DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY

Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph AND PHILOSOPHY
DHVSU Main Campus, Villa de Bacolor, Pampanga

PSY 213B – Cognitive Psychology

Academic Year 2022-2023 First Semester

Cognitive Psychology
Description. An introduction to research and knowledge in the psychological study of important cognitive
abilities including sensation and perception, attention, memory and representation, language and thinking.

Objectives
The students are expected to:
1. Describe the major historical schools of psychological thoughts leading up to the development of
cognitive psychology;
2. Establish and describe some of the ways in which philosophy, linguistics and artificial intelligence
have contributed to the development of cognitive psychology;
3. Compare and contrast the influences of the beginnings and current cognitive psychology

Lecture 1: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

Introduction

Cognitive psychology is concerned with how the mind represents and uses information about
the outside world. The study how humans (and other animals)
● Acquire information
● Store information in memory
● Retrieve information
● Work with information to reach goals

In all these cases we are dealing with mental representations.

Information is taken in through perceiving what is attended to, and is stored initially in
short-term or working memory. Then selected items are retained in long-term memory through
learning processes and form knowledge that can be represented in a variety of ways. Later, stored
information may be retrieved if it has been retained, or it may turn out to be forgotten.

Perceived and recalled information shapes skilled actions on the environment and enters into
problems solving, reasoning and decision processes. Information can be shared with others via
language and frequently involves an emotional aspect.

History and Approaches

Mnemonics: a learning device used to aid memory.

● The method of loci. → Relies on associating a visual image with the object to be
remembered, and placing these images in a familiar location or along a familiar route.
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● The keyword method → used when learning a foreign language vocabulary. The learner
makes an association between the unfamiliar word and a familiar word in the native
language that sound like the unfamiliar word. The use of an interactive visual image
underlies the mnemonic effect. Imagery can be a useful mnemonic device.
● The phonetic number system (or major system) → commonly used by memory experts,
increases memory capacity of numbers. This system converts numbers into constant
sounds, which can then be made into words, and potentially viewed as mental images.

Spatial learning is of particular importance for such techniques.

Mnemonic techniques allow us to create associations between unrelated pieces of information.

But they are less likely to help us complete meaningful task specific memory tasks,

Associationism

Empiricists held that all knowledge came from experience and that ideas and memories were
linked by associations. Closeness in space as well as in time fosters associations also.

Introspectionism

Wundt tried to analyze normal perceptions into simpler sensations which combined to give the
perception.

Behaviorism

This approach abandoned the attempt to look inside the mind and took only observable behavior
and stimuli as its data. This approach essentially aimed to be a psychology without reference to
internal cognitive processes. The focus was on learning and particularly about how behavioral
responses could be predicted from knowing the history of rewards and punishments following
behavior in response to particular stimuli.

The mind creates and controls mental functions. A system that creates representations of the
world so that we can act within it to achieve our goals.

Mental maps: mental representations of a spatial layout.

Information processing: the cognitive revolution

The information processing approach. Inspired by the first computers. A metaphor for
understanding mental activity, based on computing.

Strategies: systematic ways to carry out a cognitive task such as solving a problem.

In humans and computer programs, there are defined steps to be carried out, decisions to be
made, storage of new information and retrieval of old information from memory.
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Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
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Simulation: involves programming computers to solve problems in a similar way to humans.

Artificial intelligence: the attempt to program computers to carry out complex tasks such as
medical diagnosis, planning and using natural language.

Cognitive psychology theorists attempt to explain performance in cognitive tasks by using

concepts of:
· Internal representations; mental representations of external objects and events
These are transformed by mental operations (inner actions manipulating mental representations)
using both long-term and short-term memories.

Connectionism

An approach to cognition in terms of networks of simple neuron-like units that pass activation and
inhibition through a receptor, hidden in an output unit.

The units are connected by excitatory or inhibitory links of varying strengths through which
activation flows.

Link strengths are modified through learning rules such as backwards propagation (a way of
modifying weights on the links between units in a connectionist network, in response to errors, to
obtain the desired output.

These models are more brain-like. But, the units in such models are much simpler in their
properties and functioning than the real neural units that constitute the brain and so the similarity
of a connectionist network to real neural networks is limited.

The basic components are:

· A set of processing units
· Weighted connections between units
· A learning strategy

The processing units can be input, output of hidden units.

The network’s architecture is determined by the way in which the units are connected.
● Feedforward network; input units are connected to output units such that information flows
in one direction from input to hidden to output layers.
● A recurrent network; some of the connections feedback to earlier layers.

All units have some level of activity, denoted by their activation value. This determines how much
activation or output a unit passes onto connected units.

The functional level of analysis

Overall, the information processing approach can be said to focus on our ‘mental software’.
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It asks: What strategies are followed in processing information?

These questions are about functions and functional properties and can be answered without
referring to any underlying hardware.

Rationalism Versus Empiricism

· Rationalism is a theory based on § Empiricism is a theory based on the

the claim that reason is the source of claim that experience is the source of
knowledge knowledge

· Rationalist believe in intuition § Empiricists do not believe in intuition

· Claim that individuals have innate § Claim that individuals have no innate
knowledge or concepts knowledge

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence, embracing philosophy,
psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguistics, and anthropology.

Cognitive Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as "attention, language
use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and thinking".

Coined by URIC NEISSER in 1967 (Cognitive Psych)

INTELLIGENCE – Generally involves the capacity to learn from experience and ability to adapt
to the surrounding environment.

METACOGNITION – Own learning, process your own thoughts.

CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE - Western (Skill-based) vs. Eastern (Diplomas)

PHILOSOPHICAL ANTECEDENTS

PLATO (428-348 BC) – Rationalism

Reality resides not in the concrete objects we perceive but in the abstract form that these objects
represent.

Nativism - the notion that knowledge is innate, a property of mind.

Idealism - the concept that the only world we can truly know exists only in the mind.

ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC)

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Reality lies only in the concrete world of objects that our body senses.

Empiricism - that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience, experience

RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650)

Reality directly or indirectly the significant issues related to the foundations of science of the mind.
Cogito Ergo Sum – I think therefore I am

SOCRATES – “Early philosopher– “One thing only I know, and that is I know nothing.”

• Philosophy begins when one learns to doubt (especially one’s cherished beliefs).

• There is no real philosophy until the mind begins to examine itself. “Know Thyself”
- who taught Plato and Aristotle

IMMANUEL KANT - The Concept of Schema, a mediating representation --which is intellectual

in one sense, sensible in another.

BRITISH EMPIRICISTS

John Locke (1632-1704) “tabula rasa” or BLANK SLATE Both sighted and blind ought to learn
but the blind cannot acquire words like picture and see learning.

Blank Slate - someone or something that is still in an original state and that has not yet been
changed by people, experiences, etc.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTECEDENTS

DONDER’S PIONEERING EXPERIMENT – Decision making test through Light bulb switch when
clicked quickly. Reaction – time (RT) experiment - measures interval between stimulus
presentation and person’s response to stimulus

STRUCTURALISM - structure of the mind and its perception – experience is determined by

combining elements of experience called sensations

Proponents:

Wilhelm Wundt – First psychology laboratory ANALYTIC INTROSPECTION is the examination

of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process of introspection relies
exclusively on observation of one's mental state.

The term introspection is also used to describe a research technique that was first developed by
psychologist Wilhelm Wundt. Also known as experimental self-observation, Wundt's technique
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Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
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involved training people to carefully and objectively as possible to analyze the content of their
own thoughts

Edward Titchener – Wundt’s student, thoughts in experiments

FUNCTIONALISM - mental states are identified by what they do rather than by what they are
made of.

Proponents: William James – Principles of Psychology

· Observations based on the functions of his own mind, not experiments

· An early American psychologist who taught the first psychology course at Harvard
University

John Dewey – thinking and schooling

PRAGMATISM - usefulness, workability, and practicality.

THESIS + ANTITHESIS = SYNTHESIS, Hegelian’s Dialectic German philosopher Georg Wilhelm

Friedrich Hegel

ASSOCIATIONISM – experience, learning

Proponents: Hermann Ebbinghaus – rehearsal, memory retention (Theory of Memory and

Forgetting) / THE FORGETTING CURVE

Ebbinghaus - First memory researchers. Read a list of nonsense syllables aloud many times to
determine the number of repetitions necessary to repeat the list without errors. After some time,
he learned the list * short intervals +fewer repetitions to relearn – Leaned many different lists at
many different intervals

Edward Lee Thorndike – LAW OF EFFECT = responses that produce a satisfying effect in a
particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that
produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation

BEHAVIORISM – observe overt behaviors

Proponents: Ivan Pavlov – Classical Conditioning (Dog, Food and Bell)

John Watson – LITTLE ALBERT (A white toy given with a scary, booming sound)

Proposed a new approach behaviorism – eliminate the mind as a topic of study – instead, study
directly observable behavior
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B.F. Skinner – Operant Conditioning (reward and punishment), Positive and Negative
reinforcement

Rejection of radical behaviorism

EDWARD TOLMAN – Cognitive Map, focuses on goal (rat and cheese experiment)

ALBERT BANDURA – Social Learning Theory, mimics others (modelling)

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY – the wholeness is more than the sums of its parts. Holistic Approach

RATIONALISM vs. EMPIRICISM

Philosophy – Physiology
Logical – Scientific
Reason – Experiments

Models of Intelligence

1. Three-Stratum Model of Intelligence (Caroll)

2. Theory of Multiple Intelligence (Gardner)

3. Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (Sternberg)

Research Methods in COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Laboratory, controlled experiments

Psychobiological research (post-mortem studies)

Self-reports (observe, gather data accumulated)

Case studies (basis of involvement)

Naturalistic observation (no intervention)

Computer simulations and artificial intelligence

VOCABULARY

Innate – existing

Empiricism – basing ideas and theories on testing & experience

Rationalism – reliance on knowledge

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Physiology – study of human body and its function

Philosophy – knowledge and existence, wisdom

Mind – think, thoughts

Summary

1. What is cognitive psychology?

Cognitive psychology is the study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about
information.

2. How did psychology develop as a science?

Beginning with Plato and Aristotle, people have contemplated how to gain understanding of the
truth. Plato held that rationalism offers the clear path to truth, whereas Aristotle espoused
empiricism as the route to knowledge. Centuries later, Descartes extended Plato’s rationalism,
whereas Locke elaborated on Aristotle’s empiricism. Kant offered a synthesis of these apparent
opposites. Decades after Kant proposed his synthesis, Hegel observed how the history of ideas
seems to progress through a dialectical process.

3. How did cognitive psychology develop from psychology?

By the twentieth century, psychology had emerged as a distinct field of study. Wundt focused on
the structures of the mind (leading to structuralism), whereas James and Dewey focused on the
processes of the mind (functionalism).

Emerging from this dialectic was associationism, espoused by Ebbinghaus and Thorndike. It
paved the way for behaviorism by underscoring the importance of mental associations. Another
step toward behaviorism was Pavlov’s discovery of the principles of classical conditioning.
Watson, and later Skinner, were the chief proponents of behaviorism. It focused entirely on
observable links between an organism’s behavior and particular environmental contingencies that
strengthen or weaken the likelihood that particular behaviors will be repeated. Most behaviorists
dismiss the notion that there is merit in psychologists trying to understand what is going on in the
mind of the individual engaging in the behavior. However, Tolman and subsequent behaviorist
researchers noted the role of cognitive processes in influencing behavior. A convergence of
developments across many fields led to the emergence of cognitive psychology as a discrete
discipline, spearheaded by such notables as Neisser.
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URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph AND PHILOSOPHY
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4. How have other disciplines contributed to the development of theory and research in
cognitive psychology?

Cognitive psychology has roots in philosophy and physiology. They merged to form the
mainstream of psychology. As a discrete field of psychological study, cognitive psychology also
profited from cross-disciplinary investigations.

Relevant fields include linguistics (e.g., How do language and thought interact?), biological
psychology (e.g., What are the physiological bases for cognition?), anthropology (e.g., What is
the importance of the cultural context for cognition?), and technological advances like artificial
intelligence (e.g., How do computers process information?).

5. What methods do cognitive psychologists use to study how people think?

Cognitive psychologists use a broad range of methods, including experiments, psychobiological

techniques, self-reports, case studies, naturalistic observation, and computer simulations and
artificial intelligence.

6. What are the current issues and various fields of study within cognitive psychology?

Some of the major issues in the field have centered on how to pursue knowledge. Psychological
work can be done:

• by using both rationalism (which is the basis for theory development) and empiricism (which is
the basis for gathering data);

• by underscoring the importance of cognitive structures and of cognitive processes;

• by emphasizing the study of domain-general and of domain-specific processing;

• by striving for a high degree of experimental control (which better permits causal inferences)
and for a high degree of ecological validity (which better allows generalization of findings to
settings outside of the laboratory);

• by conducting basic research seeking fundamental insights about cognition and applied
research seeking effective uses of cognition in real-world settings.

Although positions on these issues may appear to be diametrical opposites, often apparently
antithetical views may be synthesized into a form that offers the best of each of the opposing
viewpoints. Cognitive psychologists’ study biological bases of cognition as well as attention,
consciousness, perception, memory, mental imagery, language, problem solving, creativity,
decision making, reasoning, developmental changes in cognition across the life span, human
intelligence, artificial intelligence, and various other aspects of human thinking.
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Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph AND PHILOSOPHY
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References

1. Sternberg, R. J. & Sternberg, K. (2017). Cognitive Psychology (7th edition). Boston, MA:
Cengage.

Prepared by:

FLOR ANN C. LINGAT, LPT Ed.D.

Chairperson, Psychology Department

Approved by:

NELLY N. PILAO, Ph.D.

Dean, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy