Summary
Summary PYC3703 Summarised Study Notes
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
- Book
- Cognitive Psychology
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PYC3703NOTES
,Dialectic – a developmental process whereby an idea evolves over time:
Thesis – a statement of believe
Antithesis – a statement that counters a previous statement
Debate between thesis and antithesis leads to a synthesis of both views (nature + nurture debate)
Philosophy – Seeks to understand general nature, in part through introspection
Physiology – Scientific study of life-sustaining functions, primarily through empirical methods (observation
based)
Rationalist – the route to knowledge is through logical analysis and reason contemplation / introspection
Empiricist – We acquire knowledge via empirical evidence, through experience and observation
1. Rene Descartes – Rationalist
2. John Locke – Empiricist – “Tabula Rosa” – blank slate – life and experiences write knowledge on us, we
have no innate ideas
3. Immanuel Kant – dialectically synthesised the views of Descartes and Locke
STRUCTURALISM
Understand the structure of the mind and it’s perceptions by analysing the perceptions into their constituent
components
Perception of a flower: colour, geometric forms, size
The method of structuralism = introspection
The focus of structuralism = elementary structures of sensation
FUNCTIONALISM
Focus is on the process of thought, not the contents
The how and why
PRAGMATISM
Knowledge is validated by its usefulness, what you can do with it
ASSOCIATIONISM
Examines how events / ideas become associated with one another in the mind to result in learning
Contiguity = associating things that tend to occur together at the same time
Herman Ebbinghaus – Associationist – studied own mental processes
Counted his errors and recorded response times
Studied how people learnt through rehearsal
Edward Lee Thorndike – role of satisfaction key to forming associations
“LAW OF EFFECT” – Stimulus will produce certain response over time, if organism is rewarded for that
response. Satisfaction serves as stimulus for further actions
BEHAVIOURISM – extreme form of associationism
2
, Relation between observable behaviour and environmental stimuli. Focus on overt observable
behaviour
Pavlov – Classic conditioning learning – dog + bell + saliva – dog had no control
Effective conditioning requires contingency – presentation of food contingent on presentation of
conditioned stimulus
Radical behaviourist - John Watson & BF Skinner
Skinner – believed in OPERANT CONDITIONING – behaviour contingent on absence / reinforcement of
reward or punishment – this explains all behaviour
GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY – critic of behaviourism
We cannot fully understand behaviour by breaking down phenomena into smaller parts – we must view
them as organised, structured wholes
Gestalts – study insights – try to understand unobservable mental events
“The whole differs from the sum of its parts” – the perception of a flower needs the whole experience,
not just description of colour, form, size.
ASSUMPTION
A statement / fact whose truth is presupposed
When studying the mind / cognition – need to make assumptions about how the mind works and need a
starting point
Freud – mind was conceptualised as a steam engine / hydraulic system with pressure relief valves
Cognitive psychology – assumption of mind as a computer / info. Processing system
Cognitive system has a level of software (mind) and hardware (brain)
PDP APPROACH – Parallel Distributed Processing Networks / The connectionist / neural network – the
key to knowledge representation lies in the connections among various nodes
Cognitive Psychologists – approach based on 2 assumptions
1. The mind can be conceptualised as an information processing system
2. Internal mental activities exist and can be studied systematically using scientific approach. A
methodological assumption based on idea that
- Experimental procedures
- Computer simulation can be used to study the mind scientifically
- Mathematical modelling
- Modern technological instruments
3
, PLATO’S THEORY OF FORMS
Aristotle - Empiricist – knowledge depends on experience
Plato – Rationalist - Knowledge and truth should be investigated by reasoning and logical deduction. The true
nature of reality does not reside in observable phenomena, but in abstract forms that underlie the phenomena.
What we perceive = shadows
The concept of ‘beauty’ provides a standard against which objects can be judged.
The standard AKA the FORM / IDEAL
Plato’s assumption – the meaning of a concept resides in the abstract form.
The actual example only points to the ideal, they ‘stand in’ for it
True forms are only imperfect reflections
COGNITIVISM – a synthesis of behaviourism (focus on observable) and gestaltism (internal mental processes)
A belief that much of human behaviour can be understood in terms of how people think
George Miller – the magic number 7
- People can remember 7 bits of info.
- Channel capacity – the upper limit with which an observer can match a response to info given –
remembering 7 number sequentially – channel capacity = 7. Short term memory
Jerry Fodor – concept of modularity of mind
Mind has distinct modules to deal with linguistics and info.
Processes used in one domain operate independently of processes in other domains.
PHRENOLOGY – Measurement of human skull
Mental cartography (maps) gave rise to idea of modularity.
GOALS OF RESEARCH
1. DATA GATHERING
2. STATISTICAL MEANS OF ANALYSING THE DATA - allow a formation of a description of the phenomena . To move
beyond description – leap from observation to inference (explain)
3. START WITH A THEORY – an organised body of general explanatory principles regarding a phenomena – based on
observation
4
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