PSYC 221 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Noam Chomsky, Colin Cherry, Edward C. Tolman
8 Sep 2016
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Early work in cog psyc p. 5: donder"s pioneering experiment: how long does it take to make a decision. Measuring reaction time in 2 situations, simple reaction task was to press a button after seeing a light, and pressing a right or left key after determining if a light is on the right or left side. Reaction time was measured from the start of the light stimulus, the mental response of the person, and stopped at the behavioural response of the button press. Contrubution: this experiment was one of the first cognitive psychology experiments. The measuring of mental responses cannot be measured directly, but must be inferred from behaviour. The mental response of making a decision was not measured directly but instead had to be measured through behaviour that happens as a result as decision . This is a principle that forms the basis of all research in cognitive psychology: wundt"s psychology lab (structuralism and analytic introspection)
