THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS RICH YET SUMMARIZED NOTES FOR PYC3703. THESE NOTES WILL HELP YOU ANSWER BOTH ASSIGNMENTS AND NOV 2020 EXAMINATION.
TIP:GO THROUGH THESE NOTES AND ATTEMPT A FEW PAST PAPERS BEFORE SITTING FOR THE EXAMS. YOU WILL THANK ME LATER.
Keep these notes close by if you write an open ...
PYC3703
SUMMARIZED NOTES
FOR
2020 EXAM ' 1
PREPARATION
We will help you bring out only the best
1n you ...
,PYC3703 – Cognitive Psychology -
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
Rene Descartes – Rationalist
John Locke – Empiricist – “Tabula Rosa” – blank slate – life and experiences write knowledge on us, we have no
innate ideas
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
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
The mind can be conceptualised as an information processing system
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
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
DATA GATHERING
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)
START WITH A THEORY – an organised body of general explanatory principles regarding a phenomena – based on
observation
A HYPOTHESIS IS GENERATED - a tentative proposal regarding expected empirical consequences of theory
HYPOTHESIS TESTED THROUGH EXPERIMENTATION and findings subjected to statistical analysis to
determine their statistical significance
RESEARCH METHODS
CONTROLLED LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS
PSYCHOBIOLOGY RESEARCH
SELF-REPORTS
CASE STUDIES
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATIONS
COMPUTER SIMULATIONS (pc to simulate / imitate human cognitive performance) AND AI (PC to demonstrate
intelligent cognitive performance, brute force, does not represent how humans functions, but plays at highest possible
level)
EXPERIMENTS ON HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
Lab setting – 2 variables
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE – individually manipulated while other aspects are held constant (Treatment)
DEPENDENT VARIABLE – outcome responses, values depend on how independent variable influences participants
Manipulate independent variable to observe effect on dependent variable
CONTROL VARIABLE - controls for effects of irrelevant variables which are held constant
CONFOUNDING VARIABLE - Irrelevant variables left uncontrolled which can influence results (time of day)
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
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 EFT, 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 this summary from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller 420academy99. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy this summary for R100,00. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
