COGNITIVE

PSYCHOLOGY
 COGNITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
 COURSE DESCRIPTION:
❖The physiological approach to study human behavior, basic
concepts and findings in neuroscience with special emphasis
on brain-body relationship, brain-behavior, and mind-
behavior relationship are treated in the course.
At the end of the semester:
❖Acquire knowledge of how human cognition works from
perception; attention and consciousness; memory; language;
problem solving and creativity; decision making and
reasoning; and human intelligence.
❖Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of well
established theories in cognitive psychology
❖Recognize and explain major terms and concepts in
cognitive psychology
❖Acquire an understanding of research methods in
cognitive psychology and the ability to critically
evaluate research in this area
❖Analyze and discuss scientific issues within the subject
area
❖Reflect on how cognitive perspective helps our
understanding of human behavior and experience
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY is the study of how
people perceive, learn, remember, and think about
information.
Cognito – to apprehend or to understand
• How people perceive things
• Why people remember some facts and forget others
• How people learn language
- Cognition is the collection of mental processes and
activities used in perceiving, learning, remembering,
thinking, and understanding.
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
In cognitive psychology, the ways of addressing
fundamental issues have changed, but many of the
fundamental questions remain much the same. Ultimately,
cognitive psychologists hope to learn how people think by
studying how people have
thoughts about thinking.
The progression of ideas often involves a dialectic.

A dialectic is a developmental process where ideas evolve

over time through a pattern of transformation.
 Human
Intelligence

Perception Language

COGNITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY

Attention Thinking &

Problem Solving

Memory
 PHILOSOPHICAL ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY:

RATIONALISM vs EMPIRICISM
Philosophy seeks to understand the general nature of many
aspects of the world, in part through introspection, the
examination of inner ideas and experiences (from intro-,
“inward, within,” and -spect, “look”);

Physiology seeks a scientific study of life-sustaining functions

in living matter, primarily through empirical (observation-
based) methods.
RATIONALISM
- A rationalist believes that the route to knowledge is
through thinking and logical analysis.
- A rationalist does not need any experiments to
develop new knowledge.
- A rationalist who is interested in cognitive
processes would appeal to reason as a source of
knowledge or justification.
 Plato
was a
rationalist.
EMPIRICISM
- An empiricist believes that we acquire
knowledge via empirical evidence— that is, we
obtain evidence through experience and
observation.
- In order to explore how the human mind works,
empiricists would design experiments and
conduct studies in which they could observe the
behavior and processes of interest to them.
 In contrast, Aristotle (a
naturalist and biologist as
well as a philosopher) was an
empiricist. An empiricist
believes that we acquire
knowledge via empirical
evidence—
that is, we obtain evidence
through experience and
observation (Figure 1.1). In
order
to explore how the human
mind works, empiricists
would design experiments
and
a. According to rationalist, the only route to truth is
reasoned contemplation.
b. According to empiricist, the only reason to truth is
meticulous observation.
Psychological Antecedents of Cognitive
Psychology:
Early Dialectics in the Psychology of Cognition
1. Understanding the Structure of the Mind:
Structuralism
- It seeks to understand the structure (configuration of elements) of
the mind and its perceptions by analyzing those perceptions into
their constituent components (affection, attention, memory,
sensation).
❖ Wundt is often viewed as the founder of
structuralism in psychology.
❖ Introspection is a deliberate looking
inward at pieces of information passing
through consciousness. The aim of
introspection is to look at the elementary
components of an object or process.
Understanding the Processes of the Mind:
Functionalism
❖ It seeks to understand what people do and why they do
it.
❖ This principal question about processes was in contrast
to that of the structuralists, who had asked what the
elementary contents (structures) of the human mind are.
❖ Functionalists held that the key to understanding the
human mind and behavior was to study the processes of
how and why the mind works as it does, rather than to
study the structural contents andelementsofthemind
❖ Pragmatists believe that knowledge is validated by
its usefulness.
❖ They are concerned not only with knowing what
people do; they also want to know what we can do
with our knowledge of what people do.
❖ Although functionalists were interested in how
people learn, they did not really specify a
mechanism by which learning takes place.
An Integrative Synthesis: Associationism
- Associationism examines how elements of the mind,
like events or ideas, can become associated with one
another in the mind to result in a form of learning.
Ex.
❖ Contiguity
❖ Similarity
❖ Contrast
 It’s Only What You Can See
That Counts:
From Associationism to Behaviorism
- Proponents of Behaviorism
- Criticisms of Behaviorism
- Behaviorists Daring to Peek into the Black Box
- Behaviorist Daring to Peek into the Black Box
 The Whole Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts:
Gestalt Psychology
- Gestalt psychology states that we best understand
psychological phenomena when we view them as organized,
structured wholes.
- Gestaltists, studied insight, seeking to understand the
unobservable mental event by which someone goes from
having no idea about how to solve a problem to
understanding it fully in what seems a mere moment of time.
 EMERGENCE OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
- Cognitivism is the belief that much of human behavior
can be understood in terms of how people think.
- It rejects the notion that psychologists should avoid
studying mental processes because they are unobservable.
- Cognitivism is, in part, a synthesis of earlier forms of
analysis, such as behaviorism and Gestaltism.
- Early Role of Psychobiology
- Add a Dash of Technology: Engineering, Computation,
and Applied Cognitive Psychology
 COGNITION AND INTELLIGENCE
- Intelligence is the capacity to learn from experience,
using metacognitive processes to enhance learning, and
the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.
- It may require different adaptations within different
social and cultural contexts.
- People who are more intelligent tend to be superior in
processes such as divided and selective attention,
working memory, reasoning, problem solving, decision
making, and concept formation.
 Three Cognitive Models of Intelligence
Carroll: Three-Stratum Model of Intelligence
❖ Stratum I includes many narrow, specific abilities
(e.g., spelling ability, speed of reasoning).
❖ Stratum II includes various broad abilities (e.g., fluid
intelligence, crystallized intelligence, short-term
memory, long-term storage and retrieval, information
processing speed).
❖ Stratum III is just a single general intelligence
(sometimes called g).
 Gardner: Theory of Multiple Intelligence
Types of Intelligence Tasks Reflecting this Type of Intelligence
Linguistic intelligence Used in reading a book; writing a paper, a novel, or a poem; and
understanding spoken words
Logical-mathematical Used in solving math problems, in balancing a checkbook, in solving a
intelligence mathematical proof, and in logical reasoning
Spatial intelligence Used in getting from one place to another, in reading a map, and in
packing suitcases in the trunk of a car so that they all fit into a compact
space
Musical intelligence Used in singing a song, composing a sonata, playing a trumpet, or
even appreciating the structure of a piece of music
Bodily-kinesthetic Used in dancing, playing basketball, running a mile, or throwing a
intelligence javelin
Interpersonal Used in relating to other people, such as when we try to understand
intelligence another person’s behavior, motives, or emotions
Intrapersonal Used in understanding ourselves—the basis for understanding who we
intelligence are, what makes us tick, and how we can change ourselves, given our
existing constraints on our abilities and our interests

Naturalist intelligence Used in understanding patterns in nature

Sternberg: The Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
 FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS IN COGNITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY

1. Empirical data and theories are both important—data in

cognitive psychology can be fully understood only in
the context of an explanatory theory, and theories are
empty without empirical data.
2. Cognition is generally adaptive, but not in all specific
instances.
3. Cognitive processes interact with each other and
with non cognitive processes.

4. Cognition needs to be studied through a variety

of scientific methods.

5. All basic research in cognitive psychology may

lead to applications, and all applied research may
lead to basic understandings.
 COURSE DESCRIPTION:
❖ The physiological approach to study human behavior, basic
concepts and findings in neuroscience with special emphasis
on brain-body relationship, brain-behavior, and mind-
behavior relationship are treated in the course.
At the end of the semester:
❖Acquire knowledge of how human cognition works from
perception; attention and consciousness; memory; language;
problem solving and creativity; decision making and
reasoning; and human intelligence.
❖ Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of well
established theories in cognitive psychology
❖ Recognize and explain major terms and concepts in
cognitive psychology
❖ Acquire an understanding of research methods in
cognitive psychology and the ability to critically
evaluate research in this area
❖ Analyze and discuss scientific issues within the subject
area
❖ Reflect on how cognitive perspective helps our
understanding of human behavior and experience
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY is the study of how
people perceive, learn, remember, and think about
information.
Cognito – to apprehend or to understand
• How people perceive things
• Why people remember some facts and forget others
• How people learn language
- Cognition is the collection of mental processes and
activities used in perceiving, learning, remembering,
thinking, and understanding.
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
In cognitive psychology, the ways of addressing
fundamental issues have changed, but many of the
fundamental questions remain much the same. Ultimately,
cognitive psychologists hope to learn how people think by
studying how people have
thoughts about thinking.
The progression of ideas often involves a dialectic.

A dialectic is a developmental process where ideas evolve

over time through a pattern of transformation.
 Human
Intelligence

Perception Language

COGNITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY

Attention Thinking &

Problem Solving

Memory
 PHILOSOPHICAL ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY:

RATIONALISM vs EMPIRICISM
Philosophy seeks to understand the general nature of many
aspects of the world, in part through introspection, the
examination of inner ideas and experiences (from intro-,
“inward, within,” and -spect, “look”);

Physiology seeks a scientific study of life-sustaining functions

in living matter, primarily through empirical (observation-
based) methods.
RATIONALISM
- A rationalist believes that the route to knowledge is
through thinking and logical analysis.
- A rationalist does not need any experiments to
develop new knowledge.
- A rationalist who is interested in cognitive
processes would appeal to reason as a source of
knowledge or justification.
 Plato
was a
rationalist.
EMPIRICISM
- An empiricist believes that we acquire
knowledge via empirical evidence— that is, we
obtain evidence through experience and
observation.
- In order to explore how the human mind works,
empiricists would design experiments and
conduct studies in which they could observe the
behavior and processes of interest to them.
 In contrast, Aristotle (a
naturalist and biologist as
well as a philosopher) was an
empiricist. An empiricist
believes that we acquire
knowledge via empirical
evidence—
that is, we obtain evidence
through experience and
observation (Figure 1.1). In
order
to explore how the human
mind works, empiricists
would design experiments
and
a. According to rationalist, the only route to truth is
reasoned contemplation.
b. According to empiricist, the only reason to truth is
meticulous observation.
Psychological Antecedents of Cognitive
Psychology:
Early Dialectics in the Psychology of Cognition
1. Understanding the Structure of the Mind:
Structuralism
- It seeks to understand the structure (configuration of elements) of
the mind and its perceptions by analyzing those perceptions into
their constituent components (affection, attention, memory,
sensation).
❖ Wundt is often viewed as the founder of
structuralism in psychology.
❖ Introspection is a deliberate looking
inward at pieces of information passing
through consciousness. The aim of
introspection is to look at the elementary
components of an object or process.
Understanding the Processes of the Mind:
Functionalism
❖ It seeks to understand what people do and why they do
it.
❖ This principal question about processes was in contrast
to that of the structuralists, who had asked what the
elementary contents (structures) of the human mind are.
❖ Functionalists held that the key to understanding the
human mind and behavior was to study the processes of
how and why the mind works as it does, rather than to
study the structural contents andelementsofthemind
❖ Pragmatists believe that knowledge is validated by
its usefulness.
❖ They are concerned not only with knowing what
people do; they also want to know what we can do
with our knowledge of what people do.
❖ Although functionalists were interested in how
people learn, they did not really specify a
mechanism by which learning takes place.
An Integrative Synthesis: Associationism
- Associationism examines how elements of the mind,
like events or ideas, can become associated with one
another in the mind to result in a form of learning.
Ex.
❖ Contiguity
❖ Similarity
❖ Contrast
 It’s Only What You Can See
That Counts:
From Associationism to Behaviorism
- Proponents of Behaviorism
- Criticisms of Behaviorism
- Behaviorists Daring to Peek into the Black Box
- Behaviorist Daring to Peek into the Black Box
 The Whole Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts:
Gestalt Psychology
- Gestalt psychology states that we best understand
psychological phenomena when we view them as organized,
structured wholes.
- Gestaltists, studied insight, seeking to understand the
unobservable mental event by which someone goes from
having no idea about how to solve a problem to
understanding it fully in what seems a mere moment of time.
 EMERGENCE OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
- Cognitivism is the belief that much of human behavior
can be understood in terms of how people think.
- It rejects the notion that psychologists should avoid
studying mental processes because they are unobservable.
- Cognitivism is, in part, a synthesis of earlier forms of
analysis, such as behaviorism and Gestaltism.
- Early Role of Psychobiology
- Add a Dash of Technology: Engineering, Computation,
and Applied Cognitive Psychology
 COGNITION AND INTELLIGENCE
- Intelligence is the capacity to learn from experience,
using metacognitive processes to enhance learning, and
the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.
- It may require different adaptations within different
social and cultural contexts.
- People who are more intelligent tend to be superior in
processes such as divided and selective attention,
working memory, reasoning, problem solving, decision
making, and concept formation.
 Three Cognitive Models of Intelligence
Carroll: Three-Stratum Model of Intelligence
❖ Stratum I includes many narrow, specific abilities
(e.g., spelling ability, speed of reasoning).
❖ Stratum II includes various broad abilities (e.g., fluid
intelligence, crystallized intelligence, short-term
memory, long-term storage and retrieval, information
processing speed).
❖ Stratum III is just a single general intelligence
(sometimes called g).
 Gardner: Theory of Multiple Intelligence
Types of Intelligence Tasks Reflecting this Type of Intelligence
Linguistic intelligence Used in reading a book; writing a paper, a novel, or a poem; and
understanding spoken words
Logical-mathematical Used in solving math problems, in balancing a checkbook, in solving a
intelligence mathematical proof, and in logical reasoning
Spatial intelligence Used in getting from one place to another, in reading a map, and in
packing suitcases in the trunk of a car so that they all fit into a compact
space
Musical intelligence Used in singing a song, composing a sonata, playing a trumpet, or
even appreciating the structure of a piece of music
Bodily-kinesthetic Used in dancing, playing basketball, running a mile, or throwing a
intelligence javelin
Interpersonal Used in relating to other people, such as when we try to understand
intelligence another person’s behavior, motives, or emotions
Intrapersonal Used in understanding ourselves—the basis for understanding who we
intelligence are, what makes us tick, and how we can change ourselves, given our
existing constraints on our abilities and our interests

Naturalist intelligence Used in understanding patterns in nature

Sternberg: The Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
 FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS IN COGNITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY

1. Empirical data and theories are both important—data in

cognitive psychology can be fully understood only in
the context of an explanatory theory, and theories are
empty without empirical data.
2. Cognition is generally adaptive, but not in all specific
instances.
3. Cognitive processes interact with each other and
with non cognitive processes.

4. Cognition needs to be studied through a variety

of scientific methods.

5. All basic research in cognitive psychology may

lead to applications, and all applied research may
lead to basic understandings.