Week 1: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

What is cognitive psychology?

The scientific study of human mental processes involved in perceiving, comprehending, remembering, and thinking.

Using behavioural evidence to understand cognition, e.g. reaction time, accuracy

When was cognitive psychology founded? Which approach did it follow?

In 1960. It breaks away from Behaviourism

What is behaviourism?

The scientific study of observable behaviour, rejecting the use of introspection.

What are the four approaches to human cognition?

1. Cognitive psychology

2. Cognitive neuropsychology

3. Cognitive neuroscience

4. Computational cognitive science.

What is cognitive neuropsychology?

The study of brain-damaged patients to understand cognitive processes, e.g. case study of KF

What is cognitive neuroscience?

Using evidence from behaviour and brain imaging to understand cognitive tasks, e.g. which part of the brain is responsible for certain tasks.

What is computational cognitive science?

Developing computational models to simulate cognitive processes, such as AI and algorithms.

What is an algorithm in cognitive psychology?

A computational procedure providing specific steps to solve a problem.

What are the assumptions of cognitive psychology?

1. Mental processes exist as a central processing unit.

2. Mental processes can be studied scientifically.

3. Humans are active participants in cognition.

How are mental processes measured in cognitive psychology?

Through response time (RT) and accuracy.

What does response time (RT) measure?

The time elapsed between a stimulus and a person's response.

What is accuracy in cognitive psychology?

The proportion of correct responses in a task.

What is the evaluation of the cognitive psychology approach?

+Foundation for understanding human mental processes, e.g. memory, language

+ Continues to inform theorising to contemporary research across disciplines (e.g. social, clinical and developmental)

+ The source of most theories and tasks used by other approaches

- Task impurity problem: most tasks involve multiple cognitive processes, e.g. Stroop task - words in different colours test

- Ecological validity: people's behaviour in the lab may differ from everyday life

- Lab-based measures: RTs and/or accuracy, provide indirect evidence, reductionist

- Paradigm specificity: findings on one task do not always generalise to other similar tasks, pps may be good at one task but not another

What is the task impurity problem?

Most tasks involve multiple cognitive processes, making it hard to isolate specific processes, e.g Stroop task

What is paradigm specificity?

Findings on one task may not generalise to other similar tasks.

What is metatheory?

A set of assumptions and guiding principles that generate research questions.

→ Where to start? What to look for? What to be aware of?

What is information processing in cognitive psychology?

Understanding mental processes as a sequence of independent processing stages, similar to a computer.

What is bottom-up processing?

Data-driven processing that is directly affected by stimulus input.

Input → attention and perception → thought and decision → response or action

(data-driven/exogenous)

What is serial processing

Current process is completed before the next one starts, linear, sequential order, not simultaneous

What is top-down processing?

Conceptually-driven processing influenced by an individual's expectations and prior knowledge.

What is parallel processing?

When multiple cognitive processes occur simultaneously, can be different intensities, using different cognitive resource

What are the seven themes of cognition?

1. Bottom-up vs top-down processing

2. Attention

3. Representation

4. Implicit vs explicit memory

5. Metacognition

6. Embodiment

7. The brain.

What is attention as a mental process?

• Important but poorly understood process

• Limited in quantity

• Essential to most processing

• Only partially under our control

• Filtering what is important from what isn’t

What is representation as a mental process?

• Hypothetical entity

• Stands for a particular perception, thought or memory

• Keeping something in your mind internally, e.g. visualising an object

• Manipulated during cognitive operations, e.g. retrieval from memory, thinking or problem solving

What are implicit vs explicit memories?

Implicit (unconscious) memories: remember things without awareness, e.g. riding a bike

Explicit (conscious) memories: memories of personal information (episodic) and facts (semantic), e.g. first day of school

What is metacognition?

Awareness of one's own cognitive processes and how they work.

• Thinking about thinking

• Being aware that you are a thinking being

• The processes used to plan, monitor and assess our understanding and performance

What is embodiment in cognitive psychology?

• The idea that our cognition is influenced by our physical and social interactions with the world.

• Our mental schemas guide our physical and social interactions

• Bidirectional relationship between the world and our cognitions

• → Embodied cognition: the way we think and reflect information is a reflection of how we interact with the world

Outline ‘the brain’ theme of cognition

• Brain-cognition relationships

• Questions the focus of contemporary cognitive psychologists

• Focus on how and where memories are stored in the brain

What is the difference between the 4 approaches to human cognition?

1. Cognitive psychology: use behavioural evidence to understand cognition, e.g. reaction time, accuracy

2. Cognitive neuropsychology: studying brain damaged patients, e.g. clinical, e.g. KF

3. Cognitive neuroscience: using evidence from behaviour and brain imaging, e.g. which part of the brain is responsible for certain tasks, e.g. fMRI

4. Computational cognitive science: developing computational models, e.g. AI, algorithm

Evaluate cognitive neuropsychology as an approach

STRENGTHS

• Single-case studies allow detailed analysis of individual cognitive impairments.

• Case-series studies capture variation across multiple patients, identifying patterns that single cases might miss.

• These approaches reveal insights even when group-level methods fail due to individual differences.

• Useful for understanding reorganized or unique cognitive systems post-damage

LIMITATIONS

• Brain damage effects can be masked; damage usually affects multiple modules.

• Individuals vary widely, and seriality assumptions are often wrong.

• Cognitive neuropsychology assumes modularity, brain–mind correspondence, and uses double dissociations for strong evidence.

• Research often focuses on specific functions, making interpretation challenging due to compensation and variability.

Evaluate cognitive neuroscience as an approach

STRENGTHS

• Resolves theoretical debates in cognitive psychology.

• Reveals brain–behaviour relationships.

• Combining techniques improves spatial and temporal insights.

• TMS can show necessity of specific brain areas.

WEAKNESSES

• Shows associations, not causality.

• Assumes functional specialisation, which may not apply to higher-order functions.

• Baseline, ecological validity, and paradigm specificity are problematic.

• Task performance may differ in lab vs. real-world settings.

Evaluate computational cognitive science as an approach

Strengths:

• Encourages rigorous theorising.

• Cognitive architectures offer overarching frameworks.

• Connectionist networks can simulate learning and distributed knowledge.

• Can model neuroimaging data and parallel processing.

Limitations:

• Rarely used to make new predictions.

• Typically focus on one model per phenomenon.

• Neural plausibility of connectionist models is limited.

• Outcomes can be overly parameter-dependent.

• Often ignores motivation and emotion.