Cognitive Level of Analysis

CLA
Studies cognition
• All mental processes
involved in attention,
perception, memory
decision making,
problem solving and
language.
• All the crap that goes on
in your mind!!!
 What is the Mind?
• They tend to look at the
mind and an
information-processing
unit.
Like a computer
• The brain is the
hardware.
• The mind is the
software.
The CLA is popular…
• About 70% of all
therapists today draw
from the cognitive
school.
• I am going to make the
argument that you are
all cognitive
therapists!!!
 The Principles of……

The Cognitive Level of Analysis

Outline the principles that define the
cognitive level of analysis and
explain how they can be
demonstrated in research.
 Principle 1: Human beings are information
processors and mental processes guide behavior.

• We are always trying to

process the info around
us.
• Our perceptions are
usually based on what we
already know.
• There is a relationship
between our mental What do
representation and the you think
way we perceive and think this is?

about the world.

Outline the principles that define the cognitive level of analysis and explain how
they can be demonstrated in research.
 Principle 1 is demonstrated in
Schema Theory
• A schema is a mental Right now in your head, picture a
model.
representation of
knowledge in the brain.
• We have schemas for
basically everything!!!!

But does
this one?

Principle 1: Human beings are information processors and mental

processes guide behavior.
 Schema Theory
• They provide guidelines
Whether at
for interpreting
religious school information when trying
or at a party,
you expect to make sense of the
different world.
behaviors.
• They create
expectations on what
will happen in certain
situations.
What if someone threw
you a curve ball by doing
something you do not
expect.
Principle 1: Human beings are information processors and mental processes guide
behavior.
 Schema Theory
Can even explain….
• Stereotyping
– An overgeneralized
belief about a group of
people.

Principle 1: Human beings are information processors and mental processes guide
behavior.
Do schemas affect the way we perceive race?

Principle 1: Human beings are information processors and mental

processes guide behavior.
Schemas and Memory Reconstruction
• Our memories are not
video and audio
recordings.
• They are constructed by
cognitive
processes….like
schemas.
• How do you think
schemas can effect our
memories?
Principle 1: Human beings are information processors and mental
processes guide behavior.
 Schema Theory
A Jean Piaget side note…..
Assimilation Accommodation
• Incorporating new concepts • Changing existing schemas
into existing schemas. to incorporate new
If I teach my 3 year that an information.
animal with 4 legs and a tail
is a dog….

If I tell someone from the mid-west to picture

their schema of the Bronx they may talk about
the ghetto areas.
What
would he
call this?

Principle 1: Human beings are information

processors and mental processes guide behavior.
 Darley and Gross (1983)
• Carried out a laboratory
experiment on schema
theory in the social
world.
• Often called the Hannah
Study
• Participants saw 2
videos of a girl.

Principle 1: Human beings are information processors and mental processes

guide behavior.
 Darley and Gross (1983)
• In video 1, girl was playing
in a poor environment.
• In video 2, girl was playing
in a rich environment.
• Then they saw a video of
the girl taking what looked
to be an intelligence test
and answering the
questions inconsistently.

Principle 1: Human beings are information processors

and mental processes guide behavior.
 Darley and Gross (1983)
• When participants were
asked to judge the future
of the girls, they all said
the “rich” girl would do
well and the “poor” girl
would do less well.
• On average they judges the
“rich” Hannah as having a
5th grade academic level,
and “poor” Hannah at a 4th
grade level.
Principle 1: Human beings are information processors and mental processes
guide behavior.
 Darley and Gross (1983)
• The study demonstrates
that participants
probably used pre-
stored schemas of what
it means to be poor and
rich.
• They then interpreted
the rest of the scene
based on these
schemas.
Principle 1: Human beings are information processors and mental processes guide
behavior.
 Principle 2: The mind can be studied
Remember...behaviorists scientifically.
argued that thoughts
cannot be measured Cognitive psychologists
use a wide array of
methods to study the
mind:
• Laboratory experiments
• Neuroimaging
• Case Studies
• Interviews
• Archival Research
Outline the principles that define the cognitive level of analysis and explain
how they can be demonstrated in research.
 Principle 2 is demonstrated in
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
Aim:
• To investigate whether
the use of leading
questions would affect
recall in a situation where
participants were asked to
estimate speed.
• This is a situation that
could happen when
people appear in court as
eyewitnesses.
Principle 2: The mind can be studied scientifically.
 Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
Procedure:
• The student
participants saw
videos of traffic
accidents and had to
answer questions
about the accident.

Principle 2: The mind can be studied scientifically.

 Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
• In experiment 1, the
participants were asked to
estimate speed of the cars
based on a critical
question:
• “About how fast were the
cars going when they
smashed/hit/collided/
bumped/ or contacted?”

Principle 2: The mind can be studied scientifically.

 Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
Results:
• The mean estimates of
speed were highest in
the “smashed
condition” (40.8 mph).
• Lowest in the
“contacted group” (31.8
mph).

Principle 2: The mind can be studied scientifically.

 Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
Results: • The results indicate
Were the results just lucky? that memory is not
• The p-value reliable and can be
• Anything p<.05 or less is manipulated by using
significant. Which means specific words.
there is a 5% chance the
study is BS.
• The results in Loftus were
significant at p<0.005 (.5%
chance of that result
occurring due to chance).
Principle 2: The mind can be studied scientifically.
 Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
• The critical word in question
consistently affected the
participants' answer to the
question.
• One explanation could be that
the use of different words
influenced the participants’
mental representation of the
accident….
• i.e., the verb smashed activates
a cognitive schema of a severe
accident and therefore speed
Principle 2: The mind can be studied
scientifically. estimates increase.
 Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
• It is not the actual details
of the accident that are
remembered but rather
what is in line with a
cognitive schema of a
severe accident.
• Like reconstructive
memory.
• Or maybe they just suck
at estimating speed?
Principle 2: The mind can be studied scientifically.
 Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
Evaluation:
• The experiment was
conducted in a laboratory
setting so maybe an
ecological validity problem.
• Maybe too artificial.
• Use of just students as
participants.
• But the controlled IV (words)
and DV (speed) made it
possible to establish
cause/effect relationship.
Principle 2: The mind can be studied
scientifically.
 Principle 3: Cognitive processes are
influenced by social and cultural factors.
• Research has shown
that cognitive processes
such as perception,
memory and thinking
are influenced by socio
cultural factors.

Outline the principles that define the cognitive level of analysis and
explain how they can be demonstrated in research.
 Principle 3 is demonstrated in
Bartlett (1932) “The War of Ghosts”
Aim:
• To investigate whether
people’s memory for a
story is affected by
previous knowledge
(schemas) and the extent
to which memory is
reconstructive.

Principle 3: Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.

 Bartlett (1932) “The War of Ghosts”
Procedure:
• Bartlett asked British
participants to listen to a
story.
• After a while he asked them
to reproduced (repeat) the
story.
• He asked them again and
again (over a period of
months and years) which he
called serial reproduction.

Principle 3: Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.

 Bartlett (1932) “The War of Ghosts”
• The story was an
unfamiliar Native
American legend called
“The War of Ghosts”.

Principle 3: Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.

 The War of Ghosts
One night two young men from Egulac went down to the river to hunt seals and while they were there
it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war-cries, and they thought: "Maybe this is a war-party".
They escaped to the shore, and hid behind a log. Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of
paddles, and saw one canoe coming up to them. There were five men in the canoe, and they said:
"What do you think? We wish to take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the
people."
One of the young men said,"I have no arrows."
"Arrows are in the canoe," they said.
"I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you," he said,
turning to the other, "may go with them."
So one of the young men went, but the other returned home.
And the warriors went on up the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down
to the water and they began to fight, and many were killed. But presently the young man heard one
of the warriors say, "Quick, let us go home: that Indian has been hit." Now he thought: "Oh, they are
ghosts." He did not feel sick, but they said he had been shot.
So the canoes went back to Egulac and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire. And
he told everybody and said: "Behold I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to fight. Many of our
fellows were killed, and many of those who attacked us were killed. They said I was hit, and I did not
feel sick."
He told it all, and then he became quiet. When the sun rose he fell down. Something black came out of
his mouth. His face became contorted. The people jumped up and cried.
He was dead.
 Bartlett (1932) “The War of Ghosts”
Results:
• The participants
remembered the main
idea of the story (the
gist) but they changed
unfamiliar elements to
make sense of the story
by using terms more
familiar to their own
cultural expectations.
Principle 3: Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.
 Bartlett (1932) “The War of Ghosts”
• The story remained a
coherent whole although it
was changed.
• It became noticeably shorter
after each reproduction.
• Bartlett concluded that
remembering is an active
process.
• Memories are not copies of
experience but rather
“reconstructions”.

Principle 3: Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.

 Bartlett (1932) “The War of Ghosts”
Evaluation:
• The results of the study
confirm schema theory
(and reconstructive
memory).
• But is was performed in
a laboratory and might
lack ecological validity.

Principle 3: Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.

 Bartlett (1932) “The War of Ghosts”
• Participants did not
receive standardized
instructions and some of
the memory distortions
may be due to simple
guessing (demand
characteristics such as the
Hawthorne effect)
• Still, this study is one of
the most important in the
study of memory.
Principle 3: Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.