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Cognitive psychology and the mind

   

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What is cognitive psychology?

What is cognitive psychology?

Cognitive psychology dives into the fascinating realm of human thought, exploring how we take in, process, store, and utilize information. It examines the mental processes underlying our ability to learn, remember, solve problems, make decisions, use language, and ultimately, navigate the complexities of the world around us.

What are the main features of cognitive psychology?

  • Focus on Mental Processes: It dissects the internal workings of the mind, investigating how we perceive, attend to, encode, remember, and retrieve information.
  • Scientific Approach: Cognitive psychology relies on scientific methods like experimentation, observation, and brain imaging to understand mental processes.
  • Information Processing: This field often views the mind as an information processor, drawing analogies between how computers handle data and how our brains process information.
  • Cognitive Models: Cognitive psychologists develop models to explain how specific mental processes work, such as memory models or attention models.

What are important sub-areas in cognitive psychology?

  • Attention: How we focus our mental resources on specific aspects of information while filtering out distractions.
  • Learning: How we acquire new knowledge and skills through experience, conditioning, and observation.
  • Memory: How we encode, store, retrieve, and forget information. This includes different types of memory, such as short-term memory, long-term memory, working memory, and episodic memory.
  • Language: How we comprehend, produce, and use language to communicate and express ourselves.
  • Problem-Solving and Decision-Making: How we approach challenges, analyze situations, and make choices.
  • Reasoning and Judgment: How we use logic and evidence to form conclusions and make sound judgments.

What are key concepts in cognitive psychology?

  • Cognitive Load: The amount of information processing capacity that is being used at a given time.
  • Cognitive Bias: Systematic errors in thinking that can influence our judgments and decisions.
  • Heuristics: Mental shortcuts we use to simplify complex problems and make quicker decisions.
  • Mental Representations: The way we encode information in our minds, such as visual imagery or verbal codes.
  • Schema: A mental framework that helps us organize and interpret information.

Who are influential figures in cognitive psychology?

  • Jean Piaget (Psychologist): Pioneered the theory of cognitive development, proposing stages of cognitive growth in children.
  • Ulric Neisser (Psychologist): Emphasized the ecological approach to perception, highlighting how we perceive information in relation to our environment.
  • Donald Norman (Cognitive Scientist): A leading figure in human-computer interaction, bridging cognitive psychology with design principles.
  • Aaron Beck (Psychiatrist): Developed cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based on the idea that dysfunctional thoughts contribute to emotional distress.

Why is cognitive psychology important?

  • Understanding Ourselves: Cognitive psychology sheds light on how we think, learn, and remember, providing a deeper understanding of the human mind.
  • Applications in Various Fields: This field has applications in education, where it informs teaching methods, and in artificial intelligence, where it helps develop intelligent machines.
  • Improving Everyday Life: Insights from cognitive psychology can help us improve memory strategies, enhance decision-making, and develop better learning techniques.
  • Mental Health Treatment: Cognitive psychology informs the development of therapies like CBT that target dysfunctional thought patterns.

How is cognitive psychology applied in practice?

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    What is brain studies?

    What is brain studies?

    Brain studies is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to the comprehensive exploration of the brain. It integrates various disciplines like neuroscience, psychology, computer science, and philosophy to understand the brain's structure, function, development, and impact on behavior.

    What are the main features of brain studies?

    • Holistic Approach: Examines the brain from multiple perspectives, encompassing biological, cognitive, and behavioral aspects.
    • Rapidly Evolving: Leverages advancements in technology like brain imaging and genetic analysis to continuously refine our understanding of the brain.
    • Collaboration is Key: Requires collaboration between researchers from diverse disciplines to unravel the brain's intricate workings.

    What are important sub-areas in brain studies?

    • Neuroanatomy: Focuses on the structure of the brain, including its various regions and their functions.
    • Neurophysiology: Investigates the electrical and chemical processes underlying brain function.
    • Cognitive Brain Science: Studies the neural basis of higher-order cognitive functions like memory, learning, language, and decision-making.
    • Behavioral Brain Science: Explores the relationship between brain activity and observable behaviors.
    • Computational Neuroscience: Develops computer models to simulate brain function and understand complex neural processes.

    What are key concepts in brain studies?

    • Neural Plasticity: The brain's remarkable ability to adapt and change throughout life, influencing learning, memory, and recovery.
    • Brain Lateralization: The specialization of function between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. For instance, language processing is typically dominant in the left hemisphere.
    • Connectome: The vast network of connections between neurons, forming the foundation of brain function and communication.
    • Neurotransmitters: Chemical messengers that facilitate communication between neurons, playing a crucial role in brain function, emotions, and behavior.

    Who are influential figures in brain studies?

    • Paul Broca: A pioneer in aphasiology, his work on patients with brain lesions revealed specific brain regions responsible for language production.
    • Karl Lashley: An influential figure in behavioral neuroscience, his research on memory and learning paved the way for further studies on brain function.
    • Eric Kandel: Conducted groundbreaking research on the cellular basis of learning and memory, earning a Nobel Prize for his work.

    Why is brain studies important?

    • Unlocking the Secrets of the Mind: Studying brains holds the key to understanding human consciousness, thought, emotions, and behavior.
    • Developing Treatments for Brain Disorders: A deeper understanding of the brain paves the way for developing effective treatments for neurological and mental health conditions.
    • Revolutionizing Technologies: Brain research inspires advancements in artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, and potentially new educational methods based on how the brain learns best.

    How is brain studies applied in practice?

    • Diagnostics: Brain research leads to the development of new tools for diagnosing brain disorders, such as advanced brain imaging techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
    • Therapeutics: Understanding the brain informs the design of medications and therapies for brain disorders like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and depression.
    • Neurorehabilitation: Brain research aids in developing rehabilitation techniques to help patients recover from brain injuries or strokes.
    • Education: Findings from brain research can inform educational practices by providing insights into how the brain learns most effectively.
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    Cognitive psychology and the mind: The best textbooks summarized

    Cognitive psychology and the mind: The best textbooks summarized

    Summaries and Study Assistance with Cognitive psychology and the mind

    Table of content

    • Summary with the book: A Life in Error, From Little Slips to Big Disasters by Reason
    • Summary with the book: Attention: Theory and Practice by Johnson & Proctor
    • Summary with the book: Cognition by Chun and Most
    • Summary with the book: Cognitive Development and Cognitive Neuroscience: The Learning Brain by Goswami
    • Summary with the book: Cognitive development: The learning brain by Goswami
    • Summary with the book: Cognitive Psychology by Goldstein & Van Hooff
    • Summary with the book: Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind by Reisberg
    • Summary with the book: Consciousness: An Introduction - Blackmore, Troscianko
    • Summary with the book: Critical Thinking by Moore and Parker - 13th edition
    • Summary with the book: Emotion Science by Fox
    • Summary with the book: Essentials of Organizational Behavior: An Evidence-Based Approach by Scandura
    • Summary with the book: Sensation and Perception by Wolfe a.o.
    • Summary with the book: Streetlights and Shadows: Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making by Klein
    • Summary with the book: The Science of Consciousness by Harley
    • Summary with the book: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Kahneman

    About Cognitive psychology and the mind

    • Cognitive psychology is the study of mental processes, such as thinking, memory, attention, and perception. It investigates how people acquire, process, and store information. This field aims to understand how the mind works and how it influences our behavior.
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    Cognitieve psychologie: De beste begrippen samengevat

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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 13

    Speech perception is the process by which we convert a stream of speech into individual words and sentences. The objective when either listening or reading is to understand what is being communicated. Prosody refers to the rhythm, intonation and stress patterns in speech.

    There are few clear boundaries between words in spontaneous speech and sounds blend together as they are produced. Words in speech are not presented as distinct units. We understand everyone’s speech as language, although there are a lot of differences between people, such as sex, age, accent and so on. Recognition of the word precedes the completion of the heard word. Research into the amplitudes of words shows that there is no clear boundary between words.

    There are two major problems of speech perception:

    1. Invariance problem
      This problem is hearing the same sound, although the physical properties of the
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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 11

    Reasoning is the cognitive process of deriving new information from old information. Deductive reasoning is drawing logically necessary conclusions from given information. It’s going from the general to the specific. Inductive reasoning is the process of inferring probable conclusions from given information. It’s going from the specific to the general. Premises are statements assumed to be true from which conclusions are drawn. Valid arguments are those in which the conclusions must be true if the premises are true.

    Deductive reasoning has two types:

    1. Propositional reasoning
      This is reasoning about statements connected by logical relations, such as ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘not’ and ‘if’.
    2. Syllogistic reasoning
      This is reasoning about groups or sets using statements connected by logical relations of ‘some’, ‘none’, ‘all’ and ‘some not’.

    Inference rules are rules for reaching a conclusion given a particular pattern of

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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 10

    Decision making is the cognitive process of choosing between alternative possible actions. The normative approach to decision making attempts to establish ideal ways of deciding what will give the best decision possible. Descriptive approaches aim to describe how decisions are actually taken as against how they should be made. A risk in decision making is the possibility of a negative outcome. A riskless decision involves choices where the outcomes of the choices are known with certainty. Single attribute decision problems involve alternatives that vary in only one dimension. The multi-attribute decision problem is a decision task in which the alternatives vary in many dimensions or aspects. The expected value is the long-term average value of a repeated decision, which is determined by probability and the size of the outcome.

    The expected value theory works like a charm for decisions that involve money, but it does not comply

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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 9

    A problem is a situation in which you have a goal but do not know how to achieve it. Thinking is a process of mental exploration of possible actions and states of the world. Problems can be well-defined problems or ill-defined problems. Well-defined problems are problems in which starting conditions, actions available and goals are all completely specified. Ill-defined problems are problems in which starting conditions, or actions available or goals are not completely specified. Problems can be knowledge-rich or knowledge-lean. Knowledge-rich problems are problems that require extensive specialist knowledge. Knowledge-lean problems are problems that do not require specialist knowledge. Problems may also be classified as non-adversary or adversary problems. Non-adversary problems are problems in which the solver is dealing with inert problem materials with no rational opponent. Adversary problems are problems in which the solver has to deal with a rational opponent.

    There are two main historical

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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 8

    The motor system includes the components of the central and peripheral nervous system along with the muscles, joints and bones that enable movement. Motor control is the study of how body movements are planned by the brain and performed by the body. Woodworth stated that there were two phases: an impulse phase in which the brain calculates the necessary movements and a control phase where vision is the key to accuracy.

    The degrees of freedom of a joint is the number of ways it can move. The degrees of freedom problem refers to the choice of how to move the body when there are countless possible ways to do so. There are several theories of movement planning:

    1. Equilibrium point hypothesis (mass-spring model)
      This is a theory of motor control that emphasizes how the problem of control can be simplified by taking into account muscle
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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 7

    Concepts are mental representations of classes of items (e.g: dogs). Imagery is the mental representation of sensory properties of objects, experiences as like perceiving the object but with less vividness than in reality. There are different approaches to concepts.

    The definitional approach looks at the definition of an object in order to form a concept. The concepts are based on the definition of the word. This approach looks for well-defined concepts. The main problem with this approach is that most everyday concepts are not so well defined.

    The prototype approach looks at the most typical of a ‘family’ of concepts which represents the other concepts. Typicality is the extent to which an object is representative of a category. Members of a category share a family resemblance. This is the tendency for members of a category to be similar to each other but without having any

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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 5

    The case of H.M demonstrates three important aspects of long-term memory processes:

    1. Long-term memory processes are not distributed throughout the brain.
    2. Long-term memory encompasses a number of different abilities.
    3. Memory is separable from language, perceptual and other cognitive functions.

    Amnesia refers to a pattern of memory loss affecting elements of long-term memory, while short-term memory remains intact. It is sometimes also called the amnesic syndrome. Amnesia has a number of general characteristics:

    1. Short-term memory is intact
    2. Memory for language and concepts is intact
    3. There is severe and lasting anterograde amnesia: memory for events after the onset of amnesia will be impaired.
    4. There will be retrograde amnesia, the patient will have a loss of memory for events prior to the onset of amnesia.
    5. Skill learning, conditioning and priming will be unaffected.

    Ribot’s law states

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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 6

    Learning refers to the processes of acquiring information for mental storage and later use. Forgetting refers to processes leading to a loss of ability to retrieve previously learned information. The first step in learning new information is to encode that information in an internal representation in working memory. This representation needs to be processed further in order to develop a mental trace, a mental representation of stored information.

    Craik’s theory of levels of processing states that the strength of the memory traces depends on the levels of processing. Deep processing (e.g: adding meaning to a word) leads to stronger memory traces than superficial processing (e.g: just reading a word). According to this theory, learning does not have to be intentional, as incidental learning can take place. Positive trial encodings strengthen pre-existing links between stimuli. A pitfall of this theory that it could be using circular reasoning.

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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 4

    Memory allows us to encode, store and retrieve information. Encoding is the function by which information is coded in a form that allows it to be stored in memory. Storage is the function by which information is retained in memory. Retrieval is the function by which information is recollected as needed. There are several types of memory:

    1. Short-term memory
      This is where accessible information is held for a short period of time.
    2. Long-term memory
      This is the system where information is held for longer periods and can be accessed when needed.
    3. Working memory
      This is the system in which information is held and manipulated in order to perform a task. There is overlap between short-term memory and working memory.
    4. Sensory memory
      This is the temporary sensory register that allows input from the sensory modalities to be prolonged.

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    Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition) – Summary chapter 3

    Attention is a limited resource that is deployed to facilitate the processing of critical information. One basic taxonomy of attention states that there are two types of attention:

    1. Internal attention
      This refers to selecting control strategies and maintaining internally generated information, such as rules, responses, long-term and working memory. It involves regulating our internal mental life. Internal attention deals with our internally generated thoughts, desires and motivations.
    2. External attention
      This refers to selecting and controlling incoming sensory information.

    Posner stated that there is an attention system, that exists of three different systems:

    1. Alerting (brain stem and frontal cortex)
      This is responsible for achieving a state of arousal. It uses the neurotransmitter norepinephrine.
    2. Orienting (frontal and parietal cortex, including the frontal eye fields)
      This is responsible for directing our processing resources to incoming information. It can be
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    Cognitive psychology and the mind: The best textbooks summarized

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    • Summary with the book: A Life in Error, From Little Slips to Big Disasters by Reason
    • Summary with the book: Attention: Theory and Practice by Johnson & Proctor
    • Summary with the book...

    What is cognitive psychology?

    Cognitive psychology dives into the fascinating realm of human thought, exploring how we take in, process, store, and utilize information. It examines the mental processes underlying our ability to learn, remember, solve problems, make decisions, use language, and ultimately, navigate the complexiti...

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    Summaries for psychology and behavioral sciences What is this page about?

    • Contents: information and assortment pointers related to the use of summaries for Psychology and Behavioral Sciences on WorldSupporter
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    This bundle contains everything you need to know for the third interim exam of Introduction to Psychology for the University of Amsterdam. It uses the book "Cognitive Psychology by K. Gilhooly, F. Lyddy, and F. Pollick (first edition)". The bundle contains the following chapters: - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,...

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    Adapting Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to Improve Access to Psychological Therapies This module introduces you to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme, implemented across England from 2008. The programme sought to address a significant problem in the provision of psycholo...

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