COGNITIVE LEVEL
OF ANALYSIS
An Introduction
WHAT IS “COGNITION”?
 The mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired
 WHAT DO COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGISTS DO?
 Focus on the way humans process information
 By looking at how we treat information (or stimuli)
 And how this treatment leads to responses
 MAIN AREAS OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
 Perception
 Attention
 Memory
 Language
THE PRINCIPLES OF COGNITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
 Mental representations and processes guide behavior
 Mental processes can be scientifically investigated
 Humans are not passive responders to the environment
 We are actively processing information
RESEARCH METHODS FOR CLOA
 Experiments
 Observations
 Interviews/Verbal Protocols
 Case Studies
DEFINITIONS
 Schemas
 Are:
 Schemas
 Are helpful
 Cognitive frameworks to help us
organize and interpret information
 Abstract representations of events,
objects, and relationships in the
real world.
 Used to:
 Organize Knowledge
 Assist recall
 Create shortcuts for handling the
large amounts of information in
our environment
 BUT…
 Can lead to stereotypes and
prejudice when information
doesn’t conform to our ideas
about the world
 Guide behavior
 Predict likely happenings
 Make sense of current
experiences
 Bobo the doll experiment
 How did schema play a
part?
DEFINITIONS CON’T.
 Scripts
 Schemata or abstract cognitive representations of events and social interactions
 How to go to dinner
 What happens at birthday parties
 How to greet someone you don’t know
 When our scripts aren’t followed
 Frustration
 Anger
 Disappointment
 Confusion
LISTEN WITH A SCHEMA IN MIND
 Listen to the story
 Jot down important details based on the schema you are given
 Now listen again
 Jot down important details based on the new schema
 What differences do you see?
 In this activity
 Schema may inhibit or assist in recall
 Affects how memories are encoded
 ***Replication of Anderson & Pichert (1978)
ONE MORE ACTIVITY
 I need 4 volunteers
 As the story was retold:
 Leveling

eliminate unnecessary information to simplify
 Sharpening

add or exaggerate details
 Assimilation of data

change it to fit stereotypes/pre-existing schema
 It is normal, for example, for students to switch the names of the flight attendant and pilot
(assimilation), simplify the story to “he had a gun,” and to sharpen the story – that the
passengers began beating and kicking him
 ****Replication of Bartlett (1932) The War of the Ghosts Story
 Want to do the story from the original experiment?
CAN SCHEMA BE CONTROLLED?
 An example - listen carefully
SCHEMA THEORY
 In the real world
 How we use our schemas
 To summarize:
 How do we know that schema exists when we can’t study them empirically?

It is not entirely clear how they are acquired in the first place AND how they influence cognitive
processes

Caramazza (2009)

Biological evidence

Information re: living and non-living objects is shuttled to different parts of the brain
- triggers appropriate reactions – even in blind people
 Assessment on Friday:
 Evaluate schema theory with reference to research studies

Study Guide handout - reduce to an index card for support during assessment