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What is cognitive psychology?
This paper aims to discuss the basics of cognitive science. It looks at what cognitive science is, what the historical background of cognitive science is. We will also look at the interdisciplinary nature of cognitive science and will study the analogy between mind and computer.
Historical background of cognitive psychology
Let’s look at the historical background of cognitive psychology. Cognitive Psychology has its roots in philosophy. The questions that cognitive psychology tends to answer were first posed by philosophers. Let’s look at the contribution of major philosophers.
Plato is considered the founder of all modern science.
The main ideas and contribution of Pluto are:-
1- Ideas are innate
2- Visible world is an illusion
3- The objects we see are the shadows of reality
Introspection is the process of observing the operations of one’s own mind with a view to discovering the laws that govern the mind, etc.
Let’s see an example of introspection:
Suppose you have to explain the way to nearest hospital from your home. Imagine doing that in your mind. You may see some images or words in your mind. What you observe in your mind constitutes introspection.
Introspection is criticised as an unscientific method because the imagination of people may differ. Moreover, people may not be able to report themselves correctly and there is no way to verify what they are saying.
(Experiments of Pavlov)
Ivan Pavlov discovered the classical conditioning and the laws of conditioning.
He did a series of experiments with his dog. He use to ring the bell before giving food to the dog and observed that the saliva level of the dog increased just by ringing of the bell even though no food was there. This is known as classical conditioning.
B.F. Skinner
Skinner held the view that if behaviour is followed by a reward, it will be learned.
Skinner viewed mind as a black box and was interested in the input/output model. Something goes into the system and something comes out of the system.
Information processing approach came out of two main streams:
i) Human Factors research
ii) Information theory
Noam Chomsky(1928-current):
Noam Chomsky was an American linguist who argued that language is the proof that human behaviour is much more than mere input-output responses.
There are things happening in the head which we cannot reproduce.
Computers
Computers are important and every field of life and in many ways relevant to cognitive science.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the branch of computer science that deals with intelligent behaviour, learning and adaptation in machines. Research in AI is concerned with producing machines to automate tasks requiring intelligent behaviour.
There is an analogy between computers and brain.
We cannot replicate human intelligence.
Many psychologists have worked in perception, memory, cognitions, etc.
Information Processing
Information processing is about how the input is transformed into output.
Human beings were regarded as machines but information processing input.
How can humans transform input to output?
Let’s see an example:
If you see a snake when you are travelling.
What will you do? Either you will run away or try to kill it.
Seeing the snake is the sensation. Running away is the behaviour.
For psychologist the basic issue is that how a sensation is transformed into behaviour.
The special thing about information processing approach is that it allows us to separate different processes into subsystems.
We can identify different stages of processing.
- levels of processing
- Stages of processing
- Hardware level description
- Software level description
Hardware level description
Network of neurons (brain cells) can be considered as hardware.
It may be impossible to know how ideas, etc. are generated.
-
- Visual sensation
- Sensory neurons
- Visual cortex
Software level description
Sensation
Sensory storage – low level processing
If we see something that information is stored somewhere for microseconds.
Filter – selective attention
- Short-term memory/ Working memory – RAM of computer
STM starts processing information.
Then we recognize what we have seen.
Where this information does comes from?
It comes from long term memory.
- Long-term memory- like a huge hard disk with infinite capacity.
Long term memory has memory from all experiences.
Working Memory
Working/operational memory draws information from long term memory and it compares sensation with it.
Hardware Example
- you are listening to a lecture
- There are other things happening around you.
- All of these sounds are entering your ear
*- Your auditory nerve carries this information to the brain.
- The brain performs complex analysis on the information
The brain generates a thought such as “I understand this.”
Software level Example
You are listening to the lecture
- Other sounds are also getting to your ears
- All the information is held for a brief period in sensory memory.
- Most of this information is discarded and only selected information, the lecture is passed on to the working memory for processing/
- Working memory uses resources in the long term memory for understanding the lecture.
Let’s see an experiment:
Suppose you are tapping a rhythm with your hands like tapping with your left hands 4 times and with right hand one time and counting 500, 497, 494 simultaneously.
- You can see that both tasks with suffer
- Some people may be able to do one thing at the expense of other
- But not both equally well at the same time
We cannot do the same simultaneously because our working memory has some limits.
However, you can drive and smoke at the same time because you are used to the process. Otherwise, you cannot do two things at the same time.
Limited Resource Models
- Some cognitive psychologists have looked at the phenomena as limited resource issues.
(Limited amount of attention is available)
- Others have seen it as a filter issue:
There is no shortage of attention, but the system has filters with narrow bands sort of like bottlenecks.
Analogy with computers
Experimentation
- What distinguishes a cognitive psychologist from a pure theoretician is the process of experimentation.
- We have a hunch
- Experiments are conducted
Experimentation differentiates cognitive scientists from other fields like philosophy, AI, etc.
- We can do two easy things at the same time.
By easy thing is meant that the person performing the task is used to it and it is almost automatic.
However, we may not be able to do two difficult things at the same time.
As:
- There is a limited resource available to us.
There are possibly filters at the stages of processing.
We may not be able to do two difficult things at the same time.
There is a limited resource available to us.
There are possibly filters in the stages of processing
Filters are needed when there is a limited capacity because everything cannot be processed.
- There are possibly filters between different stages of experiment
- Models are developed using information processing approach
- Experiments can be designed to test hypotheses regarding each stage of processing.
Intelligence:
- Intelligence is not treated well in the fields of abnormal psychology and clinical psychology.
- Unintelligent methods are being used in those fields to understand intelligence
Cognitive psychology seeks to understand intelligence in all its richness, in all its beauty, completely and the wealth of information that is available.
