Cognitive Psychology

Lecture 1: Introduction
James Matthews and John Toner

Course Layout
Topics to be covered: Memory Attention Mental Imagery Language Problem Solving & Expertise Reasoning, Decision Making & Judgements Consciousness Knowledge

Course Completion
Christmas Exam
Format to follow.

Class presentation
Each student will have to give one 10 minute presentation over the course of the 12 weeks based on a set article.

Course Completion
Class presentation
Short: 10 mins, 10 - 15 slides Everyone expected to read the article over the course of the week Presentation should simply summarise the main methods (where relevant) and arguments of the article Presentation should finish with a points for discussion slide bringing in their own thoughts and facilitating debate

Reading (Library: GEN/SLC 153.4)

Core text: Eysenck, M., & Keane, M. (2005). Cognitive Psychology: A students handbook (5th ed.) Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press Other sources: Reisberg, D. (2006) Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind (3rd ed.) New York: W.W. Norton & Company Sternberg, R. (2003). Cognitive Psychology (3rd ed.) Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace

Article Search
http://www.ucd.ie/library/
Electronic Resources List of Library Databases PsychInfo

Cognition
The word cognition is derived from the Latin word cognoscere, meaning to know or to come to know. Cognition is therefore the activities and processes concerned with the acquisition, storage, retrieval and processing of knowledge.

What is Cognitive Psychology?

It is the scientific study of how the mind works
...cognitive psychology deals with how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information. Sternberg (1999) Cognitive psychology [is] the study of processes underlying mental events Solso (2005)

What do cognitive psychologists study?

Memory Attention Learning Cognitive Development Emotion Language Mental Imagery Decision Making Perception Neurobiology Concept Formation Artificial Intelligence Problem Solving Animal Cognition

Things which cognitive psychologists may seek to explain. . .

Why do we find it difficult to describe how to tie a shoelace without moving our hands or looking at our shoes?

Things which cognitive psychologists may seek to explain. . .

What processes are involved in planning a novel route through familiar terrain. (e.g. How do I get from UCD to town via Dundrum)

Things which cognitive psychologists may seek to explain. . .

How can we recognise a song from its first few beats?

Things which cognitive psychologists may seek to explain. . .

Phenomena like that shown in this video

http://gigglesugar.com/349186

Approaches to Cognitive Psychology

Experimental Cognitive Psychology Computational Cognitive Science Cognitive Neuropsychology Cognitive Neuroscience

Experimental Cognitive Psychology

Tightly controlled experiments carried out under laboratory conditions on healthy individuals. Experiments often designed to disrupt cognitive processes and thus reveal their workings. (e.g. Distracting participants attention) Findings lead to theories, which in turn lead to testable claims (e.g. Instrumental music does not disrupt reading)

Experimental Cognitive Psychology

Sample Experiment: Effect of arousal level on reaction time. Reaction time assessed on a machine where buttons light up and time to respond is measured Arousal assessed through heart rate measurement Conditions: 1) After rest 2) After cognitive load 3) After exercise 4) After caffeine 5) After exercise and caffeine

Experimental Cognitive Psychology

Some limitations: Is behaviour in a laboratory fundamentally different to that in real world settings. Are the findings of experiments ecologically valid? Does not look directly at brain function, but rather the explicit behavioural results of brain function. Thus we may miss something. Tendency to negate individual differences by averaging many participants performances. Does not allow for the possibility of unique cog. function

Computational Cognitive Science

Computational modelling involves recreating some aspect of human cognition in the form of computer program, flow chart or formula in order to predict behaviour in novel situations

Computational Cognitive Science

Computational models can vary in complexity from relatively simple flow charts to highly detailed connectionist networks. In these latter models units or nodes are connected to many others. In a particular scenario units take the weighted sum of the inputs coming to it and produce a single output to another unit. Networks can be arranged in complex layered systems

Computational Cognitive Science

Some limitations There are usually many ways to model a particular cognitive phenomenon There is a lack of a definite method for relating a computational models behaviour to human behaviour It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to take every cognitive factor into account when creating a model (e.g. Do models of language processing take into account the emotional connotations of particular sentences for particular individuals?)

Cognitive Neuropsychology
Concerned with the cognitive functioning of those who have suffered brain damage Damage to region X disrupts ability Y People who have lost ability Y also have problems with ability Z From studying people with brain injuries we make assertions about healthy brain function

Cognitive Neuropsychology
Sample Case: Frontal Lobe damage People with frontal lobe damage often show little cognitive deficit when given IQ tests However they have extreme difficulty with things like
Socially acceptable behaviours Cognitive flexibility Abstract thinking

Frontal lobes are the area which differ to the greatest extent between human and ape brains

Cognitive Neuropsychology
Some limitations: Ethically we cannot cause brain damage in humans so we have to work with what we find. This damage is rarely clean Interpretation of findings in relation to those suffering damage to several areas is very difficult If ability Y is disrupted by damage to region X, it does not tell us what role X has in Y. Is it the functional centre, or simply a vital stage? There are 50 billion interconnected neurons. What was cog. functioning before injury?

Cognitive Neuroscience
Using brain imaging and brain anatomy to study live cognitive functioning in healthy individuals As the technology improves, these studies are becoming more influential and potentially useful Methods include: (Details to follow!)
Single Unit Recording Event Related Potentials (ERPs) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) (Functional) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI, MRI) Magneto-encephalography (MEG) Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

Cognitive Neuroscience

Cognitive Neuroscience
Some Limitations Techniques are of questionable use with high-order functioning which might not be organised in a concise way If data from several individuals is averaged the interpretations become accordingly blunt Tendency for research to be conducted for the sake of research. Papers can often be lacking any theoretical basis, and result in ad hoc hypotheses Threshold levels need to be set to disregard noise. These levels are a contentious issue!

Cognitive Neuroscience
Event Related Potentials (ERPs)
Electrical brain activity (EEG) is measured on the scalp Several readings for the same stimuli are averaged to counteract spontaneous background activity

Cognitive Neuroscience
Event Related Potentials (ERPs)
Pros: Best detail of the timeline of cognitive events Cons: Only useful with simple, low-level stimuli Skull and scalp distort emerging electrical waves

Cognitive Neuroscience
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Radioactive substance injected into the body and observed as it gathers in blood vessels of brain Activity levels are determined as (very mild) radioactivity levels are measured by subtracting activity levels at rest from activity levels during a particular task

Cognitive Neuroscience
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Pros: Maps wide range of cognitive activities including complex tasks Reasonable location of active areas (3-4 millimeters)

Cons: Scans indicate total amount of activity over 60 seconds. Not sensitive to rapid changes in activity How closely are changes in distribution of radioactive water related to neural activity?

Cognitive Neuroscience
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Radio waves produce neural activity picked up by a large magnet. If used to scan anatomy of brain for tumors etc. it is MRI. If used during tasks to detect brain function it is fMRI.

Cognitive Neuroscience
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Pros: No biological risks Provides anatomical and functional information

Cons: Poor temporal resolution of a few seconds How closely are changes in oxygenated haemoglobin related to neural activity?

Basic Brain Terms

Cortex: The outer layer of brain tissue

Basic Brain Terms

Lobes

Basic Brain Terms

Directions

Some experimental techniques

Eyetracking Infrared cameras can detect where the eye is looking and for how long Used to study reading

Some experimental techniques

Eyetracking
Analysis of advertising, phobias, expert search patterns etc

Stimulus Presentation Software

Experiments may require a computerised stimulus presentation of stimuli in order to create ideal conditions and accurately measure responses

QuickTime and a H.263 decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Reading
Eysenck & Keane: Chapter 1 Contact: conor.omalley@ucd.ie