Cognitive Psychology
Lecture 1: Introduction
James Matthews and John Toner
Course Layout
Topics to be covered:
• Memory
• Attention
• Mental Imagery
• Language
• Problem Solving & Expertise
• Reasoning, Decision Making & Judgements
• Consciousness
• Knowledge
Course Completion
• Christmas Exam
Format to follow.
• Class presentation
Each student will have to give one 10 minute
presentation over the course of the 12 weeks based on a
set article.
Course Completion
Class presentation
– Short: 10 mins, 10 - 15 slides
– Everyone expected to read the article over the course of
the week
– Presentation should simply summarise the main
methods (where relevant) and arguments of the article
– Presentation should finish with a ‘points for discussion’
slide bringing in their own thoughts and facilitating
debate
Reading (Library: GEN/SLC 153.4)
Core text:
Eysenck, M., & Keane, M. (2005).
Cognitive Psychology: A student’s handbook (5th ed.)
Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press
Other sources:
Reisberg, D. (2006) Cognition: Exploring the Science of
the Mind (3rd ed.) New York: W.W. Norton & Company
Sternberg, R. (2003). Cognitive Psychology (3rd ed.) Fort
Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace
Article Search
http://www.ucd.ie/library/
 Electronic Resources
 List of Library Databases
 PsychInfo
Cognition
The word cognition is derived from the Latin word cognoscere,
meaning “to know” or “to come to know”.
Cognition is therefore the activities and processes concerned
with the acquisition, storage, retrieval and processing of
knowledge.
What is Cognitive Psychology?
It is the scientific study of how the mind works
“...cognitive psychology deals with how people perceive,
learn, remember, and think about information.”
— Sternberg (1999)
“Cognitive psychology [is] the study of processes underlying
mental events”
— Solso (2005)
What do cognitive psychologists study?
Memory
Decision Making
Attention
Perception
Learning
Neurobiology
Cognitive Development
Concept Formation
Emotion
Artificial Intelligence
Language
Problem Solving
Mental Imagery
Animal Cognition
Things which cognitive psychologists may
seek to explain. . .
Why do we find it difficult to describe how to tie a
shoelace without moving our hands or looking at
our shoes?
Things which cognitive psychologists may
seek to explain. . .
What processes are involved in planning a novel
route through familiar terrain.
(e.g. How do I get from UCD to town via Dundrum)
Things which cognitive psychologists may
seek to explain. . .
How can we recognise a song from its first few
beats?
Things which cognitive psychologists may
seek to explain. . .
Phenomena like that shown in this video
http://gigglesugar.com/349186
Approaches to Cognitive Psychology
• Experimental Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Cognitive Science
• Cognitive Neuropsychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
Experimental Cognitive Psychology
Tightly controlled experiments carried out under
laboratory conditions on healthy individuals.
Experiments often designed to disrupt cognitive
processes and thus reveal their workings.
(e.g. Distracting participants attention)
Findings lead to theories, which in turn lead to
testable claims
(e.g. “Instrumental music does not disrupt reading”)
Experimental Cognitive Psychology
Sample Experiment: Effect of arousal level on
reaction time.
Reaction time assessed on a machine where buttons
light up and time to respond is measured
Arousal assessed through heart rate measurement
Conditions: 1) After rest
2) After cognitive load
3) After exercise
4) After caffeine
5) After exercise and caffeine
Experimental Cognitive Psychology
Some limitations:
• Is behaviour in a laboratory fundamentally different
to that in real world settings. Are the findings of
experiments ecologically valid?
• Does not look directly at brain function, but rather
the explicit behavioural results of brain function.
Thus we may miss something.
• Tendency to negate individual differences by
averaging many participants’ performances. Does
not allow for the possibility of unique cog. function
Computational Cognitive Science
Computational modelling involves recreating some
aspect of human cognition in the form of computer
program, flow chart or formula in order to predict
behaviour in novel situations
Computational Cognitive Science
Computational models can vary in complexity from relatively
simple flow charts to highly detailed connectionist networks.
In these latter models units or nodes are connected to many
others.
In a particular scenario units take the weighted sum of the
inputs coming to it and produce a single output to another
unit.
Networks can be arranged in complex layered systems
Computational Cognitive Science
Some limitations
• There are usually many ways to model a particular
cognitive phenomenon
• There is a lack of a definite method for relating a
computational model’s behaviour to human
behaviour
• It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to take
every cognitive factor into account when creating a
model (e.g. Do models of language processing
take into account the emotional connotations of
particular sentences for particular individuals?)
Cognitive Neuropsychology
Concerned with the cognitive functioning of those
who have suffered brain damage
• Damage to region X disrupts ability Y
• People who have lost ability Y also have problems
with ability Z
From studying people with brain injuries we make
assertions about healthy brain function
Cognitive Neuropsychology
Sample Case: Frontal Lobe damage
• People with frontal lobe damage often show little
cognitive deficit when given IQ tests
• However they have extreme difficulty with things
like
–Socially acceptable behaviours
–Cognitive flexibility
–Abstract thinking
• Frontal lobes are the area which differ to the
greatest extent between human and ape brains
Cognitive Neuropsychology
Some limitations:
• Ethically we cannot cause brain damage in
humans so we have to work with what we find.
This damage is rarely ‘clean’
• Interpretation of findings in relation to those
suffering damage to several areas is very difficult
• If ability Y is disrupted by damage to region X, it
does not tell us what role X has in Y. Is it the
functional centre, or simply a vital stage? There are
50 billion interconnected neurons.
• What was cog. functioning before injury?
Cognitive Neuroscience
Using brain imaging and brain anatomy to study ‘live’
cognitive functioning in healthy individuals
As the technology improves, these studies are
becoming more influential and potentially useful
Methods include: (Details to follow!)
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Single Unit Recording
Event Related Potentials (ERPs)
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
(Functional) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI, MRI)
Magneto-encephalography (MEG)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
Cognitive Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Some Limitations
• Techniques are of questionable use with high-order
functioning which might not be organised in a concise way
• If data from several individuals is averaged the
interpretations become accordingly blunt
• Tendency for research to be conducted for the sake of
research. Papers can often be lacking any theoretical
basis, and result in ad hoc hypotheses
• Threshold levels need to be set to disregard noise. These
levels are a contentious issue!
Cognitive Neuroscience
Event Related Potentials (ERPs)
• Electrical brain activity (EEG) is measured on the scalp
• Several readings for the same stimuli are averaged to
counteract spontaneous background activity
Cognitive Neuroscience
Event Related Potentials (ERPs)
Pros:
Best detail of the timeline of cognitive events
Cons:
Only useful with simple, low-level stimuli
Skull and scalp distort emerging electrical waves
Cognitive Neuroscience
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
• Radioactive substance injected into the body and observed
as it gathers in blood vessels of brain
• Activity levels are determined as (very mild) radioactivity
levels are measured by subtracting activity levels at rest
from activity levels during a particular task
Cognitive Neuroscience
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Pros:
Maps wide range of cognitive activities including complex tasks
Reasonable location of active areas (3-4 millimeters)
Cons:
Scans indicate total amount of activity over 60 seconds. Not
sensitive to rapid changes in activity
How closely are changes in distribution of radioactive water
related to neural activity?
Cognitive Neuroscience
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
• Radio waves produce neural activity picked up by a large
magnet.
• If used to scan anatomy of brain for tumors etc. it is MRI. If
used during tasks to detect brain function it is fMRI.
Cognitive Neuroscience
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Pros:
No biological risks
Provides anatomical and functional information
Cons:
Poor temporal resolution of a few seconds
How closely are changes in oxygenated haemoglobin related to
neural activity?
Basic Brain Terms
Cortex: The outer layer of brain tissue
Basic Brain Terms
Lobes
Basic Brain Terms
Directions
Some experimental techniques
Eyetracking
• Infrared cameras can detect where the eye is
looking and for how long
• Used to study reading
Some experimental techniques
Eyetracking
Analysis of advertising, phobias, expert search patterns etc
Stimulus Presentation Software
Experiments may require a computerised stimulus
presentation of stimuli in order to create ideal
conditions and accurately measure responses
QuickTime™ and a
H.263 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Reading
Eysenck & Keane: Chapter 1
Contact: conor.omalley@ucd.ie