Chapter 1

Introduction to Cognition

Defining Cognitive Psychology

The term cognition (Latin: cognoscere, "to know") is used in several loosely-related ways to refer to a facility for the human like processing of information, applying knowledge and changing preferences ( see, for ex. IPK cognitive architecture). Cognition/(cognitive processes) can be natural and artificial, conscious and not conscious, therefore they are analyzed from different perspectives and in different contexts, in neurology, psychology, philosophy, systemics and computer science. The concept cognition is closely related to such abstract concepts as, mind, reasoning, perception, intelligence, learning, and many others which describe numerous capabilities of human mind and expected properties of artificial or synthetic intelligence. Cognition is an abstract property of advanced living organisms, therefore it is studied as a direct property of a brain or of an abstract mind on subsymbolic and symbolic levels. In psychology and in artificial intelligence it is used to refer to the mental functions, mental processes and states of intelligent entities (humans, human organizations, highly autonomous robots), with a particular focus toward the study of such mental processes as, comprehension, inferencing, decision-making, planning and learning (see also cognitive science and cognitivism). Recently, advanced cognitive researchers are especially focused on the capacities of abstraction, generalization, concretization/specialization and meta-reasoning which descriptions involve such concepts as, beliefs, knowledge, desires, preferences and intentions of intelligent individuals/objects/agents/systems. The term "cognition" is also used in a wider sense to mean the act of knowing or knowledge, and may be interpreted in a social or cultural sense to describe the emergent development of knowledge and concepts within a group that culminate in both thought and action.

What is Cognition?
Cognitive Psychology: The scientific study of mental processes.
Using controlled research methods to investigate questions of mind. Well discuss research methods in Chapter 2.

Defining Cognitive Psychology

The science of how the mind is organized to produce intelligent thought and how it is realized in the brain Anderson, 2004 Cognitive Science: Study of the relationships among and integration of cognitive psychology, biology, anthropology, computer science, linguistics, and philosophy. Cognition: Mental activity associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering. Cognitive Psychology: The study of these mental activities. Concept formation Problem solving Decision making Judgment formation

What is Cognition? An Interdisciplinary Perspective Cognitive Science

An interdisciplinary approach to mind
(Cognitive) Psychology Neuroscience Artificial intelligence Anthropology Linguistics Philosophy

What is Cognition? Omnipresence of Cognitive Processes Perception How do we take in and organize information? Attention and Working Memory How do we focus on and manipulate information? Recognizing and Identifying How do we realize what something is?

What is Cognition? Omnipresence of Cognitive Processes Long-Term Memory How do store and retrieve information? Memory Distortion How does memory go awry? Autobiographical Memory What processes influence personal recollection?

What is Cognition? Omnipresence of Cognitive Processes Knowledge Representation How we represent and retrieve knowledge? Language How we use words to communicate? Problem Solving How do we overcome obstacles to arrive at goals ? Decision Making How we arrive at conclusions and make choices?

Psychology B.C. Psychophysics

Psychophysics: Relates physical aspects of experience to subjective experience. Weber, Fechner, etc.
How does the mind interpret information and perceive the world Not a 1-1 transition, but definitely mathematical and predictable. Webers Law:

I k I

Psychology B.C. Psychophysics Helmholtz Developed the notion of unconscious inference Three important insights about perception Interpretive Influenced by previous experience Occurs outside of awareness

Psychology B.C. Structuralism and Functionalism Structuralism What is the structure of conscious experience? Wundt, Titchener, introspection Functionalism What are the functions of consciousness? William James emphasized the continuous nature of consciousness

Psychology B.C. Behaviorism Behaviorism

mind and consciousness are unobservable, hence untestable Only behavior should be the subject of study
Behavior can be characterized completely by stimuli and responses

Mind is an impenetrable black box

Psychology B.C. Laying the Foundation for Cognitive Psychology Ebbinghaus

First experimental investigation of memory Use of nonsense syllables forgetting curve
Recall

Retention Interval

Psychology B.C. Laying the Foundation for Cognitive Psychology

Bartlett
Investigated memory for stories (concern for ecological validity) Recall guided by schemata Well return to this in Memory and the Law material

Gestalt psychologists
Investigated minds innate organizational tendencies whole is different than the sum of its parts

... ... ...

Rows or Columns?

The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong?

S-R view of learning Learning as an S-R chain Tolmans expectancies, beliefs, hypotheses, and cognitive maps Critical components Response Reinforcement

The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Learning without responding Response is part of what is learned Learning cannot occur in the absence of a response McNamara, Long, Wike (1956) found rats prevented from running a maze still learned A mental map of the maze?

The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Learning without reinforcement
Reinforcement necessary for solidifying S-R associations Tolman and Honzik found learning in the absence reinforcement

The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Tolman proposed cognitive maps to account for learning in the absence of response or reinforcement cognitive maps = mental representation Necessity of investigating mind

The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Other criticisms of behaviorism Lashley Skilled behavior is too complex for an S-R account

Chomsky Linguistic expression is too creative and productive for an S-R account

The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Technological influences on the development of cognitive psychology
Communication Systems Computers

These sequential, information-processing systems provided a possible metaphor for mind

Psychology after Behaviorism Behaviorism Reconsidered Behaviorism had considerable influence Rigor of research Observations of behavior still central Cannot measure a cognitive process, can only infer it from behavior (and language is a behavior when studying human cognition).

Psychology after Behaviorism Information Processing: A Computer Metaphor Information processing approach Models thinking on the computer Assumptions: Humans as symbol manipulators Human thought as active, interpretive Processing is step-by-step; stages can be isolated

Psychology after Behaviorism Connectionism: A Brain Metaphor Connectionist Approach Models thinking on neural networks Assumptions: Cognitive processes occur in parallel Networks of neurons distributed throughout brain parallel distributed processing

Psychology after Behaviorism Alternative Approaches Criticisms of current conceptions of mind: Materialist critique: Is mind separable from brain? Disembodied approach to the study of mind Importance of studying cognition and action Importance of studying cognition in meaningful contexts ecological validity

Core Concepts Mental Representations Mental Representation: An unobservable internal code for information. Similar to prototypes Some perfect version of an object Platos version of the heavenly or pure form. Mental representations form the basis of ALL cognitive activity.

Core Concepts Stages of Processing Stages of Processing: The steps required to form, use, and modify mental representations in a cognitive task. Perhaps perceiving, encoding, remembering and retrieving

Core Concepts Serial vs. Parallel Processing Serial Processing: Cognitive operations occur one at a time in a series. The way computers run Parallel Processing: Cognitive operations occur simultaneously in parallel. The way people run

Core Concepts Hierarchical Systems

Hierarchical Systems: A system composed of component parts. Nervous system composed of peripheral and central, each of which has its own components. The mind can be divided into component functions Perception Memory Long term Short Term Motor output

Core Concepts Cognitive Architecture Cognitive Architecture: The design or organization of the minds information processing components and systems.
Understanding (human) cognitive processing means being able to implement them on a computational level. Artificial Intelligence (AI) simulations are generally designed to be similar to human cognition. Believe that the mind is built from independent processing modules, each module specialized for an independent function.

Core Concepts Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI): A branch of computer science that investigates the extent to which machines can simulate or duplicate the intelligent behavior of living organisms. Founded by Turing in an article titled Computing Machinery and Intelligence Can machines think? Depends on how you define it I guess!

Core Concepts Artificial Intelligence Turing Test

Turing Test: A test devised by Turing (1950) to determine whether a machine can think. Questions are submitted to both a human and a machine. If the machine's answers are indistinguishable from those of the human, it is concluded that the machine can think.

Core Concepts Artificial Intelligence Weak Versus Strong AI

Weak Artificial Intelligence: The contention that machines (such as computers) can simulate human cognitive processes but not duplicate them.
Even if the computer passes the Turing test, it is simply imitating humans, not being human.

Strong Artificial Intelligence: The contention that machines (such as computers) can duplicate human cognitive processes.
An appropriately programmed computer is a mind and a human mind is simply a program.

Core Concepts Cognitive Architecture Symbolic Models: Assume that the mind is built like a digital computer (serial processing). Mental representations are symbols which are serially processed using a set of rules. Connectionist Models: Use the structure of the brain itself as a model of the minds structure (parallel processing). A set of simple neurons, interconnected, allows for complex thinking.

Core Concepts Memory Stores Memory is divided into many distinctions Short term vs. Long Term Audio vs. Visual Etc.

Core Concepts Consciousness Consciousness: Our awareness of

ourselves and our environments.

Awareness of external events and internal sensations, including awareness of the self and thoughts about ones experiences. Allows us to focus our attention.

Core Concepts Consciousness

Difficult (impossible?) to define Self-knowledge: Knowledge about the self. Informational Access: The capacity to become aware of and able to report on mental representations and the processes that operate on them. Ability to take advantage of mental representations to allow us to function in the world. Includes awareness of emotions and self-concepts Sentience: The basic capacity for raw sensations, feelings, or subjective experience of any kind. Relationship between sentience and brain creates mind-body problem.