Cognitive psychology is the study of how people think, perceive, learn, remember, and solve problems. It has roots in both rationalism, which emphasizes logic and reasoning, and empiricism, which focuses on experience and observation. Early approaches included structuralism, functionalism, and associationism. Behaviorism then dominated but was later supplemented by cognitivism, which focuses on mental processes and representations. Modern cognitive psychology uses diverse methods like experiments, case studies, and computer simulations to understand phenomena like attention, memory, decision-making, language, and problem-solving.

1. The study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information. Problem Solving Attention Memory Decision Making Reading Language

2. Thesis Antithesis flaws/alt idea Synthesis: best of both New Thesis flaws/alt idea

3. Rationalist Logic & reasoning is key Empiricist Experience & observation is key Philosophical Roots

4. Rationalism (Descartes) Empiricism (Locke) Synthesis: Both have a role (Kant)

5. Structuralism (Titchener) Functionalism (James) led to Pragmatists Synthesis: Associationism (Ebbinghaus & Thorndike)

6. Associationism (Thorndike) Behaviorism (Pavlov) Synthesis: Extreme form of Behaviorism took hold. Psychology should study only observable behavior (Watson & Skinner).

7. Behaviorism Dominated until…. Synthesis: Cognitions should play an active role in psychology (Gestalt, Bandura) Less radical Behaviorist Cognitive Map (Tolman)

8. Hebb & Lashley emphasize how cognition could be explained by neuroscience. Chompsky’s review of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior: “ reductio ad absurdum ” Development of Computers and Artificial Intelligence These developments led to the “ cognitive revolution ” and increased interest in the study of mental processes (cognitions)

9. Experiments Psychobiological studies Self report Case studies Naturalistic Observation Computer Simulations

10. Random sample of participants Manipulate the Independent Variable Create experimental group Create control group Randomly assign participants Measure the Dependent Variable Same for all groups Control all other variables Prevent confounds

11. Manipulate stimulus materials Compare words to non-words Compare color diagrams to black and white Compare Yes questions to No questions Control how participants process materials Use imagery to study versus repetition Vary speed of presentation of materials

12. Reaction Time (milliseconds) Mental events take time Accuracy/Error analysis How well the participant does on a task

13. Postmortem studies Examine the cortex of dyslexics after death Brain damaged individuals and their deficits Study amnesiacs with hippocampus damage Monitor a participant doing a cognitive task Measure brain activity while a participant is reciting a poem

14. Verbal Protocol Participants describe their conscious thoughts while solving a story problem Diary Study Participants keep track of memory failures Naturalistic Observation Monitor decision making of pilots during flights

15. Intensive studies of individuals May examine archival records, interviews, direct observation, or participant-observations Creativity of successful individuals The deficits of a neglected child

16. Analogy for human Cognition The sequence of symbol manipulation that underlies thinking The goal: discovery of the programs in humans’ memory Computer simulations of Artificial Intelligence Recreate human processes using computers

17. Nature vs. Nurture Rationalism vs. Empiricism Structures vs. Processes Domain Generality vs. Domain Specificity Causal Inferences vs. Ecological validity Applied vs. Basic Research Biological vs. Behavioral Methods

18. Theory Data Data can only be fully explained with theories, and theories are insufficient without data – thus creating the cycle of science.

19. Cognition is typically adaptive, but errors made can be informative. Example- Spoonerisms: A lack of pies (A pack of lies) It's roaring with pain (It's pouring with rain) Errors can be used to infer how speech production occurs.

20. Cognitive processes interact with each other and with non-cognitive processes Emotions may affect decisions Working memory capacity contributes to reading speed Perception contributes to memory decisions

21. Many different methods are used to study cognition Experiments Individual differences Case studies Clinical studies

22. Basic research often leads to important applications and applied research often contributes to a more basic understanding of cognition Priming is explained by spreading activation in memory, and can also explain why skilled readers may read faster Studying the common errors that 1 st graders make in math class can help us to better understand how humans process mathematical information