Cognitive Psychology Alan Turing- suggested the turing test to judge where a

Module 1 computer’s output was already indistinguishable from

human output
-study of how people receive, learn, and think about
information Artificial Intelligence
-explains not only decisions but preferences
-researchers have always tried to find synthesis to find a RESEARCH METHODS: data gathering, data analysis, theory
common ground development, hypothesis formulation, hypothesis testing
- Hypotheses are tested through experimentation
Heuristics- mental shortcuts to process info to easily
identify

Dialectic- thesis, antithesis, synthesis

PHILOSOPHICAL ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Rationalism
Empiricism- we should acquire knowledge via empirical
evidence

Rationalism vs Empiricism:
Descartes’ cogito, ergo sum vs. Locke’s tabula rosa

Immanuel Kant synthesized both view and argued that

rationalism and empiricism are important

Structuralism vs. Functionalism

Structuralism- seeks to understand the structure
- Contributors were Wilhelm Wundt and Edward
Titchener
Functionalism-

Associationism- elements of the mind can become

associated with one another that results from contiguity,
contrast, and similarity
- Associationists are Herman Erbinghaurs and
Edward Lee Thorndike
- Ang idea ni Thorndike and predecessors sa
behaviorism

Behaviorism- focuses the relation between observable

behavior and environmental events or stimuli
- extreme version of associationism because it is the
association between the environment and behavior
- mas dali to experiment on animals than humans
- John Watson and Ivan Pavlov

B.F. Skinner- proponent of operant conditioning

- didnt account for complex mental processes like
language learning and problem solving

BLACK BOX
- Understood in terms of input and output
- Human mind is the black box of psychology

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
-focuses on the whole; the whole is more than the sum of its
parts

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
-study of how people think
Cognitivism- explains that human behavior explains how
people think
Cognitive Psychology
Module 2- Cognitive Neuroscience

Cognitive Neuroscience- how brain and nervous system are

links to cognitive processing and behavior

Brain- organ that controls thoughts, emotions, and

motivation
- central processing unit accounting for 20% of
energy
- 1/40th of the weight of an adult human body
- Uses 1/5 of the blood, glucose, and oxygen
Localization of function- specific areas = specific skills and
behaviors
COGNITION IN THE BRAIN
Nervous system- basis for our ability to perceive, adapt, and
interact with the world
BRAIN:
1. Forebrain- farthest forward towards the face
- thinking and mental processes
- the last to develop prenatally and evolutionarily
- toward the top and front of brain
PARTS:
● Cerebral cortex- outer layer of the hemispheres
- enable us to think
- “Gray matter” because surface is grayish
- ipsilateral (same side) transmission of
information occur as well, not just
contralateral (side to side)
- corpus callosum connect the two
hemispheres
+ corpus callosum- dense sheet of neural fibers
- important because it connects both brain
hemispheres
● basal ganglia- motor function
● limbic system- emotion, motivation, memory,
learning
- memory retention
+ septum- involved anger and fear
+ Amygdala- plays a role in emotion
- damage result to lack of ability to process
emotions or lack the ability to process
danger or fear
+ hippocampus- monitors what is where
- associated with memory
- Damage result to inability to make new
memories
● Thalamus- relay incoming sensory information to
appropriate regions and then sorts it out
- like RAS, it is also essential to conscious
awareness of our existence
● Hypothalamus- regulate behavior related to survival
- regulate emotions and react to stress
- damage result to symptoms like
schizophrenia, impairment in language,
tremors, narcolepsy
- damage result to impairment in fight or
flight, but there are still emotions
2. Midbrain- next to forebrain
- control eye movement, emotions, coordination:
+ Superior Colliculi- vision, esp. visual reflexes
+ Inferior Colliculi- hearing
+ Reticular Activating System- regulate
consciousness
- Essential to conscious awareness of our
existence
- develops before forebrain prenatally and
evolutionarily
- RAS extend to hindbrain
- remaining portions (gray matter, red nucleus,
substantia nigra, and ventral region) are important in
CONTROLLING movement
- damage to brain stem is how physicians examine
brain death
● Brainstem- made up of hindbrain, thalamus,
midbrain, and hypothalamus
- connect the forebrain to the spinal cord
3. Hindbrain- evolutionarily the oldest and first to develop
prenatally
● Medulla Oblongata- control heart activity, breathing,
swallowing, digestion
● Pons- contain neural fibers that pass signals
- assist the medulla oblongata in controlling
breathing
● Cerebellum- bodily coordination, balance, muscle
tone
HEMISPHERIC SPECIALIZATION
- Method which was learned that there are two
hemispheres that have different responsibilities
- Most responsible for theory and research was
Roger Sperry
- Sperry and colleagues severed the brain to two
hemispheres; they discovered that the other half of
 the brain cannot recognize the other half’s
information
- the hemispheres have complimentary roles
Roger Sperry- responsible for theory and research on
Hemispheric specialization
- argues that each hemisphere behave like a separate
brain
- they severed the corpus callosum, then found that
one hemisphere of the cat was not recognizable to
the other
Karl Spencer Lashley- Father of Neuropsychology
- studied localization in 1915
- found that implantation of electrodes in identical
locations in the brain yield different results
Split-brain patients- severed corpus callosum
Left hemisphere- patterns, movement, language
- examines past experiences to find patterns
Right hemisphere- good semantic knowledge,
self-recognition, language, image-processing, spatial
thinking
- damage may result to inability to recognize yourself
or another
LOBES OF THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE
1. Frontal lobe-motor process, higher thought process
● Prefrontal cortex- front of the frontal lobe
- complex motor control
- integration of information over time
● Primary motor cortex- planning, control,
execution of movement
2. Parietal lobe- touch or feel; somatosensory
● Primary somatosensory cortex- receive
info from senses about pressure, texture,
temperature, pain
3. Temporal lobe- auditory, comprehending language,
retaining VISUAL memories
4. Occipital lobe- visual processing
● Visual Cortex- found here
Scientific lingo on lobes:
1. Rostral- front
- nasal region
2. Ventral- bottom
- stomach
3. Caudal- back part
- tail
4. Dorsal- upside
NEURONAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
Neurons- individual neural cells that transmit signals
- 100,000 neurons per cubic cm
- greatest concentration is at the neocortex of the
brain
● Neocortex- associated with complex cognition
- part of cerebral cortex that evolved most
recently
PARTS:
1. Soma- contain nucleus
- integrates information received by dendrite
2. Dendrites- branchlike structures that receive
3. Axon- responds then transmits to the terminal
buttons
4. Terminal Buttons- knobs at the end of neuron
branches but do not directly touch dendrite of next
neuron
- sends signal
Synapse- gap between neurons
- signal transmission occur here when terminal
button release neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitter- chemical messengers that transmit info
at the synaptic gap
- there are more than 100 transmitters
SOME TYPES:
● Acetylcholine- memory, sleep, arousal
● Dopamine- attention learning, movement, impulse
control
● Serotonin- eating behavior, depression regulation,
weight regulation, mood regulation
- involved in aggression, impulsivity
VIEWING THE STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS
→ recent trends focus on techniques that provide us info
about mental function while it is occuring instead of waiting
to study the brain after a patient has died
POST MORTEM STUDIES
→ researchers dissect and they examine if there are lesions
→ through the method, they are able to trace a link between
the behavior of the patient while they were alive and the
anomalies found during dissection
→ lesioning techniques are limited because they cannot be
performed on the living
Broca’s area- part of the brain responsible for speech
- frontal lobe
- coined by Paul Broca after he had a patient who had
severe speech problems
STUDYING LIVE NONHUMAN ANIMALS
In vivo research- research done on living creatures
- only done on animals because of ethical
considerations
- in single cell recordings, a thin electrode is inserted
next to a single neuron, then changes in electrical
activity in the cell is recorded when the animal is
exposed to a certain stimulus
Genetic knockout procedures- targeted removal or
inactivation of an animal’s gene
Selective lesioning- surgically removing or damaging a part
of the brain to observe functional deficit
 OTHER RELATED TECHNIQUES:
STUDYING LIVE HUMANS
1. Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
CAN BE DONE THROUGH:
2. Functional Transcranial Doppler Sonography
1. Electrical recordings
(fTCD)
2. Static imaging techniques
3. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS)
3. Metabolic imaging
→ the idea is that active areas of the brain consume more
glucose and oxygen BRAIN DISORDERS
Stroke- can lead to Vascular Disorder, occur when blood to
Electroencephalograms (EEG)- record electrical frequencies the brain has sudden disruption
of living brain over long periods ● Ischemic Stroke-fatty buildup
- EEG waves can be monitored when the person is ● Hemorrhagic Stroke- blood spills and blocks
exposed to a stimulus that lead to Symptoms:
● Event-related potential (ERP)- small change in the 1. numbness/weakness
brain electrical activity/record when exposed to a 2. confusion, difficulty understanding speech
stimulus 3. vision disturbances in one or both eyes
- used on variety of studies such as in 4. dizziness, loss of balance
selective attention, language processing, 5. severe headache
developmental changes in cognition
Brain tumors- also called Neoplasms
BRAIN IMAGING TECHNIQUES: - can occur in gray or white matter
● Computed tomography scans - can be malignant (has cancer cells) or benign
● Angiogram ● Primary Brain tumor- start in the brain
● Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) ● Secondary Brain tumor- start anywhere else in the
● Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scan body
● Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Symptoms:
1. headaches, change in speech, vision, hearing
PET scans- measure increase in oxygen consumption in 2. nausea or vomiting
active brain areas 3. changes in mood, personality, or concentration
- assist in the diagnosis of cognitive decline like 4. memory problems
Alzheimer’s 5. muscle jerking (seizure or convulsions)
X-ray-based techniques- allow observation of large 6. numbness or tingling
abnormalities like strokes and tumors 7. balance and walking problems
- e.g. angiograms and CT Scans
Angiography- look at blood flow, not brain structure Head Injuries- most common
MRI Scan- useful to cognitive psychologists ● Closed head injuries
● Structural MRI- image of brain size and shape ● Open head injuries
● Functional MRI- visualize parts that activate when a Abnormal symptoms:
person is doing a task 1. abnormal breathing
- construct detailed representation in three 2. speech or vision disturbance
dimensions of activity in various parts of 3. unequal pupils
the brain 4. weakness or paralysis
- less invasive than PET, but more expensive 5. dizziness
● Pharmacological MRI- combine fMRI with study of 6. neck pain or stiffness
psychopharmacological agent
● Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)- examine dispersion
of water in tissue and in axons

Subtraction method- pinpoints specialized area for a task

- measured through: (1) one taken while subject was
involved in a general or control activity and (2) when
the subject was engaged in the task of interest
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation- temporarily disrupts
normal activity of the brain in a limited area to imitate
lesions or stimulate brain regions
- examine causal relationships;
- area disrupted → influenced task-performance