INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

• Cognitive psychology focuses on mental processes such as perception, attention, memory, problem solving, decision making, language, and thinking.
• A dialectic is a developmental process where ideas evolve over time through a pattern of transformation.
• A thesis is a statement of belief
• An antithesis is a statement that counters a previous statement of belief.
• A synthesis integrates the most credible features of each of two (or more) views.
• A rationalist acquires knowledge through thinking and logical analysis.
• An empiricist acquires knowledge via

  empirical evidence.
• Rene Descartes viewed the introspective, reflective method as superior to empirical methods for finding the truth.
• Analytic algebra integrates algebra and geometry. They are numerical relationships of algebraic equations are expressed visually through the use of a coordinate graphing system ("cartesian" coordinates).
• Immanuel Kant dialectically synthesized the views of Descartes and Locke stating that both must work together in the quest for truth.
• Structuralism and Functionalism are the psychological antecedents of cognitive psychology.
• Structuralism seeks to understand the structure (configuration of elements) of the mind and its perceptions by analyzing those perceptions into their constituent components (affection, attention, memory, sensation, etc.).
• Introspection is a deliberate looking inward at pieces of information passing through consciousness.
• Wilhelm Wundt, a German psychologist is the founder of structuralism.
• William James was an American philosopher who founded functionalism.
• Pragmatism believes that knowledge is validated by its usefulness (what can you do with it?)
• Functionalism holds that the key to understanding the human mind and behavior is to study the processes of how and why the mind works as it does, rather than to study the structural contents and elements of the mind.
• Associationism examines how elements of the mind, like events or ideas, can become associated with one another in the mind to result in a form of learning.
• Contiguity refers to associating things that tend to occur together at about the same time.
• Similarity refers to associating things with similar features or properties.
• Contrast refers to associating things that show polarities, such as hot/cold, light/dark, and day/ night.
• Law of Effect refers to Edward Lee Thorndike's assertion that when certain stimulus-response are followed by pleasure, they are strengthened, while responses followed by annoyance or pain tend to be "stamped out."
• Behaviorism focuses only on the relation between observable behavior and environmental events or stimuli.
• John Watson is the father of behaviorism.
• Gestalt Psychology states that we best understand psychological phenomena when we view them as organized, structured wholes.
• Cognitivism is the belief that much of human behavior can be understood in terms of how people think. It rejects the notion that psychologists should avoid studying mental processes because they are unobservable.
• Intelligence is the capacity to learn from experience, using metacognitive processes to enhance learning, and the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.
• Metacognition refers to people's understanding and control of their own thinking processes.
• Cultural intelligence describes a person's ability to adapt to a variety of challenges in diverse cultures.
• A score of approximately two standard deviations below average represents a significant cognitive deficit.
• Adaptive functioning includes skills needed to live independently and responsibly. Without these skills, a person needs additional support to succeed at school, work, and independent life.