Kindle Notes & Highlights
cognition involves thinking and other mental processes.
cognitive psychology includes the following: Our perception of the world around us through our senses and how we interpret the sensations brought in by our senses (e.g., noticing that the lights are dim in your kitchen) The attentional processes that allow us to focus on a particular stimulus in our environment (e.g., a brightly colored sign catching our attention in a grocery store) How our memory operates to allow us to remember episodes, information, and intentions when we attempt to retrieve them (e.g.,
remembering—or not remembering—to buy light bulbs at the store) Our language processes that help us communicate our thoughts and ideas with others (e.g., being able to read the advertisement for the cereal or understanding the cashier’s question of “Paper or plastic?”) The processes that contribute to our decision making, both helpful and hindering (e.g., trying to decide if the “Buy 2, get 50% off” deal is going to save you money or be a healthy choice) The brain activity that controls all of the processes described so far
Wilhelm Wundt (one of the first psychologists) studied conscious experience through introspective methods that involved systematic self-reports of a person’s thoughts.
behaviorists focused on behaviors they could directly observe, with the thought processes behind the behaviors of less interest.
an attack on the behaviorist approach to language learning by the linguist Noam Chomsky.
prominent behaviorist, B. F. Skinner, had proposed that language learning occurs through conditioning processes (Skinner, 1957). In other words, language development occurred through the imitation of speakers around a child and the feedback (reinforced or punished) the child’s speech elicited.
Chomsky suggested that children have the mental capacity to learn the rules of the language(s) spoken around them without explicit feedback on the language they produce. In other words, language abilities result from cognitive processes inherent in humans.
understanding the processes behind the overt behaviors would advance our understanding of the mind and behavior in important ways.
Behaviorist: one who adheres to the perspective in psychology that focuses on observable behaviors
Neisser coined the term cognitive psychology and, due to this contribution, is widely viewed as the father of the field.
The basic aspect of the representationalist approach is that knowledge about the world is represented in our minds such that cognitive processes can “operate” on the representations.
Representationalist: one who adheres to the perspective in psychology that concepts can be represented in the mind
embodied cognition perspective examine cognition as an interaction between humans (and other animals) and their environment.
Embodied cognition: a perspective in psychology that cognition focuses on bodily interaction with the environment
Biological perspective: perspective in psychology that describes cognition according to the mechanisms of the brain
Empiricism is the principle that the key to understanding new things is through systematic observation.
Determinism is the principle that behaviors have underlying causes and that “understanding” involves identification of what these causes are and how they are related to the behavior of interest.
Testability is the principle that theories must be stated in ways that allow them to be evaluated through observation.
Parsimony is a kind of tiebreaker in this competition. It is the principle to prefer the simple explanations over more complex ones.
A case study focuses on intensive analyses of a single individual or more broadly on a single observation unit (e.g., the unit of analysis for the research could be on a couple or on a single institution).
A correlational study allows one to systematically observe groups, recording the frequency and/or intensity of many variables at once.
An experimental study is designed to simplify the contexts surrounding the behavior of interest, allowing for focused investigation of the impact of a relatively small set of variables.
factorial design, because multiple independent variables are combined to create conditions that involve levels of each independent variable.
