CS2.

1 Cognitive Area

Classic Study: Loftus and Palmer

Contemporary Study: Grant
Key Theme: Memory
 Cognitive Area
Factor Cognitive area
Brains genes chemical Converts physical stimuli into information

Age and stage Changes how information is processed

Unlearned responses Unlearned information processing

Experience Inputs processed in the mind

Environment Inputs processed in the mind

Stimuli Inputs processed in the mind

Social situation Inputs processed in the mind

Personality Explained by differences in thought processes

Thought processes The main cause of behaviour

Unconscious thought Not studied by cognitive psychology

processes
 Updated Cognitive
• New Cognitive Features
– Mental Thought Processes • Cognitive Research Methods
– Computor Analogy: Information – Lab Experiments
Processors – Self Report
– Scientific Inference of the Mind
• Cognitive Strengths and Weaknesses
• Cognitive Practical Applications – Strengths
– Cognitive Therapy • High scientific control:
– Crime and Forensics • Practical applications:
– Teaching and Learning – Weaknesses
– Campaigns to change Attitudes and • Unrealistic environments:
Behaviour • Problems of self report:
 Updated Cognitive Features
Mental Thought Processes
• Behaviour is explained through the way people process information.
• Cognitive processing: the manipulation, encoding, transformation and
storage of information in the mind.
– Humans, like plants and animals, have sensory organs that sense physical stimuli.
– Physical stimuli causes chemical changes in the brain and nervous system.
– We experience the chemical changes in the brain as information in the mind, the
abstract concepts in our thoughts.
• These thoughts are internal, they seem to be objectively real to the
individual, but they are non physical, they exist as an abstract concept that
only the individual person experiences, no one else can experience another
individuals thoughts.
• We have thoughts about the stimuli in the environment (like many animals),
but humans also have thoughts unrelated to the current environment:
– memories, planning, expectations, problem solving, decision making, reasoning,
judging etc.
 Updated Cognitive Features
Mental Thought Processes
• Behaviour is explained through the way people process information.
Stimuli Brain Mind Thoughts

attention
heat
consciousness
light memory
smell planning
pain perception
balance judgement
reflecting
sound

Physical Abstract
Converts stimuli into chemical reactions Converts chemicals into information
Not the main cause of behaviour The main cause of behaviour
Affected by genes and stimuli Affected by stimuli and choice
 Updated Cognitive Features
Computor Analogy: Information Processors
• The increasing popularity of computors in the 60’s inspired cognitive psychologists
to realise it is the unseen abstract processes that really explain behaviour.
• Like a computor, human have physical inputs, which are processed as abstract
information, which causes physical measurable outputs.
• This information is processed in the mind: it is manipulated, encoded, stored,
interpreted and transformed into new information.
• The brain is physical, like the hardware in a computor, but the information is
processed non physically.
• You can’t tell from looking at a brain what is being thought, just as you can’t tell
what programme is being run on a computor by looking at the hardware.

Input Processes Output

Physical Manipulating Feelings

Sensory Stimuli and storing Behaviours
information Personality
 Updated Cognitive Features
Computor Analogy: Information Processors
• How the inputted information undergoes different processes: different
manipulations and encodings, will determine outputs: how individuals feel
and behave.
• Like a computor, physical inputs are internally processed, which causes
observable physical outputs.
Input Processes Output

heat
light
Attention Perception Awareness feelings
smell
pain behaviour
balance Forgotten Memory Recall personality
sound
touch
 Updated Cognitive Features
• Standing on a plug in a messy room.
• Pain stimuli is paid attention to, transformed into
abstract information, non attended stimuli (mess) is not
processed as is forgotten.
• Become aware that you are standing on a plug, pain
stimuli is transformed from pain to awareness of pain.
• Awareness of pain is transformed into a memory of the
pain and stored, although the memory is
misremembered as standing on messy lego.
• Memory is temporarily forgotten, until the next time
you enter the room, when it is transformed using recall
from a memory to a conscious memory you are aware
of.
• Describe a time you have processed information in the mind:
 Updated Cognitive Features
Computor Analogy: Information Processors
Match the ways that humans are like a computor:
a) Physical outputs that
• Forgetting 1. Key board click, touch are experienced by
pads, microphones, others

• Mental cameras
b) Ways of removing
processes unneccessarry
2. Softwares, apps, information
• Feelings and programmes
behaviour c) Physical structure that
3. Screen, speakers, produces abstract
information processing
• Light, sound, vibration
temperature, d) Abstract non physical
balance 4. Deletion manipulation of
information
• The brain 5. Hardware
e) Ways of inputting
physical stimuli
 Updated Cognitive Features
Scientific Inference of the Mind
• The mind and mental processes cannot be directly observed.
• Cognitive psychologists have to infer the mind: evidence is gathered that
supports the existence of different mental processes.
• Participants thoughts can be inferred from how they behave and how they
self report their thoughts.
• Controlled experimental methods are used which allow researchers to
manipulate either stimuli in the environment or instructions on how to
think.
• Self report and observation are used to observe how changes to stimuli or
thought process change participant’s behaviour or self reported thoughts.
• This allows cognitive psychologists to infer the existence of different
thought processes, as different predictable effects of different stimuli and
processes are studied.
 Updated Cognitive Features
Scientific Inference of the Mind
• Example: Primacy/Recency Effect: words from the start or end of a list of words are
easier to remember.
• Can infer from participants self reported memory that different stimuli are
processed differently: words are encoded into memory differently, depending on
the order they were presented.
 Cognitive Practical Applications
Cognitive Practical Applications
• Cognitive Therapy
– Mental illness are characterised by unhealthy thought processes. Can suggest ways to
encourage healthier ways of processing information. Changes in thought process can cause
healthier changes in behaviour.
• Crime and Forensics
– Police, judges and experts often have thought biases they are not aware of, can suggest ways
to encourage a lack of bias, so less innocents are punished and guilty avoid justice.
– Eyewitnesses can be helped to recall more accurate information.
• Teaching and Learning
– Can help teachers find ways to deliver information in way that makes it encoded stronger and
recalled easier.
– Can suggest ways for students to revise and study in a way the encourages greater recall.
• Campaigns to change Attitudes and Behaviour
– Can help understand attitudes and decision making processes, understand what stimuli is
needed to make individuals more likely to adopt pro social behaviours and beliefs.
– Can suggest ways to make product adverts, political messages, campaigns etc more likely to
be paid attention to, internalised and recalled.
 Cognitive Practical Applications
Link features of the cognitive area to the practical applications:
• Cognitive Therapy
• Mental Thought
Processes • Crime and Forensics

• Computor Analogy: • Teaching and

Information Procesors Learning

• Scientific Inference of
• Campaigns to
the Mind
change Attitudes
and Behaviour
 Cognitive Practical Applications
• As the cognitive area studies thought processes, the way
stimuli is converted to abstract information, manipulated and
stored, cognitive psychologists can help make police and juries
less biased by suggesting ways to make sure individuals beliefs
are not biased by irrelevant information.

• As the cognitive area studies…

• Cognitive psychologists can suggest…

 Cognitive Research Methods
Cognitive Research Methods
• Need to link research methods to the cognitive features.

• Lab Experiments
– Manipulation of stimuli is often used to study the effect on thought processes.
Participants can be instructed to adopt different thought processes, or given
tasks that encourage participants to use different thought processes.
– Highly controlled environments are often used, with standardised procedures
and attempts to eliminate extraneous variables.

• Self Report
– Used to gather data, after manipulating thought processes or stimuli.
– Cannot observe thought processes, but can work out how information is being
processed based in how a participant reports or behaves.
 Cognitive Research Methods
Link features of the cognitive area to the research methods:

• Mental Thought
Processes
• Lab Experiments
• Computor Analogy:
Information
Processors
• Self Report

• Scientific Inference
of the Mind
 Cognitive Research Methods
• As the cognitive area studies thought processes, the way
stimuli is converted to abstract information, manipulated and
stored, cognitive psychologists often use observation and self
report to see how manipulation of stimuli and thought
processes effects a participants self reported thoughts or
observed behaviour, to infer how mental processes function.

• As the cognitive area studies…

• Cognitive psychologists use…

 Cognitive Strengths and Weaknesses
Cognitive Strengths
• High scientific control:
– Cognitive studies are aware that it is difficult to objectively know how
mental processes work.
– By using highly standardised procedures and easy to replicate and
manipulate stimuli, psychologists can make small changes in stimuli or
thought patterns and work out how information is processed.

• Practical applications:
– Arguably understanding thought processes is the main aim of all
psychology.
– Most problems in society are a result of choices and decision individuals
make in their mind, understanding what causes these processes and
decision could encourage pro social behaviours.
 Cognitive Strengths and Weaknesses
Cognitive Weaknesses
• Unrealistic environments:
– Only though highly controlled changes to stimuli can psychologists identify
how information is processed, which means artificial stimuli is often used.
– Thoughts are manipulated either through direct instruction, which
participants might disobey, or through task that encourage certain
thought patterns, which are controlled and unrealistic.

• Problems of self report:

– Participants are often relied on to report how they are thinking, or how
they are thinking is worked out by their responses.
– For a number of reasons, participants might not accurately report how
they are thinking, or could bias the responses they give.
 Cognitive Strengths and Weaknesses

Link features of the cognitive area to the evaluations:

• High scientific
• Mental Thought control
Processes
• Practical
• Computor Analogy: applications
Information
Processors • Unrealistic
environments
• Scientific Inference
of the Mind • Problems of self
report
 Cognitive Strengths and Weaknesses
Can you discuss each strength and weakness:
• High scientific control • Unrealistic environments

• Practical applications • Problems of self report

Hints: validity, face validity, useful, external validity, cause and effect, funding, replication,
objectivity, induction/deduction
 Cognitive Strengths and Weaknesses
• A weakness of the cognitive area is studies often take place
in unrealistic environments. As the cognitive area studies
mental thought processes: abstract internal thought
processes that cannot be directly studied, highly artificially
easy to control stimuli must be used. This means the stimuli
and procedures used by the cognitive area are often very
unlike stimuli experienced by participants in the real world.
This is a problem for the cognitive area as the results and
conclusions make lack ecological validity, they will not
generalise to the real world, and the cognitive area might
have limited use in genuinely explaining behaviour.
 Cognitive Area Comparisons
• Cognitive Practical Applications • Will any of these be
– Cognitive Therapy
similar/different to the
– Crime and Forensics
– Teaching and Learning
social/developmental area:
– Campaigns to change Attitudes and
Behaviour

• Cognitive Research Methods

– Lab Experiments
– Self Report

• Cognitive Strengths and Weaknesses

– Strengths • Can you use the features of
• High scientific control:
• Practical applications: social/developmental to
– Weaknesses explain why?
• Unrealistic environments:
• Problems of self report:
 Cognitive Strengths and Weaknesses
• A strength/weakness of the cognitive area is…

• As the cognitive area studies…

• This means…

• However/due to this/this makes the cognitive area…

A researcher is looking into whether the way people respond to
violence affects how much it affects them. He exposes participant to a
violent incident, then makes some participants contemplate seeking
revenge and other ignore the violent incident. He then measures each
of the participants problem solving ability.

• How does the cognitive area explain behaviour (2 marks)

• Explain why this article can be viewed as being relevant
to cognitive psychology. (4)
– P: Identify a principles or concepts of cognitive psychology.
– E: Explain (in detail) the principle or concept.
– E: Gives examples (in detail) of the principle or concept in the
article.