Finish: Overview of the Course Organization
then,
History of Cognitive Psychology
Psychology 355: Cognitive Psychology
Instructor: John Miyamoto
3/31/2015: Lecture 01-2
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Outline
• Correct an error from yesterday's lecture
• What is cognitive psychology?
• Organization of topics in Psychology 355
BRIEF HISTORY OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
• Early cognitive psychology:
Donder’s method of subtraction
Helmholtz’s concept of unconscious inference
• Behaviorist psychology – an opponent to cognitive psychology
• Rise of modern cognitive psychology
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Possible end?
Correct Error from Yesterday
2
Grading Scheme
Date
Labs & Catalyst
Questionnaires
% Grade
Assigned on 1st lecture day
5
of the week. Due by 5 pm
Stated wrongly
on Monday of the following
that the exam is
week.
1st
on April 30.
Quizzes
Weekly on
Midterm Exam I
Monday April 20
25
Midterm Exam II Monday May 18
25
Final Exam
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
lecture day
Wednesday June 10
2:30 - 4:20 pm in MGH 389
12
33
Sections & Add Codes
3
More Questions About the Class Organization
• It’s ok to go to a different section from the one you are enrolled in,
BUT if we run out of room in a section, we will restricted attendance
to people who are actually enrolled in the section.
• I will be giving add codes to students on the waiting list for
Psych 355 as soon as other students drop the course.
♦
Comment: During this quarter (Spr '15), a few additional students will get add
codes.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Course Outline: Weeks 1 - 5
4
Course Outline
Week
Reading Assignment from Goldstein
1
Ch 1: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Ch 2: Cognitive Neuroscience
2
Ch 3. Perception
3
Ch 4. Attention
4
Ch 5. Short-Term Memory & Working Memory
5
Ch 6. Long-Term Memory: Structure
6
Ch 7: Long-Term Memory: Encoding & Retrieval
Ch 8. Everyday Memory & Memory Errors
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Course Outline, Week 6 - 10
5
Course Outline
Week
Reading Assignment from Goldstein
7
Ch 9. Knowledge (Categorization)
8
Ch 10: Visual Imagery
Skip Ch 11. Language
9
Ch 12. Problem Solving
10
Ch 13. Reasoning and Decision Making
Any questions?
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
What Is Cognitive Psychology?
6
What is Cognitive Psychology?
• Cognitive psychology attempts to explain how humans
perform cognitive activities.
What are cognitive activities?
♦
Seeing objects and events in one’s surroundings.
♦
Remembering something, e.g., facts, personal experiences, etc.
♦
Understanding what is happening in a situation.
♦
Communicating through spoken and written language.
♦
Learning something new, e.g., how to use a computer,
an Ipod, public transportation, introductory statistics, etc.
♦
Solving problems, making decisions, drawing inferences.
♦
Other examples: The mental activity that lets us perform specific tasks, e.g.,
reading, driving a car in traffic, play games like basketball, shop in a store, etc.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
What is Cog Psych (continued)?
7
What is Cognitive Psychology? (cont.)
• Theory of human information processing including
perception, attention, memory, language, reasoning, learning,
development
Emphasis on ...
• ... experimental studies of human information processing
(behavioral studies)
• ... brain activity while humans engage in cognitive processing
(cognitive neuroscience)
• ... models of human information processing
(computational modeling)
De-emphasis on: motivation, emotion
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Begin: History of Cognitive Psychology
8
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
♦
♦
♦
♦
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
Donder’s Mental Chronometry
9
Early Cognitive Psychology: F.C. Donders (1818-1889)
• Mental chronometry:
Measuring the duration of a cognitive process
• Reaction-time (RT) (a.k.a. response time):
RT = the time interval between
stimulus presentation and
the response to the stimulus
TIME
"Donders, Franciscus Cornelis (1818 - 1889)" by Alexander Seitz
(Photographic company) - SIL14-D4-14a.jpg from the Scientific Identity:
Portraits from the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology
(reworked). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donders,_Franciscus_Cornelis
_(1818_-_1889).jpg#/media/File:Donders,_Franciscus_Cornelis
_(1818_-_1889).jpg
RT
Stimulus Presentation
Response
• Method of Subtraction:
Used to infer how long a mental process takes
when the process is not directly observable.
♦
Method of subtraction is an example of a behavioral research method.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Definition of Simple RT and Choice RT
10
Tuesday, March 31, 2015: The Lecture Ended Here
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
11
Method of Subtraction Applied to the Comparison
Between Simple and Choice Reaction Time
• Simple RT task:
Participant pushes a button quickly after a light appears.
• Choice RT task:
Participant pushes one button if light is on the right side,
and a different button if light is on left side
• Donder’s goal: To measure how long it takes a person to decide
which button to press in the choice RT task.
How long is the decision process?
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Diagram Showing Time Course of Simple RT
12
Diagram of Cognitive Processes During Simple RT
Time
• Simple RT = (Response Completion) – (Stimulus Onset)
In a simple RT task, the subject does not have to decide
how to respond.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Diagram Showing Time Course of Choice RT
13
Diagram of Cognitive Processes During Choice RT
Time
• Choice RT = (Response Completion) – (Stimulus Onset)
In a choice RT task, the subject has to decide which response
is appropriate.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Diagram showing the Decision Stage in the Information Process
14
Diagram of Cognitive Processes During Choice RT
Decision Time
• Decision time = the length of time that it takes to decide
which response is appropriate.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Question for the Class: How to Measure Decision Time?
15
Question for the Class:
How Can We Measure the Duration
of the Decision Stage in a Choice RT Task?
• Donder’s goal: To measure how long it takes a person to decide
which button to press in the choice RT task.
How long is the decision process?
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Diagram comparing simple and choice RT
16
Method of Subtraction: Compare Simple RT to Choice RT
Simple RT
Choice RT
• Method of Subtraction:
Choice RT – Simple RT = Duration of Decision Stage (red)
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Diagram Showing that the Perceiving Stages are Identical
17
Method of Subtraction: Compare Simple RT to Choice RT
Simple RT
Same Duration
Choice RT
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Diagram Showing that the Responding Stages are Identical
18
Method of Subtraction: Compare Simple RT to Choice RT
Simple RT
Same Duration
Choice RT
Diagram Showing that the RT Difference Measures the Duration of the Decision Stage
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
19
Method of Subtraction: Compare Simple RT to Choice RT
Simple RT
Same Duration
Choice RT
• Method of Subtraction:
Choice RT – Simple RT = Duration of Decision Stage
(red)
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
What does Donder’s Method Show About Cognitive Psych?
20
Why is Donder’s Method of Subtraction
Important for Cognitive Psychology?
• It combines a behavioral study with a simple computational model of
a cognitive process.
♦
In Psych 355, we will see many behavioral studies of cognition.
♦
In Psych 355, we will not study the mathematical details of
computational models of cognition.
• Purely or strictly behavioral studies –
no physiological measurements; no brain imaging.
• The method of subtraction provides valid measure of mental duration
if all of the assumptions are valid.
♦
Unfortunately, the assumptions of this method are often not valid.
♦
Donder's ideas inspired improved methods that do lead to valid measurements
of the duration of mental processes.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
fMRI Method of Subtraction
21
Subtraction Methods in fMRI Brain Imaging
Activations are regions of significant change
from a control condition to a test condition.
Test Condition: Subject views picture.
Control Condition: Subject fixates a blank
screen.
Brain image shows regions of significant activation
when comparing Test Condition to Control Condition.
(Slice of brain is viewed from above.)
The purpose of this slide is simply to show that subtraction
methods are used in modern fMRI studies.
•
Specific details are not important.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Possible End of Lecture OR Helmholtz & Unconscious Inference
22
Possible End Point for the Lecture
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Helmholtz & Unconscious Inference
23
Early Cognitive Psychology: H. L. F. von Helmholtz (1821 – 1894)
• Great mathematician, physicist, psychologist
• Contributions to psychology: perception, especially color vision,
hearing, optics, unconscious inference
• Unconscious inference
♦
Some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions we make
about the environment
♦
We infer much of what we know about the world
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Diagram that Illustrates Unconscious Inference (Occlusion)
24
Unconscious Perceptual Inference
The display in (a) looks like (b) a gray rectangle in front of a light rectangle;
but it could be ....
… (c) a gray rectangle and a six-sided figure that are lined up appropriately
or (d) a gray rectangle and a strange-looking figure that are lined up
appropriately.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Repeat this Slide without the Rectangles
25
Unconscious Perceptual Inference
The display in (a) looks like (b) a gray rectangle in front of a light rectangle;
but it could be ....
… (c) a gray rectangle and a six-sided figure that are lined up appropriately
or (d) a gray rectangle and a strange-looking figure that are lined up
appropriately.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Why is Unconscious Inference Important?
26
Why Is the Idea of Unconscious Inference Important?
• Unconscious inferences contribute in many ways to the formation
of our perceptions and beliefs.
• Cognitive psychology attempts to reveal the processes by which
such inferences are made.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Other Early Cognitive Psychologists – Ebbinghaus & Wundt
27
Other Important Early Cognitive Research
• Ebbinghaus (1850 – 1909) and the Method of Savings
♦
Important memory research
♦
We will talk about this later in the course
• Wundt (1832 – 1920)
♦
How sensations combine to form percepts
♦
Analytic introspection
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Behaviorist Hiatus
28
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
29
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
30
Behaviorism lost its grip on American psychology
during the 1960's. Why did this happen?
• Problematic results
♦
Learning without responding
♦
Learning without reinforcement
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
Revival of Cognitive Psychology – Information Processing
31
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
32
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 – END
33
Cognitive Psychology Since 1960
• Experimental cognitive psychology –
Emphasizes the behavioral approach
♦
Perception & Attention, Memory, Language,
Reasoning & problem solving, Cognitive development
• Computer modeling of cognitive processes –
Usually a mixture of the behavioral and computational approach
• Cognitive neuroscience – A mixture of the behavioral and
physiological approach
♦
Single-cell recordings
♦
PET, fMRI, ERP
• Tomorrow: Some examples of behavioral approaches and
neuroscience approaches to cognitive psychology.
Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15
END
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