems that continuously interpret the information provided by the senses
These complex systems, the cognitive processes, cannot be seen by the experimenter.
but their function can still be inferred
Past experience matters a lot
Encoding, interpretation, and storage of stimuli do not occur only on what is seen.
but also comparing with past experience
With the reaction time paradigm, they will develop a method to measure the
duration and complexity of the cognitive processes activated between the moment of
presentation of the stimulus and the moment of the emission of the motor response
The reaction time is the time that elapses between the presentation of the stimulus and the emission.
answers (start of answers execution) -> indicates the cognitive processes put in place -> yes
distinguishes from the time of movement that includes the completion of the action
If the time taken for the reaction to a stimulus is short, it implies that cognitive processes
they are simple and few in number
If the reaction time is long, it implies that the necessary cognitive processes are numerous and
complexes
The Norman Bobrow model describes the flow of information from the moment of
physical signal of the incoming sensory stimulus up to the eventual storage of it
stimulus in long-term memory

Riassunto capitolo 1

The main currents of psychology that preceded the establishment of psychology

Cognitive theories are: structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, and neobehaviorism.
Gestalt psychology.
 It was also useful in the military field during World War II
The interaction between soldiers and the warfare interfaces they had to operate put in
first of all the issue of human factors, meaning the quality of performance not only
depending on factors such as fear, fatigue, cold, need to act in the shortest time
possible... but also research on the type of characteristics that the interface should have (was)
this is a rifle, a cockpit...) to be operated in the best possible way
The performance would have been better if the interface design had.
consideration was given to the type and characteristics of the mental processes that
they were to be implemented
Human factors should be understood as all the strengths and weaknesses.
that characterize human performance during its execution
Adapt the machine to the functions of man
Recently, it has given rise to further fields of research such as the sciences.
cognitive, neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience, we have
concentrated their study on computational models of the
behavior and on the study of patients with brain damage
All fields of research, with the help of new technologies as well, have
permission to make progress in the knowledge of the architecture of the areas
brain areas involved in various cognitive functions.

Psychological Research Methods [Chapter 2]

Fact: when they are verifiable and are verified as true, then they can be
define them clearly.

Opinion: subjective knowledge and lacking certainty. They can be both right and
wrong.

The concept of verifiability of a fact, data, or phenomenon is what we

it helps us move out of the realm of uncertainty and brings us closer to scientific certainty.
Skepticism is the starting point for scientific knowledge.
Famous case of the horse Hans, of its owner Van Osten and the psychologist.
Pfungst from which we can deduce that skepticism is the best attitude
of the phenomena that are presented to us, the proposed explanations
must be considered true only after numerous attempts to explain the
facts, and the importance of constant attention during the observation of the true
She awaits the condition in which the phenomenon that needs to be explained occurs.
Before accepting an event as true and objective, we must be sure that
to reach its determination, a research method capable has been applied
to consider alternative explanations.
The method that provides the greatest guarantees is the scientific method, a primacy attributed to it.

from the ability to manage the variables at play ensuring

also the control of the causality of one variable on another and this is why
that psychology uses this method when possible.
It uses determinism, a philosophical doctrine that conceives everything
event of the universe caused by another event that precedes it. According to
on this matter, the observed results are not random but are attributable to a
causes and events are therefore the result of a cause-effect relationship with others
events.

The experimental method

It is the most direct emanation of the scientific method

The method that best guarantees understanding natural phenomena by linking them to
because they determined them
It consists of 4 phases:
1) Identification and description of the problem. The experimenter identifies the
problem of interest and describes its general aspects. -> question that we
if it faces a given phenomenon
 2) Formulation of a hypothesis. The experimenter hypothesizes a possible reaction.
of cause-effect between two variables. The variables are magnitudes or phenomena that
are measured or manipulated during the experiment.
The independent variable is the variable that is manipulated (that is, varied in
systematically by the experimenter
The dependent variable is the variable that is measured and that depends on the
manipulation of the independent variable.
Formulating a hypothesis means predicting a cause-and-effect relationship between two
variable-events
In empirical research, one starts with a hypothesis that must be confirmed by the
data
3) Execution of the experiment. The general problem and the formulated hypothesis
they are translated into a condition capable of testing their validity.
It involves manipulating the independent variable to observe and measure the
effects that this manipulation causes on the dependent variable.
4) Data collection and processing of results. The experiment must provide a
measurement of the variation of the dependent variable as a result of the
manipulation of the independent variable, such variation must be able to
collected and analyzed. Ultimately, the results of the experiment will have to tell us
whether the hypothesis formulated was correct or not.
Confirmation or falsification of the hypothesis: the results collected must be able to
confirm or falsify the hypothesis formulated

Understand the processing of results

It means asking oneself the question: 'Are the results I have achieved ...'
statistically significant (i.e. they were caused by manipulation of the
independent variable) or are they due to chance?
We are not in the case of the scientific method if the hypothesis following
the data processing is not falsifiable

An experiment can thus be defined as the procedure through which one

the scientist systematically varies one or more independent variables and measures the
changes that these variations cause on the dependent variable.
The experimental method allows us to study this cause-effect relationship.
keeping all other variables constant in order to have the
 certainty that any changes in the dependent variable are due to
only to the manipulation of the independent variable and do not occur in
random way
Confirmation or falsification of the hypothesis

The results of any experiment must be able to confirm or

falsifying the hypothesis and therefore the experiment must be able to tell me if I was right
or wrong

Naive theories: they are not based on scientific checks but on evaluations
personal and opinions with which we try to explain events, behaviors,
the phenomena we observe trying to rationalize them, that is trying to
to bring them back to laws we know and that have proven true in the past.
Scientific theories: the hypothesis is subject to confirmation or falsification. Theories
based on experimental controls.
Even the experimental method, while providing more guarantees, has its "traps".
"hidden", or the artifacts that are results obtained in a different way and
not with the manipulation of the independent variable. For example, the effect
of the experimenter, based on how the experimenter behaves there is
an influence on the outcome.
The experimental method is not always applicable.

Correlation studies

As already mentioned, the experimental method is not always applicable, as the

the researcher cannot always change the variable at will
independent
There are still relationships between the variables.
Natural experiments measure how two variables vary together.
I am trying to identify a correlation that is NOT THE RELATIONSHIP
CAUSE-EFFECT.
Two variables are in a correlation relationship when, as one changes (not the other)
following the manipulation of the experimenter) one also observes the variation
the other one.
Correlation studies allow for the identification of any regularities in the
variations between variables even if they do not allow us to conclude that the
Variable A caused the variation of variable B or vice versa.
 They do not allow for conclusions regarding causality between variables.
The parameter that is measured in correlation studies is defined
correlation coefficient.
In addition to measuring the intensity of the correlation, that is, the strength of cohesion between
two variables, indicate the direction of the correlation between two variables expressed in
values that can range from +1 (maximum positive correlation) to -
1 (minimal negative correlation)
A correlation is positive when an increase in one also tends to increase the other.
to grow, a correlation is negative when one increases as the other decreases
tends to decrease.
The coefficient is close to or equal to zero when there is no relationship between the two variables.

correlation (e.g. height stature)

Significance and statistical inference

Every time a certain phenomenon is studied, a research hypothesis is formulated.

that is, a specific inference is made about the results that will emerge from the research
The results of an experiment may also be due to chance and not to
manipulation of the independent variable.
Statistical inference calculates the probability that the obtained results are due to
from the manipulation of the independent variable and not from chance (e.g. number of
used samples,...
In the psychological field, the results of a research are statistically defined.
significant when the probability of making a mistake (that is, considering that the obtained data
they are the effect of the manipulation of the independent variable when instead
are due to chance) is less than or equal to 5% of cases.
A result with a significance level of 5% indicates a
95% probability of that variation (of action, of behavior, of
performance...) was caused by the manipulation of the variable
independent.
The parameters on which the tests of statistical significance are based are:
1) The extent of the effect achieved; it is important to keep in mind that, in the
the greater the difference between the values, given the equality of the other variables
of the dependent variable obtained in the experimental group and those
obtained in the control group, the higher the probability that
the data results are statistically significant
 2) Number of subjects studied (or number of observations made) at
with all other variables equal, the larger the sample studied
the greater the probability that a given difference will result
statistically significant.
3) The level of variability of the data, that is, the distribution of the results
within each experimental group.

If group A has an average of 300 and group B has an average of 320, the
A difference of 20 is more or less significant depending on the variability.
of the values within each single group.

Option 1) A = 300,301,298,307,293,300…… average 300

B= 320,322,318,320,320,316……average 320

Option 2) A= 360,320,400,280,200,150…….average 300

B= 420,220,400,240,520,120,……average 320

The difference of 20 will be more significant in the first case described,

while losing it in the 2 due to the high variability in
data distribution

The results of an experiment can contain two different types of variation:

a) variability between the groups
b) internal variability within groups

since the variability between the groups is due to the manipulation of the variable
independent while the internal variability is due to chance, it follows that
the higher the value of the ratio (defined as the critical ratio), the higher it is
the probability that the result obtained is due to manipulation of
independent variable.

Descriptive and observative methods

no relationship is sought between variables, but only

to describe a certain phenomenon or a specific behavior
they serve as a basis to be able to operate later
does not allow control of the variables
 is often used when the requirements of the experimental method do not
they can be satisfied
One should not give interpretations of what has been observed and the data.
that have gathered
simple observation and quantification of the phenomenon
I can't control the variables but I have the advantage of a
spontaneous behavior, performed in a natural environment and in a
an uncontaminated context free from intrusions (provided that they are respected
non-intrusive observational methodologies
difference in the presence or absence of the independent and dependent variable in
causal relationship, on the formulation of a falsifiable hypothesis and on control
of other variables at play.

The method of inquiry

It is used to collect various types of information in order to

describe a certain phenomenon, make a certain diagnosis or determine
attitudes towards a concept or a product
it consists of asking someone for their opinion about a certain thing,
or how it behaves in certain situations or how it judges something
etc.
It is often used in political investigations.
one must take into account the phenomenon of social acceptability and desirability,
which shows that the given answers tend to be in harmony with the
principles and rules present in society
Sincerity should not be taken for granted; it will rarely be obtained.
responses that the interviewee may consider unacceptable by the society in which they live.

The interview

It consists of the collection of information or data obtained from interviewees.

through an interviewer
You can use face-to-face or phone mode.
The type of interview can be
 a) Structured: the interviewer follows a rigid scheme in asking the questions
questions (both regarding the content and the succession) that
They require answers like YES or NO.
b) Semi-structured: the interviewer can follow a general outline of
interview but depending on the answers guide the conversation
c) Open: the interviewer asks open questions and does not guide
the direction of the conversation
There are numerous factors that come into play in the choice of the type of
domains, such as the number of interviewers, the topic and the
purpose.

the questionnaire

It has the characteristic of being in written form, therefore those who must
responding is not subject to time pressures or interacting with
a interlocutor (who has shown to influence behavior)
The type of questions:
Closed question that allows multiple choice answers -> clarity of
responses and ease and speed in their coding
b) Open that allows for a freer response -> useful when not i
they have very clear ideas about the response alternatives
to propose or if desired a wide range of motivations that
they underlie a certain behavior.
There can be errors that occur in the structuring of a
questionnaire:
a) The length: it is necessary to verify the duration of the compilation.
b) Ambiguity in the formulation of the questions
c) Guide the interviewee towards answers by structuring the
questions in a non-neutral manner

For a correct analysis of the responses obtained, it is necessary to take into account the processes.
psychological, social, and communicative actions implemented by those who are subjected to questioning
Sensation and perception - chapter 3

Translation is the process through which different physical stimuli are received.
from the individual organs of sense (each in its own language) are translated into
nerve stimuli, that is, understandable by the brain
At this point, we can experience the sensation of the phenomenon we have
assisted
The relationship between the external physical signal and the sensation it provokes is
define the psychophysical relationship, which connects both physical and variables
psychological.
Our sense organs, however, are bound by certain limits.
a) I am able to capture and record only the type of energy at
which is sensitive
Some stimuli are present in the environment but cannot be perceived.
because our sensory systems are not able to detect them

b) A second limit refers to the intensity of the stimulus

The stimulus in order to be registered by the sensory organs must be
sufficiently intense.
Our sensitivity has limits below which the stimulus does not come.
perceived, this limit is called absolute threshold
Absolute threshold is the minimum level of intensity that a stimulus must
to have for being cultivated in 50% of cases.
Stimuli of higher intensity will always be perceived while those of
lower intensity will never be felt.
Stimuli of equal intensity to the threshold will be perceived once every two times.

c) Another limit refers to the capacity of each individual organ.

to detect a variation in the intensity of the stimulus
Differential threshold is the minimum difference in intensity that two stimuli must have.
they must be aware in 50% of cases.

Weber's Law

In 1834, Weber highlighted that the differential threshold of each stimulus is a

constant fraction of the intensity of the initial stimulus.
 K = (delta)R/R

K is the Weber constant

(delta)R is the differential threshold
R is the initial intensity of the stimulus
The greater the stimulus, the greater the difference will be.
necessary in relation to another stimulus in order to be revealed

Fechner's Law

In 1860, Fechner linked the concept of stimulus to that of sensation, trying to

to verify how the sensation (psychological component) varies with changes
of the intensity of the stimulus (physical component)
The sensation is directly proportional to the logarithm of the intensity of the
stimulus
S=clogR+C
It is the sensation
It is the Weber constant
R is the intensity of the stimulus
C is an integration constant

The perception

It can be defined as the processing of basic sensations conveyed

from the sensory organs
The sensation is collected by the sense organs and is
coded, organized and interpreted
The processing allows for the output of 'structured' objects -> e.g.: set
caratteristiche(lunga, nera,sottile…) = penna stilografica.
1) First stage where primary visual processes take place that perform the
task of identifying and describing the characteristics of visual stimuli
leaving their meaning, use, and function indefinite
The analysis and processing of physical characteristics will allow
emerge the structured object
The most studied stadium by Gestalt psychology
2) Second stage in which the cognitive processes that the structured stimulus goes through
the comparison with the knowledge stored in memory is recognized
The ways in which this happens are still much debated.
 Studied particularly by cognitive psychology

Bottom up and top down processing

Bottom up: [from the bottom to the top] Data-driven processing mode
sensory (or from the individual parts of the stimulus)

Top down: concept-driven processing mode

that is based on the representations contained in memory.

The choice of methods largely depends on the context in which it is placed.

the perceived object and the degree of knowledge of the observer.
One naturally wonders how it is possible to recognize an object without
access a previously stored information.
Those in favor of the Bottom Up approach admit that the final process,
that is, the name of the perceived stimulus can only be reached
through a comparison between sensory input and mental representation
of the stimulus
The difference between the two modes is limited to the fact that in bottom processing...
the comparison process starts from the bottom and proceeds until the stimulus
is structured in its entirety and can therefore be verified the
correspondence with the internal representation of the stimulus.

The main theories of perception

The theory in favor of Bottom Up processing is the theory of perception.

Gibson's live broadcast
Every stimulus possesses sensory information that is sufficiently specific to
renderne possibile il riconoscimento senza l’intervento dei processi cognitivi
superior.
Cognitive processes such as memory to access past experience do not
they would therefore be necessary to recognize the stimulus that would already have a
own "internal order" that would allow for a direct perception.
The internal order, constituted by the spatial and temporal distribution of the
stimulus, allows a direct "availability" for its recognition
Gibson defines this 'availability' as affordance, which is what allows
to the observer to extract the characteristics that define the use and purposes
of the perceived object.
 The suggested affordance is not based solely on physical characteristics possessed.
from the object but also on the psychological and physiological state of the observer
One of the criticisms directed at this theory is the one that refers to illusions.
optics, which would demonstrate that the sole characteristics of the stimulus do not
allow its correct perception.
Gibson responded that optical illusions are an almost
exclusively from the laboratory, and are not present in natural contexts where the
perception must be studied
For this reason, the theory is also defined as the "ecological theory" of perception.

The constructivist theory, on the other hand, favors top-down processing.

Since we don't see simple configurations but rather objects.
complex, because for this to be possible, a research activity is necessary.
best possible interpretation of the available features.
According to Gregori, such an interpretation defined as 'hypothesis control' cannot
what future according to a top-down approach through which we build the
our perceptions through our cognitive processes.

Theory of analysis through synthesis

Theorized by Neisser, it is halfway between the direct theory of Gibson and

constructivist theory proposed by Gregory
Perception is the preliminary result of visual stimulus through a
preattentive and automatic process capable of providing a representation
of the visual stimulus according to a Bottom Up process
At the second level, there is a voluntary shift of attention on the
stimulus analyzed beforehand. At this stage, observation is formed
a mental representation of the stimulus, based on expectations and
past experience, to then compare it with the representation
preliminary conducted in the previous stage.
This stage is guided by a Top Down process
What takes place in the third and final stage depends on the outcome of the comparison.
occurred in the previous stage.
 If the comparison is positive, then the mental representation of the stimulus
obtained in the previous stage is considered the final result of it
perception.
If the representations do not coincide, then the system will have to hypothesize new ones.
perceptual representations until achieving correspondence.
The limitation of this theory derives from the indeterminacy of the processes that
they would take place during the phase of comparison between preattentive representation
of sensory characteristics and representations of knowledge already
present in memory.

the theory of perception

Theorized by Marr
It provides a bottom-up processing level and a more advanced level.
which would be based on a top-down process
This theory can be simulated on a computer, which is why it is defined as such.
also the 'computational' theory of perception
Perception begins from the retinal image of the stimulus that through
subsequent stages, it is transformed into an increasingly
articulated and complex
In particular, three stages would be necessary for a three-dimensional stimulus.
to achieve a complete perception:
"2D primary sketch" of the visual stimulus it perceives
the eye
Conscious perception is not involved, the characteristics of shape and
Similar sizes are automatically grouped together.
2) "sketch in two and a half dimensions 2e1/2D" which would add to the first
stadium the clues of depth and orientation
The stimulus begins to take shape but only in its perceptible parts.
visible to the observer and, of course, the representation changes with changes
the point of observation.
Stage of observer-centered perception
3D model in which the representation is obtained
three-dimensional of the stimulus and the spatial relationships between its various parts
If the three-dimensional representation of the object is formed
 The 2e1/2D representation of the previous stage is integrated by the
knowledge acquired from past experience
The visual stimulus becomes independent of the point of observation and for this reason
the stage is defined as "object-based perception"

How does object recognition occur?

Recognizing any visual configuration means making a

comparison between incoming stimuli and information stored in memory

Theory of appearance between shapes

In memory, a huge number of shapes are stored, that is all the

shapes of objects that we can recognize
When we are in the presence of an object, an analysis of all the
similar shapes contained in memory and at the end of the comparisons the choice is made for the
the same shape as the outer one which, once found, gives rise to the
recognition of the stimulus
The theory of comparison between shapes can explain recognition of
very simple and little variable configurations, but it cannot account for the
recognition of more variable and complex configurations.

Prototype Theory

The comparison occurs between external stimulus and internal prototype that contains the
most frequent and most typical characteristics of a certain set of objects
The prototype is an abstract representation of the configuration.
it is a copy of the external representation but it is enough that it shares it
some characteristics
We are able to build a prototype even if we do not have
I have had previous experience with the configuration exactly.
corresponding to the prototype.
It does not sufficiently explain how prototypes are formed.
in our memory and the way in which they are stored in
memory
 Trait theory
The comparison does not take place between the entire external configuration and the shapes or
prototypes stored in memory, but among the characteristics possessed by the
external stimulus and the characteristics stored in memory
Recognition occurs through successive stages.
The external configuration is detected as it appears on the retina.
The configuration is divided into its specific features.
identifying the presence or absence of vertical lines,
horizontal, oblique, right angles, acute, obtuse, continuous curved lines, etc.
3) The assembly of the characteristics detected in the previous stage by
place to a cognitive recognition
Final Response Stadium

Visual stimuli are recognized by comparing the characteristics that

they contain the characteristics stored in memory.
The stimuli that receive the most recognition are acknowledged.
features in common with those contained in memory
This theory is also supported by empirical evidence derived from
important studies on the neurophysiology of vision
There are cells called 'trait detectors' capable of detecting traits such as
orientation of angles etc discovered by Hubel and Wiesel that can be
considering the neurophysiological substrate on which the theory is based
recognition based on the comparison of characteristics

Physical reality and perceptual reality

Naive realism (which derives from a naive theory) defines that what
we do not perceive it is nothing but a photocopy of the stimulus, that is of reality
external physics.
The stimuli would be perceived as they are, generating a complete
coincidence between external physical reality and perceptual or phenomenal reality
internal
What is wrong
Physical reality and conceived reality do not coincide
 One can have an object present at a physical level but not at a perceptual level.
that is, the object exists but we do not see it. This discrepancy is defined as absence.
of the phenomenal object
The opposite case is represented by the presence of the phenomenal object.
despite the stimulus being absent in physical reality. This discrepancy is
defined absence of the physical object (e.g. Kanizsa triangle)
Optical illusions (like Kanizsa's triangle) lead the observer to have
an illusory and therefore wrong perception of the physical stimulus

Perception and orientation

Our perception does not operate according to the physical laws of stimuli.
externals.
A convincing demonstration can be found in the research tasks of an element.
diverse within a set of identical elements.
Our organized perception, in a hierarchical structure within the
which parts of the configuration operate as points of comparison between the
other parts.
Limiting the observation to the characteristic of orientation, one can
to conclude that in the hierarchical structure of the perceptual system, the point of
the reference is represented by the vertical and horizontal axes.
It is easier to judge an object as oriented vertically or
horizontally in relation to identifying a diagonal orientation
It is the vertical lines where the oblique one immediately catches the eye,
while the opposite case is not true.

The figure-ground articulation

The hierarchical organization of our perceptual system allows

also to "segment" the flow of information coming from the environment
external in order to isolate the individual configurations that constitute the various
objects.
The system is able to perceive objects while keeping their boundaries separate.
identity to allow for comparisons and identify any similarities or
differences
The figure-ground articulation (Rubin) is a process that always occurs.
executed by perception since it can be asserted that it cannot exist
figure without a background.
 The segmentation of the perceptual field leads to the organization of activity
sensory in order to isolate coherent figures that have meaning.
Part of this ability depends on past experience, but some processes of
perceptual organization is instead considered innate
The main processes of perceptual organization are those studied by
Gestalt psychology.

The principles of perceptual organization

According to psychologists belonging to the Gestalt school, our activity

perception is significantly influenced by principles of
perceptual grouping present in every man since the moment of
birth
Perception is based on innate principles and denies the existence or importance
of the experience
The ability to group isolated stimuli into subsets and organize them as
figure is a natural, innate trend shared by all observers
The most important principles of perceptual organization proposed by Gestaltists
I am
a) Similarity: in a set of stimuli, a certain number are similar to each other
perception will tend to unify them into a single figure.
b) Proximity: all else being equal, if within a certain number of
there are some stimuli close to each other, these will be segregated to
to form a unique and organized figure
c) Closure: the elements that tend to form a closed figure (or only
perceptively closed) are perceived as an organized unit in itself
banner
d) Continuity or good direction: according to this principle, it is given
greater importance and are perceived as continuous lines whose
Trajectories are similar compared to lines whose trajectories are opposite.
Perception is structured in organized processes that allow for
emerge the figure as a distinct whole from the background. In some cases a
the observer can perceive a certain part of a configuration as a figure
and another part as background or vice versa. This easy figure-background inversion
The background occurs for all those configurations in which both the figure and the background
parts can take on structured and meaningful forms
It is difficult to perceive the background when it is not endowed with meaning.
It is easier to perceive as a figure the part of the configuration that comes from
to be 'included-restricted' (for example between two shapes)
It is easier to perceive as a figure the part of the configuration that has 'area
minor” (relative area factor)
It is easier to perceive as a figure the part of the oriented configuration.
according to the Cartesian axes
Within a figure, the figure-background segmentation does not occur in
randomly but is driven by a series of factors that usually,
they belong to the figure and not to the background
 Attention [chapter 4]
At every moment of our lives, we are bombarded by a great amount of
stimulations that reach our brain through the sensory systems.
Considering that our processing capabilities are at size
limited, only some of these stimuli are selected.
It is necessary to hypothesize the presence of a filtering of information not
necessary for the activity we are carrying out
This filtering is put into practice by attention, or more precisely by
functioning of the various components of the attentional system.
Attention can therefore be defined as that process that operates a
selection among all the information that strikes our attention at a given moment
senses (external information) and/or our memories (internal information)
allowing only some to access the subsequent stages of
processing

L’elaborazione preattentiva e focalizzata

The processing of stimuli (the so-called processing) does not always require
the use of attentive resources.
Many experiments have shown that the characteristics of a stimulus,
how color, shape, or movement are detected without intervention
of attention.
In these cases, we can define the processing of the stimulus as
pre-attentive
Preattentive processing occurs very quickly and is not influenced
of the number of distracting stimuli present, that is, of the number of similar stimuli present
in our perceptual field
For example, the color yellow will be identified preattentively, while if
it is asked to identify the yellow triangle it will be necessary to combine the
information about color and shape, therefore it would require intervention
of focused attention.
Focused attention works by analyzing each individual stimulus present.
in the perceptual field until combining the two (or more) characteristics that it
they define.
The time required for this serial attentional process is influenced by the number of
present distractors and therefore it would increase in proportion to the number of stimuli
present
This feature matching function is more easily
subject to errors, called illusory conjunctions, mainly due to causes
environmental (poor visibility, noise, short duration of exposure...) or for
through variables related to our detection and processing system (e.g.
lack of motivation, tiredness, other tasks to be completed
contemporaneously...)
According to Treisman and Schmidt, this type of error is due to the fact that the
elementary characteristics of stimuli would be detected
simultaneously (that is in parallel) using a mode
pre-attentive, only later would they be matched with each other thanks
to the intervention of focused attention which, in the presence of conditions not
optimal, it can generate illusory conjunctions.
In an experiment, Treisman and Souther confirmed this intuition.
There were displayed a variable number of balls (from 2 to 12) and it was asked to
press a button to detect the possible presence of a hyphen
vertical and another button in case none of the dots presented it.
In a second condition, participants were asked to press the button.
in case there were dots without the dash. When the task was to
identify the presence of the dash, the reaction times were much shorter
and were not affected by the number of distractors. In the second condition, however, the
reaction time was much slower and depended on the number of elements
present. In the first case, therefore, the elements were processed according to a
preattentive processing and simultaneously (in parallel) while in the
in the second case, the individual elements that make up the distractors are
paired stimulus by stimulus, following a serial procedure
The preattentive processing of the individual characteristics of a configuration
also known as pop-out. Pop-out (an effect that emerges) refers to the
phenomenon based on which the characteristics of a configuration emerge
spontaneously and impose themselves on our visual system
Sexual images or movement
The orientation of the lines can be identified from an elaboration.
preattentive while arrangement-combination of the lines is necessary
of the focused attention intervention
Preattentive processing allows for the detection of the most
highlights very quickly, while focused attention intervenes to
 combining the different features to achieve recognition
of the object
To perceive an object in its interest, our system
perceptive must go through two distinct phases:
1) Identification of the primary qualities of all objects present in our
perceptual field
Integration of features
The second phase involves a serial mental activity, as it is carried out
first analyze the elements that are in a given spatial position, then
those in another position and so on until analyzing all the stimuli.

Automatic and controlled processes

Scheneider and Shiffrin hypothesized the existence of processes that occur beneath
the conscious control and processes that do not require any
control
1) Controlled processes: they occur under conscious control, requiring the
presence of attentive resources, they are implemented one after the other
According to a serial mode, they have a slow execution time.
2) Automatic processes: they occur outside of awareness and do not
they require the use of attentive resources
At least in the initial phases, most of the processes that underlie the
our behaviors are initially controlled while later, with
exercise and practice can become automatic and are thus defined
automated (initially they were controlled) thanks to a process of
automation (or proceduralization)
If the environmental conditions change and the task suddenly
it complicates, the automated activity must be brought back under control
by diverting resources from other tasks undertaken in the meantime and
they are back to being controlled
During the initial learning phases, activities are made possible
from active attentive control and there are few remaining resources that can
to be used for other tasks (e.g. guidance)

S-R spatial compatibility

 When a task requires a contralateral response to the stimulus, the
the condition is defined as "compatible", while when the response requested
the contralateral response to the stimulus is defined as 'incompatible'
The compatibility effect indicates that compatible responses are faster.
incompatible answers
The recognition and spatial coding of the stimulus position is the first
process that must be put in place in order to carry out the task.
The position of the stimulus is the relevant dimension and the coding of that
dimension (stimulus to the right or to the left) is the necessary condition for
correctly choose the response that must be provided
In the compatible condition, the encoding process does not require any
translation from the stimulus code to the response code
In the incompatible condition, the spatial code of the stimulus does not coincide with
that of the response and therefore a translation is necessary which causes a
slowing down of reaction times
In the Simon effect, the subject is asked to make a discrimination not
spatial between two different stimuli and it is asked for example to respond to the
appearance of a square by pressing the right button and upon the appearance of a
circle with the left.
The main difference with spatial compatibility S-R and the Simon effect is
so the spatial dimension, where in the first case it is relevant while in
second no.
Reaction times are faster when the geometric figure related to the
the right answer is presented on the right side of the screen compared to when the
figure-response pairings are opposites
In the case of the Simon experiment, subjects can respond correctly.
however, without encoding the spatial position of the stimulus despite
they could take more time
For reasons related to attention movements in space, every time that
we see an object in the perceptual field and we direct attention to
that object, we also automatically encode its
spatial arrangement
The movements of attention are connected with eye movements.
Attention errors

In the most general classification of human error proposed by Reason and

Norman show two different types of errors:
1) Mistakes: errors made in choosing a goal or
in identifying the means to achieve it
I think the train strike does not affect my route and I am waiting in vain.
They occur within the framework of controlled and intentional processes.
2) Slips: errors made when putting into practice what one intends
to strive for a goal
I want to get to school by car, I arrive at the parking lot and I realize
to have forgotten the keys
They almost always take place in automatic processes.
The most effective way to prevent this type of errors is to anticipate functions
binding means physical constraints that prevent us from making these mistakes

Subliminal perception

To be aware of a sensation, the intensity of it must be

sensation reaches our absolute threshold, which is the minimum intensity that
a stimulus must have to be detected by one of the sense organs in the
50% of cases.
Stimuli at or above our absolute threshold are detected and
we are aware
Subliminal perception has significant importance in the advertising field.
and concerns sub-threshold sensory stimulation of which there is no
aware and can, more and less, condition our behavior. It is a
a topic still controversial today
With the priming method, it has been demonstrated that people can be
influenced in their assessments also by stimuli that do not reach the level of
awareness
The priming method consists of presenting a word for a time so
briefly unable to be perceived consciously and after a brief
time interval to present a word for a longer time from
ambiguous meaning (for example, rose or peach). The subject is asked to
press a button if it means a flower or color. The results show that the
subjects are influenced by the previously shown subliminal word
 which is semantically related to one of the two meanings of the word in
question.
The processing of the meaning of a word can also take place in the absence
of awareness and the meaning elaborated can influence our
decisions, or at least those related to ambiguous contexts
This should not lead us to conclude that the unconscious processing of a word
can lead us to engage in some type of behavior,
especially if it is contrary to our system of values and beliefs

Selective attention

When we are faced with a high number of stimuli, we can

focus our attention on a specific area of space where we
find the object we are interested in. This ability allows us to
efficiently and thoroughly process a stimulus present in our
perceptual field.
Man is a limited-capacity information processor and consequently
selective attention can be seen as a tool to limit the
amount of information that must be processed while protecting the system of
processing itself from overloads and interferences
Selective attention thus allows filtering by selecting the
relevant characteristics of the stimulus (necessary to perform correctly
the task) and ignore those trivial ones
The fate of relevant information largely depends on the moment.
in which the selection takes place, that is, the stage in which the selection occurs.
a) Early selection: for the supporters of this thesis, selection occurs in the
early stages
Without the use of selective attention, the processing system is able to
to capture only basic physical characteristics of the object and would not be
possible recognition of the stimulus itself
b) Late selection: the selection occurs at the most central level
For the perceptual processing of all the characteristics of the stimulus, it is not
the use of selective attention would only be necessary
later, in some cases even only at the moment of selecting the answer.
 Stroop effect
It is the phenomenon described by Stroop more than 80 years ago that is being studied.
through the presentation of a word written in different colors and it is required
to the subject subjected to the experiment of reporting the color in which it is written
word. When the meaning of the word describes a color, the comparison between the
two dimensions of the stimulus can give rise to:
1) Congruent configuration (red word written in red)
2) Incongruent configuration (green word written in red)
The reaction times to congruent stimuli are faster than those of the
incongruent stimuli even though it is not required to reach the stage of
semantic processing of the stimulus. We therefore have a characteristic
relevant(color) and an irrelevant characteristic(meaning)
The Stroop effect indicates a late selection process, despite the
complete irrelevance for the task, the processing of the word is carried out
end to the attribution of meaning
It also shows that the focus or lack of focus of attention does not have
differentiated the level of processing carried out by individuals on the different
characteristics of stimuli
In the case of the relevant characteristics, the subject is aware of having
focused attention, while it is not in the case of the characteristics
irrelevant even if they have not reached the level of awareness
Demonstrate the automaticity of the reading process (inevitable unless one does not)
they are illiterate). The subjects are unable to limit their task to the
processing of the only relevant feature

Selective attention and change blindness

A phenomenon related to selective attention is change blindness, which

demonstrates the role played by focused attention on detection and analysis
of the various parts that make up a scene
It consists of the inability to consciously grasp certain
microscopic variations of a scene in the event that the variation takes place
simultaneously with other disturbing elements
It demonstrates the importance of attention, particularly of that focused on
individual parts of the scene to check for any changes
In the absence of focused attention, subjects do not perceive the
change of the individual parts of the scene
Learning [chapter 5]

It is a topic that has been widely studied by behaviorists. During the course
However, over the years, it has been realized that the proposed models (conditioning
traditional & operating) are insufficient and significantly influenced
from the school of psychology within which they had developed. In fact
many subsequent studies highlight that the explanation of learning
based exclusively on the associations between input and response in
output did not account for the more complex learning for which
the intervention of certain operations had to be provided for
mental and, secondly, the fact that even if limited to the
simpler learnings, a careful analysis allows to highlight the
presenza di azioni mentali messe in atto tra il momento di presentazione
of the input and the moment of issuing the response. For this
reason, subsequently, the studies will examine types of
more complex learning that involves the intervention of mental processes
studied by cognitive scientists.

Learning consists of the modifications that an organism undergoes in

acts during existence to better adapt to the external environment
 We do not find ourselves in the presence of learning every time we observe.
an adaptive response of the organism to the environment, but we must be able to
observe that date response at a time later than the one that has it
provoked for the first time.
We are therefore faced with learning when we observe a
adaptive behavior following that enacted concurrently
of the first experience
5) The studies were mainly conducted on animals, as the school
behaviorist assumed that the processes of learning of
animals were analogous to those of humans
Today we know that it is not always like this, but there are some general rules that
underlying learning methods can be considered common
to man and to the animal

classical conditioning

6) Theorized by the Russian physiologist (1849-1936) Ivan Pavlov

7) He conducted research on the physiology of digestion, demonstrating how the
the presentation of food increased the activity of the salivary glands but
not only: even in the absence of food and in the presence of stimuli present in
At the normal feeding moment, salivation was induced.
This deduction was made by observing the behavior of dogs, which
even at the mere sight of the white coat of the man who usually
they brought him food, they began to salivate
9) He realized that a conditioned reflex had been established in the animal between one
stimulus and a learned response, even though originally there were none
connections
10) I summarize his discovery in 3 steps:
a) At first, the dog is in the presence of a stimulus
unconditional SI(food) that alone is capable of provoking a response
unconditional RI(salivation) thanks to the natural bond that exists between SI and
RI
b) At this point if the unconditioned stimulus is presented together with
a neutral unostimulus SN (white coat) forms a reflex in the animal
conditioned that allows, after a certain number of pairings between YES and
SN, to transform the neutral stimulus SN into a conditioned stimulus SC
 c) When the SN stimulus transforms into the SC stimulus, its presentation
isolated (without the combination with SI or with food) is able to
generate a conditioned response RC(salivation) similar to the response
unconditional RI issued previously

It can therefore be defined as a learning process in which one

initially neutral stimulus, after repeated pairings with a second one
stimulus capable of naturally producing the response is associated with this
becoming a conditioned stimulus
It is necessary that the unconditional response RI and the conditioned response RC are
equal or similar

In the same way, he experienced classical conditioning by doing a

experiment with a bell. After a certain number of times in which the
food followed the sound of the bell, only the sound of the bell
stimulated salivation.

Mise in luce come uno stimolo che per sua natura non ha inizialmente alcun
a game with a certain response can instead become firmly connected to
that response if repeatedly presented together with another stimulus that
naturally has a natural connection with that same response

Phases and characteristics of classical conditioning

in relation to the temporal characteristics, classical conditioning can

to be distinct in two main phases and one additional
1) acquisition phase: in which the unconditional stimulus is preceded
from the neutral stimulus (e.g., food preceded by the sound of the bell)
after a certain number of matches, even the mere bell is capable of
stimulate salivation.
During this phase, conditioning occurs, that is, the neutral stimulus is
become conditioned.
If at this point, however, the bell is presented if always
in isolation, the salivation response will progressively decrease until
disappear
2) Extinction phase: the conditioned stimulus returns to being neutral
losing the ability to generate the conditioned response
 3) Acquisition phase (or additional phase): follows the extinction phase and
obtains by restoring the pairing between conditioned stimulus (becoming
neutral) and the unconditional stimulus.
The time required to condition the response is far less than
what is necessary during the acquisition phase
Test of the resilience of conditioning and how difficult it is to erase it.
definitive way the effects

Graphic:

The speed of learning: it is the time necessary for the onset of

conditioning, derives from factors such as the amount of food presented,
the sound intensity of the bell and especially the temporal relationship between
SN and Si.
Optimal results are obtained when the neutral stimulus precedes by a
very short interval of time (1-2 seconds) the unconditioned stimulus (=
forward or delayed conditioning
Simultaneous conditioning instead, that is when SN and SI are presented
together it is less effective
The learning speed becomes even slower when the relationship
the storm is inverted and SI precedes SN by a few seconds (it is presented
the food and then the sound of the bell is heard). This type of
the pairing is defined as retroactive conditioning.
 Generalization: once a conditioned reflex is established between one
stimulus and a response, the organism will tend to enact the same
behavior also in response to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus.
Discrimination: only the CS stimulus is reinforced, and conversely, it
they will try to eliminate generalized stimuli (i.e. those that are similar).
The animal is presented with various stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus.
without pairing them with the unconditioned stimulus YES.
the result will be the extinction of the conditioning of those stimuli
The conditioned stimulus SC, on the other hand, will continue to be followed by the stimulus.
unconditional YES in order to condition its conditioning.
Higher-order conditioning: conditioning can extend
even to stimuli completely different from the conditioned stimulus as long as
that these are repeatedly presented along with it. (e.g., in addition
at the bell, the turning on of a light

So far, unconditional positive stimuli have always been taken into consideration.
Negative unconditioned stimuli are called aversive stimuli.
they differ from the positives by:
a) Establish a conditioning between a neutral stimulus (NS) and a stimulus
unconditional negative Yes, not many combinations are needed but
often a single pairing is sufficient
b) Conditioning with an unconditioned aversive stimulus is
much more resistant to extinction
c) They are more important regarding the role they play in learning.
human in general and in particular for conditioning of origin
superior. (for example, if I am attacked in a park at one o'clock at night)
from a man dressed in a gardener's suit, I will easily try
fear for parks, darkness, gardener suits etc...

Lo stimolo incondizionato negativo(ovvero doloroso, fastidioso,stressante…) il
conditioning can establish itself after just one trial, it lasts over time and can
easily generate higher-order conditioning
Behaviorists did not ask themselves (for example) what is in the mind in the
dog that causes him such reactions.
Classical conditioning has not only been studied on laboratory animals,
some researchers have experimented and verified the validity even outside of
laboratory testing the general principles on living beings.
In man, even positive emotions can be conditioned. This is what
they try to do daily advertising agencies when they 'pair' the
products that must be sold under unconditional stimuli YES "naturally
"Pleasant" such as beautiful women, enchanting landscapes,....

Operant conditioning
Theorized by the Psycho-engineer Skinner (1938-1953)
It concerns behaviors aimed at producing changes
in the environment
The classic change, on the other hand, aimed to lead adaptive response reactions to
environmental stimuli
Many of the actions we take every day are aimed at achieving a
some effects. These behaviors are defined as 'instrumental' because
are compared to tools that allow us to achieve a purpose and to
to produce a change in the same way are called 'responses'
instrumental or operative" because trying to induce a desired effect
on the environment.
Operant conditioning is a learning process in which the
the consequences of a response influence the probabilities that it will happen again
produced in the future.

It is based on Thorndike's law of effect which states that an action or

a behavior that produces a positive (pleasant, rewarding) effect
is more likely to happen again in the future, while a behavior that
we have a negative effect (painful, frustrating)
lower likelihood of being enacted of name

The scholar has drawn these deductions by studying the behavior of the facts.
inside a "problem cage" he designed.
The animal was not fed for a certain period in order to provoke a
supported motivation for food, then he was placed in a cage and was put
from the food outside so that he could see it but could not reach it.
Inside the cage there were levers, strings, platforms, and other objects that
the cat could bite, push, scratch.... One of these mechanisms
could allow to open the door and reach the food
The behavior of cats seemed random and lacking in precision.
purpose, defined as 'by trial and error'
When the cat pressed the exact lever casually, obtaining the opening of the
door and the possibility of accessing food, a bond was created between the action
just completed and the positive effect achieved.
When the cat was placed back in the cage, the experience
the previous one significantly reduced the number of behaviors
by trial and error" implemented and the animal arrived much faster at
correct behavior.
The correct behavior is implemented for the first time in a manner of
all random but, achieving a positive effect, in subsequent occasions
it becomes a much more frequent behavior compared to others
random behaviors.
This law accounts for how correct answers tend to be
correct ones are repeated while the wrong ones tend to be suppressed.
Experience allows us to focus our behavior on actions.
correct and abandon those that are wrong, and from this follows,
naturally, a gradual reduction in learning times.

In the apparatus designed by Skinner, a lever was inserted.

by activating which a precise effect was obtained, for example the
administration of a small amount of food
The animal after carrying out the action and having benefited from its effect
still find within the experimental condition and can continue to
repeat the behavior that has just achieved a positive result.
He introduced the concept of reinforcement which refers to that change.
environmental (positive) that follows the execution of a behavior
operating.
The positive consequence of an action serves as reinforcement for the organism and makes
more likely that that organism will repeat that action in the future
 The temporal contiguity between the behavior enacted and the outcome obtained.
the reinforcement determines the acquisition times of the conditioning.
The optimal condition occurs when the reinforcement follows immediately or up to.
5 according to the behavior implemented
It is difficult to establish whether the interval is elongated in conditioning.

Types of reinforcement

a) Positive: it consists of a positive contingency (reward) aimed at increasing the

probability of emission of the response experienced by the experimenter
b) Negative: consists of the elimination of a stimulus that produces a response
of avoidance, that is a negative response (not a punishment!)
Faster learning compared to positive reinforcement

The punishment consists of a negative contingency aimed at reducing the probability.

that this behavior is repeated. In practice, it is the administration of a
adverse stimulus following a given action.
On the contrary, negative reinforcement aims to make the action performed repeat thanks to the
cessation of a painful stimulus
The reinforcement program refers to the different sequencing between action and reinforcement.
administered. The various reinforcement programs can influence the type of
conditioning and in particular can determine its duration to be more or less long.

Even in operant conditioning, it is possible to aim for extinction of the

learned behavior. In operant conditioning, extinction is the
consequence of the termination of reinforcement.
When a certain behavior is no longer followed by a positive reinforcement or
that behavior will gradually cease
Studies on operant behavior have shown that the
behavior that must be learned can be followed by reinforcement every
voltage that manifests (constant or continuous reinforcement that is faster) or the
reinforcement can only be presented occasionally.
intermittent or partial.
The main types of intermittent reinforcement are:
1) Fixed ratio: reinforcement is provided after N repetitions of the
behavior that one wants to condition
 2) In variable ratio: the behavior must be enacted
certain average number of times before reinforcement is given
The number of times the behavior must occur varies
continuously oscillating around a mean
3) At fixed intervals: after the reinforced response, a
fixed time interval before another response can be
reinforced.
4) At variable intervals: each reinforcement is separated from the next by a
variable weather
The interval varies around an average value, but the duration of each single
the interval is unknown.

Modeling

It refers to that conditioning program through which one does not

waiting for a certain behavior to arise spontaneously (like in the
classical and operant conditioning) but it promotes their execution
favoring behaviors increasingly similar to the behavior
what you want to achieve
It is often used to induce abnormal behaviors compared to
those of the species (in the case of humans behaviors contrary to a
system of ethical, moral rules...) but also to accelerate a
natural behavior that, waiting for chance, would take a long time
more time to happen
To train animals for the circus, it is necessary to reinforce every response.
approaching that behavior in order to facilitate each individual action
that goes towards the behavior that one wants to achieve

Learning and cognitivism

for cognitivists between the presentation of the stimulus and the emission of the response
they originate from mental operations that are responsible for
behavior put into action
The behaviorists, on the other hand, argued that there was a direct connection.
between stimulus and automatic response
The cognitivist perspective hypothesizes that learning is based on abilities.
of the organism to build a mental representation of the world and then
operate on this internal representation and not on the external world.
 Mental strategies can be implemented through which
the organism starts to plan a motor behavior that in itself does not
represents a true response to a stimulus but a first step of
approaching the goal
They argue that the behaviorist model of learning can be
adequate for elementary behaviors, but not for explaining the
more complex behaviors
The link between the two approaches is identified in Edward Tolman and
his concept of mental representation
Fine-tuning of experiments consisting of maze paths that had to
being crossed by rats, showing that even groups of rats that do not
They had received reinforcement for each correct choice they learned the path.
exactly, in the same way as the rats that were regularly reinforced.
The simple exploration of the maze allows for learning.
The animal forms a mental representation of the maze called
cognitive map (that is, a representation of the external environment, within
of our mind)
Learning is not the result of the bond between stimulus and response, but has
place even in the absence of reward
Latent learning occurs by learning the correct path and decreasing
the number of errors
The cognitive map guides the behavior of the animal
Toleman in another experiment, formed a cross-shaped maze in which to
At the end of the same arm, food was placed. (the rat was made to leave
from the same position). Also placing the rat in the opposite position
compared to the usual one, that is in the opposite arm, the rat was able to
immediately identify the correct arm where to find food
The rat has formed a spatial map that has allowed it to orient itself.
If this were not the case, he would have taken the usual direction and would not have found
the food.

Learn the concepts

Formal representations of the concepts that need to be formed emerge.

to be learned
In the experiments, these animals understood:
Ratti the concept of the couple
 Chimpanzees abstract concepts represented by plastic objects that vary for
shape, color, dimensions, abstract concepts of same and different, concept of
cause
The pigeons demonstrated that they could recognize and peck at images of trees.
despite having never seen that particular type of photography

They have formed an internal rule capable of selecting and recognizing.

a specific category of stimuli

the predictive value of the stimulus the Insight

The starting point is the observation that the conditioned response CR often
differs from the unconditional response RI (or rather, it differs in a way)
part)
According to the cognitive interpretation, this difference is due to the fact that
the stimulus-response relationship is mediated by an internal representation of the
unconditioned stimulus is such that this internal representation would assume the
form of "expectation" of the stimulus itself
Salivation is the dog's response to the 'expectation of food'.
Rescorla argues that classical conditioning cannot be considered
a mechanical process in which an organism forms an association between two
stimuli that have appeared together
An organism subjected to conditioning is a seeker of
information that uses pre-existing concepts to shape a
representation of the world around him
Another criticism leveled at the behaviorist approach refers to the
too rigid experimental conditions, where the animal had no way to
demonstrate creative and intelligent behaviors
Kohler studied the behavior of a chimpanzee locked in a cage.
together with bars of various lengths, none of which capable of
reach the food placed outside the bars. After being stopped for
after a while, the chimpanzee combined the sticks to make a longer one
to manage to reach the food.
Define this way of acting Insight
L’insightsi intende il modo di procedere non casuale o per prove d’errore,
which includes a capacity to restructure in a different and creative way the
 elements present in the environment in order to solve a problem otherwise
unsolvable.
One must hypothesize the presence of an internal representation of the environment.
external, and not a simple link between stimulus and response.
The methodology and experimental conditions used can influence the
determinately the results of learning
In the described case, the conditions of the experiment allow the animal to
mettere in atto un comportamento(“intelligente”) che non è la banale
consequence of the stimulus

Implicit and explicit learning

A large part of the information is learned implicitly and not explicitly.

explicit manner
Activities learned but which people are unable to explain how
how they learned them.
Explicit learning: active learning processes as the
Individuals activate mostly conscious and voluntary strategies
active processes aimed at identifying the extraction of the structure of a
some information presented

Explicit learning: characterized by passive processes in which the

individuals, when exposed to information, acquire knowledge
From that information simply by virtue of exposure

The semantic organization of the material has a decisive influence on the

quality of performance, regardless of whether it is put into action
as a consequence of the instructions given explicitly by the
experimenter or it happens implicitly to make it more efficient
word learning task.

Learning and metacognitive strategies

the learning of information and its organization into existing knowledge

possessed are also favored by metacognitive processes ometacognition
Individuals in all activities carried out in everyday life make use of
to metacognition that enables them to learn effectively and to
demonstrate intelligence in performing various tasks
 With the term metacognition, we refer to thinking processes of a higher order
superior that perform the function of controlling other cognitive processes
involved in learning
they explain how individuals can better apply cognitive resources
necessary in metacognitive control
the knowledge of such processes is connected with the general knowledge of how
individuals learn and process information, but also the
knowledge that individuals have of their own learning processes
the same knowledge can perform a metacognitive function and be
strategically used to schedule learning activities or
to achieve a certain result in a task

learning and predictability

Behaviorists have almost always used animals in their

experiments, this resulted in confining the head of
investigation under simpler conditions than those observed in real life
The degree of simplicity or complexity is also linked to the predictability of the
relationships between events
In real life, the frequency of relationships between events is not certain and the
Most of the time it is difficult to make predictions
Cognitive psychology has thus begun to deal with associative learning.
based on imperfect relationships that accompany the type of learning more
frequent in man
Previous beliefs are important for the learner.
Such pre-existing beliefs (or prejudices) are so strong that they influence what
comes learned
Complex learning involves other processes beyond simple
association between stimuli and, since such processes are based on those beliefs
pre-existing that belong to individual knowledge, these types of
learning is a direct confirmation of the existence of the component
cognitive.
Some experiments have shown that pre-existing judgments and beliefs,
often determine the final evaluation
Pre-existing beliefs can have important consequences.
on education
Social learning

New type of learning

But I share the general interpretative approach of cognitive school.
The most well-known among social learnings is imprinting, studied
originally from ethologists.
It is a typical behavior of various species of birds according to which,
Upon hatching from the egg, the chick begins to follow the first moving object.
present in his field nearby
It occurs within a well-defined time frame after birth (from 5 to
25 hours in the ducks) after this the behavior no longer takes place.
Imprinting can also be facilitated towards an alternative object (not the mother),
even inanimate objects as long as they move
Imprinting cannot be equated with associative learning, the
The type of 'social bond' that underlies is based on genetic mechanisms that
they prescind from the simple associative link between the stimulus and the response
appresa.
Another type of social learning is observational learning. Two
they are the underlying mechanisms of this type of learning:
1) Emulation: when the individual reproduces in a stereotypical manner and
mechanics the behavior of a "model" without understanding it
scope or effectiveness.
2) Imitation: the reproduction of behavior is conscious and purposeful
in achieving the same goal pursued by the model
Reproduce what others intend to do
According to Bandura, it is possible to acquire a behavior as a result
of the observation of a similar behavior performed by others. It is not
therefore the presence of a direct reinforcement is necessary but simply the
recognition of a similarity with the model being implemented
the behavior
Television violence can provoke violent behavior.
imitation?
Television practice exposes adolescents and pre-adolescents to a very high number
of violent acts by the spectators
 Many experts have confirmed that continuous exposure to scenes of
television violence makes violent behavior more likely in the future
by the audience.

Learning and complex technologies

Negative and positive reinforcement are concepts that are too schematic and reductive for
to be applied to complex learning, such as that of
technologies.
Cognitivists hypothesize that the organism is not limited to mere acquisition.
of information but the need for an active restructuring of acquisition
of information by the individual
This restructuring is the result of an integration between the new stimulus and the
past knowledge
For cognitivism, learning technologies refer to a
set of cognitive processes of explicit and implicit nature deducible from
actions that are carried out on the technological product.
Two types of learning can be hypothesized (about the web):
1) Instrumental: allows you to learn the actual technology.
2) Declarative: related to the concepts learned through the web
To learn new information from the web, one must first learn the
navigation mode
It is not enough to understand how technology works, but it is also necessary to
learn to use it.
The web is different from other multimedia tools because it allows
the user has control over the presented material
The user can identify, select, underline information among hundreds
of potentially reachable information
Information is often processed through multiple sensory channels (visual, auditory...)
and therefore the information is richer
However, the information can be confusing and less effective than the method.
traditional
In some respects, learning to navigate the web (or the technologies)
it is similar to the behaviorists' model: tests for errors are used or
associations
 Once the navigation methods are learned, however, the very high number of
information and multisensory nature imposes choices that cannot
to be carried out with such trivial methods
It is necessary to activate a process of selection, processing, and analysis of
information to be learned
There are differences in the use of perception, attention, and memory.

Memory systems and processes [chapter 6]

Memory can be defined as the ability to retain the

information acquired from the system, for more or less time in order to be able to
to have available and use for carrying out the tasks that are
will be able to the individual.
Researchers have tried to describe the basic mechanisms through which
individuals store data that comes from the environment, they record it,
they maintain and recover them to be used and to identify the factors for
what can be attributed to the loss or failure to recover this data
The study of memory began in the second half of the 1800s.
One of the most important scholars was Hermann Ebbinghaus, who developed a
a series of techniques aimed at analyzing the basic mechanisms of memory in
controlled situations, avoiding variations in the learning environment and
the effects of individual differences regarding the background of knowledge
Subjected himself to repeated tests under highly experimental conditions.
check using neutral materials as well (e.g. meaningless trigrams)
YMV,KLM,PWO….)
He measured the effect of practice on learning by learning lists of
trigrams reciting them and recording how many attempts were necessary for
to be able to recite them perfectly in two days of rehearsals
Don't draw these results:
a) Hypothesis of the total learning time: the amount of material
knowledge increases linearly with the time spent
in learning
b) The distributive practice produces a better result than the practice.
massive, that is, performance is better if learning is
spread over several days rather than concentrated
c) Describe the phenomenon 'serial position curve' which refers to
tendency to remember items more frequently and accurately
 located at the beginning of the list and at the end in relation to the
central elements. In the first case, we talk about the effect of primacy and in
second order recency effect

the complexity of memory

The approach of Ebbinghaus does not seem to take into account the complexity of the
memory and remembrance in the reality of everyday life
Individuals are exposed to complex, organized, and meaningful stimuli.
they should not be limited to learning lists of items
Bartlett believed that memory was an active process both when
Information is acquired both when it needs to be retrieved.
Ecological validity of the experimental procedures used to describe the
memorization of passages, stories, scenes
He used the method of serial reproductions both in graphic and linguistic form.
Mostly using folk stories
Define the schema as the structure that organizes acquired knowledge and
guide our behavior
Schemas can influence memory processes by facilitating selection and
the organization of incoming information in a sensible structure and in such a way
making the recollection more accurate
Bransford and Johnson used the notion of schema in an experiment, in
to whom the subjects were made to read a passage, to some showing a beforehand
image related to the story and more showing it later.
The participants' exposures who were looking at the context figure.
appropriate before the piece, they had better results and remembered more
things compared to others
Reorganize the available information when it needs to be recalled.
Anderson and Pichert's experiments that demonstrated that the schema is
responsible for the type of information recalled by the subjects
The subjects listened to the same piece and were asked to remember the
information according to a specific point of view (thief, buyer..)
The role exchange was able to evoke information that had not been recalled before.
they had assimilated and which seemed to have been forgotten in the first
evocation
The memory is not a re-excitation of isolated, fixed, and lifeless traces, but a
imaginary construction built from the relationship of our attitude
 towards an entire mass of organized past reactions and towards some
a prominent detail that emerges on the rest, appearing in the form of an image
sensory or verbal form
the memory is almost never accurate
Memory can be evaluated in many ways, mainly based on the
the method by which subjects are asked to retrieve the information
1) free recall: it refers to all situations in which the subject attempts
to remember, through a memory search, the requested information
2) suggested recollection: situation in which the subject tries to remember
the requested information in the presence of some suggestion, for
example remember all the words associated with a specific term
3) recognition: it constitutes a mode of remembering in which a subject
it must indicate whether a certain stimulus corresponds to one or not
previously stored or if within a list of
the stimuli is the one previously stored.
Oblivion is the impossibility or inability to recover some piece of information.
of memory
the causes are various
a) time that elapses between the moment of acquisition of
a piece of information and the moment when that information must be
recovered
Ebbinghaus calculated how long it took him to relearn the lists at the level of
previous accuracy and noted that the greater the oblivion the more
there must have been numerous study tests for the relearning of the lists
The decreasing amount of evidence for relearning constructed the measure.
of savings for re-learning, more precisely the percentage of tests
fewer requests in the studio to perfectly relearn the material
compared to what had been requested in the learning phase
The passage of time could be responsible for the decay of
mnestic trace or of a progressive erosion of the information that is
stored state
b) Interference: McGeoch and McDonald argue that if two
information came into contact with each other in memory can
make the memory of one of the two less accurate and this effect is
the stronger it is, the more similar the two pieces of information are to each other
two modes of inference can be observed:
 Retroactive interference: it refers to the interfering effect of the
material learned subsequently on the material that has been learned
previously and must be recalled
Proactive interference: refers to the interfering effect of
material learned previously on the material learned
subsequently and must be recalled
The effect of interference can explain some of the mistakes made by
individuals in court when they have to give testimony
The phenomenon of inference is also present in the advertising field, when one
insert a message within a television program of content
simile, verifying a mutual intrusion of elements determining a
"mixture", whose effect is to create a poor memory from the elements of
messages that are similar to those of the program.

The memory warehouses

Physical signals -> sensory systems -> transformation to translate into one
message (nerve impulse) the different sensory languages -> sensory register
(sensory memory) that retains physical and sensory characteristics with which it
stimulus is represented (e.g. visual) -> attribution of meaning -> short-term memory
term(MBT) -> long-term memory (MLT)

"warehouse system" to emphasize the fact that information, entering

in the cognitive system, it moves from one store to another in order to be
kept in some way as permanent information
In this journey, the information can undergo partial or total losses.
The warehouses are 3 and are distinguished by capacity (number of info they can hold).
content) and duration (how long they remain in the warehouse):
1) sensory memory: very large capacity and very brief duration (less than a
second)
If the info is not passed to the MBT, it will be lost.
2) short-term memory (STM): limited capacity and duration of about 20
seconds, even if it can be extended using the technique of
repetition
If I want the info to be assimilated by the MLT, I have to use some
techniques
 3) Long-term memory (LTM): enormous capacity and duration
very long.

Sensory memory

Deputy for the registration of sensory information and within it

it varies depending on the sensory modalities with which the information is received
In the 1960s, Sperling conducted research aimed at exploring the register
sensory of the visual mode, which was called iconic memory
It is based on the images received by the organ of sight.
In his study, Sperling presented a alphanumeric matrix to subjects to
50 ms and then asked them to recall as many items as they could remember.
In the total recount, on average, participants remembered 4 elements.
At another time he used the technique of 'partial report'. He
he/she asked to recall the elements of the row indicated by the issuance of
a tone (of varying intensity depending on the line) presented after the
disappearance of the matrix. With this technique, the subjects managed to
recalling the elements of the indicated line, but the accuracy depended
from the interval between the disappearance of the matrix and the emission of the tone. If the
tone is emitted upon the disappearance of the matrix the subjects reported
almost the entire correct, whereas if more than a second went by it
they obtain the same results as the total report.
Potentially, therefore, the subjects were able to repeat everything.
stimuli
He/she deduced these results:
a) There is a warehouse where visual information persists for a certain
period (less than a sec)
This warehouse, or iconic memory, is very spacious.
c) As time passes, iconic information becomes less and less
readable
What is relevant about the information is passed to the MBT.

Short-term memory (Working Memory)

Warehouse with limited capacity and short duration
Studied following Miller's article "The Magic Number Seven" (1956)
where the scholar proved that the capacity of the MBT is 7 items (+o- 2 = from 5 to
9)
These data common to most individuals
Recency effect: in a list of words, it's easier to remember the last elements.
recent
Primacy effect: it is easier to remember the first (or the first few) of
list
Physical or acoustic effect: an element that stands out from the context for
different physical characteristics (such as different tone of voice)
Frequency effect: elements repeated multiple times are remembered more
easily
Baddley hypothesized that this limit can be exceeded if one resorts to
chunking technique, that is, grouping individual items into units or
higher-order groups (chunks)
The capacity of the MBT depends on the nature of the information that needs to be
remembered
The duration of information in the MBT and the probability that it has passed in the
permanent memory also depends on the individual's ability to
reiterate the information, that is, to be able to repeat it at a subvocal level.
Distracting the subjects, and preventing them from repeating the information that is desired.
remembering, the recall of the learned material proves
compromise (interference)
Baddley considered that the WM has a central role in carrying out
a multiplicity of different tasks, all the cognitive tasks involved in
reasoning, in problem solving, in understanding and
in learning.
Define the structure of this warehouse as follows:
1) Articulatory loop: responsible for maintaining cohesive information.
and that based on language
The immediate recall of a list of words is disrupted.
from the execution of a second verbal task such as repeating a
nonsense sequence of words -> the second task enters in
competition with the first task on the same phonological channel
2) Visual-spatial notebook: responsible for maintaining information
in the form of an image
The ability of individuals to learn words through
imagination is reduced if they have to carry out
simultaneously a second task in which she is engaged
 visual mode, while it is not if they have to complete a task
verbal.
Central executive: mechanism that ensures control of the entire
processing of information and regulates the activity of the two
memory warehouses and is involved in carrying out a
multiplicity of higher-order cognitive tasks such as the
planning activities, solving problems and making decisions

Schematic representation:

Long-term memory

It is a warehouse where the information obtained is kept in

permanently or, in any case, for a very long period
The stored information can be of different nature.
1) Factual memory: it concerns the description of events or objects,
knowledge about 'what is'
A typhoon is, a computer is, the shoes are....
2) Procedural memory: it concerns the way certain things are done,
that is, the procedures underlying what individuals do with the
objects and to carry out certain tasks
Tacit and internalized knowledge that the individual often cannot
verbally describe
For example: riding a bicycle
3) Semantic memory: storage and retrieval of knowledge that
they concern words and concepts, their properties, the reciprocal relationships.
 Information concerning concepts and categories but also meanings of
symbols or logical relationships, for example: Hydrogen Peroxide = H2O2, dogs do
part of the family of mammals
Phenomenon of the 'word on the tip of the tongue,' that is, the inability to
to identify the sought information, despite being certain that
the information exists within our memory warehouse but the
recovery is temporarily blocked, but obtaining some
partial information
4) Episodic memory: it refers to the multiplicity of events, of
actions, of experiences that see us in some way
protagonists

Processing levels

The levels of processing model was proposed by Craik and Lockhart and it
based on the idea that the greater or lesser ability to memorize
The information depends on the degree or level at which the processing takes place.
of the information itself and can be represented in the following way:
Input -> elaborazione strutturale -> elaborazione fonologica-> elaborazione
semantics
The processing of a stimulus involves the extraction of information from a
series of increasing levels of depth of analysis and that at each new level the
the amount of extracted information is always greater. This is reflected on the
stimulus memorization
Structural: it is lowercase or lowercase writing; phonological if the
the word rhymes with something; semantics: meaning in the sentence

Autobiographical memory and memory errors

Tulving has proposed a specific definition of episodic memory, namely

of specific events that a person can remember, events that typically,
they refer to specific moments in the individual's personal history.
This particular form of MLT is called "memory
"autobiographical", that is a particular form of maintenance of
information related to personal facts that allow for the recognition of family members,
friends, acquaintances
Autobiographical memory also retains information related to that.
that an individual has learned at school (for example, lexical entries, mathematics,
reading…)
Knowledge related to autobiographical memory can be lost,
while keeping the semantic memory intact
For example, someone suffering from post-accident amnesia can distinguish a lot.
good weather and mixtures of time through clock and calendar, but it is not
able to say what should be done the next day
Autobiographical memory can be lost in a selective manner as well,
events that have been experienced by the individual can be forgotten in the
primi anni di vita. In questo caso si parla di “amnesia infantile”, che si
manifests as a loss of memories related to the experiences of individuals
in the first five years of life
This infantile amnesia is explained in terms of the inability of children
smaller to encode an event in such a way that they can
to later be aware that that event has been experienced previously
Autobiographical memories can be inaccurate in some details,
more accurate regarding basic knowledge related to events
remember
Often autobiographical memories turn out to be interpretations rather
of the true and proper recordings of events
With memory flash, it refers to the phenomenon in which memories
usually surprising events of great emotional impact are
preserved over time, in a nearly photographic way.
Individuals are able to say where they were when it happened.
verified the event, what they were doing and the person who brought them
the news, their state of mind... information that is not a normal process of
memorization would be lost
Errors in retrieving information from long-term memory
they constitute a common phenomenon of daily experiences, especially
by introducing misleading information prior to the recall.
Such information, which gives rise to 'false memories', can
to contaminate memory even in a completely involuntary way
Indeed, the results of a study showed that a false evidence aimed at
to support the indictment of a person can lead people to accept
 the blame of a crime he did not commit by developing memories in support
of one's own guilt
They often concern childhood events.
False memories are formed following the simultaneous occurrence of a series.
of factors, for example social pressures

Prospective memory

It consists of information regarding events, activities or actions that

they must be done in the future
If, on the other hand, the information concerns the past, memory is defined
retrospective
Prospective memory involves remembering what we need to do, that is,
realization of future intentions
The failures of prospective memory are of different natures.
1) some concern relational aspects and can be sources of embarrassment or
of conflict for those responsible
they can involve work efficiency when they occur
forgetfulness at the workplace
They can concern the well-being of people with sometimes also
seriously affects the health status of individuals (for example, forgetting to
take a prescribed medication
Einstein and McDaniel examined the differences between two types of tasks in
which is involved in prospective memory, a first type on which the tasks are
based on time (like remembering to make a phone call at a certain time) and
event-based tasks (for example, remember to activate the alarm when you
she leaves the house)

Practical problems related to how to enhance prospective memory

You achieve positive results more easily when, for example, you manage to
convert a time-based task into event-based tasks (e.g.
take a medicine after the meal
The problems related to prospective memory can be of two types:
a) deficit when it occurs the total inability to recall an action that is
it was established to do it at a precise moment
b) they can manifest errors in the execution of information
The typical error is absent-mindedness, which manifests when it has already occurred.
the action or the action is being performed
Amnesia

An individual who suffers from brain damage (due to a traumatic brain injury,
a viral infection, a stroke) will also manifest a memory deficit that
in its most severe form, it presents as amnesic syndrome
deficit that goes beyond normal memory disorder
Such deficits can affect the perceptual or attentional capacities of the patient.
to perceive or to reflect on the emotional state
they produce consequences on the efficiency of learning and are
secondary memory deficits (= that depend on problems of
diverse nature
Post-traumatic amnesia is spoken of when the patient has difficulty remembering.
how much he does in the time of confusion
Those who have undergone trauma show confusion regarding
spatial-temporal orientation, that is, is unable to remember the physical location in
who is located and has difficulty placing objects in a correct size
temporal. Moreover, they show a tendency towards confabulation, that is to say towards
nonsensical spoken production and false memory of events and
fantasies.
Retrograde amnesia when the patient shows difficulties in recalling
events immediately preceding the incident
The period affected by this type of amnesia depends on the severity of the
head trauma and the period during which the patient remained in a coma. Some
processes interfere with the retrieval of old memories,
Anterograde amnesia occurs when the patient has difficulty remembering events.
related to the period immediately following the traumatic event and to
new expert learnings
It concerns the difficulties the patient encounters in memorizing current facts and the
new learnings.

How to improve memory efficiency?

Individuals can increase memory efficiency or reduce the effects of

memory limits by resorting to:
 a) External aids, meaning using tools. For example, they use the
registration of information on paper, computer, etc.
b) Internal aids, that is to say aids based on the functioning of principles
cognitive
Two major categories of mnemonics have been identified.
1) To facilitate the organization of memory: they are aimed at organizing the
information in such a way that it can be remembered more easily
Method of loci, which is based on identifying a familiar pathway
in assigning a memorable element to the various points or places along the route.
This method, like many others, is based on the ability to imagine.
of the individual
Es2: Polo word method. It consists of spreading out and learning.
a list of words capable of evoking images and associating with them
elements to remember
2) To facilitate the encoding of information: these are procedures that allow for
generate easily memorable representations

Representation of Knowledge [chap 7]

Any representation can be conceived as a symbol or a

a sign that 'represents' an object, an event, a behavior when
they are not present at the observer
When the representation is at the mental level it is called
analog representation, which allows to maintain and reproduce in the
mind the structural relationships and the distinctive characteristics of what is coming
represented
The outside world and the different situations can be represented in shapes.
symbolic through arbitrary signs and descriptions
The debate since the 1970s on the nature of representation has seen the
contradiction between:
a) The representation could only be propositional (Phylyshyn)
b) The mental representation can have an imaginative specificity.
(kosslyn)
 Research in this field allows for different forms of representation.
mental and such forms can be used selectively depending on
the cognitive tasks that individuals need

Propositional representations

They are abstract representations of the objects and events they represent.
therefore they do not contain or capture the physical characteristics of what
represent
Using a specific code, called "predicate calculus" used for
express the cognitive processes that make use of representations
propositional
a) The first constituent is called the PREDICATE, it is found outside the parentheses and
represents the relationship that exists between the elements of the sentence
b) The first element placed within the parentheses is called SUBJECT and
indicates who or what performs the action or the relationship expressed by the predicate
c) The second element in parentheses is the OBJECT, that is, to whom or what it is directed.
the action/relationship carried out
It is written in capital letters
The subject and the object of the sentence are both arguments of the predicate, while
The complete sentence is called a proposition.

TO KICK (PLAYER, BALL)

The football player is kicking the ball.
Above (ASTERISK, CROSS)
The asterisk is above the cross

The propositions allow cognitive processes to "dialogue".

They allow you to perform different tasks, transforming an image into text,
to issue a judgment of equality between a description of a scene and the scene
same, judgment of truth between two stimuli (verbal and visual)

Representations of meanings
In our minds, meanings are represented, that is, knowledge.
semantics. Such knowledge can be assumed to be represented in structures
where the concepts and descriptive characteristics of the concepts are contained in
question
A possible representation of meanings is provided by Collins and Quillian, which
they hypothesized that meanings were represented in a hierarchical structure in
that the conceptual nodes were included at different levels and the recovery
of semantic information corresponds to the search within the network
hierarchical
The concept of 'canary' is included in a broader concept, that of 'bird'.
which in turn is included by 'animals'
In this hierarchical organization, the different conceptual nodes can be
described by a certain number of attributes (for example: the canary has feathers,
sings etc.
It responds to a principle of high cognitive economy.
The properties or attributes associated with a specific conceptual node are assumed.
are shared by the lower-level conceptual node

example of a semantic representation according to the network model

hierarchical

To demonstrate the validity of this representation, the two creators have

an experiment was conducted in which participants were asked to judge whether
whether some simple sentences contained were true or false:
1) Relations of belonging = The canary is an animal
2) Presence of a characteristic = the canary has feathers

the time to decide if the statement is true or false depends on the distance
between the node to be accessed and the node that contains the information
regarding the response to be given. In fact, there are different levels of implication

Is the canary a canary? = level 0

Is the canary a bird? = level 1
c) Is the canary an animal? = level 2
 The reaction times to provide the response must increase.
hand that levels up, the response will be very fast for a level of
implication 0 and slower for level 2

The latency times have the same trend whether they concern sentences with
relationships of belonging whether they concern sentences with the presence of a
characteristic. However, the response times in the second case were longer.
since to be able to issue the response, one must first access the node
conceptual and then check the existence of the characteristic in question in that
conceptual node

Rumelhart and McClelland also proposed a method for

represent meanings based on distributed representations, which
they represent ideas as aggregates of activation distributed across
a number of nodes and connections
The various nodes present a multiplicity of connections.
each node can contribute to the representation of different concepts
contemporaneously
The various nodes present a multiplicity of connections, some of which
transfer activation through the nodes connected to the first ones, while others
they reduce or inhibit the activation of connected nodes
these aggregates operate as the neurons of the brain could operate and
simulate neuronal activity. The connections between neurons
they are not stable, but they can undergo modifications or have weights
differentiate
The nodes receive input from external stimulation and transmit activation in
parallel, that is, at the same time, hence the name of the process as
parallel distributed processing
knowledge networks built on connectionist bases are the result of
learning that is self-sustaining thanks to the activation of the network by
external stimuli
the mind, unlike cognitive knowledge networks such as those of Collins
and quillian does not operate in a sequential and symbolic way but in a parallel and
subsymbolic (the representations are distributed across multiple units and the same unit)
can participate in different representations). In this way, the network can
 represent emergent properties, that is, those that are not characteristics of the individuals
constituents but of the whole (for example, water is liquid but the individual molecules are not)
they are
The connectionists aim to simulate emergent properties on the computer.
of the human mind, to do this they simulate the activity of the networks of neurons of
brain through artificial networks constructed by the computer, called neural networks
Neural networks constitute a simplified model of the nervous system and are
dynamic structures, capable of learning and self-regulating. Such structures
they are made up of processing units, corresponding to the neurons of our
nervous system. Each unit is characterized by a certain state or level of
activation. The extent of the effect of the first unit on the second is indicated by a
numerical value, which characterizes each connection, called 'weight' and
which can have positive or negative value, thus modeling the connections
excitatory or inhibitory of neurons. Each network is characterized by a specific
arrangement of units and connections. For example, the feedforward network,
one of the simplest, is characterized only by 3 different layers of units: the layer of
input unit (the sensory system) the layer of internal or hidden units (which
model the information processing state) and that of the units of
output (which models the response). The output of a network, that is, the produced response,
depends on the weights on the connections. The learning of the networks occurs
gradually modifying synaptic weight through repeated viewing of
some examples. The synaptic weights actually influence the activation value of the units
of the network. After a network has been 'trained', it allows you to go and see the
internal representation of a given object in the brain of the organism. The
The representation of an object corresponds to the activation of certain units.

Representation of procedural knowledge

Individuals possess specialized knowledge regarding how to

where many activities take place. This information, presented in form
propositional, refer to procedural knowledge
they typically refer to how things are done, how objects are used or
goals can be achieved
These knowledge areas are generally articulated in productions, that is in
prepositional structures of the type 'if...then' that relate
concepts or events with a given behavior
If you need a PC, go to MediaWorld.
 If you want to take advantage of certain discounts, then you need to have the Customer Card.

according to Shank and Abelson, procedural knowledge can be

represented in a form that allows for the execution of actions or the
behaviors automatically
The developed idea is that of the script script, or a kind of outline.
which describes in general terms how to do something. More precisely it
script corresponds to a mental representation of a procedure
usual and stereotypical (for example, shopping in a store)
I enter the store -> I ask for the product -> I ask for the price -> I pay -> I leave
It therefore contains a sequence of actions that must be executed accordingly.
stereotypical form because it corresponds to a pattern experienced multiple times.
Many pieces of information are not explicitly stated in the schematic representation but
they must be inferred
In an updated version, there is the integration of some new concepts, in fact
Schanks assigns plans the function of representing the goal that guides a
data sequence of actions and which must necessarily be flexible (for
for example, entering the store does not necessarily aim to make
the purchase, maybe it's to greet the shop assistant)

Mental images

The incoming image does not always correspond to the representation of

those same objects already possessed by individuals (problem of
recognition
Mental images are a valid support for recognition and for
further experiment with past events
Mental images are a fundamental form of representation.
stored separately from the other mode of
propositional representation
The images are generated in a format similar to our perceptions and
for this they have limited extensions and resolutions
The Kossyn theory is based on empirical data that shows that when the
people manipulate mental representations, they behave in such a way that
replicate the interaction that one generally has with the real world
He has conducted numerous researches to prove that the image of an object
like a map was analogous to the real map.
 It resulted that the mental image constitutes an analogy of the real map.
since cognitive operations on it seem to be governed by distances
effective indicators on the map
Shepard and Metzler have demonstrated that images can be
manipulate, for example mentally rotate similarly to those
physical
Presenting to the participants in the experiment two images placed in positions
differenti, the subjects had to say whether it was the same or not. The greater it is
rotation of one of the two stimuli that had to be performed mentally for
make the comparison with the second stimulus, the longer the time was
necessary to give the answer

Spatial representation and orientation in space

Individuals can represent spatial relationships and there are some
strategies that allow them to move within these
mental representations
Thorndike and Hayes-Roth argue that individuals, in order to move in
mental spaces use two types of spatial knowledge:
1) Route: refers to the specific paths that can be taken for
move from one place to another (at the intersection turn right, go straight ahead, the
second on the left...
Refers to the knowledge of the paths and environments in which one moves.
and mostly relies on verbal information
Survey: type of knowledge based on more global relationships between clues
environmental, knowledge based on an environmental representation
obtained from a "bird's-eye view" (directing straight while holding the arena
all behind...
Global spatial reference privileges and fixed reference points

Representations can also be used in reference to

information regarding shape, color....

Codes for representing information

Paivio proposed the dual coding theory, postulating the existence of

two independent but interconnected symbolic systems, specialized for coding,
 organize, transform, store and retrieve information. The two
encoding systems use two different representations:
Images, which constitute the elective mode of image processing
non-verbal and is activated in the exploration of scenes or in the generation of
mental images. This type of representation works synchronously
or in parallel, therefore all the constituents of an image are available in the
same moment
Logogens, which constitutes the privileged mode for processing of
linguistic information. They operate sequentially, as
a syntactically appropriate phrase the words appear one by one
This theory suggests that there are referential connections within the system that
they allow us to visualize the named objects and to name the objects that
let's see
The two systems are interconnected; the verbal description of an object can indeed
to evoke the corresponding image and vice versa.
The theory of dual coding has been confirmed by studies on memory that
they show how the free evocation of concrete words is better than that
abstract words. In an experiment, the figures represented objects
communities, the subjects could have nominated them more easily during
memorization, thus confirming the hypothesis of the activation of both systems
of mental representation. The words would instead be treated in a manner
different depending on their level of abstraction, concrete words seemed
to be stored in the two modes of encoding (imagery and verbal) the
abstract words, on the other hand, could only be encoded in verbal memory

Imaginative force and the concreteness of stimuli

Stimuli can have different levels of imagability, that is the

various abilities to evoke an image.
Some words may be able to trigger some experience.
sensory more or less quickly, more or less easily compared to others
word
Furthermore, stimuli can have different degrees of concreteness and this value
it reflects on the ability to generate an image-based representation
Studies have been conducted to evaluate the imagery and concreteness of words.
it turned out that the words that had a certain degree of evoking images were
even those that showed a corresponding degree of concreteness this
 it seems to suggest that the ability to evoke images and concreteness measure the
same underlying size.

Representations of meanings in terms of concepts and categories

Knowledge can be represented by entities that allow for

to treat different objects equivalently, that is, concepts and categories
The representation of meanings has iconcept as its basic unit. The concepts
constitute the knowledge that allows individuals to handle different
entities as belonging to the same category, that is to treat all the
entities in the same way. (e.g., all types of dogs or models of cars)
They allow us to recognize that certain elements (a particular type of dog or
they belong to a certain set (they are dogs and cars) and allow us
to decide which behaviors to adopt in their presence, which actions
we can carry out with them etc.
The knowledge contained in concepts has effects on perceptual activity.
on the mental representation of the world around us.
The variability of the stimuli that make up the environment can give rise to a
certain number of categories, so that the elements that are part of a
category are hardly distinguished from one another but are
easily perceived as different from those belonging to other categories
The existence and use of categories responds to a principle of 'cognitive economy'.
since on one hand they allow us to maximize the information within them
contained and on the other hand to differentiate each category from the others
Wittgenstein used the notion of 'family resemblance' to indicate
the tendency of different specimens to share with other specimens some
characteristic attributes but not necessarily all
The studies conducted by Rosch and colleagues have allowed for the description.
the organization of concepts based on two main dimensions
1) Vertical dimension, (degree of inclusion) refers to the degree of
inclusion of a category (the vehicles category has a greater extension)
of those of trains, cars etc)
Furthermore, in this dimension the categories are differentiated into levels:
superordinate, basic (they share the greatest number of elements),
subordinate
2) Horizontal dimension (degree of differentiation) refers to the
possibility to differentiate categories at the same level of inclusion
 sports car and sedan have the same degree of inclusion because
they are part of the category of automobiles). It is assumed that
in the categorical organization, the specimens of a category do not have the
same position within it, but are structured according to some kind of
membership gradient of the samples

The concepts have a graduated internal structure and ill-defined contours,

Some members are more central to the category while others are more peripheral.
This is the 'typicality effect.'
Rosch inoltre ha propostola teoria del prototipo, ovvero l’entità che
it should contain all the salient features of the concept and that
therefore it plays the role of the most representative specimen of the category
Gleitman and colleagues have suggested that all categories are
represent mentally based on two mechanisms
1) Conceptual nucleus: it consists of the set of necessary principles and
sufficient for the definition of the concept
2) Identification function: allows for the classification of elements based on
of perceptual and functional attributes shared with varying degrees by
differenti specimens of the category. It allows for easy establishment and
quickly the categorical belonging of a specimen, when this
if the mechanism fails, one resorts to the conceptual core.

The ad hoc categories

In addition to the categories previously analyzed, individuals use eli

a set of highly specialized and seemingly unusual elements
These sets seem to have been created spontaneously for specific purposes and
in completely specialized contexts
The term 'ad hoc' was coined precisely to emphasize the occasionality with which
such categories are constructed and used
These categories may include members who do not have anything in common.
feature and may have never been conceived before
In any case, these categories have a graduated structure like the others.
Examples of ad hoc categories: 'ways to make friends', 'ways to avoid being'
killed by the mafia
Problem Solving and Creativity [Chapter 10]

I describe all those situations where some objective must be

reached but the means by which it can be achieved or the strategy are not known
that allows to resolve the problematic situation.
The structure of a problem is determined by constituents that allow for
define the scope of reference of the problematic situation, their role or their
function within the situation, from the objective or purpose that justifies the
solution, the strategy or procedure suitable for the solution that will have to be
identified to achieve the goal
Creativity is the ability to adapt and invent solutions.
The problems can be of different types, but they can be grouped into large categories.
category in function:
1) The degree of definition or precision of the structure of the problems.
In questo caso i problemi possono essere:
a) I have defined: the structure of the problem is presented clearly, I am
clearly identifiable the constituents and the objective of the problem
It: arithmetic expression
b) Poorly defined: the problem does not have outlined boundaries and sometimes the objective
it is not well specified
2) Of the type of strategies primarily usable for their solution
They can be grouped into:
a) Problems that require a reproductive solution strategy; where the
the resolution procedure has been tested or is familiar, almost it
it should apply a habitual behavior
b) Problems that require a production strategy: for the solution one must
implementing an innovative or entirely new procedure as a result of a
act of creativity
It is: solution to a geometry problem
The problem-solving process

The solution of problems is considered as the result of a process.

divided by Polya into 4 phases:
1) The solver tries to understand the problem by gathering the information that
the problem requires acquiring
The solver tries to devise a plan that allows him to assess whether his
experience can help you find an acceptable solution
The solver attempts to implement the plan by checking all the steps that the
piano requires
4) The solver applies a backtracking procedure to see if the
the result can also be achieved using another method and if the operations
The turns are coherent with each other.

Representation of problems

The solution largely depends on the mental representation of

problem, namely from the ability of the cognitive system to represent its
structure.
To describe the structure of the problem, Newell and Simon coined the
the notion of abstract structure, that is, the space of the problem, which is made up of
all states of the problem, starting from the initial one, through those
intermediate up to the final state and from the operators, that is, the procedures or actions
that are applied to transform one state into the next.
Problems can mainly be solved with two methods:
1) Application of an algorithm, which are procedures that if applied
recursively, they allow to correctly solve the problem
By applying the multiplication rule, I can solve the operation 2x3.
2) Heuristic strategy. Heuristics are general strategies for solving
problems are independent of their content, they can therefore be
apply to any type of problems, while their goal is solely
their simplification
Le euristiche possono essere:
a) Heuristic based on means-ends analysis: the problem is cognitively too
extensive is transformed into a sequence of subproblems, each of which
 with a sub-scope. The solution to the problems involves the solution of the
single subproblems.
Hanoi Tower. Three disks of increasing size threaded onto a peg A,
they must be moved through a third peg C so that it is
respected the ascending order, using a second peg B as
intermediate step. The constraint is that a disk must never be
dimension larger than the one below it.
b) Heuristic based on backward examination allows to solve the problem
starting from the result considered correct and working back, step by step, to the
initial state of the problem to check the correctness of the procedure
Tangled mazes found in puzzle magazines
c) Heuristics based on simplification consist of producing a
simplified representation of the task and attempt a simulation
of the solution to test its efficiency
For example: retrieving a kite from a tree, to do this I can trace it back to a
geometric problem.

Solve the problems for Insight

Often problems are addressed with an approach called trial and error.
and errors. In this way, only sometimes do individuals manage to find the
solution to the problematic solution, while sometimes the procedures can be traced back
this strategy proves to be blind, that is, without a way out
There are problematic situations that can be solved with an approach.
creative, through which the solution emerges due to the capabilities of the
solver of grasping new elements and new relationships between the situation
elements of the problem, new and different relationships compared to those taken in
previous consideration.
The solution to the problems insights is based on this type of approach, the
the correct solution is suddenly understood as a conclusion a
productive thinking process, without resorting to already tested strategies
in the past and which have proven suitable for the current situation
The scholar Wertheimer of Gestalt proposed that the productive solution
emerge at the moment when the individual perceives new relationships.
constituents of the problematic situation, relationships that initially do not
were evident
The insight manifests as a consequence of a cognitive restructuring.
perspective of the problematic situation to which a
deep and unitary reorganization of the constituents
It has been proven that problems requiring creative solutions are solved.
suddenly while in the problems where strategies of type are applied
the strategy is achieved gradually.
Metcalfe and Wiebe experimentally demonstrated the existence of this.
difference, documenting how the problems that require a solution
creative issues are resolved suddenly.
They have evaluated that individuals, when facing problems that can be
solved gradually, I am able to assess the progress that is
moving towards the solution of the task. They also fail to do so when
they are faced with problems that can only be solved with insight
They also studied individuals' ability to assess their own skills.
problem solving based on the assessment of the knowledge they believe they have
to possess in order to successfully face problems. They measure the feeling of
knowledge. They observed that the participants were very accurate in providing
time in reference to problems solvable without insight, while they were imprecise
in the assessment of problems for insight
Individuals being aware of the procedures that can be used
in problems that require a process of approaching the solution,
they can accurately predict whether they are capable of solving the problems
based on the knowledge possessed. This is not possible in problems whose
the solution manifests itself suddenly.

The obstacles in creative solutions

The creative solution of problems through insight can be hindered.

from the action of typically cognitive factors. Two of the most important are:
a) Subjective setting (einstellung), whose effects derive from the fact that the
the repetition of a particular problem-solving process hinders individuals
to consider alternative paths. Luchins & Luchins identify that
previous experience limits individuals' ability to develop
general solution procedures, capable of understanding situations
problems similar to each other. Einstellung, they say, creates a mental state
mechanically active, a blind attitude towards the
 problems; the problem is not analyzed based on its characteristics but rather it
they are guided by the mechanical application of an experimental method.
It is: Bartlet's experiment of the famous problem of
“donald+gerald=robert”. In this case, the “negative transfer” that is
the habit of applying typical arithmetic algorithms in the calculation of
additions and subtractions determine failure.
Functional rigidity prevents individuals from adopting a strategy.
productive. Duncker explains that these obstacles prevent the use of
productive solutions because individuals remain fixed on the functions of
objects normally and naturally experienced. They are therefore incapable
to see alternative functions in the constituent elements of the situation
problematic.
The candle, the tip, and the box, where the subjects are unable to
see the box as a support rather than a container

Rhetorical constraints in problem solving: one of the difficulties lies in the constraints
interpretations imposed by the microstructure of the discourse, or rather from the interpretation of
problem suggested by the presence of single verbal terms or expressions or below
the profile of the macrostructure, that is, the order of discourse from the psychorhetorical point of view

The use of analogy in the solution

One of the ways to solve problems is to use a known source such as

guide to develop a solution for the new problematic situation
analogous to the known situation.
In order for this to be realized, the analogy must be recognized as
relevant to the problem being considered and must then be modified
for the particular situation
The memory of analogy as a resolution procedure requires that the solver
identify a structural correspondence between two problematic situations,
also different in terms of content, in order to carry out a transfer
positives of the solution procedure from the situation in which it was applied
successfully to the new problematic situation
The solver must be able to compare two pieces of information.
structural elements extracted from the two problematic situations, as can be understood
from this scheme:
Radiation problem
 Initial state
Objective: to use rays to destroy the tumor
Resources: sufficiently powerful beams
Constraints: impossibility of administering high-intensity rays from a single source.
direction
Possible solution: administer low-intensity rays from multiple directions
Outcome: the tumor is destroyed by the rays converging on the mass

Expert solvers

The reasons that differentiate experienced individuals, obviously more skilled, from those
less able individuals are not limited to innate abilities. Probably a factor
the defining characteristic lies in the ability to select based on experience
the most effective strategies both in the representation of the task and
in the organization of the constituent elements of the problem
Experts have a rich repertoire of organized configurations.

Creativity and innovation

The notion of creativity is difficult to define.

a) Creativity as a very particular attitude that materializes in a
product or an outcome of a behavior characterized by being unusual and
appropriate. In this sense, creativity is a quality that characterizes in
different degree the humans
b) Creativity as a cognitive process aimed at solving a problem in
unusual yet appropriate manner. Creative thinking is a process
broken down into several stages, namely the identification of the problem, the ability
to select what is relevant to the problem and find a way to
solve it.
c) Creativity can manifest as the ability to propose new
problems (ability to invent something new) or to innovate objects or
behaviors to respond to new needs (modifying some aspects
of existing products to improve their efficiency)
Creativity characterizes individuals to varying degrees and is therefore
measurable
Torrance proposes a test to measure it where individuals must solve
problems in different ways, analyzing them from different perspectives. The answers
 are evaluated from a quantitative point of view (number of responses),
originalità(quanto sono comuni quelle risposte), importanza(registrando il grado
of utility
Mednick & Mednick instead propose the remote associations test, that is
the more creative an individual is, the more they are able to form associations between
three seemingly different aspects: for example, between river note blood.
The rate of creativity in this case is inversely proportional to the ease and
the speed at which remote associations are produced. The speed of
association indeed depends on the number of available associations, therefore
indicate the number of associations from which to select a response

Problems can be solved 'through trial and error'; with insight and strategies.
heuristics, making use of analogy (which allows to transfer to a new
problem the solution experimented in a structurally similar situation
Judgment and decision [chapter 11]

When individuals need to make estimates or carry out them

evaluations, can resort to formalized procedures that allow to
carry out judgment tasks accurately
Such procedures require precise and complete information and a cognitive load.
that often the individual is unable to sustain.
Very often individuals base their judgments on imperfect information
or incomplete and therefore resort to practical economic procedures, called
heuristics often expose decision-makers to assessment errors or
systematic distortions in judgments called biases
If we were competent and accurate in making estimates, we should not
express judgments that are very distant from those that can be obtained by applying
the laws of probability or models like the Bayesian theorem, developed
by the Dutch monk Thomas Bayes in the 18th century to combine
different information to arrive at the formulation of accurate estimates and
formally correct
In the case of O.J. Simpson, the defense lawyer could have made a judgment.
correct if he had applied the theorem, that is, not studying "women"
"beaten" but "the women beaten and then killed by someone" concluding that the
most of them were killed by their partner.

The judgment heuristics

They have been described and analyzed by Kahneman and Tversky since the 1970s.
a) The availability or recall heuristic is based on the normal functioning of her
mind and on the implicit knowledge that individuals have of the activity
mnestica. Individuals often formulate their estimates on the number of cases of
examples of the event that come to their minds, assuming that the number
the evoked examples correspond to the frequency with which those events occurred
verified. Therefore, the more numerous the remembered events are, the more
they will be considered probable.
In many cases, distortion is caused by salience. If, for example,
we ask whether it is more likely to have an accident in a car or in an airplane, the
Most subjects will respond by air, due to the emotional impact.
that involves the disaster. In reality, car accidents, besides being more
frequent, they are also by far more likely.
 Also the temporal proximity
Even temporal proximity contributes to distorting the probability or the
frequency with which two events can occur together. For
Many believe that the use of drugs is associated with crime.
through the correlation based on the data in memory.
Instead, these are illusory correlations, as demonstrated
Chapman&Chapman: if the individual cannot reproduce any scenario
he will consider the impossible event while he will consider the event as likely as many
the more examples he will be able to find in memory.
b) This process is also at the basis of the operation called heuristic of
simulation, which consists of simulating a possible world in which something that
in reality it happened it was not realized and in drawing the consequences from
this fantastic construction. The counterfactuals Fantastic are the product
of the heuristic of simulation and often refer to impossible situations.
c) Representativeness heuristic, or evaluating the degree of similarity among
the event that needs to be estimated and the process that generated it or the
reference category. The distorted judgment is caused by the fact that the subjects
they check how much the considered event (e.g. the sequence of launches of a
the coin) corresponds to the idea that that event represents, in this case
from the idea of chance or randomness that generates the considered sequence
This heuristic is used in everyday reasoning in many
occasions and produce distorting effects when evaluating joint events
instead of applying one of the most fundamental rules of the theory of
Probability how is the conjunction rule. The conjunction fallacy
consists in believing that the probability of occurrence of a joint event
it can be greater than the probability of occurrence of the constituent events
On the beach, will there be more women or more tanned women?
d) Anchoring and adjustment heuristic, where individuals formulate a
first assessment (anchoring) of a specific fact; then later
modifications are made upon the acquisition of new information
more or less consistent and the final assessment is formulated. The result
of this process, however, is that the final judgment is not very different from that
initial
Decision making: the normative approach and the descriptive approach

Decision-making is considered a task in which individuals express a

preference among at least two alternatives. The alternatives are described by one or more
attributes.
There are decisions, however, that concern the adoption of a single course of action, of
a single option, as in the case where the decision must address a case
unforeseen like a critical situation during a flight or a fire
Decisions can be classified according to a series of criteria.
1) Based on the uncertainty associated with the outcomes of the choice, there are decisions made in
conditions of uncertainty if the outcomes can occur with some
probability and certainty if the outcomes of the decision are certain
2) Length of the decision-making criterion and therefore it is possible to identify decisions.
taken in a single act and consequent decisions following a sequence of operations
3) Level of consciousness at which the control of the decision-making process occurs, which
divides the decisions made into automatic (if the control is substantially
absent) or consider whether the decision-maker has total control over the process.
Researchers have focused on decisions under conscious control,
regardless of the degree of uncertainty associated with the outcome or the length
The study of decision-making is believed to have begun in the early 1700s thanks to
Bernoulli, who wanted to understand how much individuals are willing to pay for
participating in a family game of coin tossing that featured two
constraints: the game continues as long as heads comes up and every time heads comes up the prize
is doubled (St. Petersburg paradox). Very few people are
willing to pay huge sums to play, even if the expected value of
game (the value one should expect if the game were played infinitely) is
infinite.
???????

Intelligences [chapter 13]

 One of the most important scholars was Galton, who believed that intelligence
had a hereditary basis and believed that he had demonstrated that there were
greater likelihood of finding individuals with exceptional abilities in families
who had exceptional individuals among their ancestors
The data presented are certainly of interest, but this does not imply that intelligence
Human behavior is largely determined by hereditary factors.
Many of the individuals studied by Galton, in addition to the same families, shared the
the same environment, it is not possible to deduce that this does not have
determined an important influence
Psychologists have not yet reached an agreement on a definition.
univocal of "intelligence", even if agreed upon that it is determined
from numerous and diverse abilities. Nickerson, Perkins, and Smith summarize them in
this way:
1) Classify sets, that is, assign non-identical stimuli to classes
(it is to learn to play cards by imitation)
2) Adaptively modify behavior to the environment, that is
to learn
3) Reason in a deductive manner, that is, draw logical conclusions from given premises.
premises
4) Reasoning inductively, that is to generalize, and this requires
discovering rules and principles from particular examples
5) Develop and use conceptual models, that is, form an impression
the way the world is organized and how it works and use such
impression to understand and predict events
6) Understanding, a skill related to that of seeing existing relationships in
problems and to appreciate the meaning of such relationships in order to solve the
problems
Se l’intelligenza è frutto di tutte queste capacità, l’intelligenza èun’entità
multifactorial and therefore requires a factor analysis technique, which
it allows to identify how the tests used to measure intelligence
they are correlated with each other and to determine the underlying factors of the
individual differences observed in those tests.
It is assumed that individuals possess a set of traits or factors,
individuals differ based on these traits and such differences
they reflect differences observed in the execution of intellectual tasks
 towards an entire mass of organized past reactions and towards some
a prominent detail that emerges on the rest, appearing in the form of an image
sensory or verbal form
the memory is almost never accurate
Memory can be evaluated in many ways, mainly based on the
the method by which subjects are asked to retrieve the information
1) free recall: it refers to all situations in which the subject attempts
to remember, through a memory search, the requested information
2) suggested recollection: situation in which the subject tries to remember
the requested information in the presence of some suggestion, for
example remember all the words associated with a specific term
3) recognition: it constitutes a mode of remembering in which a subject
it must indicate whether a certain stimulus corresponds to one or not
previously stored or if within a list of
the stimuli is the one previously stored.
Oblivion is the impossibility or inability to recover some piece of information.
of memory
the causes are various
a) time that elapses between the moment of acquisition of
a piece of information and the moment when that information must be
recovered
Ebbinghaus calculated how long it took him to relearn the lists at the level of
previous accuracy and noted that the greater the oblivion the more
there must have been numerous study tests for the relearning of the lists
The decreasing amount of evidence for relearning constructed the measure.
of savings for re-learning, more precisely the percentage of tests
fewer requests in the studio to perfectly relearn the material
compared to what had been requested in the learning phase
The passage of time could be responsible for the decay of
mnestic trace or of a progressive erosion of the information that is
stored state
b) Interference: McGeoch and McDonald argue that if two
information came into contact with each other in memory can
make the memory of one of the two less accurate and this effect is
the stronger it is, the more similar the two pieces of information are to each other
two modes of inference can be observed:
 I. Linguistics
II. Logical-mathematical
III. Spatial
IV. Musical
V. Body-kinesics
VI. Interpersonal
VII. Intrapersonal
According to his conception, intelligence is characterized by modularity, in fact
the abilities are linked to processes that operate independently of each other
and refer to different areas of the brain.
In support of his thesis, Gardner argued that each area tends to have its own
own coding or representation method, its own specific set of
cognitive operations and a gradual refinement of skills the more one becomes
experts

The measurement of intelligence

It became a concrete need at the end of the 20th century, especially in France for
assess the intellectual development level of school-age children
The objective was to identify those who had a mental delay in order to guide them to
special educational activities
Binet devised a series of school achievement tests that could be
performed by normal children belonging to a specific chronological age.
Overcoming these challenges means having a mental age corresponding to
that chronological.
The children who would have shown to be better than those of their age group.
of age, they had a superior mental age; on the contrary, those who had
obtained a lower performance would have shown to be of an age
mental age lower than chronological age
The approach of Binet was adapted by a group of psychologists from the university of
Stanford, developing the "Stanford-Binet" test that could be
administered to adults, particularly to select those who could
to be enlisted as officers in the American armed forces.
The measuring system devised had a limit connected to the concept of
mental age. In fact, the measure used by Binet was the simple difference between
the mental age of the subject and their chronological age and this measure does not
 it allowed for a proper assessment of mental delay, in fact a delay of 2 years
at the age of 5 it is much more serious than that of 2 years old, but at 12.
It was therefore necessary to compare the individual performance with the
average performance of the entire population. In this regard, a was introduced a
new concept of measurement, namely IQ
The "intelligence quotient" or IQ is calculated:
QI = EM/EC x 100
EM = mental age
EC = chronological age

In order to compare the scores of the subjects, it is necessary to transform the scores into
standardized scores. To do this, it is assumed that intelligence is normally
distributed across the entire population and this means that the further away the score is
from the average, fewer individuals will be interested
The average IQ level is 100 with a standard deviation of 15 points.

The cognitive conception of intelligence

According to a cognitive perspective, intelligence is characterized as a

system that includes the set of processes that govern processing
of information and reflects the analogy between human intelligence and intelligence
artificial
From the point of view of the functioning of our mind, information is
acquired from the outside world and stored in memory and after being
The transformation is used to perform a specific task.
The sequence of these operations is akin to the functioning of a computer but in the
human beings' intellectual functions also include intelligence
Sternberg proposes, in this regard, the triarchic model and addresses the analysis
of intelligence not from a structural point of view through the identification of
factors, but from a procedural point of view through the identification and analysis
of behaviors. The triarchic model consists of 3 sub-theories capable of
explaining specific models of human intelligent behavior
1) Intelligent experiential behavior: a behavior
contextually appropriate is not equally intelligent in
reference to all points on the experience continuum with that
behavior or class of behaviors. Intelligence manifests itself
 much better when the individual has to face a new situation
problematic or when it is proceeding with the automation of
performance in a specific task
2) Intelligent contextual behavior: adaptation to the environment in
in which the individual currently finds themselves, the selection of a more suitable environment

close to the optimal level compared to the one in which he currently lives and
modify the current environment to make it more suitable for one's own
characteristics, interests or values
Those who possess this ability can easily adapt to the environment.
changing oneself that modified the environment
Instrumental intellectual quality
3) Intelligent compositional behavior: ability to plan what
what should be done, how to do it, etc. this sub-theory therefore specifies the
structures and the underlying mechanisms of intelligent behavior,
that is to say to the specific components of the sequence of the process of
information processing
It is divided into three different types of components:
a) metacomponents, or the capabilities of controlling the execution of others
components, such as planning processes, strategic vision,
ability to anticipate and predict
b) executive component, that is, the set of processes involved
in the execution of tasks, such as the ability to carry out plans, of
recover the information etc. The executive components are involved in
all the states of the task-solving process
c) processes of knowledge acquisition, or the ability to
learning new information and its storage
treatment in memory
selecting the information in such a way as to isolate exclusively those
relevant for the task and to promote conservation in such a way as to make it
easy to recover and use for subsequent tasks
According to the triarchic theory, each of the components presents three aspects.
measurable
I. duration, or the time required to execute that component
II. difficulty, or the probability of making some mistake of
execution
 III. probability of execution, that is, the probability that at a given
situation that component is executed

Cognitive correlates of intelligence

The supporters of the idea that intelligence actually has as a measure

They consider the G factor as a strength in favor of their position.
the fact that there are correlations between performance measures obtained in
cognitive tasks that are not derived from traditional test trials
The cognitive correlates of the g factor relate to measures concerning time.
choice reaction, speed in the exploration of patterns (refers to the
the speed at which individuals can retrieve from long-term memory
end the meaning in one word or symbol
However, some scholars argue that the g factor is not related to speed.
with which the brain processes processing information but to the resources
requests for information processing and in particular memory
of work
There is a strong correlation between working memory capacity and skill
reasoning. Some studies show that being able to keep active in
memory much information matches the ability to solve problems in
quick and accurate way
QI between inheritance and environment

Many studies aim to understand whether intellectual level is determined primarily by

part of a hereditary or environmental factor
The studies are very difficult to conduct especially because the members of a
same family share a cultural background and moreover we are unable to
establish how genetic influences are expressed through development
of the individual
In any case, both factors definitely influence the intellectual level.
It is generally held that the observed differences in IQ are for 50%
determined by the environment and for 50% by genetic heritage
That is, it does not mean that an individual's intelligence is half attributable to the
genetic factors and for the other half the environment in which he grew up
It can only be said that within a population half of the differences
The observations in IQ are attributable to genetic heritage and half is attributable.
to environmental influence
It can be stated that the correlational studies conducted on identical twins and
dizygotic twins highlight the existence of a covariation between genetic factors and
environmental factors in the development of an individual's intellectual abilities
 Applied Cognitive Psychology [chap 14]
Over the years, cognitive psychology has accumulated a body of knowledge
so vast and varied that it allows for solutions to practical problems,
problems that arise in natural contexts outside the laboratory
It still suffers from the conflict between:
1) Approach based on the method (used by cognitive psychology), which aims to
put rigor and methodological correctness appropriate for research first
2) Problem-based approach, where the problem is understood as the focus.
at the start and, to study it, find and adapt the most suitable methodology
Proponents of the first approach argue that it is necessary to prioritize addressing the
the problem may lead to modifying a methodology, making it not rigorous and
imperfect. On the contrary, the supporters of the second argue that taking care of
a too meticulous approach to the methodological aspect can overshadow
the problems themselves, limiting them to a partial observation
A good balance between the two approaches is found in cognitive psychology.
applied, which utilizes correct and appropriate investigation methodologies from a lake,
on the other hand, it does not lose sight of the problems that must be faced outside the
laboratory
Its major content has focused on ergonomics.
The 'ergonomics' is the set of laws that connect the relationships between man and his
working environment.
Study the work of man taking into account the environmental context,
anthropometric characteristics of the operator and the physical and functional constraints
of the machines with which the operator interacts.
Ergonomics has gone through two different phases:
1) Classical ergonomics, which mainly deals with human interaction-
machine, where the variables taken into consideration were the operator's posture and the
its anthropometric characteristics compared with the physical aspects
of the machine and the work done.
The solutions that this type of ergonomics offers are new standards for chairs,
tables, workspace, keyboard layout, lighting...
Bagnara emphasizes that at this stage ergonomics was involved in the relationship.
man-machine in a confined manner, addressing only the issues regarding the
physical parameters of the hardware of the interface with the operator
2) Cognitive ergonomics: since the 1980s, the subject of study has partially changed.
research, especially as a result of technological development. It starts the
 study period on human-computer interaction, identified as Human
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The beginning of this phase coincides with the spread of
personal computer nelle case e nel mondo del lavoro, si deve adattare allo
technological development. Hence the combination of cognitive psychology and
ergonomics used to understand the user interface
He has given a strong boost to applied cognitive psychology.
The muscles, the measurement, the range of motion of the limbs (...) are replaced by the mind and
the cognitive processes set in motion to interact with a machine or, more
frequently, with a computerized supervision and control system of a
process
The operator must monitor and control the system remotely, through the
recognition and use of signals and symbols and responses sent via keyboard or
mouse.
It is essential to understand how cognitive processes such as the
perception, categorization, encoding, attention, memory, the
recognition, reasoning, and decision making
The operator, in this new phase, is forced to interact with one or more
interfaces
The interface can be defined as the way to do something with one.
tool, that is, the actions we must perform and the way the tool
respond
The main areas of intervention and application of cognitive psychology taken into consideration.
I am an exam:
1) The design of everyday objects
2) The design and large-scale production of the personal computer
3) Interface design

Design of everyday objects

Many scholars have addressed the relationship that exists between the objects we
surround and the cognitive processes that we implement to allow its use and
agree that many objects (technological and otherwise) instead of satisfying our needs
they complicate interaction, because they are badly designed
The designers did not properly take into account the use by
of the operator, focusing on beauty and elegance and not taking into account
efforts, costs, time that must be invested
For the recognition and use of the object, it is necessary to take into account:
a) Modes of functioning of mental processes
b) The information contained in the appearance that objects have
c) Ability to make the functioning of objects clear
With 'affordance' (i.e., allowed operations), we refer to the real properties and
perceived that an object has, that can be seen and that indicate to us how it could be
use the object in question
Provides suggestions for its use and operation
The characteristics that give a good affordance are obtained through
a good project and a good design follow certain principles:
a) Provide a good conceptual model and make the functional characteristics visible
(usability characteristics)
Maximizing the visibility features of an object means ensuring that...
to provide the user with a valid conceptual model of the object, without
contradictions in suggesting maneuvers and building expectations of expected results
If an object (or its certain parts) is capable of performing functions, those parts and
functional characteristics must be visible
Other clues regarding the functioning of an object come from the invitations and the
usage constraints and the spatial relationships between the various parts of the object
b) Follow a good mapping
Permapping refers to a direct relationship between two objects or actions and, when it
it talks about applied cognitive psychology, it refers to the relationship between commands and the
their execution and the effects achieved. Following a good mapping means
clearly determine the relationships between actions and results, especially
between commands and their effects. It means predicting and establishing correspondence.
spatial-logic between what one wants to do and what seems feasible to our senses,
between the state of the system and what is visible
c) Applying the feedback principle means anticipating a visual message and/or
acoustic, through which the user receives continuous and complete information
retroaction. The feedback informs the user which action has
effectively carried out and what result was achieved.
The concept of feedback is well known in information theory and is useful for
all communicative processes both towards an interlocutor and towards a machine.
For this reason, most devices provide a form of
feedback that informs us about the action we have just taken.
 In order for an object to achieve a good level of usability, it is necessary that its
design includes one or more types of feedback that inform the user whether
the action performed has achieved or not the purpose for which it was carried out
In the ten commandments of good design, we find that an object, in order to be optimal:
It is innovative
2) Give utility to the product
Make the product self-explanatory
It is not intrusive
He/She is honest
It is long-lived
It is aesthetic design
It is consistent down to the smallest detail.
It is environmentally friendly
It is the minimum possible design.
The personal computer
Until the beginning of the 1980s, themes such as learning difficulties, the
ease of use or the cognitive transparency of the functions performed by the computer were
problems practically nonexistent in the mind of the designer
The computer simply had to work and perform the functions for which it was intended.
had been designed
In a short time, the old logic of design separate from utilization
he started to go into crisis because the time spent studying the operation
the computers and their related programs represented a big problem for the
its users
The definitive breaking point occurred with the advent of personal computers,
with which the construction companies tried to win over as many users as possible
the field of employment broke the boundaries of the world of work to invade the areas
leisure time, study, sports, games...
The precondition for success was, of course, ease of use.
Designers began to draw on the knowledge of ergonomics not only
as for distances, measurements, colors, keyboards, characters
printing (classical ergonomics) but also in relation to the new cognitive ergonomics
and it was started to be admitted that to build tools that interacted with the
User's mental processes, it was necessary to know how they function.
of the human mind.
 The design of computers and their interfaces must take into account the
functioning of the cognitive processes of the operator and the mental model
through which the user represents the functions of the tool to be used

The design of interfaces

The interface, as we have already seen, is the way in which something is done with a tool.
in particular, the actions we need to follow and the way the tool
answers
The first step in the ergonomic design of an interface is that it
consider the cognitive characteristics that users share
Only the interface that takes into account the characteristics and functioning of the
the user's mental processes can be considered a tailored interface
of man.
It must not only satisfy the user's need but also take into account their
criticisms and its weaknesses
According to the approach of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), the interface must
to be not only physically compatible with the characteristics of perception and
human action, but also being cognitively compatible with the
characteristics of communication, attention, memory,
solution of human problems and decision making.
Addressing the interface problem means dealing with the mode of
presentation of data and information useful to the user
If, for example, we take into consideration the screen of a computer, it is about
choose
a) What information must be represented
b) How should they be spatially organized
c) How should they be graphically represented
A good icon must indeed transcend national boundaries and be able to
cognitively transparent for culturally diverse social groups.
Even when the symbol is not self-explanatory, the graphic unit, the continuity
time of use and the spread of employment can transform it into a
symbol capable of indicating a function that is easily interpretable
In the case of a webpage, designed and built for commercial purposes and therefore
sensitive to user satisfaction, still contains a high margin of
improvement in relation to web usability
In general, the characteristics that determine a good interface are
contained in the acronym HOME, created by Nielsen, which identifies the 4 reasons
according to which a user uses one interface rather than another and
they represent the 4 cornerstones on which to base good design
High quality: high-quality content
Frequent updates
Minimal: short interaction times
Ease: facilità d’uso

Why do users only scroll through the information displayed on web pages?
on the internet and refuse to read?
In a study conducted by Nielsen, web content must convince users to
an immediate utility to remain where they are, or the page will close.
79% of users skim the text without reading it because:
a) Reading on the screen is tiring and takes about 25% more time than
the paper
b) The web is directed by the user who feels active on the web only if they move.
c) The user does not know which site is the best for their problem
d) The way the world moves is frantic, and the web is no exception, if
something that doesn't stand out is ignored

Non si ha tempo di leggere tutte le info, sono troppe, per essere afferrate al volo
they must be presented to the user in a pop-out presentation style.