COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
by Wikibooks contributors
Developed on Wikibooks,
the open-content textbooks collection
,© Copyright 2004–2006, Wikibooks contributors.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free
Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the
section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
Image licenses are listed in the section entitled "Image Credits."
Main authors: Aschoeke (C) Tbittlin (C) LanguageGame (C) Itiaden (C) Pbenner (C) · Mheimann (C)
Jkeyser (C) Ddeunert (C) Marplogm (C) · Pehrenbr (C) Ifranzme (C) FlyingGerman (C) Sspoede (C) ·
Asarwary (C) Lbartels (C) Smieskes (C) Apape (C) · Ekrueger (C)
The current version of this Wikibook may be found at:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognitive_Neuroscience
, Contents
CHAPTERS ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
01 Cognitive Psychology and the Brain ................................................................................................4
02 Problem Solving from an Evolutionary Perspective ........................................................................8
03 Evolutionary Perspective on Social Cognitions .............................................................................25
04 Behavioral and Neuroscience Methods ..........................................................................................33
05 Motivation and Emotion.................................................................................................................47
06 Memory ..........................................................................................................................................57
07 Memory and Language...................................................................................................................66
08 Imagery...........................................................................................................................................73
09 Comprehension...............................................................................................................................81
10 Neuroscience of Comprehension ...................................................................................................94
11 Situation Models and Inferencing ................................................................................................109
12 Knowledge ...................................................................................................................................125
13 Decision Making and Reasoning..................................................................................................146
14 Present and Future of Research ....................................................................................................168
ABOUT THE BOOK............................................................................................................................................................................ 177
History & Document Notes ...............................................................................................................177
Authors & Image Credits ..................................................................................................................178
GNU Free Documentation License ...................................................................................................179
, Chapter 1
1 C OGNITIVE P SYCHOLOGY AND THE BRAIN
live version • discussion • edit lesson • comment • report an error
Introduction
I magine a young man, Knut, sitting at his desk, with his tired eyes staring at a monitor, surfing
around, trying to find some worthy articles for his psychology homework. A cigarette rests between
the middle and index fingers of his left hand. Without looking, he stretches out his free hand and grabs
a cup of coffee located on the right of his keyboard. While sipping some of the cheap discounter blend,
he suddenly asks himself: "What is happening here?"
Around the beginning of the 20th century, psychologists would have said, "Take a look into
yourself, Knut, analyse what you're thinking and doing," as analytical introspection was the method of
that time.
A few years later, J.B. Watson published his book Psychology from the Standpoint of a
Behaviorist, from which began the era of behaviourism. Behaviourists claimed that it was impossible to
study the inner life of people scientifically. Their approach to psychology, which they assumed to be
more scientific, focussed only on the study and experimental analysis of behaviour. The right answer to
Knut's question would have been: "You are sitting in front of your computer, reading and drinking
coffee, because of your environment and how it influences you." Behaviorism was the primary means
for American psychology for about the next 50 years. One of the primary critiques and downfalls of
behaviorism was Noam Chomsky's 1959 critique of B.F. Skinner's "Verbal behaviour". Skinner, an
influential behaviourist, attempted to explain language on the basis of behaviour alone. Chomsky
showed that this was impossible, and by doing so, influenced enough psychologists to end the
dominance of behaviorism in American psychology.
As more researchers were once again concerned with processes inside the head, cognitive
psychology arose on the landscape of science. Their central claim was that cognition was information
processing of the brain. Cognitive psychology did not dispose the methods of behaviourism, but rather
widened their horizon by adding levels between input and output.
Modern technology and new methods enabled researchers to combine examinations of public
actions (latencies in reaction time, number of recalls) with physiological measurements (EEG and
event-related potentials, fMRI). Such methods, in addition to others, are used by cognitive science to
collect evidence for certain features of mental activity. From this, references and correlations between
action and cognition could be made.
These correlations were inspiration and thenceforwards the main challenge for cognitive
psychologists. To answer Knut's question the cognitive psychologist would probably first examining
Knut’s brain in that specific situation. So let's try this!
Knut has a problem, he really needs to do his homework. To solve this problem, he has to perform
loads of cognition. The light is gleaming into his eyes, transducing it from his retina into nerve signals
by sensory cells. The information is passed on through the optic nerve, crosses the brain at the lateral
geniculate nucleus to arrive at the central visual cortex. On its journey, the signals get computed over
complex nets of neurons; the contrast of the picture gets enhanced; irrelevant information gets filtered
4 | Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
by Wikibooks contributors
Developed on Wikibooks,
the open-content textbooks collection
,© Copyright 2004–2006, Wikibooks contributors.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free
Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the
section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
Image licenses are listed in the section entitled "Image Credits."
Main authors: Aschoeke (C) Tbittlin (C) LanguageGame (C) Itiaden (C) Pbenner (C) · Mheimann (C)
Jkeyser (C) Ddeunert (C) Marplogm (C) · Pehrenbr (C) Ifranzme (C) FlyingGerman (C) Sspoede (C) ·
Asarwary (C) Lbartels (C) Smieskes (C) Apape (C) · Ekrueger (C)
The current version of this Wikibook may be found at:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognitive_Neuroscience
, Contents
CHAPTERS ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
01 Cognitive Psychology and the Brain ................................................................................................4
02 Problem Solving from an Evolutionary Perspective ........................................................................8
03 Evolutionary Perspective on Social Cognitions .............................................................................25
04 Behavioral and Neuroscience Methods ..........................................................................................33
05 Motivation and Emotion.................................................................................................................47
06 Memory ..........................................................................................................................................57
07 Memory and Language...................................................................................................................66
08 Imagery...........................................................................................................................................73
09 Comprehension...............................................................................................................................81
10 Neuroscience of Comprehension ...................................................................................................94
11 Situation Models and Inferencing ................................................................................................109
12 Knowledge ...................................................................................................................................125
13 Decision Making and Reasoning..................................................................................................146
14 Present and Future of Research ....................................................................................................168
ABOUT THE BOOK............................................................................................................................................................................ 177
History & Document Notes ...............................................................................................................177
Authors & Image Credits ..................................................................................................................178
GNU Free Documentation License ...................................................................................................179
, Chapter 1
1 C OGNITIVE P SYCHOLOGY AND THE BRAIN
live version • discussion • edit lesson • comment • report an error
Introduction
I magine a young man, Knut, sitting at his desk, with his tired eyes staring at a monitor, surfing
around, trying to find some worthy articles for his psychology homework. A cigarette rests between
the middle and index fingers of his left hand. Without looking, he stretches out his free hand and grabs
a cup of coffee located on the right of his keyboard. While sipping some of the cheap discounter blend,
he suddenly asks himself: "What is happening here?"
Around the beginning of the 20th century, psychologists would have said, "Take a look into
yourself, Knut, analyse what you're thinking and doing," as analytical introspection was the method of
that time.
A few years later, J.B. Watson published his book Psychology from the Standpoint of a
Behaviorist, from which began the era of behaviourism. Behaviourists claimed that it was impossible to
study the inner life of people scientifically. Their approach to psychology, which they assumed to be
more scientific, focussed only on the study and experimental analysis of behaviour. The right answer to
Knut's question would have been: "You are sitting in front of your computer, reading and drinking
coffee, because of your environment and how it influences you." Behaviorism was the primary means
for American psychology for about the next 50 years. One of the primary critiques and downfalls of
behaviorism was Noam Chomsky's 1959 critique of B.F. Skinner's "Verbal behaviour". Skinner, an
influential behaviourist, attempted to explain language on the basis of behaviour alone. Chomsky
showed that this was impossible, and by doing so, influenced enough psychologists to end the
dominance of behaviorism in American psychology.
As more researchers were once again concerned with processes inside the head, cognitive
psychology arose on the landscape of science. Their central claim was that cognition was information
processing of the brain. Cognitive psychology did not dispose the methods of behaviourism, but rather
widened their horizon by adding levels between input and output.
Modern technology and new methods enabled researchers to combine examinations of public
actions (latencies in reaction time, number of recalls) with physiological measurements (EEG and
event-related potentials, fMRI). Such methods, in addition to others, are used by cognitive science to
collect evidence for certain features of mental activity. From this, references and correlations between
action and cognition could be made.
These correlations were inspiration and thenceforwards the main challenge for cognitive
psychologists. To answer Knut's question the cognitive psychologist would probably first examining
Knut’s brain in that specific situation. So let's try this!
Knut has a problem, he really needs to do his homework. To solve this problem, he has to perform
loads of cognition. The light is gleaming into his eyes, transducing it from his retina into nerve signals
by sensory cells. The information is passed on through the optic nerve, crosses the brain at the lateral
geniculate nucleus to arrive at the central visual cortex. On its journey, the signals get computed over
complex nets of neurons; the contrast of the picture gets enhanced; irrelevant information gets filtered
4 | Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience
