Mark H. Ashcraft, Gabriel A. Radvansky - Cognition-Pearson (2014) copy

Chapter 1: Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychology examines human memory and cognition, focusing on mental events and knowledge used in recognizing objects, remembering names, and solving problems.
Fundamental questions include:
- How do we read meaning?
- How do we memorize facts?
- What does it mean to forget?
- How do we know what we don’t know?
The central theme is understanding how people think, using an objective scientific approach.

Memory:
- A process involving acquisition, retention, and retrieval of information.
- Stored information can include childhood memories or recent events; it integrates past experiences and current use.
- Memory is not limited to long durations but includes retention over brief moments.
Cognition:
- Encompasses mental processes such as perception, memory, thinking, and understanding.
- Cognitive Psychology focuses on everyday mental processes.

The scientific study of cognition has roots that trace back to early philosophers and experimental psychologists.
Notable figures:
- Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920): Established the first psychology lab, laid groundwork for cognitive experiments.
- Edward Titchener: Developed structuralism and emphasized the introspection method.
- Hermann von Ebbinghaus: Conducted pioneering research on memory and forgetting using nonsense syllables.
- William James: Proposed functionalism and discussed divided memory systems.

From the 1910s to the 1950s, psychology focused on observable behavior, largely sidelining cognitive processes.
Key behaviorists included:
- John B. Watson: Advocated that psychology study observable behaviors rather than the unobservable mind.
- B.F. Skinner: Stressed the unobserved mental processes were irrelevant to scientific behavior study.

The cognitive revolution (1950s) marked a shift back to mental processes. Influential in this resurgence:
- The contributions from linguistics, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence.
- World War II research highlighted practical concerns about human thinking and decision-making.

Cognitive Psychology focuses on understanding the mental processes similar to the operations of a computer.
Major concepts:
- Channel Capacity: Humans are limited in attention and processing, akin to communication systems.
- Computer Analogy: Mental processes can be viewed similarly to information processes in computers.

Cognitive psychologists often use:
- Response Time (RT): Measures the reaction speed to stimuli as a way of studying cognitive processes.
- Accuracy: Assesses the success of response to stimuli in identifying human cognitive capabilities.

Standard Theory of Memory:
- Consists of sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
- Information processing is thought to flow through stages, from perception to response.
Process Models: These are detailed hypotheses about how specific mental tasks are completed based on empirical data.

Cognitive Psychology exposes core themes across cognitive tasks:
- Attention, memory, learning processes, and interaction with context influence cognition.

Connects understanding of the brain's structure and function with mental processes.
Focuses on how neural processes influence cognition.
Neurons:
- Basic building blocks of the nervous system, averaging around 100 billion neurons in the human brain, interconnected in about 100 trillion connections.
Neural Communication:
- Involves action potentials (electrical) and neurotransmitters (chemical) across synapses.

Key brain structures involved in cognition include:
- Thalamus: Gateway for sensory information to the cortex.
- Corpus Callosum: Connects left and right hemispheres.
- Hippocampus: Key for memory formation.
- Amygdala: Processes emotional information, linked with memory.

Include:
- CT and MRI: Assess brain structure and abnormalities.
- PET and fMRI: Measure metabolic activity and blood flow, indicating neural engagement during tasks.

Connectionist models simulate mental processes using networks of interconnected units that mimic neuron behavior.
These models effectively combine bottom-up feature detection processes with top-down influences from context and experience.