Key Concepts in Cognitive Psychology

3 levels of Psychologica Research

Bio, Mental, and Social/Culture

Scope of psychological research applies to:

ALL people, indvs, certain groups, and specific actions by a specific indv.

Cog Psyc is the study of knowledge of:

acquisition, retention, and utilization

Epistemology:

How do we gain knowledge?

Plato:

Founder of rationalism

Aristotle

Founder of Empiricism

Cognitive Revolution

started in the 1950s and 1960s

Introspection

“looking within”; observing and recording your own thoughts

Behaviorism

focused on learning: observable behaviors and stimuli, NOT MENTAL EVENTS

Cognitive Map (Edward Tolman)

learning could occur without changes in behavior

Barlett

Suggested that people spontaneously use schemas to interpret experiences and
aid memory

Hindbrain

brainstem: Medulla and pons; movement coordination and balance

Midbrain

Coordinate precise eye movement, relays auditory info from ears to forebrain, regulating pain experiences

Forebrain

Cortex: outer surface of the forebrain; approx. 80% of the brain
Divided into two cerebral hemispheres by the longitudinal fissure

Split-brain patients

Severed from corpus callosum, alleviated epilepsy, severely limits communications between hemispheres, langugage mostly controlled by LEFT hemisphere

Neuropsychology

the study of the brain’s structures and their relation to function

EEG

Strength: temporally locating neural activity (when?)

Weakness: spatially locating neural activity (where?)

fMRI scans

Strength: spatially locating neural activity (where?)
Weakness: temporally locating neural activity (when?)

MRI scans

detect brain structures, NOT activity

Primary sensory projection areas

arrival points of sensory signals

Somatosensory area

parietal lobe; skin sensations

Primary auditory cortex

temporal lobe; auditory sensations

Primary visual cortex

occipital lobe; visual sensations

Sensitivity

reflects the dimmest light you can detect

Acuity

the sharpness or clarity of sensory perception, particularly in vision, and indicates the smallest detail that can be discerned.

wavelength

The spatial distance between two consecutive positive (or negative) peaks

Visual Coding

the relationship between activity in the nervous system and the stimulus that is somehow represented by this actiivity

Automaticity

describes tasks that are well practiced and require little or no executive
control