Cognitive processes
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Cognitive psychology is concerned with the
structure and functions of the mind
Cognitive psychologists are involved in
discovering how does the human mind come to
know things and how does it use this
knowledge
Cognitive neuroscience combines knowledge
about the brain with knowledge about
cognitive processes
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The mind can be conceptualized as a set of mental
processes that are carried out by the brain
Cognitive processes include: memory, perception,
thinking, problem solving, language and attention.
Cognition is based on mental representations of
the world; images, words, and concepts.
We each have different experiences and therefore
have different mental representations, which
influences the way we think about the world.
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One of the most fundamental principles of cognitive
psychology is that human beings are information
processors and that mental processes guide behaviour.
In relation to this principle, cognitive research seeks to
discover the principles underlying the cognitive
processes.
Psychologists see the mind as an intelligent,
information processing machine with hardware and
software.( hardware: brain, software: mental images )
In this way of thinking, information is the input and
comes into the system through bottom-up processing
(from the sensory system). This input is then processed
by top-down processing in the mind (through
memory). The output is our behaviour.
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The second principle is that the mind can be
studied scientifically by developing theories
and using scientific research methods.
Cognition is now studied both experimentally
in the laboratory and within daily context. This
helps to keep cognitive research real and
beneficial instead of artificial.
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The third principle is that cognitive processes are
influenced by social and cultural processes.
This idea was recognized early by Frederic Bartlett,
who coined the term schema.
Schema is a mental representation of knowledge.
Bartlett was interested in how cultural schemas
influence memory. His studies focused on
remembering stories from other cultures. He found
that people struggled to remember stories from other
cultures and would often reword them to fit their own
cultural schema. He helped to show that people
remember not like machines but within a context that
has meaning to them, therefore distorting the memory.
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The human mind is very complex and can store
and manipulate mental representations of many
things. These mental representations refer to
objects, people and ideas in the real world, we use
them to make plans, daydream or think. We hold
in our minds self-representations and
representations about others.
Our ability to store and manipulate all of these
mental representations allows us to think, imagine
the outcome of certain scenarios, create literature
and art, make plans and calculate risk and reward.
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Our pre-stored mental representations are called
cognitive schemas. Cognitive schemas are how we
store images and ideas in our memory. Many
researchers believe that our cognitive schemas
(what we already know) affect how we interpret
events and store knowledge in our memory.
Schema Theory: a cognitive theory about cognitive
processing. A cognitive schema can be defined as
networks of knowledge, beliefs and expectations
about certain aspects of the world.
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Schemas can describe how certain knowledge is
organized and stored in memory. How it is stored
and organized will impact how it can be accessed
and used.
Schema Theory suggests that what we already
know will influence the outcome of information
processing. This is based on the idea that humans
are not passive in their response to knowledge but
are active processors of information. The human
mind interprets and integrates new information
through existing schemas and that the brain fills in
any blanks leading to distortions.
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Organize information about the world with
fixed and variable slots. If a slot is left blank it
is filled in by a best guess
Can be related to form systems
Are active recognition devices (pattern
recognition)
Help to predict future events based on what
happened before
Represent general knowledge rather than
definitions