5. Introduction
Human cognition involves the study of internal mental processes all of the things that go
on inside your brain. Human cognition refers to how people think and learn. The process
of learning involves physiological activities:
Perception.
Dreams.
Memory.
False Memory
Attention.
Language.
Problem-solving.
Creativity..
Understanding human cognition is a Scientific and Philosophical
challenge.
6. Psychologist
Some of the reasons why you might consult with a cognitive psychologist:
•To treat a psychological illness with cognitive therapy methods.
•To explore treatment options for brain trauma.
•If you are experiencing Alzheimer's disease, dementia, or memory loss.
•To explore different interventions for learning disabilities.
The work of cognitive psychologists is essential for helping people who have experienced
issues with mental processes.
7. Perception
Perception involves signals that go through the nervous system, which in turn result from
physical or chemical stimulation of the sensory system. It shaped by the
recipient's learning, memory, expectation, and attention.
Perception can be split into two processes:
•Processing the sensory input, which transforms these low-level information to higher-
level information (e.g., extracts shapes for object recognition).
•Processing which is connected with a person's concepts and expectations (or
knowledge), restorative and selective mechanisms (such as attention) that influence
perception.
8. Key Points
– Our perceptions are based on how we interpret different sensations.
– This process is typically unconscious and happens hundreds of thousands of
times a day.
– When we attend to or select one specific thing in our environment, it becomes
the attended stimulus.
Perception (Cont…)
9. Dreams
A dream can include any of the images, thoughts, and emotions that are experienced during
sleep. It filled with joyful emotions or frightening imagery; focused and understandable or
unclear and confusing.
What Purpose Do Dreams Serve?
– Some researchers suggest that dreams serve no real purpose.
– Others believe that dreaming is essential to mental, emotional and physical well-
being.
– Dreams to be weaving new material into the memory system in a way that both
reduces emotional and is helping us with further trauma or stressful events."
10. While talking about human cognitive psychology in relation to dreams, you can debate
the interpretation of dreams when it comes to cognitive psychology and answer
questions such as:
“Why do we dream?”
“Why recall you dreams?”
“How to interpret your dream?.”
Dreams (Cont…)
11. Theories of Dreams
Many other theories have been suggested meaning of dreams. The few are flowing:
•Dreams function as a form of psychotherapy. In this theory, the dreamer is able to make
connections between different thoughts and emotions in a safe environment.
•One theory suggests that dreams are the result of our brains trying to interpret external
stimuli during sleep.
•Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams represented unconscious desires, thoughts, and
motivations. According to Freud’s psychoanalytic view. People are driven by aggressive
and sexual instincts that are repressed from conscious awareness.
12. Memory
Memory is the ability to take in information, encode it, store it, and retrieve it at a later
time.
Memory is the ability to take in information, store it, and recall it at a later time.
In psychology, memory is broken into three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval.
13. The Memory Process:
– Encoding (or registration): the process of receiving, processing, and
combining information.
– Storage: the creation of a permanent record of the encoded information.
Storage is the second memory stage or process in which we maintain
information over periods of time.
– Retrieval (or recall, or recognition): The third process is the retrieval of
information that we have stored. We must locate it and return it to our
consciousness.
Memory (Cont…)
15. False Memory
• False memories are mental experiences that people believe are accurate
representations of past events.
• False memory differs from simple memory errors.
• false memory is more than a simple mistake.
• It involves a level of certitude in the validity of the memory.
• False memories often revolve around trivial details.
Example:
Believing you saw someone at the scene of a crime.
16. Causes False Memory
• Misattribution of the original source of the information.
• Formation of a new memory, causing the recollection of an event to be mistaken or
entirely false.
• The misinformation effect can lead to inaccurate memories and, in some cases, even
result in the formation of false memories.
• In the case of eyewitness memories used to determine criminal guilt.
17. Attention
Attention is a concept studied in cognitive psychology that refers to how we actively
process specific information in our environment, There are numerous sights, sounds, and
sensations going on around you the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sight of
the street out of a nearby window, the soft warmth of your shirt, the memory of a
conversation you had earlier with a friend.
All of these sights, sounds, and sensations vie for our attention.
18. Attention by Philosopher
William James
Attention as Defined by Philosopher William James:
According to William James attention "is the taking possession by the mind, in clear
and vivid form, of one out of what may seem several simultaneously possible objects
or trains. The Principles of Psychology," 1890.
Key Points About Attention:
• Attention is limited:
Researchers have found that key variables that impact our ability to stay on task
include how interested we are in the stimulus and how many distractors we
experience.
• Attention is selective:
Since attention is a limited resource, we have to be selective about what we decide
to focus on.
• Attention is a basic part of the cognitive system:
Attention is a basic component of our biology, present even at birth.
19. Language
Language is a system that consists of the development, maintenance and use of
complex systems of communication.
Estimates of the number of human languages in the world vary between 5,000 and
7,000. Natural Language are spoken or signed.
20. Language in light of Psychology:
• Thinkers such as Rousseau have argued that language originated from emotions.
• While others like Kant have held that it originated from rational and logical
thought.
• In 20th-century philosophers such as Wittgenstein argued that philosophy is
really the study of language.
• Major figures in linguistics include Ferdinand de Saussure and Noam Chomsky.
• Gorgias and Plato in ancient Greece stated that Words can represent experience
that we use in our communication.
Language (Cont…)
21. Problem-Solving
In cognitive psychology the term problem-solving refers to the mental process that
people go through to discover, analyze, and solve problems.
This involves all of the steps in the problem process:
The discovery of the problem.
The decision to tackle the issue.
Understanding the problem.
Researching the available options,
Taking actions to achieve your goals.
22. There are a number of mental processes at work during problem-solving.
These include:
– Perceptually recognizing a problem
– Representing the problem in memory
– Considering relevant information that applies to the current problem
– Identify different aspects of the problem
– Labeling and describing the problem
Problem-Solving (Cont…)
23. The Steps in Problem-Solving:
In order to correctly solve a problem, it is important to follow a series of steps. Many
researchers refer to this as the problem-solving cycle.
–Identifying the Problem.
–Defining the Problem.
–Forming a Strategy.
–Organizing Information.
–Allocating Resources.
–Monitoring Progress.
–Evaluating the Results.
Problem-Solving (Cont…)
24. Creativity
Creativity is the ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and
possibilities. creativity is often associated with the arts, it is actually a vital form of
intelligence that drives people in many disciplines to discover something new.
25. In book (Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention)
Psychologist Mihaly suggested that creativity can often be seen in a few different
situations:
•People who seem stimulating, interesting, and have a variety of unusual thoughts.
•People who perceive the world with a fresh perspective, have insightful ideas and make
important personal discoveries.
•These individuals make creative discoveries that are generally known only to them.
•People who make great creative achievements that become known to the entire world.
Creativity (Cont…)
26. Types of Creativity
• “Mini-c” creativity involves personally meaningful ideas and insights that are
known only to the self.
• “Little-c” creativity involves mostly everyday thinking and problem-solving. This
type of creativity helps people solve everyday problems.
• “Pro-C” creativity takes place among professionals who are skilled and creative in
their respective fields
• “Big-C” creativity involves creating works and ideas that are considered great in a
particular field.
27. Achievements of creative peoples:
– Energy: Creative people tend to possess a great deal of both physical and
mental energy.
– Intelligence: Psychologists have long believed that intelligence plays a critical
role in creativity.
– Discipline: Creative people do not just sit around waiting for inspiration to
strike. They are playful, yet they are also disciplined in the pursuit of their work
and passions.
Types of Creativity (Cont…)
28. Conclusion
Cognitive psychology is relatively dissimilar from other subfields of psychology. It mainly
concentrates on the person’s mental processes and how it functions and affects several
decisions throughout his or her lifespan. Many of you might be indecisive in choosing
which cognitive topic to cover. After reading this article, you should have developed a
brief idea into some of the central topics cognitive scientists have studied.
