Cogntive Psychology - Module 1

Absolutely! Let’s break it down into simple and clear explanations with everyday examples.

1. What is Cognitive Psychology?

Cognitive psychology is the study of how our minds work—how we think, remember, learn, and pay attention. It’s like studying how a computer processes information, but for the human brain!

Example:

• When you see a dog, your brain recognizes it instantly. But how?

• Your mind processes its shape, fur, and movement and compares it to dogs you’ve seen before.

• That’s cognition in action!

2. How Do Scientists Study Thinking?

Scientists use experiments to study thinking. They test how people read, remember, or focus under different conditions.

Example: The Pseudohomophone Effect (Rubenstein et al., 1971)

• People take longer to decide if "brane" is a real word than "table" because "brane" sounds like a real word (brain).

• This shows that when we read, we don’t just look at letters—we also "hear" words in our heads!

3. Where Did Cognitive Psychology Come From?

Cognitive psychology developed from other fields, including:

• Philosophy – Early thinkers like Descartes asked, "How do we think?"

• Behaviorism – Studied only observable actions (e.g., Skinner and Pavlov’s experiments).

• Gestalt Psychology – Studied how we see patterns and organize information.

4. Cognitive Psychology vs. Behaviorism

• Behaviorism (e.g., Skinner) said: "We only care about what we can see—actions, not thoughts!"

• Cognitive psychology (e.g., Chomsky) said: "We can’t ignore thinking! The brain is like a computer processing information."

Example:

• If you tell a child a new word, behaviorists would say they only learn it through repetition.

• Cognitive psychologists say children also use rules and patterns to figure out words.

5. How Do Computers Help Us Understand Thinking?

There are two ways AI helps us study the mind:

1. Pure AI: Tries to make computers better than humans (e.g., Google Translate).

2. Computer Simulation: Tries to imitate human thinking (e.g., ChatGPT).

6. How Do We Study the Brain?

Scientists use tools to see how the brain works:

• Single-cell recording – Measures activity of one brain cell.

• Brain lesions – Looks at what happens when parts of the brain are damaged.

• PET scans & fMRI – Show which brain parts are active when thinking.

• ERP (Event-Related Potentials) – Tracks brain waves when reacting to something.

7. How Do We Process Information?

There are two major approaches:

1. Information Processing Approach: The brain works step by step like a computer.

2. Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP): The brain does many things at once like a super-fast internet network.

Example:

• When you see a stop sign, your brain processes color, shape, and meaning at the same time!

8. Why Is Cognitive Psychology Useful?

It helps in education, therapy, AI, forensics, and more!

Example:

• Teachers use cognitive psychology to help students remember better.

• Tech companies use it to improve AI assistants like Siri.

9. How Do We Recognize Things?

We recognize objects using patterns:

• Distal stimulus = The real object (e.g., a tree).

• Proximal stimulus = What appears on your retina (an upside-down tree image!).

• Your brain flips the image and makes sense of it automatically!

10. What Is Gestalt Psychology?

Gestalt psychology says: "The whole is more than just the parts."
We group things together based on rules:

• Similarity – We group things that look alike. 👀

• Proximity – We group things that are close together. 🔲🔲🔲

• Good Continuation – We see smooth paths, not broken lines. ➰

Example:

• You see 😊 as a face, not separate dots and lines!

11. How Do We See Depth?

We judge how far things are using clues:

• Linear Perspective – Parallel lines seem to meet in the distance (like train tracks 🚆).

• Texture Gradient – Closer objects have more detail than far ones.

12. How Do We Recognize Objects?

There are three main theories:

1. Template Matching: The brain compares objects to a mental "template" (like barcodes 📷).

2. Feature Analysis: The brain breaks things into parts (like letters: "A" = / + ).

3. Geon Theory: Objects are made of basic 3D shapes (geons) like cylinders and cubes.

Example:

• You recognize a cat even if it’s in the dark because you use shapes, not details!

13. Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Processing

• Bottom-Up: You see details first, then build the big picture.

• Top-Down: Your brain guesses based on experience.

Example:

• Reading messy handwriting:

  • Bottom-Up: You look at each letter.

  • Top-Down: You guess the word from context.

14. Attention

We can focus on one thing but sometimes miss others:

• Divided Attention: Trying to do two things at once (e.g., texting while driving = dangerous!).

• Selective Attention: Focusing on one thing and ignoring others (e.g., talking in a noisy room).

15. Memory: How Do We Store Information?

The Atkinson & Shiffrin Model explains memory in three steps:

1. Sensory Memory – Very brief storage (a few seconds).

2. Short-Term Memory (STM) – Holds about 7 items for 20 seconds.

3. Long-Term Memory (LTM) – Stores information forever!

Example:

• STM: You remember a phone number for a few seconds.

• LTM: You remember your childhood home forever.

16. How Do We Prove STM and LTM Are Different?

• Rundas (1971) – People remember the first and last words in a list best.

• Patient Studies – Brain injuries show STM and LTM use different brain areas.

17. Working Memory (Baddeley’s Model)

Working memory is like a mental scratchpad:

1. Phonological Loop – Stores words (like a mental voice).

2. Visuospatial Sketchpad – Stores images and locations.

3. Central Executive – Boss that controls attention.

Example:

• When solving math, you hold numbers in mind while calculating.

Final Thoughts

This is cognitive psychology in simple terms! Let me know if you want me to go even deeper or explain specific studies. 😊