Psy 319 - Cognitive Psychology

9th, October ‘23

COURSE OUTLINE
1. Definition of the course
2. Sensation
3. Perception.
a. Perceptual grouping
b. Perceptual constancy
c. Perceptual illusions
d. Death perception
4. Sensation and sense organs
a. Eye
b. Tongue
c. Ears
d. Nose
e. Skin
5. Extra-sensory perception
6. Memory
a. Types of memory
b. Theories of memory decay
7. Language
a. Development of language
8. States of consciousness
a. Sleep
b. Sleep disorders
c. Wakefulness
 d. Hypnosis

DEFINITION OF THE COURSE

Cognitive psychology is a branch or field of psychology that is concerned with
higher mental processes as it relates to human perception and sensory
processing. These higher mental processes include thoughts, thinking,
feelings, emotion, behavior, language, memory, and beliefs.

SYSTEMS & ORDER

Human beings and animals have a lot of psychological functions in common

but human beings are conscious in ways that animals aren’t. E.g self
awareness. Animals have some limited cognitive abilities that differ from
human beings' cognitive ability. Descartes argued that animals don’t have
souls.

Cognitive psychology involves the study of internal mental processes - all the
workings of the brain ie, perception, thinking, memory, attention, Language,
problem-solving, and learning

HISTORY OF COGNITIVE PSY (Jotting)

Cognitive psychology, a relatively young branch of psychology, gained
prominence during the cognitive revolution in the 1950s and 1960s. This
period marked a significant intellectual shift, with a focus on understanding
the internal mental processes that drive human behavior. The study of
human thought became increasingly interdisciplinary, directing attention to
cognitive processes such as language acquisition, memory, problem-solving,
and learning.

In 1967, Ulric Richard Gustav Neisser played a pivotal role in formalizing and
defining cognitive psychology when he introduced the term ‘Cognitive
psychology’. Cognitive psychology, as Neisser defined it, is the study of the
processes involved in perception, transformation, storage, and retrieval of
information. This definition encapsulates the field's exploration of how
individuals acquire, process, and utilize information, shedding light on the
intricacies of cognitive functions and their impact on behavior. The
development of cognitive psychology has since contributed significantly to
our understanding of the human mind and has paved the way for innovative
research and therapeutic approaches in psychology.
​

BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL
The biopsychosocial model is a holistic approach to understanding health and
illness that considers biological, psychological, and social factors and their
complex interactions. This model acknowledges that health and well-being
are influenced by a combination of biological, psychological, and social
factors, rather than focusing solely on biological aspects.

Biological Factors:

● Biological factors in cognitive psychology encompass the study of the

brain, neurochemistry, and genetics. Researchers investigate how brain
structure and function, neurotransmitter levels, and genetic
predispositions influence cognitive processes such as memory,
attention, and problem-solving.
Psychological Factors:

● Psychological factors focus on the cognitive and emotional processes

that shape mental functioning. Cognitive psychologists examine how
thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, and emotions impact cognitive
performance. Cognitive therapies, like cognitive-behavioral therapy
(CBT), are rooted in understanding and modifying maladaptive thought
patterns that contribute to mental health disorders.

Social Factors:

● Social factors in cognitive psychology consider the influence of social

context, relationships, and cultural norms on cognitive processes. Social
cognition explores how individuals perceive and interpret social
information, including the impact of social interactions on cognitive
functioning

CLASSICAL TIMES
- René Descartes (1596-1650), a prominent French philosopher,
mathematician, and scientist, exerted a profound influence on the
development of cognitive psychology, despite living well before the
formal establishment of psychology as a scientific discipline. His
conceptualization of dualism, in particular, provided a fundamental
framework for comprehending the intricacies of the mind and
consciousness.
Descartes delved into the complex relationship between the mind and
body, as well as the connections between God and demons, in ways
that reverberated through both philosophical and psychological
discourse. The core tenet of dualism, proposing a fundamental
distinction between the mind and body as separate substances,
 highlighted their interaction at the Pineal Gland, a pivotal anatomical
point in the brain.
His renowned declaration "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am")
underscored Descartes' conviction in the separateness of the thinking
self from the physical body. Within the context of cognitive psychology,
Descartes' dualism laid a crucial foundation for understanding how
mental processes interact with and influence the physical body. This
conceptual groundwork prompted further exploration into the nature
of consciousness, perception, and cognition, contributing significantly
to the intellectual underpinnings that inform modern cognitive
psychological inquiries into the mind-body relationship.
-

SENSATION
In our daily lives, we are constantly bombarded with a number of stimuli.
Examples include, heat, pollution, noise, life-issues,etc.
- Sensation is a momentary feeling an organism is undergoing,
experienced through the sensory organs.
- Sensation is input about the physical world obtained by our sensory
receptors and sent to the brain through the nervous system.
- Sensation is the process that allows our brains to take in information via
our five senses.
- It is the process of the sensory organs transforming physical energy into
neurological impulses the brain can then interpret as the five senses of
vision, smell, taste, touch, and hearing.
PERCEPTION
Perception is the meaning given to the feeling a person is having at the
moment. It is the process by which the brain selects, organizes, and interprets
these sensations. Perception is the interpretation given to stimuli or a
stimulus (sensation).

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

Sensation involves the physiological response to stimuli, while perception
involves the cognitive and psychological interpretation of stimuli. The
sensation is something that makes an individual aware of the stimuli,
whereas perception gives meaning to the stimuli.

Threshold
In cognitive psychology, a threshold is the critical level at which a signal is
detected with at least 50% probability. It signifies the minimum intensity or
strength required for an individual to register and become consciously aware
of a sensory stimulus. For a perception to take place, there must be a signal.
In cognitive psychology, a "threshold" is like a signal strength gauge for our
senses. Imagine it as the level at which a signal becomes noticeable, with a
50% chance of detection. For us to perceive something, there has to be a
signal that crosses this threshold. It's the point where a sensation becomes
strong enough for us to become aware of it. Understanding thresholds helps
psychologists explore how our senses pick up signals and how these signals
turn into conscious experiences.
NERVE CELL | NEURON
A nerve cell, also known as a neuron, is the fundamental structural and
functional unit of the nervous system. Neurons are specialized cells that
process and transmit information through electrical and chemical signals.
The basic unit of communication in the nervous system is the nerve cell
(neuron). Each nerve cell consists of the cell body, which includes the nucleus,
a major branching fiber (axon) and numerous smaller branching fibers
(dendrites). Cell theory states that a human body contains 10-12 billion nerve
cells in the body and they are interconnected.

FACTORS THAT COULD AFFECT PERCEPTION

1. Selective attention. It is the focusing of conscious awareness on a
particular stimulus.
2. Learning: it is a relatively permanent change in behavior due to
experience.
3. Internal frame of reference.
4. Contiguity: is the sequential occurrence or proximity of stimulus and
response, causing their association in the mind. How events occur
 between time and space (we perceive them as being together). For
example, perceiving a boy and girl who move together often as being in
a relationship even though there may be nothing between them.
Because of classical conditioning, the human mind has conditioned
itself to predict that thunder always comes with lightning but
sometimes thunder and lightning may occur individually - without the
existence of the other.
5. Sickness & Stress: Chemicals taken in the form of drugs can affect
perception. When people are sick sometimes, it slows the response to
their organs like loss of appetite.
6. Substance: Any substance other than food when eaten, ingested, or
injected that alters the physiology of the human body is known as a
drug.

PERCEPTUAL GROUPING
To transform certain information into meaningful perception, we must
organize it. We must perceive objects as distinct from their environment, see
them as having a meaningful and a constant form and descend their
distance and motion.
Gestalt psychology in their attempt to define perceptual organization
emphasized human beings’ tendency to harmonize old pieces of information
into a meaningful whole.

Figure and ground - Figure and background

Figure and background is the organization of visual fields into objects that
stand out from their background. In perception for humans, the human must
decipher what is the object before the background. The variation in
perception is what causes ambiguity and confusion in perception (E.g the
view of 6 and 9).

Proximity
In proximity, nearby objects are seen to be together or similar. It is the
nearness in space, time, or relationship.

Similarity
Objects that are similar in size, color, length, height, or weight, are viewed as
being the same.

Continuity
We perceive smooth or continuous patterns as the same rather than
discontinued (texture gradient).

Connectedness
When they are uniform and linked they are seen to be connected.

Closure
In closure, we fill in the gap to create complete information.

DEPTH PERCEPTION
Depth perception is your ability to see objects in three dimensions, including
their size and how far away they are from you. It is the ability to perceive
distance to objects in the world using the visual system and visual perception.
It's made possible by lots of parts in your eyes and your brain working
together to process information, estimate their location and create the
images you see.
Skills for Depth Perception
a. Binocular Cues
i. Retinal disparity (Binocular Parallax)
ii. Convergence
b. Monocular Cues
i. Linear Perspective
ii. Motion Parallax
iii. Texture Gradient

Binocular Cues
Binocular cues are depth cues that require the use of two eyes. Binocular
depth cues are the images taken in by both eyes to give depth perception, or
stereopsis. Binocular cues create a three-dimensional image of the world one
views. There are two types of binocular depth cues: convergence and retinal
disparity.

a. Retinal Disparity:

This refers to the fact that different optical images are produced on the
retinas of both eyes when viewing an object. By processing information
about the degree of disparity between the images it receives, the brain
produces the impression of a single object that has depth in addition to
height and width. The eyes are approximately 6.3 centimeters apart,
providing two different views of the same object and the environment.

b. Convergence

Convergence uses both eyes to focus on the same object. As an object

moves close, the eyes come closer together to focus. As the eye looks at
an object further away, the eyes move further apart to focus. This is
based on the fact that in order to project images on the retinas, the two
 eyes must rotate inward toward each other. The closer the perceived
object is, the more they must rotate, so the brain uses the information it
receives about the degree of rotation as a cue to interpret the distance
of the perceived objects.

Monocular Cues

a. Linear Perspective

Linear perspective is a monocular depth cue that causes parallel lines to

appear to meet at some point in the distance. The vanishing point is
where the lines seem to merge. Linear perspective not only affects our
judgment of depth, but also how we perceive size. Linear perspective
happens when the angles of two adjacent objects and the distance
between them look smaller and smaller.

b. Motion Parallax

Motion parallax is a monocular depth cue that causes objects that are
closer to you to appear to move faster than objects that are further
away. The further away something is, the slower it appears to move.
Motion parallax influences how we judge relative distance.

c. Texture Gradient

This is simply the progressively finer appearance of textures and surface

grains of objects as the viewer moves away from them.

PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY
Perceptual constancy is the tendency of animals and humans to see familiar
objects as having standard shape, size, color, or location regardless of
changes in the angle of perspective, distance, or lighting. The impression
tends to conform to the object as it is or is assumed to be, rather than to the
actual stimulus.

a. Brightness Constancy
Brightness constancy is our visual ability to perceive objects as having
the same level of brightness even though the level of lighting changes.
For example, something white will appear to be the same shade of
white no matter how much light it is being exposed to - noontime
sunlight or a soft lamplight at night.

b. Size Constancy
Size constancy is the perception of an object as having a fixed size,
despite the change in the size of the visual angle that accompanies
changes in distance.

c. Shape Constancy
Shape Constancy is the tendency to perceive an object as having the
same shape regardless of its orientation or the angle from which we
view it.

d. Color Constancy
Color constancy refers to our ability to perceive colors as relatively
constant over varying illuminations (i.e. light sources). For example, a
red apple will still look red on a sunny day or cloudy day – or in a grocery
store or a home.
PERCEPTUAL EXPECTANCY
A perceptual set, also called perceptual expectancy, is a psychological
concept that refers to the predisposition or readiness of an individual to
perceive specific stimuli in a particular way. Perceptual sets occur in all the
different senses. Perception sets often lead us to see what we want to see and
hear what we want to hear. For instance, when you greet a person for the first
time, the next thing you expect to hear is ‘hi, how’re you’ and a response
which should be, ‘fine’. If we expect something to appear in a certain way, we
are more likely to perceive it according to our expectations.

EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION
Over the years, human beings have shown an ability to perceive events in
ways that cannot be explained by accepted principles of science. These
abilities are considered to be extra-sensory perception. E.g black magic. There
are several extra-sensory ways to perceive things:

1. Precognition:
This is the ability to perceive accurately and predict future events.
Precognition is also known as premonition. E.g fortune tellers which tell
you what your destiny holds in the future. Precognition is the purported
psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware
of events in the future.

2. Clair-voyance:
The supposed faculty of perceiving things or events in the future or
beyond normal sensory contact. This is the ability to gain information
 and knowledge in ways unaffected by distance. Example of
clairvoyance; a Nigerian man waking up early in the morning feeling
pain all over the body indicating someone’s death when confirmed
later.

3. Telepathy:
The supposed communication of thoughts or ideas by means other
than the known senses (the ability to perceive what is on the mind of
someone else)

4. Teleport:
To transport or be transported across space and distance instantly. The
ability to disappear and reappear in different or the same environment.

5. Psychokinetic Phenomena:
Relating to changing the state or position of a physical object, using
only the power of the mind:
6.