Intro and History
1
robby edwardsen
Cognitive Psychology
Intro and History
Introduction and History
2
SIMPLE QUESTIONS
Do without a calculator or
paper – use your mind.
Intro and History
4+9=
You have 1000,
add 40,
add 1000,
add 30
again 1000
add 20,
add again 1000
and finally 10.
What is the result?
3
AN IMPORTANT QUESTION!!!!
Intro and History
Does the Pope Wear
underwear?
4
What is Cognitive Psychology?
Cognitive Psychology is the scientific
study “concerned with the processes
involved in acquiring, storing and
transforming
information”
(p.3).
acquiring
storing
Transforming
Perception
Learning
Attention
Intro and History
Cognitive
Psychology
Language
Skills
Memory
Problem
Solving
6
HISTORY OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Cognitive Questions are as old as the dawn of human consciousness.
Intro and History
 Where do my thoughts come from?
 How do I know what is real and
what is an illusion?
 How does my mind work?
 Do other people think as I do?
7
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MIND AND BODY
THE FIRST BIG BATTLE OF COGNITION
Intro and History
Dualism - the belief that there are two
kinds of reality: material (physical) and
immaterial (spiritual).
Material reality can be studied scientifically.
Immaterial reality cannot be
directly observed nor
scientifically studied.
8
Interactive Dualism
René Descartes
(1596-1650)
Mind
The relationship is lawful.
Body
Mind Effects Body and Body Effects Mind
We can learn about the mind by studying behavior.
INTERACTIVE DUALISM
Allows us to study human behavior and physical interactions
and infer processes of the mind (thoughts, intentions,
reasoning etc.)
Claudius Ptolemy
Nicolaus Copernicus
EPISTEMOLOGY: THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION
Nativism ~ believe that knowledge is primarily (at
least in some areas) acquired by a priori
processes (e.g., innate or hardwired ; i.e., logic,
wisdom, intuition, talents, innate abilities or
disabilities).
Empiricism ~ is generally a theory of knowledge
emphasizing the role of experience, especially
experience based on perceptual observations by
the five senses.
Nature Vs. Nurture Debate.
Philosophical Approaches (cont.)
Ideas about Memory:
Socrates - (Nativism) humans innately possessed knowledge,
and that they only had to be led to discover what they
already know.
Aristotle – learning is through experience (empiricism ~ tabula
rasa)
IS THIS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION?

What causes autism?
Intro and History
Is it genetic?
 Is it due to damage caused by environmental
factors?
 Is it due to the upbringing?
 If it is nature, is there a way to overcome it
by education and nurturance?
13

Intro and History
Associationism ~ is the theory that the mind
is composed of elements -- usually referred to
as sensations and ideas -- which are organized
by means of various associations. Aristotle
counted four laws of association when he
examined the processes of remembrance and
recall.
14
Intro and History
1. The law of contiguity. Things or events that
occur close to each other in space or time tend
to get linked together in the mind. If you think
of a bowl, you may think of a spoon.
15
Intro and History
2. The law of frequency. The more often two
things or events are linked, the more powerful
will be that association. If you have a bagel
with your coffee every day, and have done so
for the last twenty years, the association will
be strong.
16
Intro and History
3. The law of similarity. If two things are
similar, the thought of one will tend to trigger
the thought of the other. If you recollect one
birthday, you may find yourself thinking about
others as well.
17
Intro and History
4. The law of contrast. On the other hand,
seeing or recalling something may also trigger
the recollection of something completely
opposite. If you think of the tallest person you
know, you may suddenly recall the shortest
one as well.
18
Intro and History
Association, according to Aristotle, took place
in the "common sense." It was in the
common sense that the look, the feel, the
smell, the taste of an apple, for example, came
together to become the idea of an apple.
19
Introspection
Intro and History
Aristotle based
much of this
ideas about how
the mind works
on his
observations of
his own thought
processes.
20
Intro and History
Philosopher’s continued
to address cognitive
questions using
introspection and logic. While they
proposed interesting ideas, there was
no method for testing theories to see
if they explained real human cognitive
processes.
21
Beginning of Psychology
1879 – Wilhelm Wundt
Father of the Science of Psychology
- relationship between stimuli in the “real
world” and our psychological experiences.
Intro and History
Wundt also used introspection, but of
a different kind. Wundt's introspection
was a rigidly controlled, arduous
experimental procedure. Highly trained
observers were presented with
carefully controlled sensory events and
asked to describe their mental
experiences of these events
e.g. metronome demonstration
23
WUNDT’S LAB
Intro and History
24
VOLUNTARISM:
Intro and History
Wundt proposed that our conscious experiences
are due to the power of the will to organize the
mind’s content into higher-level thought
processes.
Apperception is considering a perception in
relation to things you’ve perceived in the past.
25
APPERCEPTION
Example.
Intro and History
A rich child and a poor child walking together
come across the same ten dollar bill on the
sidewalk. The rich child says it is not very much
money and the poor child says it is a lot of money.
The difference lies in how they apperceive the
same event – the lens of past experience through
which they see and value (or devalue) the money.
—Christopher Ott
26
WUNDT FELT THAT INTROSPECTION COULD BE USED TO
STUDY APPERCEPTIONS BUT COULD NOT BE USED TO
STUDY THOUGHT PROCESSES, MEMORY PROCESSES ,
REASONING ETC.
Intro and History
Two of Wundt’s students (Külpe and
Titchner) tried to use introspection to study
the elements of thought rather than
apperception which resulted in an
argument about the existence of “imageless
thought”. This debate demonstrated the
limits of introspection and the technique
was abandoned.
27
Problems with Introspection.
- Many processes occur subliminally.
- Confabulation
- If reports are retrospective, we may
forget parts of the process.
- The process of introspection
may effect the process.
In order to make sense of our
thoughts, we often confabulate (make
up) explanations for why we reach the
conclusions we have.
Intro and History
e.g., Subjects in a shopping mall were
presented with an array of four sets of
items (e.g., socks, nightgowns or
pantyhose) and were allowed to choose one
of them as a free sample. Even though they
were all identical they tended to choose the
item on the right (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977).
29
Intro and History
When asked to explain why they chose the
item they did, they came up with clearly
confabulated explanations, such as their
chosen item was softer or of better quality.
30
Intro and History
Research also indicates that some factors that
Influence our thought processes are subliminal
(below the level of our conscious awareness).
31
Pessiglione et al (2007)
Intro and History
The incentive force task. Successive screens displayed in one
trial are shown from left to right, with durations in ms. Coin
images, either one pound (£1) or one penny (1p), indicate the
monetary value attributed to the top of the thermometer
image. The fluid level in the thermometer represents the
online force exerted on the hand grip. The last screen
indicates cumulative total of the money won so far.
32
Two Conditions:
1) Coin Clearly Visible
2) Subliminal Presentation of coin
FMRI Imaging showed similar patterns of
activation of the basal forebrain region
(associated with reward processing) between
the two conditions.
Findings reveal that expected rewards
energize behavior, without the need for the
subjects` awareness.
Intro and History
Even when subjects cannot report how much
money is at stake, they nevertheless deploy
more force for higher amounts.
33
HOW MUCH CAN INTROSPECTION TELL US ABOUT
COGNITIVE PROCESSES? LET’S TAKE A SIMPLE
EXAMPLE OF AN EVERYDAY COGNITIVE TASK.
Intro and History
e.g., How do we read?
Try this sentence.
The lady hit the man with
an umbrella.
34
Several processes are involved in reading a
simple sentence.
Perception and Pattern Recognition
Attention - Automatic and controlled
Processes
Intro and History
The Stroop (1935) effect demonstrates the
interference that automatic processing of
words has on the more "effortful" (controlled)
task of just naming the colors. Many cognitive
processes are automatic (i.e, do not require
attention and can often be performed along
with other tasks without interference). Since
the required task of naming the color of the
word and the automatic task of reading the
word conflict, people often make errors and
are slower to respond.
37
Intro and History
The task of selecting the appropriate response
(conflict monitoring) has been located in the
anterior cingulate (Barch, et al., 2001) and is
involved in a wide range of thought processes and
emotional responses.
38
Emotional Stroop Test
Intro and History
Automatic processes generally involve well
learned, repeatedly practiced task (e.g.,
reading) or emotional reactions.
39
Language
Cna yuo raed tihs?
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was
rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to
a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht
oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the
frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl
mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae
the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod
as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was
ipmorantt.
Reasoning and Problem Solving
Memory, Knowledge Representation
(Semantics) & Imagery
Who has the umbrella??
An UFO has been caught on tape!
Intro and History
42
Early Influences on Cognitive Psychology
William James – Functionalism
Early Memory Research
Ebbinghaus
Munsterberg
Intro and History
Donders – Reaction Time
Applied Cognitive Research
Bryan and Noble
43
1890 - William James
Functionalism – understanding the
mind requires an understanding of the
purpose of the thought processes.
Primary and Secondary Memory
Habits
Stream of Consciousness
Franciscus Cornelis Donders ‘(1868)
Reaction time Experiment
Simple RT and Choice RT
Measured the time required to decide.
A modern version of Donders’ (1868) reaction time experiment. (a) the
simple reaction-time task; and (b) the choice reaction-time task. For the
simple time reaction text, the participant pushes the J key when the
light goes on. For the choice reaction time test the participant pushes
the J key if the left light goes on, and the K key if the right light goes
on. The purpose of the Donders’ experiment was to determine the time
it took to decide which key to press for the choice reaction time test.
Donders’ Inference: decision took .1 second
1885 - Ebbinghaus
Memory for Nonsense syllables
- looked at “pure memory”
- found relationship between repetition
and memory.
Hugo Munsterberg (1892)
- Forensic Psychology (Eyewitness Testimony)
Intro and History
48
Bryan and Noble (1899)
Acquisition of skill.
Intro and History
49
From http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31382/31382-h/31382-h.htm
Behaviorism (1913 – 1960)
During this period studying cognitive
Processes was very unpopular.
Watson – Classical Conditioning
Skinner – Operant conditioning
Radical Behaviorism
We cannot look inside the mind (introspect)
so we cannot study these processes. To learn
about human behavior we study ONLY
observable behavior.
Psychology became the study of the
relationship between Stimulus and Response
Thorndike – law of
effect
Learning occurs
because of the
consequences
(rewards &
punishments).
While Behaviorism held control over most
of psychology in North America . . .
Intro and History
. . . in hidden laboratories
and Universities in out-of-theway little places (like Europe)
Scientists continued to ask
questions about the workings
of the mind.
52
Bartlett (England, 1930's) - memory
for stories – found that memory is
reconstructive.
Piaget (1920’s Switzerland) - development of
cognitive abilities with age.
Cognitive Revolution (1950's to 1970's)
Dissatisfaction with Behavioral Theories:
Neo-behaviorist (e.g., Tolman)
3 routes to the food
Strongest learning for A
Least for C
What if route is blocked at
dotted line A?
What if route is blocked at
dotted line B?
This is what happens when route is blocked at
Block A. But what about when it is
blocked at Block B? Taking Route B
will not work.
Intro and History
In both cases Behaviorists would predict that
the rats would take route B because it has
more “habit strength” than route C.
55
When blocked at position B rats take Route
C, indicating that the rat has developed a a
metal representation (perhaps a cognitive
map) of the maze.
Second Example: Latent Learning
Rat run a maze once per day for 17 days.
Group 1 - rewarded with food in goal box.
Group 2 – no reward in the goal box.
Group 3 - Day 1 to 10 - no reward
Day 11 to 17 reward.
Behaviorist’s Predictions
E
r
r
o
r
s
1
12
17
Days
Learning begins when reward Begins
Actual Results
Learning happens without consequences!!!
The Law of Effect is not always True.
We do not simply repeat that which
leads to rewards and avoid that which
leads to punishment – we are constantly
seeking patterns even if there are no
immediate consequences.
Other Influences that prompted the
Cognitive Revolution
WWII – questions that behaviorists did not
feel were important
- attention
- decision making
- how do humans process information?
Noam Chomsky (Linguist)
- children’s language errors go through
phases of errors
e.g., “I goed to the store”.
Why? They have learned a concept about
"past tenses" and they use it on all
occasions.
Cognitive Science’s Official Birthday?
September 11, 1956
MIT Conference brought together people
from very different areas, linguistics,
anthropologists, psychologists, computer
programmers and philosophers,
neuroscientists. They were all asking the
same kind of questions – and all agreed that
Behaviorism simply was not giving them
answers.
Cognitive science is a fairly new approach to
psychology (1956).
Resulted due to:
• advances in technology
• new metaphors for thinking about the human
mind (computer, networks)
• interdisciplinary efforts
• most important ~ questioning of long held
ideas about human thought processes
Computer as Metaphor for Mind
- both encode, store, manipulate and use info
- programs define rules, steps and stages for
processing information.
Artificial Intelligence
INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH
Intro and History
Models that define the step by step processes
within a cognitive system.
66
Attention
Thought
Processes
Decision
Response
Intro and History
Perception
Bottom-Up Processing –
processing that is determined
directly by environmental
stimuli rather than the
individual’s knowledge and
expectations.
Serial Processing – one
process occurs at a time.
67
Stage Model of Memory
S
t
o
r
e
Short-Term
Memory
Encoding
Long-Term
Memory
GP Mem(1)
S
e
n
s
o
r
y
Rehearsal
Loss
68
Stage Model of Memory
S
t
o
r
e
Short-Term
Memory
Encoding
Long-Term
Memory
GP Mem(1)
S
e
n
s
o
r
y
Rehearsal
Loss
Top-Down Processes – effects of expectations,
Memory and Knowledge.
69
Red Spade Experiment
Intro and History
70
Parallel Processing – two or more
processes occurring simultaneously.
Intro and History
One of the strengths of the
Information processing approach is
that it simplifies and clearly define
processes. One of its weaknesses
is that it oversimplifies the
process.
71
Intro and History
CONTEMPORARY COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Four Approaches
1. Experimental Cognitive Psychology
2. Cognitive Neuroscience
3. Cognitive neuropsychology
4. Computational Cognitive Science
72
EXPERIMENTAL COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
STUDY HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS UNDER LABORATORY
CONDITIONS
•
Often Involve Reaction Time and Accuracy
Measures used to Infer cognitive processes.
E.g., Dual Task procedures (ex. Stroop)
Memory tests, problem solving.
Intro and History
•
73
Strength: Laboratory allows highly
controlled (internally valid) studies to
be done.
Intro and History
Weakness: Lack of Ecological Validity
(the extent to which findings can be
generalized to the real world).
74
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
BRAIN ACTIVITY DURING PERFORMANCE OF
COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL TASKS.
Intro and History
Systems for identifying Brain Areas
4 Lobes
75
BROADMAN AREA INDEX
Intro and History
Most widely known and
frequently cited
cytoarchitectural
organization of the human
cortex.
BA17 = Broadmann Area 17
76
COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
Study of Brain Damaged Patients
Intro and History
Assumption of Modularity
Cognitive system is divided into a set of
functional units (named modules) that can
be composed into a larger application.
E.g., several modules (color, motion, form)
Contribute to visual processing.
77
E.g., Retrograde Amnesia – impaired
LTM with normal STM.
Intro and History
Dissociation – A patient performs at
the same level as normals on one task
but is impaired on other a second
task.
78
Double Dissociations
Patients exist who are impaired on X but not Y.
Others are impaired on Y but not X.
Intro and History
Evidence that X and Y are independent processes.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
79
COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE SCIENCE
Related to Artificial Intelligence
Intro and History
Uses computer (computational)modeling to mimic
human cognitive functions.
John Anderson Adaptive Control of Thought-rational
(ACT-R)
Diagrams functions of cognition according to
modules.
80
JOHN ANDERSON ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF
THOUGHT-RATIONAL (ACT-R)
Intro and History
81
CONNECTIONIST NETWORKS
-
Parallel Distributed Models
Intro and History
Computer programs that mimic human cognitive functions
- Show evidence of learning (back-propagation)
82
Reverse Engineering
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“the process of discovering the technological principles of a
device, object or system through analysis of its structure,
function and operation. It often involves taking something
apart and analyzing its workings in detail, usually to try to
make a new device or program that does the same thing”
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
. . . In cognitive psychology the purpose is to understand the
human mind and its interactions with the body and the
physical world.