This document provides an overview of cognitive psychology. It discusses the topics covered in cognitive psychology such as memory, attention, problem solving, and more. It defines cognition and cognitive psychology. Experimental cognitive psychology, computational cognitive science, cognitive neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience are described as approaches to studying cognitive psychology. Limitations of each approach are also outlined. Brain imaging techniques used in cognitive neuroscience like EEG, PET, fMRI are explained. Basic brain anatomy terms are defined. Eyetracking is discussed as an experimental technique.

1. Cognitive Psychology
Made by:
Mirza Naadirhasan
Memon Ayan
Modhava sahel

2. Course Layout
Topics to be covered:
• Memory
• Attention
• Mental Imagery
• Language
• Problem Solving & Expertise
• Reasoning, Decision Making & Judgements
• Consciousness
• Knowledge

3. Cognition
The word cognition is derived from the Latin word cognoscere,
meaning “to know” or “to come to know”.
Cognition is therefore the activities and processes concerned
with the acquisition, storage, retrieval and processing of kn
owledge.

4. What is Cognitive Psychology?
It is the scientific study of how the mind works
“...cognitive psychology deals with how people perceive, learn
, remember, and think about information.”
— Sternberg (1999)
“Cognitive psychology [is] the study of processes underlying m
ental events”
— Solso (2005)

5. What do cognitive psychologists study?
Memory Decision Making
Attention Perception
Learning Neurobiology
Cognitive Development Concept Formation
Emotion Artificial Intelligence
Language Problem Solving
Mental Imagery Animal Cognition

6. hings which cognitive psychologists may see
k to explain. . .
Why do we find it difficult to describe how to tie a sho
elace without moving our hands or looking at our s
hoes?

7. hings which cognitive psychologists may see
k to explain. . .
What processes are involved in planning a novel rout
e through familiar terrain.
(e.g. How do I get from UCD to town via Dundrum)

8. hings which cognitive psychologists may see
k to explain. . .
How can we recognise a song from its first few beats
?

9. Approaches to Cognitive Psychology
• Experimental Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Cognitive Science
• Cognitive Neuropsychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience

10. Experimental Cognitive Psychology
Tightly controlled experiments carried out under labor
atory conditions on healthy individuals.
Experiments often designed to disrupt cognitive proc
esses and thus reveal their workings.
(e.g. Distracting participants attention)
Findings lead to theories, which in turn lead to testabl
e claims
(e.g. “Instrumental music does not disrupt reading”)

11. Experimental Cognitive Psychology
Some limitations:
• Is behaviour in a laboratory fundamentally different
to that in real world settings. Are the findings of exp
eriments ecologically valid?
• Does not look directly at brain function, but rather t
he explicit behavioural results of brain function. Th
us we may miss something.
• Tendency to negate individual differences by avera
ging many participants’ performances. Does not all
ow for the possibility of unique cog. function

12. Computational Cognitive Science
Computational modelling involves recreating some a
spect of human cognition in the form of computer p
rogram, flow chart or formula in order to predict be
haviour in novel situations

13. Computational Cognitive Science
Some limitations
• There are usually many ways to model a particular
cognitive phenomenon
• There is a lack of a definite method for relating a c
omputational model’s behaviour to human behavio
ur
• It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to take ev
ery cognitive factor into account when creating a m
odel .

14. Cognitive Neuropsychology
Concerned with the cognitive functioning of those wh
o have suffered brain damage
• Damage to region X disrupts ability Y
• People who have lost ability Y also have problems
with ability Z
From studying people with brain injuries we make as
sertions about healthy brain function

15. Cognitive Neuropsychology
Sample Case: Frontal Lobe damage
• People with frontal lobe damage often show little c
ognitive deficit when given IQ tests
• However they have extreme difficulty with things lik
e
–Socially acceptable behaviours
–Cognitive flexibility
–Abstract thinking
• Frontal lobes are the area which differ to the greate
st extent between human and ape brains

16. Cognitive Neuropsychology
Some limitations:
• Ethically we cannot cause brain damage in human
s so we have to work with what we find. This dama
ge is rarely ‘clean’
• Interpretation of findings in relation to those sufferi
ng damage to several areas is very difficult
• If ability Y is disrupted by damage to region X, it do
es not tell us what role X has in Y. Is it the function
al centre, or simply a vital there are 50 million inter
connected neurons.

17. Cognitive Neuroscience
Using brain imaging and brain anatomy to study ‘live’
cognitive functioning in healthy individuals
As the technology improves, these studies are beco
ming more influential and potentially useful
Methods include: (Details to follow!)
• Single Unit Recording
• Event Related Potentials (ERPs)
• Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
• (Functional) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI, MRI)
• Magneto-encephalography (MEG)
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

18. Cognitive Neuroscience
Some Limitations
• Techniques are of questionable use with high-order function
ing which might not be organised in a concise way
• If data from several individuals is averaged the interpretatio
ns become accordingly blunt
• Tendency for research to be conducted for the sake of rese
arch. Papers can often be lacking any theoretical basis, a
nd result in ad hoc hypotheses
• Threshold levels need to be set to disregard noise. These le
vels are a contentious issue!

19. Cognitive Neuroscience
Event Related Potentials (ERPs)
• Electrical brain activity (EEG) is measured on the scalp
• Several readings for the same stimuli are averaged to count
eract spontaneous background activity

20. Cognitive Neuroscience
Event Related Potentials (ERPs)
Pros:
Best detail of the timeline of cognitive events
Cons:
Only useful with simple, low-level stimuli
Skull and scalp distort emerging electrical waves

21. Cognitive Neuroscience
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
• Radioactive substance injected into the body and observed
as it gathers in blood vessels of brain
• Activity levels are determined as (very mild) radioactivity lev
els are measured by subtracting activity levels at rest from
activity levels during a particular task

22. Cognitive Neuroscience
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Pros:
Maps wide range of cognitive activities including complex tasks
Reasonable location of active areas (3-4 millimeters)
Cons:
Scans indicate total amount of activity over 60 seconds. Not se
nsitive to rapid changes in activity.

23. Cognitive Neuroscience
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
• Radio waves produce neural activity picked up by a large m
agnet.
• If used to scan anatomy of brain for tumors etc. it is MRI. If
used during tasks to detect brain function it is fMRI.

24. Cognitive Neuroscience
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Pros:
No biological risks
Provides anatomical and functional information
Cons:
Poor temporal resolution of a few seconds

25. Basic Brain Terms
Cortex: The outer layer of brain tissue

26. Basic Brain Terms
Lobes

27. Basic Brain Terms
Directions

28. Some experimental techniques
Eyetracking
• Infrared cameras can detect where the eye is looki
ng and for how long
• Used to study reading

29. Some experimental techniques
Eyetracking
Analysis of advertising, phobias, expert search patterns etc