nature of psychology
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revised upto unit fourpokhara universityTRANSCRIPT
•The scientific definition of Psychology: Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. •The study will give you new ways to look at and interpret your world and the people who inhabit it.•Behavior and Mental Processes Behavior is any action that other people can observe or measure. Mental Processes (cognitive processes) are mental processes that are not directly observable. They include dreams, perceptions, thoughts, memories, etc.• Psychology also studies emotions (feelings) Emotions affect both behavior and mental processes.•Psychologists observe, describe, explain, predict and sometimes even control behavior and mental processes to better understand the human psyche.
UNIT: 1 CONCEPTS OF psychology
Greek: Psyche –soul Logos –studyModern: ”Psycho –mind Logy –scienceThe science of the mind
CONCEPTS OF psychology
The Subject Matter of Psychology: Psyche, Mind, or Behavior?
The Scientific Approach: Natural, Social, or Human Science?
Universal Laws or Contextual Laws?Basic Science or Applied Discipline?
Nature of psychology
It is a social science with foundations in philosophy and natural science. *Social sciences include history, anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, psychology, etc. However, like all scientists, psychologists study behavior and mental processes using the scientific method to test ideas (i.e., conducting experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions) and then form new or reshape pre- existing theories.
Psychology is anchored by both scientific research and theory. Research is the testing of ideas (hypotheses and theories) through various research methods. Psychology continually tests theories, hypotheses, ideas and therefore is considered an empirical science.
PSYCHOLOGY AS SCIENCE
The expression common sense refers to a system of beliefs and skills shared by most people and acquired through mundane experience in absence of special education.
The present discussion will be limited to three components of common sense, which will therefore constitute the first three epistemological obstacles to physiological psychology:
inflexible realism (i.e., the tendency to favor primary experience),
spiritualism (i.e., the acceptance of transcendental causal agents), and
naive humanism (i.e., the placement of humans in a class apart from all other empirical objects).
Common sense and Psychology
When I tell people I’m studying Psychology, their first response is generally “so can you tell what I’m thinking?”
Some people also think that a psychologist is the same as a psychiatrist, the type of people that lie you down on a sofa and talk to you about your feelings.
Criminal profilingReinforcement (change in behavior)Lie detector(heart rate/breathing)Opposite attractiveWomen talks more than menIt is better to vent your anger than to hold it.Mind readers
MISCONCEPT ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY
“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by the age of 18. It is also a result of some pervasive and extremely stupid logical fallacies that have become embedded in the human brain over generations, for one reason or another,” says Albert Einstein (Shakespeare, 2009).
Common sense psychology is a myth. What appears to be common sense is often common nonsense.
Some examples of common sense psychology include:Working while in high school will help students build
character and value money.Children who read a lot are not very social or physically fit.People with low self esteem are more aggressive.Most psychopaths are delusional.We know what will make us happy.
Common sense and Psychology
Psychodynamic perspective: Psychodynamic Rooted in Sigmund Freuds psychoanalysis. Rooted
in Sigmund Freuds psychoanalysis. Assumes that all behavior and mental processes reflect the constant and mostly unconscious psychological struggles within the individual Assumes that all behavior and mental processes reflect the constant and mostly unconscious psychological struggles within the individual Freud believed that unconscious conflicts stemmed from unresolved childhood conflicts.
Freud believed that unconscious conflicts stemmed from unresolved childhood conflicts.
Today, this perspective has been transformed and is reflected in a number of contemporary theories explaining personality, psychological disorders, and psychotherapy.
Today, this perspective has been transformed and is reflected in a number of contemporary theories explaining personality, psychological disorders, and psychotherapy. What might a psychoanalyst say is the reason someone always needs to be chewing gum?
Persceptives of psychology
Cognitive Understands behavior and mental processes by focusing on how individuals sense, mentally represent, and store mental information.
Cognitive Perspective Focuses on how we think (or encode information) Focuses on how we think (or encode information)
How do we see the world? How did we learn to act to sad or happy events? Cognitive Therapist attempt to change the way
you think. Meet girl Get Rejected by girl Did you learn to be depressed Or get back on the horse.
Cognitive perspective
Behavioral Antecedent is Behaviorism (only study observable behavior) Antecedent is Behaviorism (only study observable behavior) Assumes that behavior and mental processes are primarily the result of learning Assumes that behavior and mental processes are primarily the result of learning Modern-day behavioral approach has changed to a Cognitive-behavioral Approach.
Modern-day behavioral approach has changed to a Cognitive-behavioral Approach.
Now, psychologists working from this perspective study measurable mental processes in addition to the traditional emphasis on observable behaviors.
Behavioral Perspective If you bit your fingernails when you were nervous, a behaviorist would not focus on calming you down, but rather focus on how to stop you from biting your nails.
Behavioral perspective
Humanistic Developed by Carl Rogers (trained in the psychoanalytic tradition, began humanistic approach through his theories on personality and his psychotherapy methods).
Studies behavior and mental processes primarily by studying each individuals uniqueness and capacity to think and act. .
A humanistic psychologist would argue that to fully understand a persons behavior and mental processes you must appreciate the individuals perceptions and feelings experienced.
Today, humanistic perspective has limited influence in psychological research mainly because humanistic theories tend to be too broad and therefore difficult to test scientifically.
Humanistic psychology is primarily an approach in psychotherapy. Humanistic Perspective Focuses on positive growth Focuses on
positive growth Attempt to seek self-actualization Attempt to seek self-actualization Therapists use active listening and unconditional positive regard. Mr. Rogers would have been a great Humanistic Therapist!!!
Humanistic perspective
Biological Assumes that behavior and mental processes are largely shaped by biological processes.
Understands behavior and mental processes by studying hormones, genes, and the activity of the nervous system especially the brain.
If you could not remember the names of your parents and went to a psychologist who adheres to the biological perspective, what might they say?
Biological perspective
Socio-cultural Here, psychologists focus on the influence of cultural factors on the individuals behavior and mental processes.
Seeks to understand human behavior and mental processes by studying such cultural factors as gender, culture, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status, and so forth.
Even in the same high school, behaviors can change in accordance to the various subcultures.
Sociocultural perspective
Assumes that behavior and mental processes are a result of evolution through natural selection.
Understands behavior and mental processes by focusing on the adaptive value of behavior, biological mechanisms that make adaptation possible, and the environmental conditions therein.
Evolutionary Perspective Focuses on Darwinism. We behave the way we do because we inherited those behaviors.
Thus, those behaviors must have helped ensure our ancestors survival. How could this behavior ensured Homers ancestors survival?
Evolutionary (related to Biological perspective)
Wave One – The beginning of modern psychology is 1879. In that year, Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) established the first psychological laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany.
Wundt studied on the psychological phenomena – introspection = asking subjects to record their cognitive reactions to simple stimuli. Wundt was examining basic cognitive structures.
In 1890, William James (1842-1910) published the first psychology textbook: The Principles of Psychology. James studied how these structures that Wundt had identified earlier, function in life.
Wave Two – Gestalt Psychology Gestalt psychologists like Max Wertheimer (1880-1943) argued against dividing human thought and behavior into discrete structures; instead, they examined a persons whole experience because the way we experience the world is more than just an accumulation of various perceptual experiences.
History of Modern Psychology
Wave Three – Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) revolutionized psychology with his psychoanalytic theory. While treating patients with psychosomatic complaints, Freud theorized about what he called the unconscious mind- a part of our mind that we are not conscious of and that, in part, influences our thoughts and behavior.
Freud believed that to understand human behavior and thought we must examine the unconscious mind through psychoanalytic therapy.
Wave Four – Behaviorism Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) (in Russia) pioneered conditioning experiments. After studying Pavlovs work, American John Watson (1878-1936) advanced the notion that for psychology to be considered a science it must limit itself to studying observable phenomena only, and not unobservable constructs such as the unconscious mind.
After studying Pavlovs work, American John Watson (1878-1936) advanced the notion that for psychology to be considered a science it must limit itself to studying observable phenomena only, and not unobservable constructs such as the unconscious mind. Behaviorists argued that psychology should study only behavior and the causes of behavior – stimuli and responses.
Another famous behaviorist, B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), expanded upon his predecessors to include the idea of reinforcements impact on shaping behavior (he introduced Operant Conditioning).
History of Modern Psychology
Wave Six – Neuropsychology Today, with all the advances in modern technology the past 30 years, psychology has turned more towards neuroscience and the molecular study of the nervous system in understanding human behavior and mental processes.
The subfield of neuropsychology has grown tremendously in the last twenty years.
Psychology BIG Debates!!! 1. Nature vs. Nurture – Are human traits and psychological characteristics inborn OR do they develop over time through experience?
2. Rationality vs. Irrationality – What is rational and what is not?
3. Stability vs. Change – Are certain human traits stable or do they change?
History of Modern Psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology is also known as I/O psychology, work
psychology, work and organizational psychology, W-O psychology, occupational psychology, personnel psychology or talent assessment.
It is concerned with the application of psychological theories, research methods, and intervention strategies to solve workplace issues.
I/O psychologists are interested in making organizations more productive and ensuring workers are able to lead physically and psychologically healthy lives.
I/O psychologists are educated in the topics that include personnel psychology, motivation and leadership, employee selection, training and development, organization development and guided change, organizational behavior, and work and family issues.
I/O psychologists who work in an organization are likely to work in the Human Resource (HR) department. Many I/O psychologists pursue careers as independent consultants or applied academic researchers
Application to Industrial and organizational
Naturalistic ObservationSurvey Research Case StudyCo-relational Research Experimental Research
Types of Psychological Research
Experimental Research is prototypical of scientific method. They are employed to test hypothesis. They stand as powerful tools to examine cause-and-effect relationship between variables. The essential characteristics of an experiment are that Manipulation, Experimental Controls and Random assignment of subjects to various conditions. Experimental manipulation is the changes that are deliberately produced in an experiment to detect the relationships between different variables.
Instead of searching for naturally occurring situations the experimenter creates the conditions necessary for observation.
A cause-and-effect relationship between variables is possible because of experimental manipulation.
Experimental Research
Two themes give the field coherence:The TYPES of QUESTIONS psychologists ask.The WAYS we ANSWER those questions.Theme 1: Types of Questions
Why do we do what we do?
Why do we think what we think?
Why do we feel what we feel?
Theme 2: Ways of Answering
The Scientific Method; and that is why
“PSYCHOLOGY is a SCIENCE”
Scientific investigation/Method
Scientific investigation refers to an empirical investigation that is structured in order to find solutions to certain questions that are practically relevant. Any scientific investigation typically involves three steps:
(1) Identifying questions (2) Formulating explanation and (3) Carrying out research that would support/refute the
explanations.Methods of research can be classified into two types
based on the focus of the research. The two basic types of research in science are basic research and applied research. Basic research primarily focuses on extension of theoretical understanding and
reflects purely the quest for knowledge. On the other hand applied research focuses on finding solutions to problems that are specific and practical.
Scientific investigation/Method
Naturalistic Observation is one where the researcher systematically observes and records the behaviors that occur naturally in various situations.
Behavior in natural setting is observed and Observation is systematic.
The objective of the naturalistic observational is to study the relationship among variables and to generate hypothesis.
Naturalistic Observation
Surveys are basic research instrument. Surveys are being popularly employed to
understand the political opinions, product preferences, health care needs, and the like.
It involves asking people about their attitude, beliefs, plans, health, income, life satisfaction, concerns, etc.
Any one can be surveyed. The method was developed by Social Scientists of 20th century. It seeks to describe the current status of population and discover relationship between variables.
Surveys
Case Study method involves in-depth interview to understand an individual better.
Psychometric tests may also be used to assess various attributes like personality, motivation in addition to such in-depth interviews to understand the individual in greater depth.
The case study, in other words, is a detailed examination of an individual, group or an event.
It involves intensive description and analysis of a single individual.
Case Study method
Co-relational Research studies the strength of the association between the naturally occurring variables.
For example, a co-relational research may be used to assess whether motivation of children is related to motivation of parents.
It ideally attempts to understand whether two sets of factors are related or not.
Correlational Research
Sometimes Biological psychology is referred to as physiological psychology or psychobiology.
It studies the relationship between the mind and the body and how one influences the other.
Bio psychologists are professionals who study the ways biological structures and body functions affect behavior.
In order to understand how the brain exerts control over the different body movements involved in simple and complex tasks, it is essential to examine the neurons and the ways in which nerve impulses are transmitted throughout the brain and body.
UNIT:II BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR
Neurons are specialized cells that are the basic elements of the nervous system that carry massages.
The basic unit of nervous system is nerve cell or neuron.
The most important feature of neurons is their ability to communicate with other cells.
It is estimated that about two billion neurons exist in the brain alone and the number of neural connections within the brain to be one quadrillion.
NEURONS
In playing the piano, driving a car, or throwing a ball to the basket, different muscles are involved. The body system sends messages to the muscles and coordinates these messages to produce successful results. Such messages are passed through specialized cells called neurons.
Components of neurons : the cell membrane, dendrites, the cell body, the axon, myelin sheath and neurotransmitters.
a. Dendrites: They are cluster of fibers at one end of a neuron that receives messages from other neurons.
b. Axon: It is a tube like long extension from the end of a neuron that carries messages to other cells through the neuron. The length of axons range from several millimeters to three feet.
c. Terminal buttons: They are small branches at the end of an axon that relay massages to other cells. Electrical messages travel through neuron beginning with detection of messages by dendrites, continue into the cell body(nucleus) and pass down the axon.
d. Myelin sheath: It is the axons protective coating, made of fat and protein. Its function is to prevent messages from short circulating by insulating the axons.
Neurotransmitters: when a neuron receives a signal (heat, pressure, light etc)from adjacent neurons or from sensory receptors it fires or becomes active. This neural impulse is called the action potential. It is a brief electrical change that travels down the axon. When the action potential reaches the knob like terminal buttons at an axons end, it triggers the release to chemical messages called neurotransmitters.
structure of neurons
structure of neurons
Nervous System the body’s speedy, electrochemical communication system
consists of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems. It has two parts;
Central Nervous System (CNS)Brain( hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain) and Spinal
cord. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)Automatic nervous system(parasympathetic system
and sympathetic) and somatic nervous system.
Nervous System
The central nervous system (CNS) controls most functions of the body and mind.
Controls the brain and spinal cordThe Brain—directs mental processes and maintains
basic life functionsThe Spinal Cord—receives sensory input, sends
information to the brain, responds with motor output
It consists of two parts: the brain and the spinal cord. The brain is the center of our thoughts, the interpreter of our external environment, and the origin of control over body movement.
central nervous system
HindbrainControls many functions key to survival, including
keeping airway clear, heart beat, breathing, reflexes, sleep, respiration, balance.
MidbrainCoordinates motion, relays information to other
sites; targeting auditory and visual stimuli, regulating body temperature.
ForebrainCortical and sub-cortical structures; intelligent
adaptive behavior.
Structure of Brain
Structure of brain
Function of Spinal cord
System of nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord
Send control to the glands and smooth musclesControls internal organs, usually not under
voluntary control.Somatic Nervous system: the activities
basically related to muscles that control movements of the body are regulated by somatic nervous system.
Peripheral nervous system
Sympathetic Nervous System: Triggered when body temperature is too lowRevives up body activity to prepare for
rigorous activityIncreased heart rate Slowing down of peristalsis (rhythmic
contractions of intestines), so not using energy during digestion
VasoconstrictionContraction of skins capillaries
Autonomic nervous system
Triggered when body’s temperature is too high
Restored body’s internal activitiesCardio slowingSpeeds up peristalsisVasolidation
Widening of skin’s capillariesStimulusBody prepares for responseBody returns to normal
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Endocrine system is a chemical communication network that sends messages through the nervous system via the blood stream and secretes hormones that affect body growth and functioning.
Major components of the endocrine system are: Pituitary glands (Bases of Brain) Thyroid glands (on neck) Adrenal glands (on top of kidney)Major functions of the endocrine glands are:Regulate metabolism and growth;Regulate absorption of nutrients;Regulate fluid balance and ion concentration;Regulates the body’s response to stress;Regulates sexual characteristics, reproduction, birth and lactation.
Endocrine system and its importance
“Sensation is input about the physical world provided by sensory receptors.” –R.A. Baron
a particular feeling or effect that your body experiencesa particular feeling or experience that may not have a
real causethe ability to feel things through your physical sensesExamples of SENSATIONI experienced a stinging sensation in my arm.She felt a burning sensation in her throat.She craved new experiences and sensations.She had the strange sensation that someone was
watching her.I couldn't quite shake the sensation that I'd been fooled.Her injury left her with no sensation in her legs.
UNIT:III SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
Process of Sensation
1) Sensation occurs:a) sensory organs absorb energy from a physical
stimulus in the environment.b) sensory receptors convert this energy into
neural impulses and send them to the brain.2) Perception follows:a) the brain organizes the information and
translates it into something meaningful.
HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER
Sensations and perceptions are the basic means by which people experience the world and build a worldview to explain those experiences. Sensations are direct sensory stimuli, such as seeing shapes and colors, hearing sounds or feeling a touch.
Perceptions are the ways we interpret those sensations to make sense of what we are sensing.
Sensations and perceptions shape the way humans see the world. The ability to take in information from reality and process it in meaningful ways allows people to form a worldview that helps them to understand life and make wise decisions.
Importance of sensation
A lack or loss of sensations, such as blindness or deafness, creates a gap in the experience and makes it harder to understand events fully.
A perception failure leads to misinterpretation of life and an inability to respond adequately to the current situation.
Importance of sensation
1) Threshold - a dividing line between what has detectable energy and what does not.
For example - many classrooms have automatic light sensors. When people have not been in a room for a while, the lights go out. However, once someone walks into the room, the lights go back on. For this to happen, the sensor has a threshold for motion that must be crossed before it turns the lights back on. So, dust floating in the room should not make the lights go on, but a person walking in should.
Sensory Threshold
Difference Threshold - the minimum amount of stimulus intensity change needed to produce a noticeable change.
the greater the intensity (ex., weight) of a stimulus, the greater the change needed to produce a noticeable change.
For example, when you pick up a 5 lb weight, and then a 10 pound weight, you can feel a big difference between the two. However, when you pick up 100 lbs, and then 105 lbs, it is much more difficult to feel the difference.
Difference Threshold
Sensory adaptation is the tendency of the sense organs to adjust to continuous, unchanging stimulation by reducing their functioning or sensitivity.
Humans also have the ability to adapt their sensations to more efficiently gather relevant information from their settings.
For example, when there are many overlapping or potentially overwhelming stimuli, the human brain can use "signal detection" to filter out noise and enhance perception of relevant details, as when you hear your name spoken in a noisy room or glance around a room for red objects.
Similarly, a constant sensation will become less vividly noticed over time, such as when you stop noticing a background noise, to make room for novel stimuli that may be more relevant.
Adabtability of Sensation
Habituation is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations.
For example, a novel sound in your environment, such as a new ring tone, may initially draw your attention or even become distracting.
After you become accustomed to this sound, you pay less attention to the noise and your response to the sound will diminish. This diminished response is habituation.
Habituation is one of the simplest and most common forms of learning.
Habituation
Visual –eye –SightAuditory –ear –HearingOlfactory –nose –smellGustatory –mouth –tasteTactual –skin -touchOther sensation areKinesthetic (movement of the body)Staticorganic
TYPES OF SENSORY EXPERIENCES
Is accomplished by the organ called the eye and the portions of the brain associated with receiving and interpreting light waves.
Our eyes and brain are only able to interpret a portion of the light spectrum, which is why we can not see x-rays or infrared light. Wavelength is the distance between any point in a wave and the corresponding point on the next cycle.
The Eye has:Cornea- how light get through and maintains the
shape of the eyeLens- focuses the light
STRUCTURE OF VISUAL SENSATION
Pupil- controls the amount of lightRetina- is the back of the eye ball where the
light waves are focusedThe rods are visual receptors that respond to
brightness they are important for seeing in dim light.
Cones- are visual receptors that respond to hue, or color variations. They are most important for color vision in bright light.
Optic nerve- transmits the information from the retina to the brain [occipital lobe]. At the spot were the optic nerve is there is a "blind spot" because there are no receptors there.
STRUCTURE OF VISUAL SENSATION
STRUCTURE OF VISUAL SENSATION
Human vision is one of the most complex visual systems among animals.
The main sensory organ of the visual system is the eye, which takes in the physical stimuli of light rays and transducer them into electrical and chemical signals that can be interpreted by the brain to construct physical images.
The eye has three main layers: the sclera, which includes the cornea; the choroid, which includes the pupil, iris, and lens; and the retina, which includes receptor cells called rods and cones.
The human visual system is capable of complex color perception, which is initiated by cones in the retina and completed by impulse integration in the brain. Depth perception is our ability to see in three dimensions and relies on both binocular (two-eye) and monocular (one-eye) cues.
FUNCTION OF VISUAL SENSATION
The stimuli that affect our sense of hearing are sound waves. They are rapid changes in air pressure caused by a vibrating object, such as vocal cords a speaker on the stereo. Sound waves vary in 3 ways. Each with a distinct sensory effect: Frequency, amplitude, timbre
Timbre is the mixture of sound waves that determines the tonal qualities of what we hear.
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF AUDITORY SENSATION
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF AUDITORY SENSATION
Funtion of auditory sensatioin
Hermonn von Helmhotz proposed the place theory of hearing
in 1863. He suggested that the sensation of pitch is determined by the place on the basilar membrane that is stimulated. The nerves attached to basilar membrane are sensitive to different frequencies and send out different impulses from different locations.
Von Bekesy [1960] expanded the place theory by suggesting the traveling wave principle, which is sound waves traveling through the cochlea move the basilar membrane at a location that vibrates at the particular pitch. However, there are problems with both theories and more research is needed.
Wernicke's area, of the brain is important in speech perception. Damage to that area leads to aphasia, a disorder in which a person loses the ability to understand speech. In most right handed people Wernicke's area is located in the left hemisphere.
Theories of hearing
The mental process of recognizing and interpreting an object through one or more of the senses stimulated by a physical object.
Perception can be defined as our recognition and interpretation of sensory information. Perception also includes how we respond to the information. We can think of perception as a process where we take in sensory information from our environment and use that information in order to interact with our environment. Perception allows us to take the sensory information in and make it into something meaningful.
PERCEPTION
“Perception is process through which we select, organized and interpret input from the sensory receptors.” –R.A. Baron
Perception is a process.Perception is the information extractor.Perception is preparation to response.Perception involves sensation.Perception provide organizing.Perception is highly individualized.
PERCEPTION
The characteristics of perception are sensation, organization, interpretation, and categorization of input according to past experiences.
The process of sensory perception takes place very quickly in the human brain, usually within less than one second. Different types of perception are possible through the complex activity of the nervous system that receives input from each of the five senses.
This input then converts to signals that travel to the brain via the spinal cord as well as the peripheral nervous system.
Each of the characteristics of perception is both a physical process and a subjective experience according to different personalities, biases, and backgrounds.
characteristics of perception
Extrasensory perception or ESP includes reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind.
The term was adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy (mind readers), clairaudience, and clairvoyance(perceive remote events) and their trans-temporal operation as precognition(seeing events before they happens) or retro cognition.
ESP is also sometimes referred to as a sixth sense. The term implies acquisition of information by means external to the basic limiting assumptions of science, such as those organisms can only receive information from the past to the present.Parapsychology is the study of paranormal psychic phenomena, including ESP. Parapsychologists generally regard such tests as the ganzfeld experiment as providing compelling evidence for the existence of ESP.
The scientific community rejects ESP due to the absence of an evidence base, the lack of a theory which would explain ESP, the lack of experimental techniques which can provide reliably positive results, and considers ESP a pseudoscience.
Extrasensory perception & subliminal perception
subliminal perception
The perceptual process is the sequence of psychological steps that a person uses to organize and interpret information from the outside world.
The steps are: Objects are present in the world. A person observes. The person uses perception to select objects. The person organizes the perception of objects. The person interprets the perceptions. The person responds. The selection, organization, and interpretation of perceptions
can differ among different people . Therefore, when people react differently in a situation, part of
their behavior can be explained by examining their perceptual process, and how their perceptions are leading to their responses.
perceptual process
The perceptual process is the sequence of psychological steps that a person uses to organize and interpret information from the outside world.
The steps are: Objects are present in the world. A person observes. The person uses perception to select objects.
perceptual process
Psychologist Richard Gregory argued that perception is a constructive process which relies on top-down processing. For Gregory (1970) perception is a hypothesis.
For Gregory, perception involves making inferences about what we see and trying to make a best guess. Prior knowledge and past experience, he argued, are crucial in perception.
When we look at something, we develop a perceptual hypothesis, which is based on prior knowledge. The hypotheses we develop are nearly always correct. However, on rare occasions, perceptual hypotheses can be disconfirmed by the data we perceive.
Summary A lot of information reaches the eye, but much is lost by the time it reaches the brain
(Gregory estimates about 90% is lost). Therefore, the brain has to guess what a person sees based on past experiences. We
actively construct our perception of reality. Richard Gregory proposed that perception involves a lot of hypothesis testing to
make sense of the information presented to the sense organs. Our perceptions of the world are hypotheses based on past experiences and stored
information. Sensory receptors receive information from the environment, which is then combined
with previously stored information about the world which we have built up as a result of experience.
The formation of incorrect hypotheses will lead to errors of perception (e.g. visual illusions like the Necker cube).
Gregory (1970) and Top Down Processing
In the brain, top-down and bottom-up are not, actually, separate processes. Theorists artificially separate them in order to talk about them.
In terms of cognition, a bottom-up process occurs when something unexpected is moving in the corner of your eye and catches your attention. This causes you to look over and react. The signal causing this chain of events originated in the environment, at the "bottom" of the sensory processing stream.
top-down and bottom-up
A top-down process is like trying to find Waldo in "Where's Waldo?". You start with an internal "high-level" goal, which determines where you look next. You are looking "for" something, so higher-level brain areas "prime" the low level visual areas to detect that pattern.
In terms of how it works in the brain, the easiest way to think about it might be to make an analogy to communication within a larger corporation.
top-down and bottom-up
1) figure-ground - this is the fundamental way we organize visual perceptions. When we look at an object, we see that object (figure) and the background (ground) on which it sits. For example, when I see a picture of a friend, I see my friends face (figure) and the beautiful Sears brand backdrop behind my friend (ground).
2) simplicity/pragnanz (good form) - we group elements that make a good form. However, the idea of "good form" is a little vague and subjective. Most psychologists think good form is what ever is easiest or most simple. For example, what do you see here: : > ) do you see a smiling face? There are simply 3 elements from my keyboard next to each other, but it is "easy" to organize the elements into a shape that we are familiar with.
3) proximity - nearness=belongingness. Objects that are close to each other in physical space are often perceived as belonging together.
4) similarity - do I really need to explain this one? As you probably guessed, this one states that objects that are similar are perceived as going together. For example, if I ask you to group the following objects: (* * # * # # #) into groups, you would probably place the asterisks and the pound signs into distinct groups.
Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization
5) continuity - we follow whatever direction we are led. Dots in a smooth curve appear to go together more than jagged angles. This principle really gets at just how lazy humans are when it comes to perception.
6) common fate - elements that move together tend to be grouped together. For example, when you see geese flying south for the winter, they often appear to be in a "V" shape.
7) closure - we tend to complete a form when it has gaps.
James Gibson (1966) argues that perception is direct, and not subject to hypotheses testing as Gregory proposed.
Gibson (1972) argued that perception is a bottom-up process, which means that sensory information is analyzed in one direction: from simple analysis of raw sensory data to ever increasing complexity of analysis through the visual system. Gibson attempted to give pilots training in depth perception during the Second World War, and this work led him to the view that our perception of surfaces was more important than depth/space perception. Surfaces contain features sufficient to distinguish different objects from each other. In addition, perception involves identifying the function of the object: whether it can be thrown or grasped, or whether it can be sat on, and so on.
Gibson (1966) and Bottom Up Processing
Those concerned with the bottom-up approach to perception believe that all perception is simply the result of sensation and that no prior learning is necessary for us to perceive.
On the contrary, the Top-down approach assumes that learning plays a vital part in our perception and that without prior experience of s stimulus it is impossible for us to really understand what it is.
In reality we are more likely to incorporate elements of both of these theories when we perceive, however this article primarily focuses on the bottom-up approach, starting with the 'Template' theory.
What Does bottom-up and Top-down Mean?
Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Grouping helps us understand the way we perceive things by patterns. It is the "nature" of perception.
Learning-based inference is the "nurture" of perception.
It is when we use past experiences to help us perceive certain things.
Perceptual Ambiguity and Distortion
Cognitive illusions are assumed to arise by interaction with assumptions about the world, leading to "unconscious inferences", an idea first suggested in the 19th century by the German physicist and physician Hermann Helmholtz.
Cognitive illusions are commonly divided into ambiguous illusions, distorting illusions, paradox illusions, or fiction illusions.
Ambiguous illusions are pictures or objects that elicit a perceptual "switch" between the alternative interpretations. The Necker cube is a well-known example; another instance is the Rubin vase.
Distorting or geometrical-optical illusions are characterized by distortions of size, length, position or curvature. A striking example is the Café wall illusion. Other examples are the famous Müller-Lyer illusion and Ponzo illusion.
Paradox illusions are generated by objects that are paradoxical or impossible, such as the Penrose triangle or impossible staircase seen, for example, in M.C. Escher's Ascending and Descending and Waterfall. The triangle is an illusion dependent on a cognitive misunderstanding that adjacent edges must join.
Fictions are when a figure is perceived even though it is not in the stimulus.
Cognitive illusions
Necker cubes
This is an example of two identical necker cubes, the one on the left showing an intermediate object (blue bar) going in "down from the top" while the one on the right shows the object going in "up from the bottom" which shows how the image can change its perspective simply by changing which face (front or back) appears behind the intervening object.
An example of Rubin's vase.
Illusions of position (Poggendorff), orientation (Zöllner) and, below, length (Müller-Lyer)
SOCIAL COGNITTION AND BEHAVIOR
"Thus the study of the processes involved in perceiving each other and coming to "know what we know" about the people in our world is essentially a question not only of what behavior we have seen, but of our cognition as individual perceivers-our social cognition. Social cognition, therefore, is the study of the mental processes involved in perceiving, attending to, remembering, thinking about, and making sense of the people in our social world."(Gordon B. Moskowitz, Social Cognition: Understanding Self and Others)
"Social cognition is a conceptual and empirical approach to understanding social psychological topics by investigating the cognitive underpinnings of whatever social phenomenon is being studied. That is, its focus is on an analysis of how information is processed, stored, represented in memory, and subsequently used in perceiving and interacting with the social world. Social cognition is not a content area within social psychology; rather, it is an approach to studying any topic area in social psychology. Thus, a social cognition perspective can be adopted in studying topics as wide-ranging as person perception, attitudes and attitude change, stereotyping and prejudice, decision-making, the self-concept, social communication and influence, and intergroup discrimination."(David L. Hamilton (Ed.)., Social Cognition: Key Reading in Social Psychology)
Defining Social Cognition
Construal impact how people process and remember social information differently. !
Our judgments are rarely (if ever!) flawless. ! Social cognition gives us useful information
about the strategies & rules that people follow to make judgments. !
Mistakes often reveal a lot about how we think by showing what our limitations are. !
What mistakes do we make? Why do we make them?
WHY STUDY SOCIAL COGNITION?
Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on the individual's membership of a social group.
For example, a person may hold prejudiced views towards a certain race or gender etc. (e.g. sexist).
Discrimination is an action which is an unfair treatment directed against someone. It can be based on many characteristics: age, sex, height, weight, skin color, clothing, speech, income, education, marital status, sexual orientation, disease, disability, religion and politics. When the basis of discrimination is someone's perception of race, it is known as racism. Discrimination is often the result of an attitude called prejudice a prejudging of some sort, usually in a negative way. There is also positive prejudice, which exaggerates the virtues of a group, as when people think that some group (usually their own) is more capable than others.
Prejudice and Discrimination
Most prejudice, however, is negative and involves prejudging a group as inferior.
Sociologists believe that we are not born with prejudice. Rather we learn prejudice from the people around us.
Prejudice does not depend on negative experiences with others. It also reveals that people who are prejudiced against one racial or ethnic group also tend to be prejudiced against other groups.
People can be and are prejudiced against people they have never met and even against groups that do not exist or existed in past.
Sociologists stress that we should move beyond thinking in terms of individual discrimination the negative treatment of one person by another.
Although such behavior creates problems, it is primarily an issue between individuals.
With their focus on the broader picture, sociologists encourage us see institutional discrimination that is how discrimination is woven into the fabric of society.
Prejudice and Discrimination
Social influence is a major topic in social psychology and looks at how individual thoughts, actions and feelings are influenced by social groups.
Learn more about various types of social influence including peer pressure, obedience, leadership, conformity and persuasion.
Social Influence
In psychology, an attitude is an expression of favor or disfavor toward a person, place, thing, or event (the attitude object).
Prominent psychologist Gordon Allport once described attitudes "the most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary social psychology.“
An attitude is "a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols" (Hogg, & Vaughan 2005, p. 150).
"..a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor" (Eagly, & Chaiken, 1993, p. 1)
Attitude
Affective component: this involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude object. For example: “I am scared of spiders”.
Behavioral (or cognitive) component: the way the attitude we have influences how we act or behave. For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”.
Cognitive component: this involves a person’s belief / knowledge about an attitude object. For example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”.
Structure of Attitudes
Learning is referred to as a relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavior potential) that results from experience or practice.
Classical conditioning by Ivan Pavlov states that learning involves forming association between two stimuli. The learner associates previously neutral stimulus (CS) with a stimulus (UCS) that elicits a natural response (UCR). After conditioning the CS acquires the capacity to elicit a response similar to the UCR.
Thorndike in his law of effect theorized that responses that satisfy are more likely to be repeated while those that are not satisfying are less likely to be repeated.
Operant conditioning explains how voluntary responses are strengthened or weakened depending on positive or negative consequences. In operant conditioning the organism performs a behavior deliberately in order to produce a desirable outcome.
Consequences of behavior are termed as reinforcements. The types of Reinforcement and the schedules of reinforcement will decide how quickly a behavior is learnt and how long it would stay.
Albert Bandura who put forth the observational learning theory says we learn by watching others. Those whose behavior is observed are called Models. If the model’s behavior is rewarded then the observer may imitate that behavior. On the other hand, if the model’s behavior is not rewarded one may not imitate that behavior.
UNIT: IV LEARNING
The cognitive learning theorists argue that learning cannot be reduced to mere forming of ‘association’ as contented by Pavlovian and Skinnerian psychologists. They hold that cognitive process like perception, thinking and memory play key role in learning.
Insight Learning and Sign learning can be seen as instance of cognitive theory in addition to Bandura’s theory.
Wolfgang Kohler observed that animal forms a mental representation of the problem until it hits on a solution, and then enacts the solution in the real world. The solution will appear sudden because the representation persists over time. The solution is transferable because the representation is abstract enough to cover more than the original situation.
Tolman’s Sign Learning is also known as latent learning. It suggests that learning occurs even in the absence of reinforcement. However, for the behavior to occur overtly reinforcement is requirement.
LESSON-END ACTIVITIES Reflecting back on your personal experience which type of reinforcement has
been effective in getting you learn better? If you find your sister spanking your niece what would be your advice (apply
principles of operant conditioning)? Apply principles of observational learning act as a model and try helping a kid
in your neighborhood some specific behavior.
LEARNING
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology assumes that humans have the capacity to process and organize information in their mind. It is concerned less with visible behavior and more with the thought processes behind it. Cognitive psychology tries to understand concepts such as memory and decision making.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism only concerns itself with the behavior that can be observed. It assumes that we learn by associating certain events with certain consequences, and will behave in the way with the most desirable consequences. It also assumes that when events happen together, they become associated and either event will have the same response. It does not note any difference between animal behavior and human behavior.
Both branches of psychology attempt to explain human behavior. However, they are both theories have been replaced by other approaches (such as cognitive behaviorism - which takes the best of both theories - and social psychology- which looks at how our interactions with others shape our behavior).
Cognitive Vs Behaviorist
Behaviorists say: “Specific actions”Behaviorists say: “to press the bar.”Cognitive say: “Mental representations”Cognitive say:“that pressing produces food.”
Cognitive Vs Behaviorist
For example, in a “Skinner Box”, a rat may receive a food reward every time he presses the bar. He presses faster and faster. What has he learned?
For example, in a “Skinner Box”, a rat may receive a food reward every time he presses the bar. He presses faster and faster. What has he learned?
Cognitive Vs Behaviorist
1. Learning involves the formation of associations between specific actions and specific events (stimuli) in the environment. These stimuli may either precede or follow the action (antecedents vs. consequences).
2. Many behaviorists use intervening variables to explain behavior (e.g., habit, drive) but avoid references to mental states.
3. RADICAL BEHAVIORISM (operant conditioning/behavior modification/behavior analysis): avoids any intervening variables and focuses on descriptions of relationships between behavior and environment (“functional analysis”).
Behaviorism (“learns to”)
1. Learning takes place in the mind, not in behavior. It involves the formation of mental representations of the elements of a task and the discovery of how these elements are related.
2. Behavior is used to make inferences about mental states but is not of interest in itself (“methodological behaviorism”).
3. EXAMPLE: Tolman & Honzik’s experiment on latent learning. Tolman, a pioneer of cognitive psychology, argued that when rats practice mazes, they acquire a “cognitive map” of the layout—mental representations of the landmarks and their spatial relationships.
Cognitivism (“learns that”)
What mechanisms are responsible for the complexity of learning?Locke (1600s) and Berkeley (early1700s)
AssociationistsWe learn by associating one idea with
another The word “flower” with the smell and sight
of a flower The word “stove” with the sensation of
heatMore complex learning more associations
Learning Theory
Both classical and operant conditioning involve learning by association.
In classical conditioning, responses are involuntary and automatic; however, responses are voluntary and learned in operant conditioning.
In classical conditioning, the event that drives the behavior (the stimulus) comes before the behavior; in operant conditioning, the event that drives the behavior (the consequence) comes after the behavior.
Also, whereas classical conditioning involves an organism forming an association between an involuntary (reflexive) response and a stimulus, operant conditioning involves an organism forming an association between a voluntary behavior and a consequence.
Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning. How are they alike? How do they differ?
Observational learning extends the effective range of both classical and operant conditioning.
In contrast to classical and operant conditioning, in which learning occurs only through direct experience, observational learning is the process of watching others and then imitating what they do.
A lot of learning among humans and other animals comes from observational learning.
To get an idea of the extra effective range that observational learning brings, consider Ben and his son Julian from the introduction.
How might observation help Julian learn to surf, as opposed to learning by trial and error alone? By watching his father, he can imitate the moves that bring success and avoid the moves that lead to failure.
Observational learning
Instincts and reflexes are innate behaviors—they occur naturally and do not involve learning.
In contrast, learning is a change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience.
instinct unlearned knowledge, involving complex patterns of behavior; instincts are thought to be more prevalent in lower animals than in humans
Instincts and reflexes behavior
Continuous Reinforcement: Often can miss correct responses, causing confusion, and typically loses its reinforcing quality.
Shaping: Example: Getting a scared child to slide down a high slide…begin at the bottom, and gradually go higher up the slide with each turn until the child is at the top.
Behavior modification: It has been used on all sorts of psychological problems -- addictions, neuroses, shyness, autism, even schizophrenia -- and works particularly well with children.
Continuous Reinforcement
KOHLER AND INSIGHT LEARNING Wolfgang Kohler (KER-ler) Mental processes had to be an essential component of learning, even though behaviorists disagreed.
Insight Learning: Problem solving occurs by suddenly perceiving familiar objects in new forms or relationships .
Example: chimp stacks crates to reach food .This is a form of cognitive learning.
KOHLER AND INSIGHT LEARNING
TOLMAN’S COGNITIVE MAP Edward Tolman Argued that it was a cognitive map that accounted for a rat quickly selecting an alternative route in a maze when the preferred path was blocked.
Cognitive Map: A mental image that an organism uses to navigate through a familiar environment .
Example: giving directions, walking through your house in the dark
-Challenged the work of Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner --Claimed learning was mental, not behavioral.
Instead of learning a series of left and right turns, he argued that they acquired a more abstract mental representation of the maze’s spatial layout
-Reinforcement is not needed (as behaviorists believed) in rats solving the maze
Organisms learn the spatial layout of their environments by exploration, even if they are not reinforced for exploring (Evolutionary perspective: Animals foraging for food)
TOLMAN’S COGNITIVE MAP
Learning versus Instincts So, what does learning—either behavioral or cognitive learning—do for us?
Nearly every human activity, from working to playing to interacting with family and friends, involves some form of learning.
Without learning, we would have no human language. We wouldn’t know who our family or friends were. We would have no memory of
our past or goals for our future. And without learning, we would be forced to rely on simple reflexes and a limited
repertoire of innate behaviors, sometimes known as “instincts.” In contrast with learned responses, instinctive behavior (more properly known as
species-typical behavior) is heavily influenced by genetic programming. It occurs in essentially the same way across different individuals in a species. We see instincts at work in bird migrations, animal courtship rituals, and a few
human behavior patterns, such as nursing in newborns. All these examples involve responses that are influenced relatively little by
experience, as compared to learned behaviors such as operating a computer, playing tennis, or wincing at the sight of a needle.
In general, human behavior is much more influenced by learning and much less influenced by instincts than that of other animals. For us, learning confers the flexibility to adapt quickly to changing situations and new environments. In this sense, then, learning represents an evolutionary advance over instincts.
Learning versus Instincts
The beauty of classical conditioning is that it offers a simple explanation for many behaviors, from cravings to aversions.
But it offers more than an explanation: It also gives us the tools for eliminating unwanted human behaviors— although Pavlov never attempted any therapeutic applications.
It fell to the American behaviorist, John Watson, to first apply classical conditioning techniques to people.
Applications of Classical Conditioning
Stimulus generalization The extension of a learned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.
Stimulus discrimination A change in responses to one stimulus but not to stimuli that are similar.
Experimental neurosis A pattern of erratic behavior resulting from a demanding discrimination learning task, typically one that involves aversive stimuli.
John Watson and Rosalie Rayner conditioned Little Albert to fear furry objects like this Santa Claus mask (Discovering Psychology, 1990).
Taste-aversion learning A biological tendency in which an organism learns, after a single experience, to avoid a food with a certain taste, if eating it is followed by illness.
Applications of Classical Conditioning
One involves learning a connection between two stimuli—as when a school child associates the 12 o’clock bell with lunch.
And another occurs when we associate our actions with rewarding and punishing consequences, such as praise or a reprimand from the boss or an A or a D from a professor.
Complex form of learning
Memory connotes the capacity of an individual to record, retain and reproduce the same information.
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850 - 1909) Frederic Bartlett (1886-1969) we the first ones to use scientific techniques to study memory.
The three-stage information processing differentiates three distinct stages of memory namely sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
The stimuli that we first receive are momentarily retained in sensory memory. Images that we see are stored as Iconic memory and the auditory stimuli are stored as Echoic memory.
Information from sensory memory that has been attended to are sent to the STM where it stays for 20 seconds or less. If no effort is taken to rehearse the information at STM it would fade away.
Information from the short-term memory, when repeatedly rehearsed, reaches the long-term memory (LTM). Procedural memory and Declarative memory are the two types of memory in the LTM.
MEMORY
Memory process includes encoding, storage and retrieval.
Encoding refers to getting information into the brain,Storage refers to retaining the information and Retrieval refers to getting back the information.Successful retrieval depends on organization of the
information and the context of encoding and retrieval.Forgetting or retention loss connotes the apparent loss
of information already encoded and stored in an individual's long term memory.
Few causes of Forgetting that have been identified are the decay of memory trace, problems with interfering materials, a break down in retrieval process, emotional and motivational conditions, and organic factors.
MEMORY
Memory phenemenon and basic processes
When information comes into our memory system (from sensory input), it needs to be changed into a form that the system can cope with, so that it can be stored. Think of this as similar to changing your money into a different currency when you travel from one country to another. For example, a word which is seen (in a book) may be stored if it is changed (encoded) into a sound or a meaning (i.e. semantic processing).
There are three main ways in which information can be encoded (changed):
1. Visual (picture)
2. Acoustic (sound)
3. Semantic (meaning)
For example, how do you remember a telephone number you have looked up in the phone book? If you can see it then you are using visual coding, but if you are repeating it to yourself you are using acoustic coding (by sound).
Evidence suggests that this is the principle coding system in short term memory (STM) is acoustic coding. When a person is presented with a list of numbers and letters, they will try to hold them in STM by rehearsing them (verbally). Rehearsal is a verbal process regardless of whether the list of items is presented acoustically (someone reads them out), or visually (on a sheet of paper).
The principle encoding system in long term memory (LTM) appears to be semantic coding (by meaning). However, information in LTM can also be coded both visually and acoustically.
ENCODING
This concerns the nature of memory stores, i.e. where the information is stored, how long the memory lasts for (duration), how much can be stored at any time (capacity) and what kind of information is held. The way we store information affects the way we retrieve it. There has been a significant amount of research regarding the differences between Short Term Memory (STM ) and Long Term Memory (LTM).
Most adults can store between 5 and 9 items in their short-term memory. Miller (1956) put this idea forward and he called it the magic number 7. He though that short-term memory capacity was 7 (plus or minus 2) items because it only had a certain number of “slots” in which items could be stored. However, Miller didn’t specify the amount of information that can be held in each slot. Indeed, if we can “chunk” information together we can store a lot more information in our short-term memory. In contrast the capacity of LTM is thought to be unlimited.
Information can only be stored for a brief duration in STM (0-30 seconds), but LTM can last a lifetime.
MEMORY STORAGE
This refers to getting information out storage. If we can’t remember something, it may be because we are unable to retrieve it. When we are asked to retrieve something from memory, the differences between STM and LTM become very clear.
STM is stored and retrieved sequentially. For example, if a group of participants are given a list of words to remember, and then asked to recall the fourth word on the list, participants go through the list in the order they heard it in order to retrieve the information.
LTM is stored and retrieved by association. This is why you can remember what you went upstairs for if you go back to the room where you first thought about it.
Organizing information can help aid retrieval. You can organize information in sequences (such as alphabetically, by size or by time). Imagine a patient being discharged from hospital whose treatment involved taking various pills at various times, changing their dressing and doing exercises. If the doctor gives these instructions in the order which they must be carried out throughout the day (i.e. in sequence of time), this will help the patient remember them.
Memory Retrieval
The first stage she went through was attending. In this stage, she was listening and paying close attention to her grandmother's words that she could do whatever she wanted if she believed in herself. When we attend or focus on an event or a conversation, we are preparing ourselves to receive it.
The second stage Jessica went through was encoding. This is what happened when she was taking in her grandmother's words. If she was neither paying attention to them nor placing any importance on them, she would not have encoded them.
The third stage was storing. In this stage, her grandmother's words were entering her memory bank, ready to be called upon at some other time.
The final stage was retrieving. This happened when Jessica went through a tough time in college and looked back on her grandmother's words, bringing them up to her conscious awareness. She retrieved this information in order to use it.
Information porcessing model
Information processing model
The PDP model has 3 basic principles: a.) the representation of information is distributed (not local) b.) memory and knowledge for specific things are not stored explicitly, but stored in the connections between units. c.) learning can occur with gradual changes in connection strength by experience.
"These models assume that information processing takes place through interactions of large numbers of simple processing elements called units, each sending excitatory and inhibitory signals to other units." (McLelland, J., Rumelhart, D., & Hinton, G., 1986,p.10)
Rumelhart, Hinton, and McClelland (1986) state that there are 8 major components of the PDP model framework:
1.) a set of processing units 2.) a state of activation 3.) an output function for each unit 4.) a pattern of connectivity among units 5.) a propagation rule for propagating patterns of activities through the
network of connectivity's 6.) an activation rule for combining the inputs impinging on a unit with the
current state of that unit to produce a new level of activation for the unit 7.) a learning rule whereby patterns of connectivity are modified by
experience 8.) an environment within which the system must operate
Parallel distributed processing model
Parallel distributed processing model
There are two main methods of accessing memory: recognition and recall.
Recognition is the association of an event or physical object with one previously experienced or encountered, and involves a process of comparison of information with memory, e.g. recognizing a known face, true/false or multiple choice questions, etc.
Recognition is a largely unconscious process, and the brain even has a dedicated face-recognition area, which passes information directly through the limbic areas to generate a sense of familiarity, before linking up with the cortical path, where data about the person's movements and intentions are processed.
Recall involves remembering a fact, event or object that is not currently physically present (in the sense of retrieving a representation, mental image or concept), and requires the direct uncovering of information from memory, e.g. remembering the name of a recognized person, fill-in the blank questions, etc.
Retireval(clues,recall, recognition,)
In the 1980s, Endel Tulving proposed an alternative to the two-stage theory, which he called the theory of encoding specificity.
This theory states that memory utilizes information both from the specific memory trace as well as from the environment in which it is retrieved.
Because of its focus on the retrieval environment or state, encoding specificity takes into account context cues, and it also has some advantages over the two-stage theory as it accounts for the fact that, in practice, recognition is not actually always superior to recall.
Typically, recall is better when the environments are similar in both the learning (encoding) and recall phases, suggesting that context cues are important.
Cues
Cues can facilitate recovery of memories that have been "lost."
In research, a process called cued recall is used to study these effects.
Cued recall occurs when a person is given a list to remember and is then given cues during the testing phase to aid in the retrieval of memories.
The stronger the link between the cue and the testing word, the better the participant will recall the words.
Cues
Automatic encoding is a process of memory where information is taken in and encoded without deliberate effort.
This can be seen in how a person can learn and remember how things are arranged in a house, or where to find particular items in a grocery store.
These are things that don't take any particular study or effort, but are just quickly learned through experience.
reconstruction and automatic encoding
Nature and cause of forgetting
Memory and thebrain
The main factors involved may be brain damage affecting frontal control and executive systems (spontaneous confabulation), a weak memory trace (momentary confabulation), anomalous processing of input modulated by personal self-beliefs (delusional memories), social co- ercion and source memory errors, usually in the context of low self-esteem (false confession), and anomalous, biased, or selective retrieval from autobiographical memory (pseudologia fantastica, fugue, multiple personality).
Some of these phenomena may result characteristically from a combination of factors (e.g. the absence of rehearsal and a particular social context in cases of apparently false or distorted memories for child sexual abuse).
In others, an interaction between social and biological factors may occasionally be important (the confabulations produced by brain damaged patients in very stressful or extreme situations).
Although all these phenomena can be described and characterized within a general model of memory and executive function, provided that social factors and some notion of “self ” (called here a “personal semantic belief system”) are introduced, different components of the model have been highlighted in the generation of particular instances of false memory.
It follows that these phenomena are probably best viewed as different types of false memory, with varying underlying mechanisms, and that the term “confabulation” is perhaps most useful if confined to its current conventions (brain disease and instances of “momentary” confabulation):
In particular, confabulations and delusions need to be kept conceptually distinct. However, the relative dearth of neuropsychological studies comparing false memory phenomena means that the specific processes involved require further investigation.
Amnesia & false memories
Head trauma or other temporary disruption of normal brain functioning interrupts memories that are still the process of being transferred to LTM (typically memories for events immediately preceding the trauma).
Retrograde vs anterogade loss.Retrograde: cannot remember events prior to
brain damage.anterogade loss: cannot later remember events
that occur after brain damage.
Amnesia & false memories
Interference theory states that forgetting occurs because memories interfere with and disrupt one another, in other words forgetting occurs because of interference from other memories (Baddeley, 1999). There are two ways in which interference can cause forgetting:
1. Proactive interference (pro=forward) occurs when you cannot learn a new task because of an old task that had been learnt. When what we already know interferes with what we are currently learning – where old memories disrupt new memories.
2. Retroactive interference (retro=backward) occurs when you forget a previously learnt task due to the learning of a new task. In other words, later learning interferes with earlier learning - where new memories disrupt old memories.