The Cognitive Level of Analysis

1. The Cognitive Level of Analysis Black Box Stimulus/input Response/behaviour/output

2. As we take notes… • An image will be handed around the class from desk to desk. • You are to copy the image as best you can • Then pass you copy to the person behind you (or up to the top of the row as the case may be) • Do NOT let other people see your images • Keep the image passed to you – I will collect them at the end of class.

3. Cognition • Cognition – all the mental structures and processes involved in the reception storage and use of knowledge. • Includes: • Attention • Perception • Memory • Decision-making • Problem solving • Language

4. Brain-mind parallels • Brain – hardware • Mind – software • Both receive information (input) process it in a number of steps and deliver some output • Cognitive Psychology – aims to study how information changes as it advances through the various stages through scientific methods

5. How can something that is unobservable be scientifically measured? • Behaviourism– Watson - a reaction to the non-observable dilemma in cognitive psychology, only observed behaviour as an indicator of cognitive states – rejected cognitive studies • Classical conditioning – Pavlov – Learning process in which a naturally occurring stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus in evoking a response. The previously neutral stimulus will generate the response without the presence of the natural stimulus. • Operant conditioning – Skinner- The learning process through which the consequence of an operant response affects the likelihood that the response will be produced again in the future. Also called instrumental conditioning

6. Learning as cognition • Associative learning – the creation of associations between stimuli or behaviour and consequences • Observational learning – Bandura – associative learning occurs through observation of others • Each of these is an attempt to discover the thinking process of an observed subject – cognitive psychology • World Wars I and II showed that conditioning was not sufficient in training troops for their roles in combat or support. The types of decisions required for more complex learning to occur.

7. Cognitive psychology • Psychologists began to view cognition as a communication channel with limited capacity – led to the computer model of human cognition. • Thinking could be discovered by inferring information processing models to interpret observable behaviours. Cognitive psychology was born.

8. Principles of the Cognitive Level of Analysis • Learning outcomes: • Outline principles that define the cognitive level of analysis • Explain how principles that define the cognitive level of analysis may be demonstrated in research

9. Key assumptions of the cognitive level: • 1) Mental processes can and should be studied scientifically • 2) Mental representations guide behaviour

10. Mental processes can and should be studied scientifically • Viewing mental processes in terms of information processing has made it possible to formulate testable theories about unobservable cognitive structures and processes. • Such models and theories can be tested by conventional scientific methods – not relying on introspective methods • The study of mental processes has enabled psychologists to study important psychological phenomena that behaviourism found difficult to address • The application of modern scientific observation methods such as MRI and fMRI have enabled more scientific observation of cognition • Studying at the cognitive level can be triangulated with the biological and socio-cultural levels for a more comprehensive explanation of phenomena

11. Mental representations guide behaviour • There are cognitive mediators that intervene and process stimuli between input and response. • This processing is affected by the way the world is represented in our memories • Schemas – cognitive structures that organize our knowledge of objects, events, ourselves, and others. • We use these schemas to confront reality with some stored knowledge and preconceived patterns for interpretation.

12. War of the ghosts One night two young men from Egulac went down to the river to hunt seals and while they were there it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war-cries, and they thought: "Maybe this is a war-party". They escaped to the shore, and hid behind a log. Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of paddles, and saw one canoe coming up to them. There were five men in the canoe, and they said: "What do you think? We wish to take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the people." One of the young men said,"I have no arrows." "Arrows are in the canoe," they said. I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you," he said, turning to the other, "may go with them." So one of the young men went, but the other returned home. And the warriors went on up the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down to the water and they began to fight, and many were killed. But presently the young man heard one of the warriors say, "Quick, let us go home: that Indian has been hit." Now he thought: "Oh, they are ghosts.“ He did not feel sick, but they said he had been shot. So the canoes went back to Egulac and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire. And he told everybody and said: "Behold I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to fight. Many of our fellows were killed, and many of those who attacked us were killed. They said I was hit, and I did not feel sick." He told it all, and then he became quiet. When the sun rose he fell down. Something black came out of his mouth. His face became contorted. The people jumped up and cried. He was dead.

13. Schema Theory • Schema Theory – new encounters with the world are rarely actually new. Instead, the way we process information at any particular moment or the way we act in specific settings is determined by relevant previous knowledge and stored in our memories in the form of schemas. • Scripts – schemas that provide information about the sequence of events that occur in a more or less unchanging order in particular contexts. • Self-schemas – schemas that organize information we hold about ourselves. i.e. memories that tell us about our weaknesses and strengths • Social schemas – (eg. Stereotypes) schemas that prepare our experiences with information representing generalized groups or types of people.

14. Bartlett (1932) • Participants heard an unfamiliar North American folk tale • Afterwards, they were asked to retell the story many times • The recalled story was distorted in a number of ways; specifically alterations and omissions, changes in length and words • The retelling of the story was influenced by the participants’ personal cultural background

15. What is a schema? • An organized mental representation of information about the world, events or people, stored in long term memory • Does not have a physical existence (but may be related to the organization of neurons in the brain)

16. What is schema theory? • The term schema was first used by Jean Piaget in 1926. (but there have been many with similar ideas before him) • Explains how people develop ideas from simple ideas into complex ones • Schemas are formed and revised by relating experiences to each other

17. The construction of schemas according to Jean Piaget • We try to understand a new or different object or concept by using one of our pre-existing schemas • During assimilation, we try to fit new objects into existing schemas (a type of recognition, it provides us with comfort and security) • During accommodation, we change our schemas to fit the characteristics of a new object (learning)

18. Schema activity • A child sees a chihuahua for the first time and incorporates it into his schema of a dog. Is this an example of assimilation or accommodation? • A child calls a cat a dog because it has four legs but is corrected. Is this an example of assimilation or accommodation?

19. Characteristics of schema • Consists of concepts that are related to each other • Encodes general knowledge that can be applied to many different situations • Can be hierarchical, i.e. consist of sub-schemata/different levels • Is unprincipled, i.e. can be organized in infinite ways

20. Hierarchical Schema

21. Ski down slope Buy lift ticket Drink hot chocolate Going skiing Go to mountains Put on down jacket Procedure Schema

22. Activity 2 • Create a mind map about a concept of your own choice. Organize it thematically around one theme. Then create a hierarchical mind map, going from the general topic to the specific. Which of the mind maps do you prefer? • Procedure schemas are schemas for certain skills or events. Create a schema for events that happen when you are visiting a restaurant

23. Compare your schemas… • How can two schemas be different? Account for these divergent formations • How can two different schemas lead to conflicts or other difficulties?

24. What does schemas do? • They guide our behaviour • They predict likely happenings • They help us to make sense of current experiences • They help us to adapt to changing environments

25. What does schemas do? • They allow us to form expectations about situations, the world and people • They simplify reality • They organise our knowledge and assist recall

26. Memory and Cognition

27. Visual Memory • Try to remember as many of the following objects as possible.

28. Primacy and Recency • Once you have viewed the last number, try to write them out in order.

29. 6

30. 15

31. 12

32. 7

33. 3

34. 9

35. 10

36. 2

37. 1

38. 5

39. 4

40. 14

41. 8

42. 11

43. 13

44. Here is the total sequence • 6 • 15 • 12 • 7 • 3 • 9 • 10 • 2 • 1 • 5 • 4 • 14 • 8 • 11 • 13

45. Grouping • Read and memorize the words on list 1 • List 1: • read, pages, letters, school, study, reading, stories, sheets, cover, pen, pencil, magazine, paper, words

46. How many words on list 1 appear in list 2? • List 2: • house, pencil, apple, shoe, book, flag, rock, train, ocean, hill, music, water, glass, school

47. Read and memorize the following three lists of words. • List 1 • alligator - apple - arrow - baby - bird - book - butterfly - car - corn - flower - hammer - house - money - microscope - ocean - pencil - rock - shoes - table - window

49. List 2 • anger - belief - boredom - chance - concept - effort - fate - freedom - glory - happiness - honor - hope - idea - interest - knowledge - mercy - mood - moral - theory - truth