Cognitive Psychology For Physiotherapy and Nursing students

1. COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Cognitive Psychology is the study of higher mental processes such as
“Attention, Language use, Memory, Perception, Problem solving,
Creativity and Thinking.
For Physiotherapy and Nursing students

2. ATTENTION
• Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating one aspect of the
environment while ignoring other things.
• Focusing our mind on an object or idea at particular time, to the exclusion of
other objects or ideas.
• Other definitions:
• Dumyille: “Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one object rather
than upon another.”
• Morgan and Gilliland: “Attention is being keenly alive to some specific factor in our
environment. It is a preparatory adjustment for response.”
• Ross: Attention is the process of getting an object or thought clearly before the mind

3. TYPES OF ATTENTION:
• Involuntary attention: It does not require any conscious effort to attend to an
object.
• Voluntary attention: Effort is must.
• Selective/Habitual: There is a conscious effort or sensation so striking to attract
our involuntary attention. We attend to them because of our attitude habits or
interests.
• Alternating attention: Some individuals possess a capacity for mental flexibility
that allows individual to shift their focus of attention and move between tasks
having different cognitive requirements.
• Divided attention: Highest level of attention and it refers to the ability to respond
simultaneously to multiple tasks or demands.

4. FACTORS DETERMINING ATTENTION
• The maximum amount of material that can be attended to in one
period of attention is called Span of attention.
• The attention depends upon the characteristics of the stimulus, the
internal need, expectancies and experience among others.
• Factors which determine the attention are:
• Objective or External factors.
• Subjective or Internal factors.

5. OBJECTIVE OR EXTERNAL FACTORS
• Intensity: Attention is attracted more by intense stimuli, such as loud sounds,
bright colours etc.
• Size: Larger the size of object, more attraction is drawn towards it.
• Repetitions: A weak stimulus frequently repeated may be as effective as a strong
one presented once.
• Movements: Moving objects attracts our attention than the stationary objects.
• Change: Change attracts attention which maybe loudness, movements or colours.
• Novelty: An object that is new or different from others makes a powerful appeal
for attention.
• Location: Any object that is in front of our eyes or picture at the center, attracts
our attention more than one in corner.
• Contrast: Any object that is strikingly different from its surroundings will tend to
stand out and attract attention.

6. SUBJECTIVE OR INTERNAL FACTORS.
• Interest: Attention and interests are closely interrelated.
• Habits: Habits helps in sensation of stimulus. All of us are habituated to react to the
sound of a coin. In a busy street also this sound catches our attention
• Motives: Your own desires and motives attracts more attention. A sleeping mother
may not be disturbed even by a loud noise outside but a faint cry of her child may
attract her attention
• Emotions: If a person is angry with another person, in a group that person will catch
his attention. It can be disadvantageous too.
• Attitudes and prejudices: Whenever attitude is unfavorable towards a group or a
person, even a small mistake committed by him will attract our attention. In the same
way, prejudices also influences our attention.

7. Degree or span of attention:
• If you’re able to note five digits or five letters in a single act of attention, your
span of attention is five.
• Attention, focus of attention can only last a few seconds.
• Division of attention:
It refers to the process of dividing attention equally and simultaneously
between two or more objects.
E.g; Listening to lectures and writing down notes.
• Alterations:
• Distraction of attention.
• Attention deficit.

8. SENSATION
• The process through which the senses pick up visual, auditory and other stimuli
and transmit them to brain.
• Sensory information that has registered in brain but has not been interpreted is
called as sensation.
• Sensation can be received by:
• Eye—Vision (light, colour, shape, etc.)
• Ear—Audio or different sounds.
• Tongue—Taste (sweet, sour, bitter, etc.)
• Nose—Olfaction or smell (fragrant, pungent, etc.)
• Skin—Cutaneous sensation (heat, cold, pain, and pressure)
• Muscles—Kinaesthetic sensation (sense of pull, push and strain)
• Organs—Organic sensation (hungry, thirst, nausea)
• Vestibular apparatus—Static or posture sensation (sense of equilibrium,
dizziness, reclining, etc.

10. PERCEPTION
• Perception is the interpretation of sensory stimuli, which reach the sense organs
and brain. Interpretation gives meaning to sensation and we become aware of
objects.
• Perception has been defined as “Process of information extraction” as a
“Preparation for response”.
• Charles G. Morries: “All the processes involved in creating meaningful patterns
out of a jumble of sensory impressions fall under the general category of
perception.”
• R.E. Silverman: “Perception is an individual’s awareness aspect of behavior, for it
is the way each person processes the raw data he or she receives from the
environment, into meaningful patterns.
• Perception is a active and creative process and the same sensory input maybe
perceived different ways in different time.

12. PRINCIPLES OF PERCEPTION
• Figure-ground relations: Gestalt theorists focused the importance of figure-
ground relations- Tendency to organise stimuli into a central or foreground figure
and a background.
• Most fundamental principle is to distinguish the figure from the ground.

13. • Law of proximity or nearness: Object or figures, which are close to each other,
will form a unit.
• Law of similarity: Objects or figures which are similar in shape or forms, though
mixed with other things will be grouped together because of similarity.

14. • Law of symmetry and closure:
• Items that form symmetrical units are grouped together.
• Items are perceived as complete units even though they are interrupted by gaps.

15. • Law of continuity: Continuous lines or dots irrespective of shape or size or color
will form a unit.

16. Perceptual constancies:
• It is defined as tendency to perceive things as relatively constant despite the
changes in the sensory input in the sense receptors.
• Types:
• SIZE CONSTANCY: The tendency to perceive things as having the same size
despite the changes in retinal images.
• SHAPE CONSTANCY: The tendency to perceive no changes in the shape of an
object.
• COLOR CONSTANCY: The tendency to see colour as the same even though
the amount of light changes.

17. FACTORS AFFECTING PERCEPTION
• Physical factors: Physical health of individual one of the factors that affect the
perception. The stimulus must have enough intensity to be perceived.
• Psychological factors:
• Mood: sad mood- perceive every stimulus as negative.
• Interests: Interests attracts good perception.
• Emotions: Positive and negative emotions. Based on perception, emotions are varied
• Memory images: Images of past experience helps in comprehension of object.
• Environmental factors:
• Direct experience: It involves direct experience with objects, persons or events.
• Past experience: It is responsible for development of personal interests.
• Needs and motives: Our needs and motives also affect the perceptual process.

18. ERRORS IN PERCEPTION
• ILLUSION:
• It is wrong or false perception because of wrong interpretation of stimuli. For
example, A rope in the dark is perceived as a snake or a moving dry leaf in the
dark is perceived as a moving insect.
• Types of Illusion:
• The Muller Iyer illusion
• The Horizontal- Vertical illusion.
• Moon illusion
• Zoollner illusion

19. • The Muller Iyer illusion:The line X looks longer than line Y. This is because of the line Y
has arrowhead which is enclosed whereas X is with featherhead which looks more open.
• The Horizontal- Vertical illusion: The vertical line drawn from mid point to the
horizontal line. Though the two lines are equal in length, the vertical line looks longer
than the horizontal line. This is because of the movement of the eyes along the vertical
line
• Moon illusion: Zoolner illusion:

20. • HALLUCINATIONS:
• This is an extreme form of inaccurate, abnormal false perception of stimulus,
which does not exist in the environment.
• For example, Perceiving a snake in the absence of a rope, Seeing ghost in the
dark.
• It takes place because of inner fear, anxiety or conflict.
• The types of hallucinations are auditory, visual, gustatory or kinesthetic when
a person hallucinates he hears, sees and feels the non-existent objects or
stimuli.