CHAPTER 1: COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY:

Cognitive Psychology Applying The Science of the Mind 3e Bridget Robinson, Gregory Robinson

(Instructor Manual with Test Bank)

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CHAPTER 1: COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY:

A BRIEF HISTORY AND INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER OUTLINE

• What Is Cognition?
• The Omnipresence of Cognitive Processes
• Perception
• Attention
• Immediate Memory
• Identifying and Classifying Objects
• Long-Term Memory
• Autobiographical Memory
• Memory Distortion
• Language
• Decision Making
• Problem Solving
• An Interdisciplinary Perspective
• Stop and Review!

II. Psychology B.C. (Before Cognitive Psychology)

• Psychophysics

B. Structuralism: The Contents of Mental Experience

C. Functionalism: The Functions of Mental Experience

D. Behaviorism: The Rejection of Mental Experience

• Laying the Foundation for Cognitive Psychology

1. Ebbinghaus: Pioneering Experiments on Memory

• Bartlett's Memory Research
• Gestalt Psychology
• Stop and Review!

III. The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology

A. S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong?

• Failure to Account for the Data
• Learning Without Responding
• Learning Without Reinforcement
• Cognitive Maps
• Lashley Lashes Out
• Technological Influences
• Communications Engineering
• Computer Science
• Stop and Review!

IV. Psychology A.D. (After the Decline of Behaviorism)

• Behaviorism Reconsidered

B. Information Processing: A Computer Metaphor for Cognition

C. Connectionism: A Brain Metaphor for Cognition

D. The Brain: More than a Metaphor?

• The Neuron
• The Brain
• A Terminology Tour
• The Cerebral Cortex
• Hemispheric Asymmetries
• Subcortical Structures
• The Tools of Cognitive Neuroscience
• Brain Trauma and Lesions
• Current TrendsStop and Review!
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Instructor Resources for Cognitive Psychology 2

STOP AND THINK ELABORATIONS

Thinking about Thought Processes (p. 4) This is a straightforward exercise designed to get students thinking about the everyday and applied nature of thought processes (so obvious that it almost seems silly to point out). One interesting variation might be to have students reflect on how their thought processes occasionally misfire, and to reflect on which types of errors (i.e., attention, memory, etc.) seem to be most common.

Comparing Cognitive Psychology to its Forerunners (p. 5) This exercise will give you a chance to tie some of the fundamental questions of cognition to those posed by philosophy, and will give students a chance to see yet another connection between psychology and it's foundational discipline. Points that can be raised include the fact that the basic questions that underlie cognitive psychology are largely philosophical ones, while the method used by cognitive psychologists are more in the spirit of physiology.

Cognitive Processes - Conscious or Unconscious? (p. 6) This exercise will give students an opportunity to reflect closely on cognitive processes and will no doubt lead them to the realization that some of these processes occur rapidly and completely outside of conscious awareness. You might discuss the difficulties associated with investigating processes that occur quickly and unconsciously, and the methods that are necessitated by these problems (e.g., RT studies).

Two Approaches to the Study of Cognition (p. 10) This exercise is a good one for getting students to compare the applied problems and situations to which cognitive research could be applied. Thinking of how cognitive processes might be investigated would be good practice in thinking up operational definitions.

Considering Cognition’s Historical Influences (p. 19) This one is simply a conversation starter that requires students to think closely about the various historical influences that led to the development of a science of cognition. Reasons for the choices will provide for some interesting class discussion.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

Everyday Cognition: One useful way to introduce the field of cognitive psychology on the first day of class is to simply ask students about the cognitive processes in which they engage every day. Which processes are especially salient? Which processes are especially proficient? What processes seem to be particularly difficult and prone to error? How do the contexts of thinking (internal and external) impact thinking?

Introspecting: Having students engage in the task of introspection always serves as an entertaining and informative diversion. Bring something edible to class (e.g., a cookie, gum, candy, etc.) and ask for a volunteer, whose task it will be to introspect upon the experience of eating it.

Research Sampler: Students enter their cognition class with little or no idea about the kind of research done in the field. To give them some idea, bring in the table of contents from a leading journal (e.g., Journal of Experimental Psychology, Memory & Cognition) and highlight the range of topics investigated.

Can Computers Think? In conjunction with a discussion of the information-processing approach, and the influence of the computer as a model for cognition, start a conversation with students about whether computers might be considered “conscious“ or “thinking“. There are some obvious ways in which they could be (i.e., processing information) and some obvious ways in which they aren't (i.e., expressing emotions). Most students will claim that computers can do nothing that they aren't programmed or “told“ to do. Counter this by arguing that the same could be said of humans.

Research Sampler Redux: This extension of the research sampler (see above) involves providing students with a contrast between laboratory and ecological approaches to cognition. To do this, you might provide students with 3 / 4

Chapter 1 Cognitive Psychology: A Brief History and Introduction

3 some sample titles and/or abstracts from the journals listed above, along with titles from more applied journals such as Applied Cognitive Psychology.

Brain Investigation Techniques: One way to give students a glimpse of the different brain investigation techniques would be to have them search via PsycINFO or an internet search engine for the various techniques mentioned in the chapter, and to take note of what they're used to investigate. They might also note what techniques are used in combination. They could also look for associations between the issues investigated and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each technique, as summarized in Table 1.1 (p. 36).

INTERNET RESOURCES

History Websites

History of Psych Website

http://elvers.us/hop/

Today in the History of Psychology

http://www.cwu.edu/%7Ewarren/today.html

Barnard College History of Psychology Collection

http://www.barnard.columbia.edu/psych/museum/b_museum.html

Cognitive Science Websites

Gallery of Cognitive Scientists (pictures of cognitive scientists)

http://www.bcp.psych.ualberta.ca/~mike/Pearl_Street/Gallery/

Cognitive Science Society

http://cognitivesciencesociety.org/index.html

Prehistory of cognitive science

http://www.rc.umd.edu/cstahmer/cogsci/

The Millennium Project - The top 100 works in cognitive science

http://www.cogsci.umn.edu/OLD/calendar/past_events/millennium/home.html

On-Line Laboratory Experiments and Demonstrations

PsychExps (Psychology Experiments on the Internet)

http://www.psych.uni.edu/psychexps/

Basic Information on Neuroscience

Tutorial on Basic Neural processes (By John H. Krantz, Ph.D., Hanover College)

http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/neurotut.html

Neuroscience Tutorial

http://thalamus.wustl.edu/course/

UCLA brain-mapping center

http://www.brainmapping.org/#

Neuroscience for Kids http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html

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