What is Cognitive Psychology?

Cognitive psychology (cognitive psychology), a trend of psychology and research direction that emerged in the West in the mid 1950s. In a broad sense, it refers to the study of human advanced psychological processes, mainly cognitive processes, such as attention, perception, appearance, memory, creativity, problem solving, speech and thinking. The narrow sense is equivalent to contemporary information processing psychology. That is, the cognitive process is studied from the perspective of information processing. Its historical background can be traced back to the ancient Greek era two thousand years ago. At that time, some outstanding philosophers and thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle thought about cognitive processes such as memory and thinking. In addition to the influence of philosophical thought, it can also be examined from the development of psychology itself and the influence of cross-penetration with neighboring disciplines. ^[1]

Cognitive psychology is one of the latest branches of psychology. It developed from the 1950s to the 1960s and became the main school of western psychology in the 1970s. 1956 is considered an important year in the history of cognitive psychology. Several psychological studies this year have reflected the information processing perspective of psychology. Such as Chomsky's language theory and Alan Newell and Herbert Alexander simon's "universal problem solver" model. "Cognitive psychology" first appeared in the publication in a new book by Ulrich Neisser in 1967. The book "Perception and Communication" published by Donald Broadbent in 1958 laid an important foundation for the orientation of cognitive psychology. Since then, the focus of cognitive psychology has been on the cognitive information processing model pointed out by Donald Broadbent-a model of thinking and reasoning with mental processing. Therefore, thinking and reasoning work in the human brain similar to how computer software works in a computer. The theory of cognitive psychology often talks about the concepts of input, representation, calculation or processing, and output.

Cognitive psychology is a psychological trend that emerged in the West in the mid 1950s, and it has become a Western psychology since the 1970s.

Cognitive psychologists care about the psychological mechanism that is the basis of human behavior. The core is the internal psychological process that occurs between input and output. But one cannot directly observe the internal psychological process, and can only speculate by observing the input and output. Therefore, the method used by cognitive psychologists is to predict unobservable psychological processes from observable phenomena. Some people call this method the convergence proof method, that is, the data of different natures are brought together and come to a conclusion. and

Cognitive psychologists often take

Cognitive psychology in the broad sense includes constructivist cognitive psychology represented by Piaget, psychological psychology, and information processing psychology. In a narrow sense, it is information processing psychology. It uses information processing psychology. Perspectives, etc., study the cognitive processes by which people receive, store, and use information, including the study of perception, attention, memory, mind (ie appearance), thinking, and language. The main research methods are experimental method, observation method and computer simulation method.

The main representatives of cognitive psychology include American psychologist and computer scientist Alan Newell (1927) and American scientist and one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence (Herbert Alexander simon, 1916). Their main theoretical views are:

1. Think of the human brain as a computer-like information processing system

They believe that the information processing system of the human brain is

Cognitive psychology is the result of the development of psychology, and it has some connection with western traditional philosophy. Its main feature is the emphasis on the role of knowledge,

1. Posner experiment-information can also be visually encoded

Arrange for the participants to present two letters. These two letters can be viewed by the participants at the same time, or a short time interval can be inserted to allow the participants to indicate whether the two letters are the same and press the key to respond. Note the response time. There are two types of letter pairs used. One is that the two letters are pronounced and written the same, that is, the same letter (AA); the other is that the two letters are pronounced differently and written differently (Aa). In both cases, the correct response is "same".

2. Clark and Chase Sentences-Picture Matching Experiments-Examples of Subtraction Experiments

Show the subject a sentence and a picture immediately after it, such as "the star is above the cross", and ask the subject to determine as soon as possible whether the sentence truly describes the picture, make a yes or no reaction, and record the reaction time. The prepositions used in the experiments are "above" and "below", and the subjects are "star" and "cross". The statements of the sentence are positive (in) and negative (not in). There are 8 different sentences. Clark and Chase conceived that when a sentence appears between pictures, the completion of this sentence and picture matching operation goes through several processing stages, and proposes parameters that measure some processing duration.

3. Sternberg's additive factor method for studying short-term memory information extraction

First show the participants 1 to 6 numbers (recognition item), then look at another number (test item), and start timing at the same time. Ask the participant to answer whether the test number has just been recognized, and press the key to make a yes or no The reaction and timing stopped immediately. In this way, it can be determined whether the subject can extract correctly and the time required is the response time. Through a series of experiments, Sternberg identified four factors that have an independent effect on the extraction process from the changes in the reaction time, namely the quality of the test items (high-quality or inferior), the number of memorizing items, and the type of response (affirmative Or negative) and the relative frequency of each response type. Therefore, he believes that the short-term memory information extraction process includes corresponding four independent processing stages, namely the stimulus encoding stage, the sequence comparison stage, the alternative decision-making stage, and the reaction organization stage.

4. Letter conversion experiment ("window" experiment)

Present the participants with 1 to 4 English letters and mark a number after the letters, such as "F + 3", "KENC + 4", and so on. When presenting "F + 3", participants were asked to say the letter "I" in the third position after F in the English alphabet, in other words, "F + 3" is about to convert F to I, and "KENC + 4 The correct answer is "OIRG", but the four conversion results must be said together. This should be the case when there is more than one stimulus letter, that is, only one response is made. Take "KENC + 4" as an example, 4 stimulus letters are presented one after another. The participants can see the first letter K and start timing at the same time by pressing the key. Then the participants make a sound conversion, that is, say LMNO, and then Press the key to see the second letter (E), and then switch. This loops until all 4 letters are displayed and answered, and the timing stops. The start and end of the vocal transition are marked in the time record. According to the reaction time data of this experiment, it can be clearly seen that the three processing stages of completing the letter conversion job are: (1) The time from when a subject presses a key to the start of the sound conversion is the coding stage. To encode the letter and find the position of the letter in the alphabet in memory; (2) the time taken by the subject to perform the specified conversion is the conversion phase; (3) from the end of the sound conversion to the next key press to see the next letter The time is the storage phase, and the participants store the conversion results in memory.

5.Peterson and Peterson's experiments on forgetting processes

Present 3 consonant letters to the subject's hearing each time, such as KBR; in order to prevent repetition, immediately after the letter is presented, a three-digit number such as 684 is required to be performed. And say the results of each operation, that is, to report 681, 678, 675, etc., until the main test signal, and then recall the 3 letters just recognized. The time interval between letter presentation and recall, that is, the time for subjects to perform a continuous minus 3 operation is divided into 6 types: 3s, 6s, 9s, 12s, 15s, and 18s. However, each participant did not know in advance how long the calculation would take. This is a deferred recall test at different time intervals during which additional distractions are performed. The experiment was repeated several times, and the letters and numbers were different each time, and the participants of the experiment were college students. Results: When the delay time was only 3s, the average correct recall rate of the subjects was as high as 80%, and almost three letters could be remembered. However, as the interval time was extended, the correct recall rate dropped sharply. The correct recall rate dropped to about 55%; when it was extended to 18s, the correct recall rate was only about 10%. This experiment proves that the short-term memory retention information is short-lived and will be quickly forgotten if it is not repeated.

6. Waugh and Norman's experiment-an attempt to separate the disappearance of traces and interference

Present a series of numbers to the participants, such as 16 numbers. The last number is accompanied by a high-frequency pure tone. This last number is called the detection number, and it only appeared once before. As soon as the subjects heard the sound, they should recall the next digit of the detection number in the position where it appeared earlier. If the number series presented is 3917465218736528 * (star indicates pure tone), then the detection number is 8, which appears in the 10th position in the previous series, and the participant should report a number 7 after this position. From the number following the number that should be reported to the last number, called the interval number, which is the number of interference effects, the time it takes to present these interval numbers is called the interval time. This experiment uses different numbers of interval numbers And interval time. Apply two digital rendering speeds: fast rendering at 4 digits per second and slow rendering at 1 digit per second. In this way, the interval time can be changed under the condition that the interval number is unchanged; the interval number can also be changed under the condition that the interval time is unchanged. Result: Whether the numbers are presented quickly or slowly, the correct recall rate decreases as the interval numbers or interference items increase. This means that the correct recall rate is not very different due to the difference in interval time caused by different digital presentation speeds. The big difference, this result supports the theory of interference, proving that the main reason for short-term memory forgetting is interference rather than the disappearance of memory traces.

7. Podgoray and Shepard visual positioning experiments-verifying the equivalent of appearance and perceptual function

The experiment is divided into three groups: (1) Perception-memory group, the experimental material is a 5 × 5 grid, and some of the squares are painted in black with certain English letters, such as I, L, F, E, or letters Combine IF; there is another same 5 × 5 grid, and blue dots are drawn in any of them as test points. In the formal experiment, first use the speed indicator to present a grid with a letter or a combination of letters to the subjects, and then present a grid with a test point, requiring the subjects to maintain high accuracy and as soon as possible It is judged whether the blue test point falls inside or outside the letter that is presented, and the left or right hand is used to make a button response, and the response time is recorded. A letter or combination of letters has to be tested several times. The test points appear at least once in all 25 squares. The order is random. The test points are arranged equal to each other within and outside the letter. (2) Representation group with grid. The experimental procedure of this group is basically the same as that of the perception-memory group, but there is a major difference. In this set of experiments, the letters and letter combinations above were not made up of certain squares. In the experiment, first use a speed indicator to present an identical, but empty 5 × 5 grid. At the same time, the experimenter gave the oral instructions to the subject, and asked him to imagine some English letters or letter combinations using some specific squares. These letters and their positions in the grid are the same as Perception-Memory, and he is asked not to change the position of the letters in the grid. After the subjects imagined the letters, the same grid with test points was displayed by the speed indicator, and the rest of the experimental procedures were the same as before. (3) The appearance group without grid. The experiment of this group is only a little different from the appearance group with grid. That is, the grid with test points only draws the outermost outline, and the inner grid is not drawn. The purpose of this is to prevent participants from inferring the position of the letters in the grid after the test points are presented, and other procedures are the same as before.

8. Paivio's experiment-verifying that appearances are two cognitive systems that are parallel and related to speech

Show the participants some cards with a pair of pictures or a pair of printed words on them (see figure in Cognitive Psychology, Wang Su, Wang Ansheng, Peking University Press, P212) Figure 7-6 Two picture pairs and two word pairs ), Asked the participants to determine which of the pair of things drawn or printed by the printed word is the larger in the original impression (not the size of the drawing, but the original impression of the person) The actual size of two things), and record the reaction time. Paivio makes the following assumptions: if the long-term memory contains only language-encoded information, participants will be slower to judge the drawing materials than to respond to the words, because the pictures need to be converted into words before the judgment is made; on the other hand If long-term memory also contains visual representations or visually encoded information, participants will not respond more slowly to pictures than to words, because visual representations can be obtained directly from memory without further conversion. This experiment not only provides experimental evidence for the existence of imagery, but also proposes some characteristics of imagery representation that are different from language.

9. Artificial concept formation experiment (81-card experiment)-the concept formation process of hypothesis test

The experimental materials are cards with graphics. The shape, color, number, and number of borders of the graphics are the four dimensions that make up each particular card. Each dimension is divided into 3 levels, that is, each has 3 attributes or values. For example, the shape dimension has three attributes: cross, circle, and square; the colors are green, black, and red; the number of figures and the number of borders each have three values. Each card has an attribute of each of these 4 dimensions, so each card is different from any other card in 1-4 dimensions (attributes). In this way, 81 (3 × 3 × 3 × 3) different cards are used as experimental materials. The experimenter specifies in advance that an attribute of a certain dimension (such as red) or attributes of several dimensions (such as a red circle) are unique attributes of an artificial concept, that is, these dimensions and attributes constitute an artificial concept. They are called related dimensions and related attributes, others are called unrelated dimensions and unrelated attributes. All cards with all the relevant attributes specified are conceptual or positive examples, otherwise they are negative examples. However, the experimenter did not tell the subject in advance about an artificial concept (that is, its related attributes). At the beginning of the experiment, the main test told the subjects: This experiment has a specific concept. This concept is composed of certain attributes or certain attributes. The test subject is required to discover the concept through the experimental process; then the main test first takes it out. An affirmative example card is shown to the participant, and it is clearly informed that this is an affirmative example. The participant must select other affirmative examples belonging to this concept from all the cards in front of him, and select one at a time. After each selection, the main tester must give feedback to indicate that he was right or wrong. The experiment continued until the subject discovered the concept, that is, they were able to correctly select all positive examples and be able to say what the concept was.

10. Four Card Problems-Authentication and Falsification

Four cards for adults, two of which have one letter on the front, one card has the vowel letter (E), and the other card has the consonant letter (K); the other two cards have one on the front Numbers, one card is even (4) and the other card is odd (7). At the same time, participants were told that each card had a letter on one side and a number on the other side, and proposed a rule: "If one side of the card is a vowel letter, the other side is even." Participants were asked to state which cards had to be viewed in order to verify the authenticity of the rule. ^[4]

Cognitive psychology is also psychology and proximity

1. Aristotle proposed the rules of learning and memory.

2. The Greek philosopher Plato compared human memory to an aviary, and memories are like capturing the bird from the aviary for inspection.

In 3.1879, Fonte founded the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, making psychology independent of philosophy and physiology.

4. Feng Te proposed that psychology should use a technique called introspection. Introspection refers to trained observers paying careful and careful attention to their own feelings, distinguishing these feelings accurately and as objectively as possible. Report these feelings.

Font's careful and rigorous approach is, in many ways, similar to today's cognitive research. However, Fonte pointed out that advanced psychological processes such as thinking, language, and problem solving are not suitable for introspection.

5. German psychologist Ebbinghaus constructed more than 2,000 meaningless syllables. (Saving method)

6. The first known psychologist in American history was William James, who published "Principles of Psychology", which was described as "probably the most important psychological treatise in the United States."

7. American psychologist Watson initiated behaviorism. Behaviorism is an approach that relies solely on objective, observable responses. It emphasizes the environmental determinacy of behavior rather than psychological processes. Behaviorists believe that introspection is too subjective and unscientific, and that the consciousness is too vague to study properly. In fact, the emphasis on observable behavior causes behaviorists to reject any nouns related to psychological events, such as attention, appearance, idea, or thought. However, behaviorism sees attention as the concept of psychicism and believes that there should be no attention in scientific psychology.

8. In Europe, an important new genre is Gestalt psychology, which emphasizes that people have a tendency to organize what they see. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" is the famous argument of Gestalt Psychology.

Gestalt psychologists emphasize the importance of "epiphany" in problem solving. When you work hard to solve a problem, the parts of the problem initially seem to be independent of each other. However, with the sudden "flash of epiphany", the various parts work together to produce a solution.

Most of the early research on problem solving was done by Gestalt psychologists.

9. Some psychologists have identified September 11, 1956 as the birthday of cognitive psychology, and many important researchers have attended a seminar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.