What is Cognitive Science - Questions

What are the six disciplines associated with cognitive science?

1. Philosophy

2. Psychology

3. Linguistics

4. Artificial intelligence

5. Arthrology

6. Neuroscience

How is philosophy intertwined in cognitive science?

Philosophers had long debated about the nature of the mind, and major schools of thought in influenced studies in the other disciplines

How is philosophy intertwined in cognitive science?

How is linguistics and psychology intertwined in cognitive science?

Linguistics and psychology were redefining themselves (more on this next week!), putting mental processes in a prominent position

How is anthropology intertwined in cognitive science?

Researchers in anthropology were becoming more interested in the way cultural aspects influence how people conceive things

How is computer science intertwined in cognitive science?

Creating machines (or systems) that emulated human intelligence was a major topic for computer scientists (Alan Turing proposes The Imitation Game in a 1950 paper)

How is Neuroscience intertwined in cognitive science?

Neuroscientists started mapping brain structures and functions in relation to these topics (and more)

How do neuroscience and psychology differ from each other?

Psychology:

1. There are general methods courses, which then apply to what is studied in all further specific courses

2. The remaining courses are all related to the study of different aspects at the level of the whole organism

Neuroscience:

1. General course methods are not as central to the “identity” of neuroscience

2. The courses seem to follow a logic of describing the (central) nervous system

What is Marrs levels of explanation? / What are the three levels?

Marr (1982) proposed that a cognitive ability can be studied with respect to 3 different levels of analysis

1. Computational: what is the cognitive task that is performed, what is its goal?

2. Algorithmic: what is the sequence of steps followed so that the cognitive task is performed?

3. Implementation: how is the task implemented physically (e.g., in the brain)?

What levels of Marrs levels of explanation does psychology operate under?

computational and algorithmic level

What levels of Marrs levels of explanation doe psychology operate under?

Implementation level

T/F Psychology and neuroscience operate on the same level of analysis

False: they operate on different levels of analysis

What is confirmation bias?

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values

What is hindsight bias?

The common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they were

“I knew it all along”

What is a theory?

• well-substantiated explanation of a natural phenomenon that is based on facts, hypotheses, and laws

• developed using the scientific method and are based on data that has been repeatedly tested and agreed upon by a wide group of scientists.

• Testable

What does it mean to operationalize a hypothesis?

It means to put the theory into use/ test it

What is a hypothesis?

Proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation

What does it mean for a theory to be testable?

It means you need to be able to prove the theory with supportive evidence.

What are dependent variables?

• what you measure in the experiment and what is affected during the experiment.

• The dependent variable responds to the independent variable.

What are independent variables?

The variable you change in the experiment that affects the dependent variable.

What is a sample?

A small part or quantity intended to show what the whole is like