Finish: Overview of the History of Cog Psych Psychology 355: Cognitive Psychology Instructor: John Miyamoto 04/01 /2015: Lecture 01-3 This Powerpoint presentation

Finish: Overview of the History of Cog Psych

Psychology 355: Cognitive Psychology

Instructor: John Miyamoto

04/01/2015: Lecture 01-3

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Outline

• History of Cognitive Psychology: How did cognitive psychology become a major focus within psychology?

Overview of Physiological Methods in Cognitive Psychology

• Single cell recordings of neural activity

• Event-related potentials (ERP)

• Positron emission tomography (PET)

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

♦ Example of fMRI applied to localization of perceptual function

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 2

Lecture probably ends here

Overview of the Historical Development of Cognitive Psychology

3Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15

Overview of the History of Cognitive Psychology

• Precursors to cognitive psychologyo Aristotle, Plato – epistemology, theory of ideas and their relation

to human action

• Experimental psychology begins in 19th century Germanyo Franciscus Donders (response time analysis, method of subtraction)o Hermann von Helmholtz (perception, unconscious inference)o Hermann Ebbinghaus (experimental study of memory)o Wilhelm Wundt (analytic introspection, analysis of conscious experience)

• Behaviorist hiatus in America: roughly 1920 – 1960o During the behaviorist period (1920-1960), cognitive psychology

continued to be studied in Europe.

• Revival of cognitive psychology in America (1950 – 1970)

• 1970 – present: Cognitive psychology plays a major role in psychology pretty much everywhere in the world

Donder’s Mental Chronometry


Early Cognitive Psychology: F.C. Donders (1818-1889)

• Mental chronometry:

Measuring the duration of a cognitive process

• Reaction-time (RT) (a.k.a. response time):

RT = the time interval between

stimulus presentation and

the response to the stimulus

• Method of Subtraction:

Used to infer how long a mental process takes

when the process is not directly observable.o Method of subtraction is an example of a behavioral research method.

Definition of Simple RT and Choice RT

"Donders, Franciscus Cornelis (1818 - 1889)" by Alexander Seitz (Photographic company) - SIL14-D4-14a.jpg from the Scientific Identity: Portraits from the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology (reworked). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donders,_Franciscus_Cornelis_(1818_-_1889).jpg#/media/File:Donders,_Franciscus_Cornelis_(1818_-_1889).jpg

TIMEStimulus Presentation Response

RTRT

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donders,_Franciscus_Cornelis

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donders,_Franciscus_Cornelis


Simple and Choice Reaction Timeand Measuring the Time It Takes to Choose

• Simple RT task:

Participant pushes a button quickly after a light appears.

• Choice RT task:

Participant pushes one button if light is on the right side,

and a different button if light is on left side

• Donder’s goal: To measure how long it takes a person to decide

which button to press in the choice RT task.

How long is the decision process?

Diagram Showing Time Course of Simple RT

6

Diagram of Cognitive Processes During Simple RT

• Simple RT = (Response Completion) – (Stimulus Onset)

In a simple RT task, the subject does not have to decide how to respond.

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 Diagram Showing Time Course of Choice RT

Time

7

Diagram of Cognitive Processes During Choice RT

• Choice RT = (Response Completion) – (Stimulus Onset)

In a choice RT task, the subject has to decide which responseis appropriate.

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15

Time

Diagram showing the Decision Stage in the Information Process


• Decision time = the length of time that it takes to decide

which response is appropriate.

Diagram of Cognitive Processes During Choice RT

Question for the Class: How to Measure Decision Time?

Decision Time

Question for the Class:

How Can We Measure the Duration of the Decision Stage in a Choice RT Task?

• Donder’s goal: Measure how long it takes a person to decide which button to press in the choice RT task.

How long is the decision process?

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 9Diagram comparing simple and choice RT

10

Method of Subtraction: Compare Simple RT to Choice RT


Duration of Decision Stage (red) = Choice RT – Simple RT


Simple RT

Choice RT

Diagram Showing that the Perceiving Stages are Identical

11



Simple RT

Choice RT

Diagram Showing that the Responding Stages are Identical

Same

12



Simple RT

Choice RT

Diagram Showing that the RT Difference Measures the Duration of the Decision Stage

Same



Duration of Decision Stage (red) = Choice RT – Simple RT


Simple RT

Choice RT

What does Donder’s Method Show About Cognitive Psych?

Same

14

Why is Donder’s Method of SubtractionImportant for Cognitive Psychology?

• It combines a behavioral study with a simple computational model of a cognitive process.

♦ The combination yields an important conclusion. ♦ Mental chronometry

• Example of a purely or strictly behavioral study – no physiological measurements; no brain imaging.

• Method of subtraction is a valid measure of mental durationif all of the assumptions are valid.

♦ Unfortunately, the assumptions of this method are often not valid.

♦ But Donder's ideas inspired improved methods that do lead to valid measurements of the duration of mental processes.

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 fMRI Method of Subtraction

15

Subtraction Methods in fMRI Brain Imaging

Activations are regions of significant change from a control condition to a test condition.


Brain image shows regions of significant activation when comparing Test Condition to Control Condition. (Slice of brain is viewed from above.)

The purpose of this slide is simply to show that subtraction methods are used in modern fMRI studies.

• Specific details are not important.

Test Condition: Subject views picture.

Control Condition: Subject fixates a blank screen.

Helmholtz & Unconscious Inference

16

Early Cognitive Psychology: H. L. F. von Helmholtz (1821 – 1894)

• Great mathematician, physicist, psychologist

• Contributions to psychology: perception, especially color vision, hearing, optics, unconscious inference

• Helmholtz invented idea of Unconscious Inference♦ Some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions

we make about the environment♦ We infer much of what we know about the world

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 Diagram that Illustrates Unconscious Inference (Occlusion)


Unconscious Perceptual Inference

The display in (a) looks like (b) a gray rectangle in front of a light rectangle;

but it could be ....

… (c) a gray rectangle and a six-sided figure that are lined up appropriately

or (d) a gray rectangle and a strange-looking figure that are lined up

appropriately. Repeat this Slide without the Rectangles


Unconscious Perceptual Inference

The display in (a) looks like (b) a gray rectangle in front of a light rectangle;

but it could be ....

… (c) a gray rectangle and a six-sided figure that are lined up appropriately

or (d) a gray rectangle and a strange-looking figure that are lined up

appropriately.

Example of Unconscious Inference: An Occluded Cube


Another Example of Unconscious Inference

• We rapidly and automatically infer that there is a cube behind a screen with holes in it.

• Your knowledge of cubesand occlusion (seeing through holes) determines what you perceive in this figure.

Example of Unconscious Inference: Craters versus Mounds

Where is the light coming from on the left and on the right?

What is the shape of the sand on the left and on the right?

Example: Craters or Mounds?

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 20Same Image + Light from Above Assumption

Craters Mounds

Example: Craters or Mounds?

“Light comes from above” assumption guides perception.

Why Idea of Unconscious Inference Is Important for Cog PsychPsych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 21

Craters Mounds


Why Is the Idea of Unconscious Inference Important?

• Unconscious inferences contribute in many ways to

our perceptions and beliefs.

Cognitive psychology attempts to discover:

(a) what unconscious inferences occur in the formation of our beliefs;

(b) the processes by which such inferences are made.

Other Early Cognitive Psychologists – Ebbinghaus & Wundt


Other Important Early Cognitive Research

• Ebbinghaus (1850 – 1909) and the Method of Savingso Important memory researcho We will talk about this later in the course

• Wundt (1832 – 1920)o How sensations combine to form perceptso Analytic introspection

Return to Slide Showing the Overview of History of Cog Psych


Overview of the History of Cognitive Psychology

• Precursors to cognitive psychologyo Aristotle, Plato – epistemology, theory of ideas and their relation

to human action

• Experimental psychology begins in 19th century Germanyo Franciscus Donders (response time analysis, method of subtraction)o Hermann von Helmholtz (perception, unconscious inference)o Hermann Ebbinghaus (experimental study of memory)o Wilhelm Wundt (analytic introspection, analysis of conscious experience)

• Behaviorist hiatus in America: roughly 1920 – 1960o During the behaviorist period (1920-1960), cognitive psychology

continued to be studied in Europe.

• Revival of cognitive psychology in America (1950 – 1970)

• 1970 – present: Cognitive psychology plays a major role in psychology pretty much everywhere in the world

Behaviorist Hiatus in America

Done!

To-Be-Continued on Thursday

Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '15 25

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Finish: Overview of the History of Cog Psych Psychology 355: Cognitive Psychology Instructor: John Miyamoto 04/01 /2015: Lecture 01-3 This Powerpoint presentation