Cognitive psychology - PSBE2-23 / PSBA2-23
University of Groningen
Chapter 1 - The science of the mind 2
Chapter 3 - Visual perception 4
Chapter 4 - Recognizing objects 7
Chapter 5 - Attention 9
Chapter 6 - The acquisition of memories and the working-memory system 12
Chapter 7 - Interconnections between acquisition and retrieval 15
Chapter 8 - Remembering complex events 19
Chapter 9 - Concepts and generic knowledge 22
Chapter 10 - Language 25
Chapter 12 - Judgment and reasoning 28
Chapter 13 - Problem solving and Intelligence 31
1
,Chapter 1 - The science of the mind
Cognition = what you know, what you remember and what you think; everything you say, do
or think depends on it.
Cognitive psychology = sometimes defined as the scientific study of the acquisition,
retention and use of knowledge
Cognitive revolution
→ centered on two key ideas:
1. The science of psychology cannot study the mental world directly
2. The science of psychology must study the mental world if we’re going to understand
behavior.
Introspection = “looking within” to observe and record the content of our own mental lives
and the sequence of our own experiences; method of Wundt and his student Titchener
→ problem: some thoughts are unconscious, introspection was limited as a research tool
Behaviorism = a movement that uncovered a range of principles concerned with how
behavior changes in response to various stimuli.
→ problem: mental entities, i.e. goals, beliefs, memory are left out because they cannot be
studied directly
Transcendental method = you begin with the observable facts and then work backward
from these observations; method by Immanuel Kant.
→ e.g. the study of electrons, they cannot be observed so they’re studied by their effects
In order to study mental events, psychologists have turned to a method in which one focuses
on observable events but then asks what (invisible) events must have taken place in order
to make these (visible) effects possible.
Gestalt psychologists → argued that behaviors, ideas and perspectives are organized in a
way that could not be understood through a part-by-part analysis of the world. Elements take
on meaning only as part of the whole.
Schema = according to Bartlett, information about experiences is here and people rely on
this schema both to interpret the experience and to aid memory later on.
Early theorizing in cognitive psychology often borrowed ideas from computer science,
including early work on AI.
Computational cognitive modeling = Trying to understand the functioning of the brain by
creating mathematical or computer-based formal theories of cognition
→ Psychologists became inspired by computer science and attempted to explain the human
mind as an information processor
2
,Response time (RT) = how long someone needs to make a particular response.
→ gain important insights into what’s going on in the mind
Cognitive neuroscience = The scientific study of the brain and the nervous system to
understand humans’ mental functioning.
Clinical neuropsychology = The scientific study of brain function that mainly uses cases in
which damage or illness has disrupted the working of some brain structure.
Neuroimaging techniques = Noninvasive methods for examining either the structure or the
activation pattern within a living brain.
3
, Chapter 3 - Visual perception
Akinetopsia = inability to perceive motion
Vision is dominant in humans. This is because more percentage of brain area is devoted to
vision compared to brain areas used for other senses. Secondly, the significance of vision is
evident in human behavior: when information from different senses is conflicting, the visual
input is dominant.
Process of vision:
Light is reflected off other objects → hits the front surface of the eyeball → passes through
the cornea and the lens → then hits the retina
Retina = light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eyeball.
Tightening of muscles around the lens → lens bulges, creating proper shape for focusing
the images cast by nearby objects
Relaxation of muscles around the lens → lens returns to flatter shape, allowing focus for
objects farther away
Photoreceptors = specialized neural cells that respond directly to the incoming light
→ 2 types:
1. Rods; sensitive to very low levels of light and so play an essential role in the dark;
They are colorblind, but can distinguish different intensities of light; periphery vision
2. Cones; less sensitive than rods and need more incoming light to operate; Are
sensitive to color differences; Are able to perceive detail; central vision
→ 3 types of cones each having its own pattern of sensitivities to different
wavelength; they each perceive a different color
Acuity = the ability to see fine detail (cones)
Fovea = the very center of the retina; here there are way more cones than rods (center of
fovea has no rods → greatest acuity).
Photoreceptors stimulate bipolar cells, which excite ganglion cells, all ganglion axons
converge to form the optic nerve (bundle of nerve fibers).
Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) = way station in the thalamus where visual information is
sent to, which is then transmitted to the primary projection area for vision in the occipital
lobe.
Lateral inhibition = a pattern in which cells, when stimulated, inhibit the activity of
neighboring cells.
→ exaggerates the contrast at the edge (edge enhancement); information essential for
figuring out what the object is.
Single-cell recording = a procedure through which investigators can record, moment by
moment, the pattern of electrical changes within a single neuron.
4
University of Groningen
Chapter 1 - The science of the mind 2
Chapter 3 - Visual perception 4
Chapter 4 - Recognizing objects 7
Chapter 5 - Attention 9
Chapter 6 - The acquisition of memories and the working-memory system 12
Chapter 7 - Interconnections between acquisition and retrieval 15
Chapter 8 - Remembering complex events 19
Chapter 9 - Concepts and generic knowledge 22
Chapter 10 - Language 25
Chapter 12 - Judgment and reasoning 28
Chapter 13 - Problem solving and Intelligence 31
1
,Chapter 1 - The science of the mind
Cognition = what you know, what you remember and what you think; everything you say, do
or think depends on it.
Cognitive psychology = sometimes defined as the scientific study of the acquisition,
retention and use of knowledge
Cognitive revolution
→ centered on two key ideas:
1. The science of psychology cannot study the mental world directly
2. The science of psychology must study the mental world if we’re going to understand
behavior.
Introspection = “looking within” to observe and record the content of our own mental lives
and the sequence of our own experiences; method of Wundt and his student Titchener
→ problem: some thoughts are unconscious, introspection was limited as a research tool
Behaviorism = a movement that uncovered a range of principles concerned with how
behavior changes in response to various stimuli.
→ problem: mental entities, i.e. goals, beliefs, memory are left out because they cannot be
studied directly
Transcendental method = you begin with the observable facts and then work backward
from these observations; method by Immanuel Kant.
→ e.g. the study of electrons, they cannot be observed so they’re studied by their effects
In order to study mental events, psychologists have turned to a method in which one focuses
on observable events but then asks what (invisible) events must have taken place in order
to make these (visible) effects possible.
Gestalt psychologists → argued that behaviors, ideas and perspectives are organized in a
way that could not be understood through a part-by-part analysis of the world. Elements take
on meaning only as part of the whole.
Schema = according to Bartlett, information about experiences is here and people rely on
this schema both to interpret the experience and to aid memory later on.
Early theorizing in cognitive psychology often borrowed ideas from computer science,
including early work on AI.
Computational cognitive modeling = Trying to understand the functioning of the brain by
creating mathematical or computer-based formal theories of cognition
→ Psychologists became inspired by computer science and attempted to explain the human
mind as an information processor
2
,Response time (RT) = how long someone needs to make a particular response.
→ gain important insights into what’s going on in the mind
Cognitive neuroscience = The scientific study of the brain and the nervous system to
understand humans’ mental functioning.
Clinical neuropsychology = The scientific study of brain function that mainly uses cases in
which damage or illness has disrupted the working of some brain structure.
Neuroimaging techniques = Noninvasive methods for examining either the structure or the
activation pattern within a living brain.
3
, Chapter 3 - Visual perception
Akinetopsia = inability to perceive motion
Vision is dominant in humans. This is because more percentage of brain area is devoted to
vision compared to brain areas used for other senses. Secondly, the significance of vision is
evident in human behavior: when information from different senses is conflicting, the visual
input is dominant.
Process of vision:
Light is reflected off other objects → hits the front surface of the eyeball → passes through
the cornea and the lens → then hits the retina
Retina = light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eyeball.
Tightening of muscles around the lens → lens bulges, creating proper shape for focusing
the images cast by nearby objects
Relaxation of muscles around the lens → lens returns to flatter shape, allowing focus for
objects farther away
Photoreceptors = specialized neural cells that respond directly to the incoming light
→ 2 types:
1. Rods; sensitive to very low levels of light and so play an essential role in the dark;
They are colorblind, but can distinguish different intensities of light; periphery vision
2. Cones; less sensitive than rods and need more incoming light to operate; Are
sensitive to color differences; Are able to perceive detail; central vision
→ 3 types of cones each having its own pattern of sensitivities to different
wavelength; they each perceive a different color
Acuity = the ability to see fine detail (cones)
Fovea = the very center of the retina; here there are way more cones than rods (center of
fovea has no rods → greatest acuity).
Photoreceptors stimulate bipolar cells, which excite ganglion cells, all ganglion axons
converge to form the optic nerve (bundle of nerve fibers).
Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) = way station in the thalamus where visual information is
sent to, which is then transmitted to the primary projection area for vision in the occipital
lobe.
Lateral inhibition = a pattern in which cells, when stimulated, inhibit the activity of
neighboring cells.
→ exaggerates the contrast at the edge (edge enhancement); information essential for
figuring out what the object is.
Single-cell recording = a procedure through which investigators can record, moment by
moment, the pattern of electrical changes within a single neuron.
4
