Psychology 2135A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Memory Span, Edward B. Titchener, Cognitive Revolution
27 May 2018
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Psych 2135
May 7-11, 2018
Chapter 1: The Science of the Mind
- Cognition: what you know, remember and think
- Foundation for every aspect of who you are
The scope of cognitive psychology
- When the field of cognitive psychology was first launched it broadly focused on the
scientific study of knowledge
- Acquisition, retention and use of knowledge
The broad role for memory
- Many of our encounters with the world depend on us supplementing our experience
with knowledge that we bring to the situation
- Amnesia and memory loss
o Cases in which someone – because of brain damage – has lost the ability to
remember certain materials
o HM brain surgery – could remember everything before the surgery but nothing
after
o Each of us has a conception of ourselves supported by numerous memories
o Cognitive psychology can then help us understand capacities relevant to virtually
every moment of our lives
The cognitive revolution
- Science of psychology went through changes in the 50s and 60s that is often referred to
as pshologs ogitive revolution which brought a huge shift in the style of research
used
- The limits of introspection
o The revolution centered on a small number of key ideas
▪ One idea is that the science of psychology cannot study the mental world
directly
▪ A second idea is that the science of psychology must study the mental
world if we are to understand behaviour
o Brief history of research methods
▪ Last 19th century: Wundt and Titchener launched a new research
enterprise which focused largely on the study of conscious mental events
– feelings, thoughts, perceptions and recollections – by introspection
(looking within)
• Investigators were soon forced to acknowledge that some
thoughts were unconscious and limited introspection
• Itospetio doest allo fo testailit of lais
- The years of behaviourism
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Document Summary
Cognition: what you know, remember and think. Foundation for every aspect of who you are. When the field of cognitive psychology was first launched it broadly focused on the scientific study of knowledge. Many of our encounters with the world depend on us supplementing our experience with knowledge that we bring to the situation. Science of psychology went through changes in the 50s and 60s that is often referred to as ps(cid:455)(cid:272)holog(cid:455)(cid:859)s (cid:272)og(cid:374)itive revolution which brought a huge shift in the style of research used. Feelings, thoughts, perceptions and recollections by introspection (looking within) Investigators were soon forced to acknowledge that some thoughts were unconscious and limited introspection. If (cid:449)e (cid:449)a(cid:374)t to p(cid:396)edi(cid:272)t so(cid:373)eo(cid:374)e(cid:859)s (cid:396)espo(cid:374)ses to (cid:395)uestio(cid:374)s, (cid:449)e (cid:374)eed to (cid:396)efe(cid:396) to the stimulus and also the person(cid:859)s knowledge and understanding of the stimulus. Research in cognitive psychology: the diversity of methods.
