-we select the information that is to be processed
e.g.:when you are on coctail party. There is lots of noise and voices. And you start to focus on one conversation, while filtering out other voices and sounds
There are two things which influence our perception:
i)the influence of past-experience
ii)the influence of expectations
We have also three Gestalt principles of perception. Gestalt menas organized whole.
-perceptual experience is the result of active synthesis
-emphasis on the active processes used by the mind
-the mind has the tendency to view things as „wholes“ not as individual units
-during perception, the mind uses variety of techniques in order to gain a whole image
Gestalt principles are:
Closure:
-it has the tendency to fill in incomplete patterns to produce coherent whole
-e.g.:
Similarity:
-perceptual organization based on grouping together similar elements (e.g.:shape or size)
-e.g.:
X O X O X
X O X O X we see it as columns rather than rows
X O X O X
X O X O X
X O X O X
Proximity:
-this states that elements which are close together tend to be perceived as a group
-e.g.:
X X X X X
X X X X X we see it as rows rather than columns
X X X X X
We also have schemas which influence our perception.
SCHEMA is a mental framework which organizes knowledge, beliefs and expecatations, and is used to guide behaviour. Schemata are scripts to guide our actions in particular situations. For example:when dining out a restaurant script tell us that in a restaurant we order froma menu, are served by someone and are expected to pay for what we order.
Schemata influence the way we perceive the world around us.
In this case we can refer to ambiguous figures as well.AMBIGUOUS FIGURES are any stimulus which can be peerceived in more than one way. For example ther pictures which has two meanings.But you can see it from one view and somenone else from other view and both of you are correct.
MEMORY
-ability to retain (help) and recall prior learning
-we have 3 processes in memory:
a)coding-how information is put into the systém
b)storage-holding the information
c)retrieval-getting the information back
There is distinctive form of SENSORY MEMORY (short lived; i)ICONIC-images,less than second;ii)ECHOIC-sounds;less than 2 seconds). For example:if you wave your fingers quickly from side to side before your eyes,you will see blur between your fingers. This is because of a very short lived memory trace in the visual systém.
Also we have to consider the memory as two separate stages:
1)SHORT-TERM MEMORY
-limited number of information -„chunks“
-no more than 30s duration
2)LONG TERM MEMORY
-unlimited capacity
-3 types of memory:
i)procedural-how to do things
-how to talk,eat etc.
ii)episodic-events from the past
iii)semantic-meaning
-general knowledge from the past
We need to include also model of ATKINSON and SHIFFRIN (1968):model of memory
Incoming information→sensory memory(SM)→short term memory(STM)→long term memory (LTM)
rehearsal
Infromation travels from SM to STm. Infromation in STM moves LTM only if it is rehearsed. If STM information is not rehearsed, it is forgotten.
Also we need to include ALTERNATIVE MODEL OF MEMORY done by Craik and Lockhart (1972)→Levels of processing (LOP)
Craik and Lockhart argued that it is useful to think of memory as a byproduct of information processing. The „depth“ of processing affects the ability of the individual to recall the information. Teh events /ideas/ procedures that we think about deeply are more likely to be remembered than those things that are not thought deeply about (e.g.:when I write test, there is bigger chance to remeber questio which was hard than the easy one).
We have three levels of processing:
-structural processing→what does the stimulus looks like?(e.g.:you have a object and
somenone ask you have the object looks like.You should be able to
describe)
-phonetic processing→what does it st sound like?
-semantic processing→what soemthing means
IT GOES DEEPER AND DEEPER FROM STRUCTURAL TO SEMANTIC
For testing our memory we have free recall task. It is reading or showing a list of information and asking the participants to recall as much of the information as possible. To show the results we use seriál position curve. It is a graph to show the results.
The serial position curve:
FORGETTING(1st theory)
-it is part of memory
-it is the failure to remember
-if you forgot in sensory memory (SM), we use term decay(it is spontaneous loss of information with the passage of time).It means when you are not able to pass the information to short term memory and you forgot you decay
-short term memory(STM) is more complex than SM, because STM is used to process incoming information as well retrieve material from long term memory (LTM). But int his case when we forget we use term displacement (one chunk pushes another one out→and it is because we have limited amount of capacity of STM)
-when we forgot in long term memory (LTM), we use term interference(it is competition between items that distorts/destroys memories→the memories are no longer avalaible). It has two types of interference:
i)retroactive interference
→recent experience interferes with past memories
→e.g.:I was on the holiday in Spain, but I was there also last year.Than I talk to someone about my memories from Spain. But I find out that I do not know if it was this year or it happened last year. My memories are mixed up.
ii)proactive interference
→prior learning interferes with recall of new information
→e.g.:If I am british and I do driving lesson. I learn to drive on the left side. Than I finish. Go for example to France and rent a car. Even if I can drive I have a problem. Because I have to drive on the right side Therefore the thing which I learnt already is mixed up with the thing which I need to do now. And it interferes me.
FORGETTING (2nd theory)
Forgetting is not when information is not unavailable, it occurs when information is inaccesible.Forgetting is a problem of accesibility, not availibility.
i)Cue dependent memory
→items are associated with environmental cues (objects in the environment-people,things,
smell,music)
→items are more easily recalled when these cues are present
→forgetting is caused by the lack of environmental cues
ii)State dependent memory
→items/information are/is associated with internal physical or mental state
→e.g.:If you need to study for exam,if you will be relax and learn it, and than you will be relax on exam,you are more likely to know more and pass the exam
Godden+Baddeley (1975)
-Scuba drivers who learned information when underwater could recall it more effectively when underwter than when they were out of the water.BUT How might this knowledge be applied?
FORGETTING
Forgetting as a problem with accesibility. In this case we meet here term Repression. Which is associtaed with Freud and his defence mechanism(an unconscious technique used by the ego to protect itself from anxiety). It is sometimes reffered to as a theory of motivated forgetting.Because we sometimes to forgot unpleasant experiences because we does not want to remember them.
Many cognitive psychologists do not really believe in the existence of repression at all.
Positive of repression :it works in therapy;we have evidence for it.
Negative of repression:not all forgetting can be caused by repression;repression can not explain the fact that we forget over time.
Two evidences for repression are:
i)Elliot(1995)
→surveyed 500 people about whether they had continously recalled traumatic event.The traumas reported included military combat, rape, sexual abuse and witnessing a murder. Eighty per cent respond yes and 20 per cent said that there had been period in which they had forgotten
ii)Myers and Brewin (1994)
→sheet(page 83-84)
→using experiment they find the people who repress the unpleasant things
Distrotion of memory (eyewitness testimony)
-this is when your memory is distorted by the way that questions are asked
As a evidence we have an experiment done by Loftus and Palmer (1974):
→participants were shown a film of a car accident and then asked questions about it
→one group was asked question:“how fast were the cars travelling when they smashed into one another?“
→another group was asked :“how fast were the cars travelling when they contacted with one another?“
→the results were:
smashed group estimated 41mph on average
contacted group estimated 32mph on average
2.ASSUMPTIONS ON WHICH KEY CONCEPTS ARE BASED
MENTAL PROCESSES CAN BE STUDIED
-cognitive psychologists assume that mental processe can and should be investigated scientifically→models can be made and than tested(e.g.:Craik and Tulving)
BEHAVIOUR CAN BE EXPLAINED AS AN OUTCOME OF INFORMATION PROCESSING
For this we can give an example of Bandura and his Bobo doll.
He set-up three groups of children. And they were observing an aggression on ‚Bobo doll‘.First group of children saw the model’s of aggression being rewarded. Second group of children saw the model being punished for the aggression and the third group of children saw no specific consequences. The result of this experiment was that when the children, who were used in Bandura’s experiment enter the playroom, who had seen the model punished showed less aggression than the other two groups. But, if all children were rewarded for what the model has done, they showed high level of imitation.
This model should explain:
Observation of aggressive act → modelling → imitation
and its consequences
In this case modelling is the mediator(the mental process between the stimulus and response).
3.EVALUATION OF ASSUMPTIONS
USE OF ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES AS A POSSIBLE EVALUATIVE STRATEGY
Unlike psychodynamic, cognitive psychologists used scientific methods. And these methods could be tested. But Freud did not use that. Because everything is in our unconscious(we are not aware).As a classic example of scientific method was experiment done by Bandura(1965).
Cognitive psychologists studied mind. Because mind is important. Everything you do has meaning. Unlike behaviourists which said that mind is not important because everything we do is because of our experience. Cognitive psychologists had soft determinism. It means that conscious process determine behaviour, we are free to create new schemas or to choose between existing ones, that the environment is very important and schemas determine behaviour and perception.It combines freewill and determinism.
But the weakness of cognitive psychology was that the computer metaphor was too simplistic. That the humans are not just computer processors.
4.THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS OF BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
-humans have a natural desire for cognitive consistency (it is consistency between beliefs,feelings and actions)
→doing what you think;e.g.:I am racist therefore I vote for racist party
-cognitive dissonance is the unpleasant state of inconsistency
-humans are motivated to achieve cognitive consistency
→If you are in the state of dissonance, you believe in something but you do something what
is against your belief. You want to know why you did it.
This motivation is the basis for behaviour and attitude change
Evidence in favour:
Example of cognitive dissonance theory is „Doomsday cult“ done by Festinger(1956). He was part of the religious cult. And the cult knew that on certain day the worldcome to the end (this is cognitive dissonance). Festinger wanted to know what would happen when the world did not come to the end. He observed a difference in the response of members which was determined by how much „sacrifice“ they had made for the groups.
Large sacrifice: changed belief
Small sacrifice: changed behaviour
The state of dissonance was:BIG SACRIFICE+BELIEF THAT THE WORLD WILL
END+THE WORLD DID NOT END
The state of consistence was:BIG SACRIFICE+WE HAVE BEEN SAVED+THE WORLD
DID NOT END
The result were that the behaviour attitude change observed. Cognitive dissonance theory supported. Use of qualitative data (not scientific, no numbers). This information could not be considered if we performed an experiment instead of an observation.
INSIGHT LEARNING
Bbehaviour is the result of schemas.It changes when schema changes.New schemas can be created spontaneously and this spontaneous creation is called „insight“.
As a evidence for this is Kohler and his SULTAN THE APE(1925)
He put the ape into the cage. Outside the cage he put bananas. The ape learned by trial and error to use the short stick (which was inside the cage), to get the food. But afterwards Kohler moved the bananas further away. So the short stick was really short to get the bananas. And because of this sultan was frustrated. But outside the cage was other stick, much longer one. So after a while of sitting in the corner, Sultan found the way how to get the food.
Methodologies
1.METHODS
EXPERIMENTS
It is manipulation of Independent variable (IV) to determine the effect it has on Dependent variable (DV).We change IV to observe what effect it has on DV. In psychology when we form an experiment we consider two things. Independent and dependent variable.. Independent variable is the variable that you as ane experimenter want to change. The experimenter control this. Dependent variable is the thing that we want to expect to change as a result of changing independent variable. The variable that we observe and measure. Dependent variable must always be a quantifiable data (data that can be represented in numbers).
For this we can give as an example, the experiment of CRAIK and TULVING (1975).
The aim was to find out which different forms of processing of verbal information might affect recall. The method was that the participants were presented with lists of words, a device which presents items for a very brief period of time after which each word was presented the participants were asked one of four different questions:
a)is it in capital letters…?→structural processing
b)does it rhyme with…?→phonetic processing
c)is it a…?→semantic processing
d)Can you fit in this sentence…?→semantic processing
The participants had to respond yes or no. They did not know that they are tested for memory. Later they got unexpected recognition test. Hey saw the words+new words again. They had to identify which they saw before.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE→Levels of processing
DEPENDENT VARIABLE→Score on recognition test
The results were:The deeper the processing(semantic is the deepest from these three),the more
likely we are to remember the word.
OBSERVATIONS
Observing the behaviour with the intention of making functional model of cognitive processes. This observation is known as undisclosed, because the participants did not know they are observed.
Example of cognitive observation is „Doomsday cult“ done by Festinger(1956). He was part of the religious cult. And the cult knew that on certain day the worldcome to the end (this is cognitive dissonance). Festinger wanted to know what would happen when the world did not come to the end. He observed a difference in the response of members which was determined by how much „sacrifice“ they had made for the groups.
Large sacrifice: changed belief
Small sacrifice: changed behaviour
The state of dissonance was:BIG SACRIFICE+BELIEF THAT THE WORLD WILL
END+THE WORLD DID NOT END
The state of consistence was:BIG SACRIFICE+WE HAVE BEEN SAVED+THE WORLD
DID NOT END
The result were that the behaviour attitude change observed. Cognitive dissonance theory supported. Use of qualitative data (not scientific, no numbers). This information could not be considered if we performed an experiment instead of an observation.
2.STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF METHODS
USE OF THE LABORATORY,ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
The strengths of experiment are that it use quantitative data. That the results can be put into graphs and relationships between independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV). That the general rules and relationships between IV and DV can established and applied elsewhere. The other strengths of experiment is that it can be repeated as many times as required. The weaknesses of experiment are that lacks ecological validity (will our results apply to real life or not?). And the other weakness is that other variables can affect the results like the time of day, the sample of people used, the location of experiment.
The strengths of observation are that it has high ecological validity, we do not influence the people observed. They do what they want and we just observe. And the second is that we are not restricted to looking for quantifiable data, but still the rich data are gained.Like feelings,opinions and experiences.The weaknesses of observation are that if the environment is too controlled, we may lose ecological validity. We may misinterpret what we see→bias,mistakes and speculations. And also we have limited memory and we can forgot to write down some important informations.
3.ETHICS AND CONTROVERSIES OF RESEARCH
USE OF HUMAN AND NON-HUMAN ANIMALS FOR RESEARCH
It is ethical until they don’t harm someone.
Application
1.Effectiveness of the perspective in explaining psychological and/or social questions
COMPARISON WITH OTHER PERSPECTIVES ON QUESTIONS SUCH AS AGGRESSION
-Cognitive processes are the causes of behaviour
→you act because your mind tells you,when you want to change the act,your mind help to
change
-aggressive behaviour is caused by cognitive processes
What is aggression? Aggression is deliberate attempt to harm or destroy an object or person.
For a comparison we use firstly Bandura and his social learning theory. In social lerning theory mind is important even it belongs for half to behaviourism. And it is because learning involves a cognitive element. Simple definition for social learning theory is: if you watch somebody performing an act, you learn in your mind to do that act without doing it. You then make a decision in your mind-should I or should I not cope that behaviour.
And as evidence in favour for aggression is Bandura (1965), who made an experiment with ‚Bobo doll‘.
He set-up three groups of children. And they were observing an aggression on ‚Bobo doll‘.First group of children saw the model’s of aggression being rewarded. Second group of children saw the model being punished for the aggression and the third group of children saw no specific consequences. The result of this experiment was that when the children, who were used in Bandura’s experiment enter the playroom, who had seen the model punished showed less aggression than the other two groups. But, if all children were rewarded for what the model has done, they showed high level of imitation.
The problem with Bandura is that it lacks of ecological validity, that results can not be explanation to all aggression. And also not all people and cultures become violent by watching violent images.
The secondly we can mention Anderson and his the importance of schemas. Cognitive schemas influence behaviour.
In this case we meet with cognitive schema done by Anderson /1994/ called „the code of the streets“.
The code of the streets:set of norms govern interpersonal relations in the inner cities of the
United States, particularly for black teenagers
→the most basic premise is that self-esteem(value you give to yourself) is dependent on receiving ‚respect from others
→since the self-esteem is vulnerable to perceived insults, the code results in aggressive posturing and quick, violent responses to even imaginary wrongs
→the code is not universal:decent kids use the code only when necessary to minimaze
confrontational situations
→the different cognitive schemata can have a very real effect on the likelihood of aggressive
behaviour
The model for the importance of schemata is:
INTERNALISED QUIDE→ SELF ESTEEM IS THE MOST → REACTION TO REAL
TO BEHAVIOUR IMPORTANT THING OR PERCEIVED
(perhaps the only thing you THREATS
have got) IT SHOULD BE
PROTECTED IN ALL SITUATION
The problems are that:
i)the code of the streets is not very well defined
ii)some street kids are not violent
And lastly, it is Neo-associationist theory (new thoughts) by Berkowitz(1984).
→violent thoughts trigger (cause them to happen)other violent thoughts (we do not imitate
the behaviour necessary but we may)
→these new violent thoughts cause new violent behaviour
→it is not imitation
This is model:
watching a plane crash→tiggers violent thoughts→more cases of suicides
Or, participants shown pictures of guns are more likely to punish others with electric shocks than those who are not shown guns.
The problems are that:
→the study is too general
→it is difficult to prove in any accurate way
2.Recommendations for change in lifestyles
CONTRIBUTION OF THE COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE TO THERAPY
In this case we meet with the term dysfunctional behaviour. It is behaviour that prevents an individual from functioning within society (e.g.:mad person;when you come home drunk all the time etc.)
Cognitive perspective and dysfunctional behaviour works together because dysfunctional behavior is the result of inappropriate and unhelpful mediators.
→behaviour will become functional only when these mediators are changed with more
appropriate and helpful ones
→cognitive theory aims to do this
As an example:
You see a spider,you think that he will eat you (mediator),therefore you run out.Therefore you need a new mediator to change the response to be positive and therefore you will not be scare of spiders.
So ELLIS (1991) came with Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT).
It focus on relationship between thoughts and emotions using this therapy. Rational emotive therapy argues that negative emotions arise from people’s faulty interpreatations of experience, not from the experience themselves.
For this theory he mad model:
ACTUAL EVENT → BELIEF → CONSEQUENCE
(stimulus) (mediator) (response)
Belief is responsible for our emotional reactions.
It changes mediator :
i)forcefully
ii)through reason
iii)setting assignments
iv)reality testing
And lastly we can mention BECK /1975/ and his Stress Innoculation Therapy (SIT)
The imprtant mediator is the ‚inner dialogue‘ we have with ourselves. The negative dialogue like „I will fail“, „My parents do not like me“ lead to undesirable behaviour. The inner dialogue is changed by repeating new one.
The problems are:
i)there may be environmental causes that can not be controlled (changing our beliefs may not
be adequate)
ii)there may be an unconscious cause
iii)do beliefs always determine our emotions?
iv)it does not work for all people
