The History Behind Cognitive Psychology

Psy315 - Class 1

(This page last updated 14 August 2006.)

Some Useful Definitions

Cognition

A broad term covering mental activities involving knowledge.

• Perception
• Learning
• Memory
• Language
• Reasoning
• Imagery

 

Cognitive Psychology

Uses the methods of Experimental Psychology to study perception, learning, memory, etc.
The term Cognitive Psychology does not imply any specific theoretical approach or experimental method.

 

Information Processing Paradigm

This is a specific approach to studying Cognitive Psychology. It is based on the assumption that we can explain cognition using concepts from Computer Science.

• Information
• Computation
• Symbol Manipulation
• Input
• Output
• Memory
• Processes
• etc.

 

Cognitive Science

Refers to a group of different but related research areas that can contribute to one another in the study of cognition.

• Cognitive Psychology
• Philosophy of Mind
• Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)
• Linguistics
• Neuroscience

 

Cognitive Neuroscience

Study of the brain in order to understand cognition.

 

Experimental Psychology gets a start at Wilhelm Wundt's lab in Leipzig, Germany.

• Methods based on introspection.
• Problems with introspection
  • Much cognitive processing is outside awareness.
  • No way to resolve conflicting reports from different observers.

Behaviorism

• Based entirely on objectively observable behaviors.
• Associations between stimuli and responses are identified
• No reference to unobservable mental events in between.
• Theories cannot include mentalistic concepts
  • memory
  • reasoning
  • imagery
• Very successful in deriving principles underlying learning of associations.
  • Many useful applications in animal training, behavioral therapy.
• Some aspects of cognition difficult to explain under behaviorism.
  • creative problem solving
  • some aspects of language.

Electronic Computers

Showed that concepts for mental operations could be rigorously defined.

• Symbol manipulation
• Processing
• Formal procedures or programs
• Comparison operations
• Decisions
• Memory
• Representation

Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Science

• Based on the Information Processing Paradigm
• Theories include references to onobservable mental events.
• In the beginning, the mind is considered abstractly, as a black box, without concern for how the mechanisms inside are implemented physically.
• More recently, the development of Cognitive Neuroscience employs findings about the brain to help explain cognitive function.

Next class: Information Processing

Psych 315: Cognitive Psychology Kyle Cave Psychology Dept. U. Mass.