COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Module 1: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Involves the study of internal mental processes – all of the things that go
on inside your brain, including perception, thinking, memory, attention,
language, problem solving, and learning.
Why do we study Cognitive Psychology?
- Theoretical Reasons → learn more about the processes that underlie
our ability to represent information about the world in memory, how
language works, and how we solve problems, how we learn things, etc.
→ understanding the concepts behind the theories used in
studying all aspects and courses of psychology to apply in
real-world situations.
- Practical Reasons → develop better human-machine interfaces,
develop improved teaching methods, understand where things like
stereotypes come from, etc.
Key Persons in Cognitive Psychology
- Francisus Donders → developed the concept of Mental Chronometry
to measure how long a cognitive process takes (reaction time)
→ the shorter the reaction time, the more cognitively adept you are
→ research would soon reveal that as a person ages, naturally, reaction
time decreases.
- Hermann von Helmholtz → conceptualized the idea of unconscious
inference which presupposes that some of our perceptions are the results
of unconscious assumptions that we make about our environment.
→ adapts and follows the Freudian concept by extending the definition
of the unconscious.
- Wilhelm Wundt → developed the first Psychology laboratory in the
University of Leipzig (Germany)
→ Wundt was also instrumental in the development of Structuralism as a
school of thought in Psychology.
→ expounded on the reaction time experiments conducted previously by
Donders.
Rise of Behaviorism
- The rise of behaviorism was a confluence of several factors which
includes the following:
(1) John B. Watson (Father of Behaviorism) → institutionalized the
foundation of Behaviorism in which he reflected on the idea that
behavior can be analyzed without reference to the mind
→ this counteracts the core of Cognitive Psychology which
heavily relies on the capacity of the mind
“Not everything can be dictated by your mind.”
→ examined this phenomenon through the “Little Albert”
experiment.
(2) B.F. Skinner → devised a concept that would institutionalize a
rewards and punishment system in the context of behavior
(Operant Conditioning).
→ predicated on the simple premise that positive behavior should
be rewarded while negative behavior should be punished.
The Fall of Behaviorism
(1) The fall of Behaviorism started when several behaviorists fought
over what language should be used to perpetuate the spread of
this school of thought
→ Watson as an American wanted to use English as the language
to be used.
→ European behaviorists, especially the Polish and Germans,
wanted their own language to be used.
(2) They also argued on the conditioning concepts that would
appropriately explain the behavior of certain age groups.
→ Americans think that operant conditioning can explain
behavior from childhood until old age
→ Europeans think that certain age groups should have concepts
of why their behavior occurred as such
(3) These reasons and many other factors led to the fall of
Behaviorism, since theories that it proposed did not hold true for
certain phenomena. Because of this, research that was
conducted now focused on the mind.
→ Zeitgeist is a term used for standard. At this time, the norm
changed from behaviorism to cognitive psychology.
The Rise of Cognitive Psychology
Several experimentations led to the advent of Cognitive Psychology as a
field of discipline and here are some of them:
(1) Introduction of Flow Diagram → Broadbent’s flow diagram depicts
the mind as processing information in sequences of stages.
→ Information processing models conceive of cognitive activities as
involving a series of steps, procedures, or processes that take time.
→ The brain is naturally sequential. However, for those who do not prefer
sequential processes, the brain adapts. This is supported by its
characteristic of neuroplasticity.
(2) Development of Early Computers → processed information in several
stages and tried to answer the question: How much information can the
mind absorb?
(3) Broadbent’s Filter Model of Attention → posits that unattended
information doesn’t pass through a filter and that there is a process that
explains how a person directs his/her attention to a certain stimulus.
Cognitive Revolution
Cognitive psychology became of great importance in the mid-1950s.
Several factors were important in this:
(1) Dissatisfaction with the behaviorist approach in its simple
emphasis on external behavior rather than internal processes.
(2) The development of better experimental methods.
(3) Comparison between human and computer processing of
information
The emphasis of psychology shifted away from the study of conditioned
behavior and psychological notions about the study of the mind, towards
the understanding of human information processing, using strict and
rigorous laboratory investigation.
Research Methods in Cognitive Psychology

→ This method is used by scientists to determine cause and effect

relationships.

→When a different group of subjects is tested under each treatment

condition of the experiment, the experiment is considered a
between-subjects design. When the same group of subjects is tested
under multiple treatment conditions this is a within-subjects design.

→ Independent variables are manipulated by the experimenter; these

manipulations produce different treatment conditions in an experiment.

→ Dependent variables reflect the subject's behavior, this is what the

experiment measures.

(1) Non-experimental designs → Sometimes it is impossible to conduct

controlled experiments; e.g, if human subjects are involved, it may be
impossible for ethical or technical reasons to assign them to particular
conditions and to administer the conditions.

(2) Quasi-experimental designs → Researchers examine subjects in

real-world situations who have self-selected into the specific conditions
(e.g., excessive alcohol intake); in a sense, these subjects have assigned
themselves to the treatment conditions.

● A disadvantage of a quasi-experimental study is that although

researchers can examine relations between the variables of interest
(e.g., alcohol consumption's relation to brain damage), it cannot
control for potential confounding variables.
● Therefore, quasi-experimental studies do not allow a researcher to
establish direct cause-and-effect relationships.

(3) Case Study → Another type of non-experimental design is called a

case study. Case studies are scientific studies that focus on a single
subject. The main problem with case studies is their poor
generalizability, or the extent to which their results tell us something
about the general population.

(4) Self-Reports → These include self-ratings, diaries, and verbal

protocols. Its strength is in its ability to access retrospective insights
from participants’ point of view. However, there can be discrepancies in
recalled information and actual cognition which can be a disadvantage for
this research method.

(5) Naturalistic observation → It provides a more in-depth examination

of participants’ experiences than self-reports and case studies while also
examining subjects’ spontaneous behavior in their actual environments
and may obtain more representative behavior than experiments.
Module 2: Cognitive Neuroscience Dopamine pleasure
The Brain Serotonin mood

→ It is considered the central processing unit for all the things that
humans do. Questions about how the brain works and how it influences
people’s behavior have been of great interest in our field in Psychology.
The mind-body issue has also been of interest to philosophers and
scientists.
→ The brain is a neuroplastic organ. The brain can function in a much
more efficient manner now compared to years past.
→ Scientists sought to determine how people think, speak, plan, reason,
learn, and remember. This eventually led to a field of study that sought to
link the brain to cognitive processes, and eventually, human behavior.
Anatomy of the Brain
The brain has three main parts:
Forebrain → also known as the cerebrum and is covered by the cerebral
cortex. It is also where the Basal ganglia and the Limbic system is
located.
→ The limbic system contains the septum and amygdala, hippocampus,
thalamus, and the hypothalamus.
→ The forebrain also controls the ability of the brain to function
contralaterally.
Midbrain → This is the brain structure that regulates eye movement. The
midbrain also contains the reticular formation, which controls respiration,
cardiovascular function, digestion, alertness, and sleep.
GABA calming
Acetylcholine learning
Glutamate memory
Endorphins euphoria
Brain Disorders
Phantom Limb Pain → 2 out of 3 combat veterans with amputated limbs
report phantom limb pain. May involve activation of nerves in the stump of
missing limb. May also involve reorganization of the motor and
somatosensory cortex.
Synesthesia → This is a condition in which one sense (for example,
hearing) is simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional
senses such as sight. Another form of synesthesia joining objects such as
letters, shapes, numbers, or people’s names with a sensory perception
such as small, color, or flavor.
Stroke → occurs when flow of the blood to the brain is suddenly blocked.
Can be ischemic or hemorrhagic.
Brain tumor (neoplasms) → Can affect cognitive functioning and may
occur in gray matter or white matter. Diagnosed using CT scan, MRI.
Head injuries – Head injuries have various causes. THey can be due to
accidents, contact with hard objects, or bullet wounds. Can be
closed-head injuries or open-head injuries.

Hindbrain → The hindbrain is also called the brain stem. It contains the
medulla oblongata, pons, and the cerebellum.

Cerebral Cortex

Frontal lobe executive functions, thinking,

planning, organizing, and problem
solving, emotions and behavioral
control, personality

Temporal lobe memory, understanding, language

Parietal lobe perception, making sense of the

world, arithmetic, spelling

Occipital lobe vision

Motor cortex movement

Sensory cortex sensations

Types of Neurons

These neurons carry messages from…

Sensory (afferent) neurons sense organs → spinal cord/brain

Motor (efferent) neurons spinal cord/brain → muscles &

glands

Interneurons (association neuron → neuron

neurons)

Neurotransmitters Released by Neurons

Adrenaline fight or flight

Noradrenaline concentration