Definitions
Cognition- mental processes relating to perception, memory, attention, reasoning etc.
Cognitive psychology- field concerned with scientific study of cognition.
Why study it?
Relates to other fields:
Social psychology- Can’t understand how humans interact if we don’t understand how they process info.
Applied psychology- Can’t understand behaviour of employees without first understanding their perceptions and how they reason.
Methods of studying
Experimental cognitive psychology- Controlled experiments.
Cognitive neuropsychology- Patient evidence (Brain damage).
Cognitive neuroscience- Brain imaging (establishing which areas correlate with particular tasks).
Experimental cognitive psychology: Basics
- Information processing approach rooted in the APA.
- Technology used as an analogy for the mind- like the human mind, computers encode, store and match information. Before manipulating it to produce an output response which gives idea of what goes on internally.
- A stimulus is presented, this causes certain processes, to produce desired response.
- Bottom up processing= processing directly affected by the stimulus.
Experimental cognitive psychology: Information processing
‘Biology Vs Technology’
Information processing approach represents an oversimplification of complex reality.
Computers are formal and don’t possess human qualities- meaning, knowledge, awareness etc.
The mind is not constrained by a script or programme like a computer.
Computers don’t- have problems with memory, let attention drift, get driven by emotion.
However cannot process meaning.
Top down processing= processing information influenced by individuals knowledge and expectations.
Modern cognitive psychology: Experimentation
- Use IPA but acknowledge performance on cognitive tasks.
- Behaviour is measured in lab tasks.
- Human mind still seen as information processor; acknowledge it can do much more.
- Used for displaying intangible concepts as models; can make predictions about cognitive processes.
Evaluation/Limitations:
Ecological validity- doesn’t correspond to everyday processing.
Task impurity- If it relies on multiple processes, interpretation may be difficult.
Task specificity- Results don’t generalise to other experiments searching for the same thing.
Cognitive neuroscience
Aims to observe why areas in the brain are activated during tasks.
Methods- single unit recordings; event related potentials; magnetic resonance imaging etc.
Evaluation:
Findings are correlational- doesn’t give any direct information; just where and when parts are activated.
Controlled criticisms apply.
Combining experimentation and neuroscience advanced our understanding of cognitive psychology.
Cognitive neuropsychology
Assesses task performance on brain damaged patients.
By finding where things go wrong, we can learn about processing in healthy patients.
Evaluation:
Brain damage may extend beyond areas in question.
Findings need to be treated with caution.
Replications difficult; no two patients have identical damage.
