PSYB57H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Edward B. Titchener, Ulric Neisser, Memory Span
Chapter 1: The Science of the Mind
A Brief History
•Cognitive psychology is roughly 50 years old
•Earliest textbook in cognition was published by Ulric Neisser in 1967
•Cognitive psychology is concerned with how people remember, pay attention, and
think. Most of what we think, do and feel is guided by things we already know.
•Wilhelm Wundt and his student Edward Bradford Titchener launched new research
psychology enterprise, defining their field as separate from philosophy and biology.
•Feelings, thoughts, perceptions, etc. were studied a lot by Wundt
•Introspect: “look within”
•However, some thoughts are unconscious.
•Another problem is that there is no way to verify true or false claims: “I have a
headache.” “My headache is worse than yours.”
•Introspection was then abandoned as a research tool, and researchers became more
interested in behaviour--which is observable.
•Behaviorist movement: a movement that dominated psychology in America for
roughly the first half of the 20th century
•Behaviour changes in response to various stimuli (rewards and punishments)
•John B. Watson - behaviourist movement advocate
•Late 1950’s: people don’t just act according to situations; it also depends on how they
understand or interpret the situation
•We need to study the mental world, but we can’t because of introspection and how it is
not reliable.
•Immanuel Kant’s transcendental method: inference to best explanation; begin with
observable facts and then work backwards. How could these observations have come
about?
•Like electrons: they are not observable, but their presence leads to observable
results
•We know we need to study mental processes, but we know we cannot study them
directly due to the downfall of introspection. So, we need to study them indirectly,
relying on visible consequences. By examining these effects, we can test hypotheses
about the mental processes
Working Memory: Some Initial Observations
•Working memory: the memory you use for information you are actively working on.
Holds information in an easily accessible form. Working memory is hypothesized to be
small.
•Span test: read someone a list of items and increase the number of items. Generally,
people start making errors at about seven or eight items.
Working Memory: A Proposal
•Research in working memory provides an example of how cognitive psychologists use
evidence. One theory of working memory proposes that this memory consists of a
central executive and a small number of low level assistants. Many forms of evidence
are used in supporting this account.
Document Summary
A brief history: cognitive psychology is roughly 50 years old, earliest textbook in cognition was published by ulric neisser in 1967, cognitive psychology is concerned with how people remember, pay attention, and think. So, we need to study them indirectly, relying on visible consequences. By examining these effects, we can test hypotheses about the mental processes. Working memory: some initial observations: working memory: the memory you use for information you are actively working on. Working memory is hypothesized to be small: span test: read someone a list of items and increase the number of items. Generally, people start making errors at about seven or eight items. Working memory: a proposal: research in working memory provides an example of how cognitive psychologists use evidence. One theory of working memory proposes that this memory consists of a central executive and a small number of low level assistants.
