Our brain takes an information and makes an initial sense through sensory register and perception. Making sense it focuses on certain things through attention and takes into account past experiences from working a long term memory, in order to make decision and act on the world.

Wicken's Human Information Processing Model

- the specific processes that are involved in thinking
- viewing thinking as a process that happens over time

David Klahr's Characteristics of Information-Processing Theories

- development of memory
- development of problem solving

Central Ideas of Information-Processing Theories

A foundational idea in understanding mental processes is the analogy between the human mind and a computer. This view suggests that thinking involves a sequence of operations for handling information, such as input, storage, retrieval, and output. Critically evaluate this analogy. In your response, discuss one significant strength and one significant limitation of using a computer model to understand human thought.

Evaluating the Computer Analogy in Cognitive Psychology

Using the perspective that the human mind operates like a computer that processes information in a series of stages, analyze the mental steps involved when a driver sees a traffic light turn red and brings their car to a stop. Describe the sequence of operations from the initial sensory input to the final behavioral output.

Analyzing a Cognitive Task

This model illustrates a cognitive pathway where external stimuli lead to behavioral responses. The process begins with the intake of information and sensations, which then influence emotions and memories. These elements, in turn, contribute to the formation of thoughts. Thoughts not only result in behavior but also create a feedback loop, influencing the initial emotions and memories.

Cognitive Process Model of Behavior

Traces the sequences of the different operations within the mind - similar to how a computer is broken down into memory units, an input processor, etc.

Wake Forest University

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Haverford College in Pennsylvania

Google

Emerging in the 1950s, the cognitive revolution was a movement that revived scientific interest in the mind. This shift was driven by new disciplinary perspectives in linguistics, neuroscience, and computer science, which collectively redirected psychological inquiry back toward mental processes after a prolonged period dominated by behaviorism's focus on external behavior.

Cognitive Revolution (1950s)

- Piaget's Theory
- Information Processing Theories
- Core Knowledge Theories
- Sociocultural & Socioeconomic Theories
- Dynamic Systems Theories
- John Bowlby's Attachment Theory

Theories of Cognitive Development

Processing (cognitive)

Goldstein, E. B. (2014). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience. Nelson Education.


Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Information-Processing approach

Ulric Neisser was a key figure in the cognitive revolution, best known for publishing the first textbook on the subject, titled 'Cognitive Psychology,' in 1967. His book became a foundational text for cognitive psychology courses across the United States, helping to solidify the discipline's place in academia.

Ulric Neisser

Noam Chomsky (1928–), an influential American linguist, played a pivotal role in the early days of the cognitive revolution. Dissatisfied with behaviorism's dominance in psychology, he argued that its exclusive focus on external behavior was short-sighted. Chomsky advocated for re-incorporating the study of mental functioning into psychology to provide meaningful contributions to understanding behavior. He is also known for conceptualizing the notion that language arises in part from innate structures in our brain (Universal grammar).

Noam Chomsky

Behaviorism's influence was significantly stronger in American psychology than in European psychology. The cognitive revolution played a crucial role in bridging this gap by helping to re-establish communication between psychologists in Europe and their American counterparts.

Impact of the Cognitive Revolution on Transatlantic Psychology

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary approach that emerged as psychologists began to cooperate with scientists from other fields, such as anthropology, linguistics, computer science, and neuroscience. Spurred by the cognitive revolution, the influence and prominence of this interdisciplinary perspective continue to resonate in modern-day psychology.

Cognitive Science as an Interdisciplinary Field

Imagine two psychologists are studying how a rat learns to navigate a maze. The first psychologist, working in the 1940s, focuses exclusively on the rat's speed, number of errors, and the specific sequence of turns it makes. A second psychologist, working in the 1960s after a major shift in the field's dominant perspective, would be more interested in which aspect of the rat's performance?

The cognitive revolution provided the primary impetus for the emergence of cognitive psychology by redirecting the field's focus from purely observable behavior to the scientific study of the mind and its underlying mental processes.

Causal Link Between Cognitive Revolution and Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach grounded in the idea that a person's thoughts directly dictate their emotions and behaviors. By helping clients identify and alter dysfunctional thought patterns, therapists aim to alleviate emotional distress and foster more logical, rational interpretations of situations.

Cognitive Therapy

Core knowledge theories focus on two important concepts. The first is that information that has been important over time as people have evolved. The second is that people think in ways that are more complex than what Piaget thought.

Core Knowledge Theories in Cognitive Development

Sociocultural theories emphasize that it is the interaction between the child and the people around them in shaping their cognitive development. These theories emphasize the importance of guided participation and considering the cultural context.

Sociocultural Theories in Cognitive Development

The dynamic systems theory in cognitive development examines how changes in actions occur over time and how that change can shape the cognitive development of children over time. This theory emphasizes that children are born with the internal motivation to explore the world.

Dynamic Systems Theories in Social Development

The social standing/class of a person, factoring in education, income, and occupation. It’s widely believed that SES is a large factor in how successful a student will be with learning.

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Piaget's theory of cognitive development posits that our ability to think and reason evolves through a series of distinct stages, each approximately associated with a specific age range. This theory is a key example of the discontinuity approach, suggesting that as children move from one stage to the next, there is a significant and qualitative shift in their cognitive processes. Piaget viewed thinking as a central element of development and believed children are naturally inquisitive learners whose reasoning differs from that of adults.

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

- Dual systems: System 1 (automatic) and system 2 (controlled)
- Hierarchical processing
- Load theory of attention
- Differences in Processing Positive and Negative Information

Focuses of research on processing

There are two modes of processing in social cognition:
- Automatic Processing 
- Deliberate Processing

Dual Modes of Processing in Social Cognition

This model suggests that when people are processing a negated message, they first internalize the core affirmative message, and then add on the negation. For example, if the sentence being processed is "Sue does not like cake", first "Sue likes cake" is processed, then the "does not" part is added in. Over time, people may forget the link between the core statement and the negation and start to misremember.

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