Cognitive processes psychology

elementary

PS_W03

PS_W09

PS_U04

Course goals: The main goal of the course is learning students the basic theories of cognitive psychology and how these theories are derived from empirical data. Moreover, main limitations and controversies over this area of psychology will be described. The future and prospects of cognitive psychology will be discussed.

Contents:

1. Introduction: beginnings of cognitive psychology as a separate approach in psychology.

2. Cognitive psychology as a discipline of cognitive science. The influence of AI and computer metaphor on cognitive psychology.

3. Experimental cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience; cognitive neuropsychology; computational cognitive science: As complementary approaches to human cognition

4. History of research on perception. Scaling techniques in psychophysics. Brain correlates of visual perception.

5. S. Zeki theory of functional specialization. Action-perception theory by Milner and Goodale.

6. Perception constancy. Theories of colour perception.

7-8. Constructivist approach. Perceptual illusions. Culture and perception (Deregowski’s research).

9. Bayesian models of visual perception.

10-11. "Top-bottom" vs. "Bottom-up" approaches. J.J. Gibson ecological theory. E. Gibson research on perceptual development (the experiment with visual cliff).

12. D. Marr computational model of visual perception.

13. Visual agnosia. Pattern recognition: prototypes vs. features. Posner’s research.

14. Features theory. Recognition-by-components: Biederman's theory of human image understanding.

15. Face recognition. Motion perception.

16. Mental representations. Imagery debate: Kossylyn vs. Pylyshyn approach. Mental rotations.

17-18. Functions and aspects of attention. Selective attention. Visual field search. Divided attention. Methods of attention assessment.

19. Consciousness and cognitive control. Automatic and controlled processes - Schneider and Shiffrin research project.

20. Psycholinguistic. Methods and models of language research. Semantic differential.

21. Chomsky and generative grammar. Linguistic competence.

22-23. Word and sentence comprehension. Speech production. Bilingualism.

24. Thought and language

25-26. Philosophical contexts of psychological research on concepts. Classical approach. Concepts acquisition.

27. Probabilistic and exemplar approach. Typicality effects (E. Rosch)

28-29. Concept of similarity (Tversky's approach). The role of theory in concepts coherence.

30. Thought processes’ structure and components. Types of reasoning. text comprehension model by Dijk and Kintsch. Model of deductive reasoning by P. Johnson-Laird.

Basic readings:

Dehaene S. (2021). Jak się uczymy? Dlaczego mózgi uczą się lepiej niż komputery ... jak dotąd. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.

Maruszewski T. (2011). Psychologia poznania. Umysł i świat. Gdańsk: GWP.

Nęcka E., Orzechowski J., Szymura B. (2006). Psychologia poznawcza. Warszawa: PWN i ACADEMICA, 2006.

Sternberg R.J. (2001). Psychologia poznawcza. Warszawa: WSiP.

Additional readings:

Gut A. (2009). O relacji między myślą a językiem. Lublin, Wyd. KUL JPII.

Chlewiński Z. (red.) (2007). Psychologia poznawcza w trzech ostatnich dekadach XX wieku. Gdańsk: GWP,

Francuz P. (red.) (2007). Obrazy w umyśle. Studia nad percepcją i wyobraźnią. Warszawa: SCHOLAR.

Francuz, P. (2013/2021). Imagia. W kierunku neurokognitywnej teorii obrazu. Wydawnictwo KUL. https://afterimagia.pl/

Hohol M. (2013). Wyjaśnić umysł. Struktura teorii neurokognitywnych. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.

Kurcz I. (2000). Psychologia języka i komunikacji. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe „Scholar”.

Lewicka, M. (1993). Aktor czy obserwator. Psychologiczne mechanizmy odchyleń od racjonalności w myśleniu potocznym. Warszawa-Olsztyn: PTP.

Nęcka, E. (2001). Psychologia twórczości. Gdańsk: GWP.

Knowledge - a student knows the main approaches and paradigms in cognitive psychology; a student is able to conduct a deatailed analysis of cognitive processes (especially of memory and learning) and he/she interprets research results from various theoretical perspectives; he/she knows and understands the significance and meaning of perceptual processes.

Abilities - a student is able to choose appropriate technics to study cognitive processes; he/she reads and interprete empirical texts from scientific journals; he/she is capable to search and make selection among sources, which are helpful in enhancing knowledge and abilities.

Skills - a student comprehends the need of empirical research which are reliable and according to the methodological rules; he/she takes a critical approach to speculations which are empirically untested as well as he/she realises the limitations of research in cognitive psychology.

ECTS:

lecture attendance: 30

classes attendance: 30

project preparation:10

learning to an exam: 45

learning to a class test: 20

Sum: 120

ECTS points: 4

Lectures

Evaluation: Written final exam (open and closed questions). Attendance is recommended but not mandatory. Students are invited to make use of e-learning. To pass an exam, a student should receive at least 54% score.

Additional points can be obtained for participation in experiments.