Chapter 1: Approaches to human cognition
Introduction
What is cognitive psychology? It is concerned with the internal processes
involved in making sense of the environment and deciding what action might
be appropriate. Aiming to understand human cognition by observing the
behavior of people performing various cognitive tasks.
We can define cognitive neuroscience as using information about behaviour
and the brain to understand human cognition.
It is assumed the patterns of cognitive impairment shown by brain-damaged
patients can inform us about normal cognitive functioning and the brain areas
responsible for various cognitive processes.
Main approaches introduced here:
Cognitive psychology
1 Processing directly affected by the stimulus input is often described as
bottom-up processing.
1.1 Serial processing, meaning the current process is completed before
the next one starts.
2 Top-down processing is processing influenced by the individual’s
expectations and knowledge rather than simply by the stimulus itself.
3 Parallel processing, more than one process typically occurs at the same
time.
4 An important issue for cognitive psychologists is the task impurity problem
– most cognitive tasks require a complex mixture of processes, thus
making it hard to interpret the findings.
Strengths:
Introduction
What is cognitive psychology? It is concerned with the internal processes
involved in making sense of the environment and deciding what action might
be appropriate. Aiming to understand human cognition by observing the
behavior of people performing various cognitive tasks.
We can define cognitive neuroscience as using information about behaviour
and the brain to understand human cognition.
It is assumed the patterns of cognitive impairment shown by brain-damaged
patients can inform us about normal cognitive functioning and the brain areas
responsible for various cognitive processes.
Main approaches introduced here:
Cognitive psychology
1 Processing directly affected by the stimulus input is often described as
bottom-up processing.
1.1 Serial processing, meaning the current process is completed before
the next one starts.
2 Top-down processing is processing influenced by the individual’s
expectations and knowledge rather than simply by the stimulus itself.
3 Parallel processing, more than one process typically occurs at the same
time.
4 An important issue for cognitive psychologists is the task impurity problem
– most cognitive tasks require a complex mixture of processes, thus
making it hard to interpret the findings.
Strengths:
