Finish: Overview of the History of Cog Psych
then
Review of Physiological Methods in Cog Psych
Psychology 355: Cognitive Psychology
Instructor: John Miyamoto
04/02/2015: Lecture 01-4
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Outline
• How did cognitive psychology become a major focus within
psychology?
Overview of Physiological Methods in Cognitive Psychology
• Single cell recordings of neural activity
• Event-related potentials (ERP)
• Positron emission tomography (PET)
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
• Example of fMRI applied to localization of perceptual function
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Overview of History of Cog Psych
2
Overview of the History of Cognitive Psychology
• Precursors to cognitive psychology
♦
Aristotle, Plato – epistemology, theory of ideas and their relation
to human action
• Experimental psychology begins in 19th century Germany
♦
♦
♦
♦
Done!
Franciscus Donders (response time analysis, method of subtraction)
Hermann von Helmholtz (perception, unconscious inference)
Hermann Ebbinghaus (experimental study of memory)
Wilhelm Wundt (analytic introspection, analysis of conscious experience)
• Behaviorist hiatus in America: roughly 1920 – 1960
♦
During the behaviorist period (1920-1960), cognitive psychology
continued to be studied in Europe.
• Revival of cognitive psychology in America (1950 – 1970)
• 1970 – present: Cognitive psychology plays a major role in
psychology pretty much everywhere in the world
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Behaviorist Hiatus in America
3
Behaviorist Hiatus – Roughly 1920 - 1960
• John Watson
♦
Influenced by positivist philosophy.
The goal of science is to predict whatever is observable.
♦
Science should eliminate assumptions about whatever is not observable.
(Questionable)
♦
Consciousness is not observable. Eliminate it from psychological theory.
Anti-introspectionist.
♦
Opposed to theories that postulated unobserved psychological processes
• Clark Hull – Stimulus/Response (S/R) learning model.
• Edwin Guthrie
• B. F. Skinner – Reinforcement theory
• Behaviorism was an American approach to psychology – not so
influential in Europe and elsewhere.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Cognitive Psychology During the Behaviorist Period
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Cognitive Psychology During the Behaviorist Period
• William James (1842 – 1910; cognitive psychology)
• Jean Piaget – genetic epistemology
• Lev Vygotsky – cognitive development and education
• Sir Frederick Bartlett (constructive memory processes)
• Gestalt psychology – Kurt Lewin, Wolfgang Kohler
• The beginnings of the computer revolution.
Alan Turing, Norbert Wiener, John von Neumann
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Behaviorism Loses Its Grip on Psychology
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Behaviorism lost its grip on American psychology
during the 1960's. Why did this happen?
• Problematic results
♦
Learning without responding:
Rats that are temporarily paralyzed with atropine can learn the layout of
a maze from being wheeled around the maze.
♦
Learning without reinforcement:
Rats that explore a maze with no reinforcements show learning of the maze
when they are later rewarded for running the maze.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Why Behaviorism Lost Its Grip on Psych - Continuation of this Slide
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Behaviorism lost its grip on American psychology
during the 1960's. Why did this happen?
• Problematic results
• Behaviorism couldn’t explain what scientists wanted to understand,
e.g., language, perception, attention, reasoning. (Lashley, Chomsky,
Miller-Galanter-Pribram).
• Alternative approaches came along that looked more promising.
♦
Structural models, e.g., transformational grammar, genetic epistemology.
♦
Computer models, e.g., the General Problem Solver of Newell and Simon.
♦
Change of focus to experimentation on human information processing.
• Is it unscientific to postulate unobserved psychological processes in a
psychological theory?
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Revival of Cognitive Psychology – Information Processing
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Revival of Cognitive Psychology: 1950 - 1960
• Alan Newell & Herbert Simon:
Computer models of problem solving
• Noam Chomsky - Grammar of natural language
• Lashley – Neuroscience
• Hubel & Wiesel – Receptive fields in the visual cortex
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Cognitive Psychology Since 1960
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Cognitive Psychology Since 1960
• Experimental cognitive psychology –
Emphasizes the behavioral approach
♦
Behavioral Approach:
All dependent measures in a
study are observed behavior.
Perception & Attention, Memory, Language,
Reasoning & problem solving, Cognitive development
• Computer modeling of cognitive processes –
Usually a mixture of the behavioral and computational approach
• Physiological Approach
♦
Single-cell recordings
♦
PET, fMRI, ERP
♦
Study effects of drugs
Physiological Approach:
All dependent measures in a
study are measures of
physiological states or
physiological responses.
Hybrid Approach (Cognitive Neuroscience):
The study attempts to explain behavioral responses, physiological responses,
and may include computational modeling of behavior.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
END
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Outline –
Physiological Methods in Cognitive Neuroscience
• Single cell recordings of neural activity
• Event-related potentials (ERP)
• Positron emission tomography (PET)
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
• Example of fMRI applied to localization of perceptual function
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Brief Introduction to Neural Information Processing
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Brief Introduction to Neural Information Processing
• Structure of a neuron (nerve cell)
• How neurons transmit information
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Diagram of Nerve Cell & Info Transmission
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The Parts of a Neuron (Nerve Cell)
Next Slide
• Cell body or soma – main body of the neuron.
• Dendrites –brushy projections that receive stimulation
from other cells.
• Axon – long projection that carries stimulation to other cells.
• Terminal buttons (a.k.a. axon terminals or synaptic terminals) –
End of axon where a neurochemical signal is passed to other nerve cells.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Same Slide without the Red Ovals
12
The Parts of a Neuron (Nerve Cell)
• Cell body or soma – main body of the neuron.
• Dendrites –brushy projections that receive stimulation
from other cells.
• Axon – long projection that carries stimulation to other cells.
• Terminal buttons (a.k.a. axon terminals or synaptic terminals) –
End of axon where a neurochemical signal is passed to other nerve cells.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Enlargement of Synapse
13
The Synapse – Point of Contact Between Two Nerve Cells
Image downloaded from Wikipedia (1/9/07):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synapse
Goldstein (2014), Figure 2.5,
p. 30.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Nice pictures of a synapse are available at:
http://www.rnceus.com/meth/Introneurotrans.html
and http://www.educarer.com/brain.htm .
Action Potentials are All-of-None
14
The Synapse – Point of Contact Between Two Nerve Cells
• Neurotransmitters
(chemicals) are transferred
from one neuron to the next
at a synapse.
• At any synapse, the
transmission is in only one
direction.
♦
♦
♦
One neuron is the sending
neuron.
The other neuron is the
receiving neuron.
Neurons can either excite or
inhibit the neural actions of
other neurons.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Image downloaded from Wikipedia (1/9/07):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synapse
Nice pictures of a synapse are available at:
http://www.rnceus.com/meth/Introneurotrans.html
and http://www.educarer.com/brain.htm .
Action Potentials are All-of-None
15
Action Potentials: Electrochemical waves
that pass down the axon of a neuron.
• Action potentials are all-or-nothing.
• The rate of action potentials matters. The resting rate is not zero.
• The size is the same for all action potentials.
Diagram Shows the Time of Occurrence
of an Action Potential (Spike)
Time 
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Summary re Neural Signals
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Summary re Neural Signals
• Information is carried by the firing rate of a neuron,
not the size of an action potential (all are of equal size).
• Inputs to a neuron can increase (excite) or decrease (inhibit)
the firing rate of the neuron.
• The signal is transmitted from one neuron to the next
by means of neurotransmitter chemicals that are passed
from one neuron to another at the synapse.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Single Cell Recordings
17
Single Cell Recordings
• The firing rate of
individual neurons is
measured by means
of single cell recordings.
• Today it is possible to
record simultaneously
from a number of
of individual cells.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Strengths and Weaknesses of Single Cell Recordings
18
Strengths and Weaknesses of Single Cell Recording Methods
Strengths
• Excellent spatial information – the scientist has a very good idea
where the recording is located in the brain.
• Excellent temporal information – the scientist knows when the neuron
fires to a high level of precision.
Drawbacks
• Practically difficult to record from more than a small number of cells
at a given time, e.g., 15 to 20 cells simultaneously.
• The method is very invasive.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Event-Related Potentials (ERP’s)
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Event-Related Potentials (ERP’s)
• Measures electrical potentials on the scalp
while processing a stimulus.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Strengths and Weaknesses of ERP’s
20
Event-Related Potentials (ERP’s)
• Strengths and weaknesses of ERP’s as research tool.
♦
Poor spatial resolution.
♦
Excellent temporal resolution.
♦
Relatively non-invasive.
♦
Sketchy understanding of the brain processes
that are producing the EEG signal.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
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Friday, April 03, 2015: The Lecture Ended Here
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
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