Wanna get this document cheaper? Send an email to:
easybakedtoast@gmail.com
****** ENGLISH ******
Summary of EVERYTHING for thinking & deciding. I had this exam during COVID-19 and could use this summary during the exam, so everything is in it.
Thinking Fast & Slow (Kahneman) + Cognition...
,Lecture 1 – Chapter 1
Cognition and technology work together to improve human life:
- Technology improved by cognition
- Cognition improved by technology
- Cross-fertilizations!
Cognition: Mental activity, acquisition, storage transformation and use of knowledge.
Cognitive psychology -> cognitive approach (different from behaviorism / Psychodynamic).
Why learn about cognition?
- Cognition occupies a major portion of human psychology.
- Cognitive psychology will help you appreciate many other areas of psychology, as well as
disciplines outside psychology.
- Cognitive psychology provides an "owner's manual" for your mind
Cognitive psychology is the study of cognizing by individual humans, including perception (H2),
attention (H3), memory (H4-5-6), knowledge (H7-8), language(H9-10), reasoning(H12), problem
solving (H11), decision-making (second parts). Cognitive psychology is sometimes used as a synonym
for cognition, and sometimes it refers to a theoretical approach to psychology.
It’s useful to study cognitive psychology because:
• Cognitive activities are a major part of human psychology
• The cognitive approach influences other important areas of psychology
• You can learn how to use your cognitive processes more effectively
Cognitive approach: A theoretical orientation that emphasizes people’s thought processes and their
knowledge.
Philosophical antecedents: The Greeks
Plato (427-347 BC):
- Two ‘worlds’: observable, imperfect world and the eternal, changeless, abstract world of
(perfect) forms/ideas.
- Body is part of physical, ending world, mind (soul) is part of the abstract eternal world (dualism)
- Knowledge:
o Rationalism: Gain knowledge through good thinking (mathematics, philosophy).
o Remembering: mind knows everything (nativism), just remember.
Aristotle (384-322 BC):
- Guided by observations of natural and biological processes
- Rejected plato’s dualism
- Solution: one world, the observable reality
- Change is central: we learn and change by observation (empiricism).
- Aristotle emphasized the importance of empirical evidence, or scientific evidence obtained by
careful observation and experimentation.
2
, Plato versus Aristotle:
Plato Aristotle
Mind/body Dualism Monism
Knowledge Rationalism Empiricism
Origin of mind Nature (nativism) Nurture
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920): Structuralism
- Father of scientific psychology
- Established first psychology lab in 1875 in Germany
- Psychological psychology (experimental) relation between sensation and perception through
introspection. Wundt developed the introspection technique.
- Introspection: In this case it means that carefully trained observers would systematically
analyze their own sensations and report them as objectively as possible, under standardized
conditions.
- Völker psychology: Higher order processes and social processes cannot be studied by
experimentation: too complex, introspection is too fallible.
Early memory research:
- Zeitgeist (wundt): Memory is a higher order process, cannot be studied experimentally
- Ebbinghaus studied his own memory, learning nonsense syllables (ZAF BUQ QUJ)
- US: Calkins discovered recency effect (she argued to study real processes).
o The recency effect is the tendency to remember the most recently presented
information best. For example, if you are trying to memorize a list of items,
the recency effect means you are more likely to recall the items from the list that you
studied last.
William James (1842-1910) Functionalism
- Influential book: ‘principles of psychology’
o Introspection has some issues, and nonsense syllables are not reflecting the real world.
- Aim: to understand functional relationships between stimuli and responses → everyday
experiences rather than decompose cognition in structural aspects.
Behaviorism: Mostly US
- Inspired by functionalism
- Studies the association between stimulus and responses
- Rejected introspection and studies observable behavior only
- Darwin’s influence: Animal experiments.
- The behaviorists helped to develop the research methods used by current cognitive
psychologists.
John B. Watson: founder of Behaviorism 1878 – 1958
- “Behaviorism holds that the subject matter of human psychology is the behavior of human
being. Behaviorism claims that consciousness is neither a definite nor a usable concept.”
- Total rejection of mentalism in scientific psychology (e.g. thinking is simply silent speech).
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller BakedToast. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $8.58. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
