The Cognitive Level of Analysis

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The Cognitive Level of Analysis
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Homework/Brief DIscussion

• How would you rate your memory? Does this number
  vary from day to day? Morning to evening?

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The Cognitive Level of analysis

• The human mind is quite sophisticated. It can
  manipulate abstract symbols like words and
  images. These mental representations can refer to
  objects, ideas, and people in the real world
  people use them when they think, make plans,
  imagine, or daydream.
• You have an idea of how you look somewhere in
  your mind a self-representation. You also have
  ideas about how other people are.

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The Cognitive Level of analysis

• Mental representations are organized in
  categories, and the mind contains all sorts of
  mental representations stored in memory.
• Cognitive schemas pre-stored mental
  representations.
• Mental representations how we store images and
  ideas in memory.
• Researchers believe that what we already know
  (cognitive schemas) affects the way we interpret
  events and store knowledge in out memory.

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What is Cognitive Psychology?

• Study of mental processes
• Study of the way in which the brain processes
  information
• It concerns the way we take in information from
  the outside world, how we make sense of that
  information and what use we make of it.

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What are mental processes?

• Definition "the process of thinking" "the
  cognitive operation of remembering" (Stanford,
  2010)
• Ex. Functions or processes such as perception,
  introspection, memory, creativity, imagination,
  conception, belief, reasoning, volition, and
  emotionin other words, all the different things
  that we can do with our minds.

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Cognitive PsychologyThe study of mental
representations and processes.
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Objective 1.1Outline principles that define the
cognitive level of analysisObjective
1.2Explain how principles that define the
cognitive level of analysis may be demonstrated
in research.

• \

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Principles that define the cognitive level of
analysis

• Mental representations and processes guide
  behavior
• Models of mental processes can be proposed and
  investigated scientifically
• Cognitive processes are influenced by social and
  cultural factors

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1. Mental representations and processes guide
behavior

• Human behavior is determined by a set of mental
  tasks/processes
• Mental tasks/processes include perception,
  thinking, problem solving, memory, language and
  attention -They are also known as cognitions
• Cognitive psychologist see these
  cognitions/mental tasks as active systems
• In between taking in and responding to
  information a number of processes are at work.

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1. Mental representations and processes guide
behavior

• Information can be transformed, reduced,
  elaborated, filtered, manipulated, selected,
  organized, stored and retrieved
• Therefore the human mind is  seen as an active
  system processing information, and cognitive
  psychologists aims to study these processes.

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1. Mental representations and processes guide
behavior

• People, like computers, acquire information from
  the environment ( input ).
• Both people and computers store information and
  retrieve it when applicable to current tasks
• Both are limited in the amount of information
  they can process at a given time

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1. Mental representations and processes guide
behavior

• Both transform information to produce new
  information both return information to the
  environment ( output).
• This information processing approach can
  demonstrated in research with
• Models of memory
• Schema theory (This can be used to assist you
  with objective 1.2).

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2. Models of mental processes can be proposed and
investigated scientifically

• Cognitive processes are difficult to study. They
  often occur rapidly, and inside the mind so they
  cannot be observed directly.
• It is only the responses that participants make
  when given some cognitive task to perform that
  can tell us about cognitive processes.
• These tasks usually take place under tightly
  controlled lab experiments where the main aim is
  to isolate a particular component of the
  cognitive process for the study. (This can be
  used to assist you with objective 1.2)

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2. Models of mental processes can be proposed and
investigated scientifically

• Example The stroop effect
• One of the earliest and most famous experiments
  into cognitive processes is the Stroop Effect.
• The stroop effect is a phenomena involved in
  attentional processes.

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The stroop effect

• It demonstrates the effects of interference,
  processing speed (reaction time) and automaticity
  in divided attention.
• The effect is named after John Ridley Stroop who
  first published the effect in English in 1935.

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Stroop effect

• This is a classic laboratory experiment that
  involves the manipulation of an independent
  variable (color or name of word ) to see what
  effect it has on the dependent variable (
  reaction time).
• It attempts to control the influence of all
  other extraneous variables such as other
  cognitive processes or skills.
• It also allows us to establish a cause and
  effect relationship between task and mental
  process.

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2. Models of mental processes can be proposed and
investigated scientifically

• A further example of the laboratory experiment
  was conducted by Ebbinghaus (1885).
• His experiment intended to isolate the process of
  pure memory and show that it could be studied
  scientifically under carefully controlled
  conditions.

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2. Models of mental processes can be proposed and
investigated scientifically

• The aim of the study was to assess short term
  memory, i.e. how quickly a person forgets what
  has been learned 100.
• He used himself in most of the studies , i.e. the
  design was N1 and he tested his memory using
  nonsense syllables.
• Learned lists of nonsense syllables (e.g., DAX,
  QEH)
• Why nonsense syllables?
• He did not want actual words to influence his
  ability to memorize or recall certain words
• He manipulated the independent variable of time
  delay before recall to find the effect on the
  dependent variable of the amount of information
  retained thus being able eventually to draw the
  famous forgetting curve.

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Principle 3Cognitive processes are influenced
by social and cultural factors

• In other words Language, perception, schemas,
  etc. can be influenced by our culture. How so?
• This principle may b e demonstrated in research
  that looks at social and cultural influences on
  cognitive processes. Such as schemas
• Examples
• a. Frederic Bartlett, coined the term schema,
  which is a mental representation of knowledge.

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Principle 3Cognitive processes are influenced
by social and cultural factors

• Schema is defined as a mental representation of
  knowledge, its an internal depiction of the
  world. He was predominantly fascinated how
  cultural schemas influence ones recollection.
• A info on Barletts study
• http//myclass.peelschools.org/sec/11/20135/Lesson
  s/Period204/Cognitive20Level20of20Analysis/Bar
  tlett,20Schema20Theory,20Reconstructive20Memor
  y,20Serial20Reproduction,20Native20American20
  Legend,20War20of20the20Ghosts.pdf

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Objective 1.2 important notes

• In your response, you must
• Show an objective way that the principle can be
  studied
• Provide a research example of a study that
  demonstrates the principle
• Show how the specific study demonstrates the
  principle.