What is cognitive psychology?

Abstract There are lot of living beings lives in the universe. So among the other beings human being is special, because of better than others top of the mind. Man can think, problem solving & store many information in their mind. Since lot of decades psychologists have examined about brain. Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. Not only human mind but also computer stores information, uses information, and produces an output (retrieves info). The idea of information processing was adopted by cognitive psychologists as a model of how human thought works. Here, I wish to present the NFORMATION processing model and explain how we forge What is cognitive psychology? The term cognitive psychology came into use with the publication of the book Cognitive Psychology by Ulric Neisser in 1967. Cognitive Psychology revolves around the notion that if we want to know what makes people tick then we need to understand the internal processes of their mind. Cognition literally means “knowing”. In other words, psychologists from this approach study cognition which is ‘the mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired.’ Cognitive psychology focuses on the way humans process information, looking at how we treat information that comes in to the person (what behaviorists would call stimuli), and how this treatment leads to responses. In other words, they are interested in the variables that mediate between stimulus/input and response/output. Cognitive psychologists study internal processes including perception, attention, language, memory and thinking. The cognitive perspective applies a nomothetic approach to discover human cognitive processes, but have also adopted idiographic techniques through using case studies (e.g. KF, HM). Typically cognitive psychologists use the laboratory experiment to study behavior. This is because the cognitive approach is a scientific one. For example, participants will take part in memory tests in strictly controlled conditions. However, the widely used lab experiment can be criticized for lacking ecological validity (a major criticism of cognitive psychology). Cognitive psychology became of great importance in the mid 1950s. Several factors were important in this: • Dissatisfaction with the behaviorist approach in its simple emphasis on external behavior rather than internal processes. • The development of better experimental methods. • Comparison between human and computer processing of information. The cognitive approach began to revolutionize psychology in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, to become the dominant approach (i.e. perspective) in psychology by the late 1970s. Interest in mental processes had been gradually restored through the work of Piaget and Tolman. Other factors were important in the early development of the cognitive approach. For example, dissatisfaction with the behaviorist approach in its simple emphasis on behavior rather than internal processes and the development of better experimental methods. But it was the arrival of the computer that gave cognitive psychology the terminology and metaphor it needed to investigate the human mind. The start of the use of computers allowed psychologists to try to understand the complexities of human cognition by comparing it with something simpler and better understood i. e an artificial system such as a computer. Information processing model Essentially, a computer codes (i.e. changes) information, stores information, uses information, and produces an output (retrieves info). The idea of information processing was adopted by cognitive psychologists as a model of how human thought works. For example, the eye receives visual information and codes information into electric neural activity which is fed back to the brain where it is “stored” and “coded”. This information is can be used by other parts of the brain relating to mental activities such as memory, perception and attention. The output (i.e. behavior) might be, for example, to read what you can see on a printed page. Hence the information processing approach characterises thinking as the environment providing input of data, which is then transformed by our senses. The information can be stored, retrieved and transformed using “mental programs”, with the results being behavioral responses. Cognitive psychology has influenced and integrated with many other approaches and areas of study to produce, for example, social learning theory, cognitive neuropsychology and artificial intelligence. The cognitive approach applies a nomothetic roach (i.e. studies the group rather than the individual - because they think everyone behaves the same and can be put into groups) to discover human cognitive processes, but have also adopted idiographic techniques (something that is unique and personal to the individual) through using case studies (e.g). Typically cognitive psychologists use the laboratory experiment to study behavior. This is because the cognitive approach is a scientific one. For example, participants will take part in memory tests in strictly controlled conditions. Although, in contrast, the cognitive psychologist Piaget studied the cognitive development of children using the clinical interview method. However, the widely used lab experiment can be criticized for lacking ecological validity (a major criticism of cognitive psychology). When we are selectively attending to one activity, we tend to ignore other stimulation, although our attention can be distracted by something else, like the telephone ringing or someone using our name. Psychologists are interested in what makes us attend to one thing rather than another (selective attention); why we sometimes switch our attention to something that was previously unattended (e.g. Cocktail Party Syndrome), and how many things we can attend to at the same time (attentional capacity). One way of conceptualising attention is to think of humans as information processors who can only process a limited amount of information at a time without becoming overloaded. Broadbent and others in the 1950's adopted a model of the brain as a limited capacity information processing system, through which external input is transmitted. The Information Processing System Information processing models consist of a series of stages, or boxes, which represent stages of processing. Arrows indicate the flow of information from one stage to the next. Input processes are concerned with the analysis of the stimuli. Storage processes cover everything that happens to stimuli internally in the brain and can include coding and manipulation of the stimuli. Output processes are responsible for preparing an appropriate response to a stimulus. Basic Assumptions of the Information Processing Approach to Cognitive Processes The information processing approach is based on a number of assumptions, including:  Information made available by the environment is processed by a series of processing systems (e.g. attention, perception, short-term memory);  These processing systems transform or alter the information in systematic ways;  The aim of research is to specify the processes and structures that underlie cognitive performance;  Information processing in humans resembles that in computers. A number of Models of attention within the Information Processing framework have been proposed including: Broadbent's Filter Model (1958), Treisman's Attenuation Model (1964) and Deutsch and Deutsch's Late Selection Model (1963). However, there are a number of evaluative points to bear in mind when studying these models, and the information processing approach in general. They are: • The information processing models assume serial processing of stimulus inputs. Serial processing effectively means one process has to be completed before the next starts. • Parallel processing assumes some or all processes involved in a cognitive task(s) occur at the same time. • There is evidence from dual-task experiments (examples are given later) that parallel processing is possible. It is difficult to determine whether a particular task is processed in a serial or parallel fashion as it probably depends (a) on the processes required to solve a task, and (b) the amount of practice on a task. Parallel processing is probably more frequent when someone is highly skilled; for example a skilled typist thinks several letters ahead, a novice focuses on just 1 letter at a time. • The analogy between human cognition and computer functioning adopted by the information processing approach is limited. Computers can be regarded as information processing systems insofar as they: combine information presented with stored information to provide solutions to a variety of problems most computers have a central processor of limited capacity and it is usually assumed that capacity limitations affect the human attentional system. But the human brain has the capacity for extensive parallel processing and computers often rely on serial processing; humans are influenced in their cognitions by a number of conflicting emotional and motivational factors. The evidence for the theories/models of attention which come under the information processing approach is largely based on experiments under controlled, scientific conditions. Most laboratory studies are artificial and could be said to lack ecological validity. In everyday life, cognitive processes are often linked to a goal (e.g. you pay attention in class because you want to pass the examination), whereas in the laboratory the experiments are carried out in isolation form other cognitive and motivational factors. Although these laboratory experiments are easy to interpret, the data may not be applicable to the real world outside the laboratory. More recent ecologically valid approaches to cognition have been proposed (e.g. the Perceptual Cycle, Neisser, 1976). Attention has been studied largely in isolation from other cognitive processes, although clearly it operates as an interdependent system with the related cognitive processes of perception and memory. The more successful we become at examining part of the cognitive system in isolation, the less our data are likely to tell us about cognition in everyday life. The Models proposed by Broadbent and Treisman are 'bottom-up' or ‘stimulus driven’ models of attention. Although it is agreed that stimulus driven information in cognition is important, what the individual brings to the task in terms of expectations/past experiences are also important. These influences are known as 'top-down' or 'conceptually-driven' processes. For example, read the triang Types of memory Cognitive Processes Cognitive processes include perception, recognition, imagining, remembering, thinking, judging, reasoning, problem solving, conceptualizing, planning and more terms and applications. These cognitive processes can emerge from human language, thought, imagery and symbols. Out of all of these specific cognitive processes, many cognitive psychologists study language-acquisition, altered states of mind and consciousness, visual perception, auditory perception, short-term memory, long-term memory, storage, retrieval, perceptions of thought and much more. The Four Pillars of the Information Processing Model There are four fundamental assumptions – or four pillars – of the information processing approach. These pillars underlay and support this approach, as well as many other cognitive models. • Thinking: The process of thinking includes the activities of perception of external stimuli, encoding the same and storing the data so perceived and encoded in one's mental recesses. • Analysis of Stimuli: This is the process by which the encoded stimuli are altered to suit the brain's cognition and interpretation process to enable decision making. There are four distinct sub-processes that form a favourable alliance to make the brain arrive at a conclusion regarding the encoded stimuli it has received and kept stored. These four sub-processes are encoding, strategization, generalization and automatization. • Situational Modification: This is the process by which an individual uses his experience, which is nothing other than a collection of stored memories, to handle a similar situation in future. In case of certain differences in both situations, the individual modifies the decisions they took during their previous experience to come up with solutions for the somewhat different problem. • Obstacle Evaluation: This step maintains that besides the subject's individual development level, the nature of the obstacle or problem should also be taken into consideration while evaluating the subject's intellectual, problem solving and cognitive acumen. Sometimes, unnecessary and misleading information can confuse the subject and he / she may show signs of confusion while dealing with a situation which is similar to one he / she was exposed to before, which he / she was able to handle successfully. Structure of the information-processing system The standard information-processing model has three major components. They are: sensory memory, short-term memory (working memory), and long-term memory. Sensory Memory Еаch sеnsory systеm hаs its own sensory store, which receives and holds, аlthough very briefly, all the externаl аnd internal stimuli. The sensоry stоres hоld оntо the sensory information long enough so that unconscious рrоcesses may орerate оn these traces tо determine whether the inрut shоuld be brought intо the wоrking memory, оr discаrded. And also we can divide another two parts. They are,  Iconic Memory: A fleeting sensory memory for visual images that lasts only a fraction of a second.  Econic Memory: A brief sensory memory for auditory input that lasts only two to three seconds. Short-Term/Working Memory {STM} Working memory is believed to be the center of conscious thought, analogous to the “central processing unit” of a computer, where information from long-term memory and the environment is combined to help solve problems. However, the working memory has a small capacity so that it is not able to attend to much information at a time, thereby limiting the abilities of humans to solve problems. The information processing perspective proposes that as children grow until about 15 years old, their working memory capacity for verbal/visual information also steadily increases, as demonstrated by improved performance on fluid intelligence tests. Many proponents of the information processing system correlate this increased working-memory capacity with increased speed of processing, the speed at which a person can fluently carry out relatively elementary information-processing tasks. It is believed that the physical maturation of the brain that occurs throughout childhood may cause faster processing speeds. This faster processing speed permits faster mental movement from one item of information to another, which improves one’s ability to keep track of a number of different items in working memory at once. Long-Term Memory {LTM} Long-term memory is the stored representation of all that a person knows. The items stored in long-term memory lie dormant until they are called back into the working memory and thus put to use. Long-term memory consists of explicit and implicit long-term memory systems. Children exhibit implicit long-term memory – memories that affect behavior, but with which we are unable to report, such as procedural memories – beginning in early infancy on. There also exist two categories of explicit memory: semantic and episodic memory. Children exhibit the ability to form semantic memories as quickly as when they learn words, which possibly aids the development of vocabulary. In contrast, episodic memories develop relatively slowly, appearing at about 3 years of age when children are able to answer questions reliably about past experiences. Many psychologists believe that the ability to form episodic memories increases gradually throughout childhood due to continued maturation of the brain, particularly in the prefrontal lobes. Proponents of the information processing theory make sense of the development of memory systems, from implicit → semantic → episodic, in terms of childhood developmental needs. How we forget? Willam Games said “ if we remembered everything , we should on most occasion be as will off as forget. On the other hand, people have a tendency to forget lots of things. We forget appointments, have difficulty remembering someone's name, lose our keys and can't remember the precise details of books we read last week. Numerous different explanations have been proposed to try and explain why we forget. How we forget? There are two simple answers to this question. First, the memory has disappeared - it is no longer available. Second, the memory is still stored in the memory system but, for some reason, it cannot be retrieved. These two answers summarize the main theories of forgetting developed by psychologists. The first answer is more likely to be applied to forgetting in short term memory, the second to forgetting in long term memory. Trace Decay Theory of Forgetting (STM) This theory suggests STM can only hold information for between 15 and 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed. After this time the information decays (fades away). This explanation of forgetting in short term memory assumes that memories leave a trace in the brain. A trace is some form of physical and/or chemical change in the nervous system. Trace decay theory states that forgetting occurs as a result of the automatic decay or fading of the memory trace. Trace decay theory focuses on time and the limited duration of short term memory. No one disputes the fact that memory tends to get worse the longer the delay between learning and recall, but there is disagreement about the explanation for this effect. According to the trace decay theory of forgetting, the events between learning and recall have no affect whatsoever on recall. It is the length of time the information has to be retained that is important. The longer the time, the more the memory trace decays and as a consequence more information is forgotten. There are a number of methodological problems confronting researchers trying to investigate the trace decay theory. One of the major problems is controlling for the events that occur between learning and recall. Clearly, in any real-life situation, the time between learning something and recalling it will be filled with all kinds of different events. This makes it very difficult to be sure that any forgetting which takes place is the result of decay rather than a consequence of the intervening events. Support for the idea that forgetting from short-term memory might be the result of decay over time came from research carried out by Brown (1958) in the United Kingdom, and Peterson and Peterson (1959) in the United States. The technique they developed has become known as the Brown-Peterson task. They wanted to test their hypothesis that information was held in the STM for only around 20 seconds, after that it disappears if rehearsal is prevented. Therefore aiming to prove that the duration of the STM is only around 20 seconds. Also, to investigate if information is lost from STM through decay. Method: Participants were presented with sets of trigrams (nonsense syllables in sets of three, e.g. BCM) which they were then asked to recall in order after a delay of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 seconds. An experimental method was used: The IV was the time delay, and the DV was the number of trigrams recalled. Participants were given an interference task of counting backwards in threes from a random three-digit number to prevent rehearsal (known as the Brown-Peterson technique). Recall had to be 100% accurate and in the correct order in order for it to count as correctly recalled. Results: The percentage recall was: * After 3 seconds = 80% * After 6 seconds = 50% * After 18 seconds = less than 10% Recall decreases steadily between 3 and 18 seconds suggesting that the duration of the STM is not much more than 18 seconds. The memory trace in the STM has just about disappeared after 18 seconds. Information held in the STM is quickly lost without rehearsal. This supports the hypothesis that the duration of the STM is limited to approximately 20 seconds. They also concluded that this is evidence that the STM is distinct from the LTM as the LTM has a much longer duration (i.e. the results also support the multi-store model). Peterson and Peterson (1959) explained this rapid loss in terms of trace decay. The memory trace fades over time until it disappears completely. At this point, information is forgotten. Evaluation of the trace decay explanation of forgetting There is very little direct support for decay theory as an explanation for the loss of information from short-term and long-term memory. One of the problems with decay theory is that it is more or less impossible to test it. In practice, it is not possible to create a situation in which there is a blank period of time between presentation of material and recall. Having presented information participants will rehearse it. If you prevent rehearsal by introducing a distracter task, it results in interference. Decay theory has difficulty explaining the observation that many people can remember events that happened several years previously with great clarity, even though they haven't thought about them during the intervening period. If our memories gradually decayed over time, then people should not have clear memories of distant events which have lain dormant for several years. However, there is evidence to suggest that information is lost from sensory memory through the process of decay (Sperling, 1960). Forgetting from long term memory can be explained using the theories of interference, lack of consolidation. This theory relates to both short term memory and long term memory, and also relates to lack of availability. Displacement from Short Term Memory (STM) Displacement seeks to explain forgetting in STM, and suggests it’s due to a lack of availability. Interference (LTM) If we had asked psychologists during the 1930s, 1940s, or 1950s what caused forgetting we would probably have received the answer "Interference". It was assumed that memory can be disrupted or interfered with by what we have previously learned or by what we will learn in the future. This idea suggests that information in long term memory may become confused or combined with other information during encoding thus distorting or disrupting memories. Interference theory states that forgetting occurs because memories interfere with and disrupt one another, in other words forgetting occurs because of interference from other memories (Baddeley, 1999). There are two ways in which interference can cause forgetting: Proactive interference (pro=forward) occurs when you cannot learn a new task because of an old task that had been learnt. When what we already know interferes with what we are currently learning – where old memories disrupt new memories. Retroactive interference (retro=backward) occurs when you forget a previously learnt task due to the learning of a new task. In other words, later learning interferes with earlier learning - where new memories disrupt old memories. Proactive and retroactive Interference is thought to be more likely to occur where the memories are similar, for example: confusing old and new telephone numbers. Chandler (1989) stated that students who study similar subjects at the same time often experience interference. Previous learning can sometimes interfere with new learning (e.g. difficulties we have with foreign currency when travelling abroad). Also new learning can sometimes cause confusion with previous learning. (Starting French may affect our memory of previously learned Spanish vocabulary). In the STM interference can occur in the form of distractions so that we don’t get the chance to process the information properly in the first place. (e.g. someone using a loud drill just outside the door of the classroom.) Lack of consolidation (LTM) The previous accounts of forgetting have focused primarily on psychological evidence, but memory also relies on biological processes. For example, we can define a memory trace as: 'some permanent alteration of the brain substrate in order to represent some aspect of a past experience'. When we take in new information, a certain amount of time is necessary for changes to the nervous system to take place – the consolidation process – so that it is properly recorded. During this period information is moved from STM to the more permanent LTM. The brain consists of a vast number of cells called neurons, connected to each other by synapses. Synapses enable chemicals to be passed from one neuron to another. These chemicals, called neurotransmitters, can either inhibit or stimulate the performance of neurons. So if you can imagine a network of neurons all connected via synapses, there will be a pattern of stimulation and inhibition. It has been suggested that this pattern of inhibition and stimulation can be used as a basis for storing information. This process of modifying neurons in order form new permanent memories is referred to as consolidation (Parkin, 1993). There is evidence that the consolidation process is impaired if there is damage to the hippocampus (a region of the brain). In 1953, HM had brain surgery to treat his epilepsy, which had become extremely severe. The surgery removed parts of his brain and destroyed the hippocampus, and although it relieved his epilepsy, it left him with a range of memory problems. Although his STM functioned well, he was unable to process information into LTM. The main problem experienced by HM is his inability to remember and learn new things. This inability to form new memories is referred to as anterograde amnesia. However, of interest in our understanding of the duration of the process of consolidation is HM's memory for events before his surgery. In general, his memory for events before the surgery remains intact, but he does have some memory loss for events which occurred in the two years leading up to surgery. Pinel (1993) suggests that this challenges Hebb's (1949) idea that the process of consolidation takes approximately 30 minutes. The fact that HM's memory is disrupted for the two-year period leading up to the surgery indicates that the process of consolidation continues for a number of years. Conclusion When we consider the above mentioned facts, The information processing paradigm of cognitive psychology views that minds in terms of a computer when processing information. However, there are important difference between humans and computers. The mind does not process information like a computer as computers don’t have emotions or get tired like humans. 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