The History and Methods of Cognitive

Psychology

Cognitive PsychologySorenson

What is Cognitive Psychology?

The branch of psychology that studies how we perceive, attend, recognize, remember, reason, decide…

what happens in our minds

Cognitive activities Perception

Attention

Memory

Language

Reasoning and Decision making

What is the “mind” ?

How can we study the inner workings of the mind when we can’t “see” the mind?

Nativism

The history of studying cognitions

Greeks – 19th century

Empiricism

Donders simple reaction time vs. choice reaction time

stimulus

mental process

behavior

Reaction time

Ebbinghaus

Gestalt psychology

Behaviorism

Rejected mentalistic concepts

Dealt solely with observable behavior

Cognitive RevolutionProposed that mental states

could be studied (reaction to behaviorists)

Some results…Human factors engineeringLimited-capacity processors

The magical number seven, plus or minus two

Linguistics

A typical information-processing model.

Paradigms of Cognitive Psychology

A typical connectionist model.

Paradigms of Cognitive Psychology

So how do we study cognition?

Methods

Naturalistic observation

Ecological validity

Experimenter control Observer bias Observation causing changes in subjects’

behaviors

http://www.pocketcashatms.com/attachments/Image/ATM_use.jpg

Methods

Introspection

Insight Ecological validity

Experimenter control Observer biasCan you really observe something while doing

it?

http://paulbuckley14059.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/introspection.jpg

Methods

Experiments/Quasi-experiments

Experimenter control Isolate causal factors

May not be ecologically valid

http://www.lightalongthejourney.com/Images/labrat.jpg

Brain ImagingComputerized Tomography (CT)

CT scanners use x-ray technology to view brain structure

© Ribotsky/Custom Medical Stock Photo

Normal Twin Twin w/ Schizophrenia

detects strong magnetic fields from hydrogen atoms

Courtesy Todd A. Gould

Brain ImagingMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

http://lcni.uoregon.edu/images/gallery/Machine1500x375.png

http://www.sandybeardsley.com/images/mri2.jpg

Measures brain activity based on the utilization of radioactive glucose or oxygen.

Courtesy Dept. of Energy Office of Public Affairs

Brain ImagingPositron Emission Tomography (PET)

uses a series of images taken in a short period of time to analyze brain activity.

Brain ImagingFunctional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Issues with Brain Imaging

Subtraction method

Location of blood/nutrients

Interactivity

Scalp electrodes provide information about the activity of large populations of neurons.

Used to study states of consciousness (sleep/wake) and seizures.

Copyright © 2004 Allyn and Bacon

Other Recording TechniquesElectroencephalogram (EEG)

Series of EEG responses to environmental stimuli

Useful in studying perception

Other Recording Techniques Evoked Potentials (ERP)