3.1 Cognitive Level of Analysis Textbook chapter 9

Vocabulary Cognitive psyhology – structure and functions of the mind, how human come to know things and how they use this knowledge Cognitive neuroscience – combines knowledge about the brain with knowledge about cognitive processes Cognition – perception, thinking, problem solving, memory.language and attention

Principles of the cognitive loa Principal #1 Humans are information processors and that mental processes guide behaviour. Goal of cognitive research – discover principles underlying cognitive processes

The mind is a complex machine –an information processing machine It uses Hardware (the brain) Software – (mental images or reperesentations) Information input to the mind comes via bottom- up processing (from the sensory system) Information is processed in the mind by top down processing via prestored information in the memory Output is in the form of behavior

Psychology and Cognition There is a relationship between how people think about themselves and how they behave! (Carol Dweck’s Mindset) Fixed ideas about other people – Stereotyping

False memories People’s memories are not infallible because of the reconstructive nature of memory People do not store exact copies of their experiences, rather an outline which is filled in late when recalled. We can’t tell the difference between what they have experienced and what they have heard after the event. The brain fabricates illusion so realistic that we believe they are true.

Can you create a false memory? YzbA YzbA How did Loftus make this experiment “ethical?”

Elizabeth Loftus : What is the matter with memory? Whats_the_Matter_with_Memory Whats_the_Matter_with_Memory Why does she use Hilary Clinton’s memory of her visit to Bosnia? What is the misinformation paradigm? What is the rich false memory paradigm? What happened when misinformation was fed into the survival school?

Principle #2 The mind can be studied scientifically by developing theories and using a number of scientific research methods The experimental method is commonly used, but now also study it in daily context. Today case studies of people with extraordinary memory, or people with brain damage. New technology (fMRI) allows study into brain processes that help refute or prove cognitive models

Principle #3 Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors British psychologist Frederic Bartlett coined the term schema – mental representation of knowledge. People often reconstruct a story to fit in with their own cultural schemas. Memory is not like a tape recorder, but rather that people remember in terms of meaning and what makes sense to them. Memory is subject to distortions

Touchdowns funny uvTI uvTI 1LIU