KENYATTAUNIVERSITY

DIGITAL SCHOOL OF VIRTUAL AND OPEN LEARNING

IN COLLABORATION WITH
SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

UNIT CODE & NAME:APS 402 COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

WRITTEN BY: Vetted by

DR MERECIA SIRERA

Copyright © Kenyatta University, 2016

All Rights Reserved
Published By:
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY PRESS

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INTRODUCTION

Cognition is a key aspect in lives of human beings. It is the aspect of human life that controls all
the mental process as well as the activities in our daily lives. To be able to use our limbs, to
communicate with people or to learn and perform a specific task we apply our cognitive resources.
In essence cognition is omnipresent in all aspects in our lives. On the other hand psychology is a
study of the mind and behavior. Through psychology, we learn about our emotions, our thought
process and our behavior. Cognitive psychology helps us to understand our emotions, our thoughts
and our behavior in response to our emotions and thoughts. We are also able to understand other
people that we interact with based on psychology of our cognition. In this unit you will learn how
cognitive process affects our thoughts, emotions and behavior. This will help you understand
yourself better and those you interact with.

Course description:
Definition of cognitive psychology; History and development of cognitive psychology; Piaget’s
Theory of Cognitive development; Approaches to the study of cognitive process with the focus on
sensation, perception, intelligence, creativity; language learning; memory; concept formation and
problem solving; Thinking Learning, reading and writing , information processing;
Transformation of ideas into actions. Brain damage
MODULE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the of the module the learners should be able to
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the cognitive process
2. Explain the process through which information is retained and retrieved from the memory
3. Apply the knowledge acquired in the problem solving process
4. Demonstrate how different cognitive processes facilitate our daily existence

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 5. Appreciate the functions and complexity of human cognition.

EVALUATION DETAILS
1. In this course there are two kind of evaluations; the continuous assessment (CATs)
2. and end of semester examination
3. Continuous assessment tests (CATs) will be marked out of 30%. You will be expected to
undertake at least two CATs.
4. Examination will be marked out of 70% and this will come at the end of the semester .

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TABLE OF CONTENT

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 LESSON ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Welcome to the first lecture in cognitive psychology. This lecture introduces you to the concept
of cognition and how psychology influences our cognitive process. We begin by defining
cognitive psychology. We will then explore omnipresence of cognitive process in our lives and
review a brief history of cognitive psychologyThe lecture also prepares you to engage in
different aspects of cognition that will be covered in the later chapters.

1.1.2LESSON OBJECTIVES

By the end of the lesson, you will be able to

I. Define cognitive psychology
II. Describe different cognitive process
III. Explain how cognitive psychology has developed
IV. Describes the applicability of cognitive

1. 2 INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Why do you forget information about some things that we have experienced in life and remember
others so clear? How do you manage to solve problems that you encounter in life?
How do you manage to listen to music while at the same time reading for your exams?How are
you able to choose an outfit for a party from the many in a shop? These are some of the many
questions that are addressed by the field of cognitive psychology.Cognitive psychologists study
how people perceive, learn, remember, and think. As you shall realize cognitive psychology

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draws on many other fields, most notably neuroscience, computer science, linguistics, and
philosophy.Moreover, cognitive psychology interacts with other fields within psychology, such as
developmental psychology, social psychology, counselling and clinical psychology. For example
to be able to offer effective therapy you need to understand the thought process of the clients and
how this informs the maladaptive behaviour. Cognitive psychology enables you to understand the
thinking process that will not only help you in the diagnosis but also in the treatment.

Cognitive psychology will also help you in your work. For example you will be able to learn how
study for your examinations, how to solve your daily problems and how to communicate
effectively among other things.

1.3 Defining cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology is a sub-discipline of psychology that employs the scientific method to

answer fundamental questions about how the mind works (Riegler&Riegler, 2004). The mind is
a system that creates and controls mental functions such as perception and attention. Through
different process, the mind creates representation of the world so that we can act within it to
achieve our goals( Goldenstein, 2011). The mind creates and controls mental functions such as
perceptions, attention, memory, emotions, language, decision making, thinking, and reasoning.
For example to be able to read and understand this module, you have to pay attention to what you
are reading. Attention is an activity of the mind. By using our mind, we are able to undertake
different activities for our survival. We also make different decisions in our lives using our minds.
The mind is thus important for functioning and survival.

Cognitive psychologists focus their attention on studying the internal mental processes. Through
controlled research (Mainly experiments), cognitive psychologists study and attempt to explain
how the mental process such as memory, perception and language and decision making takes
place. These process are important in our daily lives. For example, problems are endemic in our
daily lives , learning how to solve problems effectively is therefore important. Cognitive
psychology helps you understand how you solve problem. Cognitive psychology helps us to learn
and explain the role of different mental process in understanding our world. Cognitive psychology
also enables usto gain knowledge of ourselves and others.

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Inherent in the cognitive psychology approach is the idea of modularity. Modules are functionally
independent mental units that receive inputs from other modules, perform a specific processing
task, and pass the results of their computation onto yet additional modules. From this approach
cognitive psychologists try to explain how different subsystems of cognition combine in effecting
the cognitive process. For example in problem solving different cognitive process in different
modules such as sensory buffer, both working and long term memory and higher level mental
processing to solve the problem. Cognitive psychologists have studied a wide variety of mental
processes.
These include pattern recognition, attention, memory, imagery, and problem solving.

How do we learn? How do we make decisions? How do we form relations? These are some of the
questions that cognitive psychology addresses.

Cognitive psychology is also concerned with the acquisition of general knowledge about the world
we live in. To be able to function well we need to understand our world. Through different
cognitive process, e.g. language and memory we are able to learn the world around us and take
control of the situations we find ourselves.

Activity One: Explain different roles of cognition in your learning

1.4 cognitive processes in our daily life

Cognitive processes are responsible for our daily all our daily activities. We are able to function
in the world because of our cognition. Among the cognitive process that we apply in our daily
lives include
⮚ Attention:
⮚ Perception
⮚ memory:
⮚ Recognition and concept representation
⮚ Language;

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 ⮚ Problem solving: and .
⮚ Decision making;
These are important process that makes us function in the world. For example, to understand what
you are being taught in class or to listen to your friend or mum talking to you involves paying
attention and perception which is a cognitive process. Perception is the basic set of front-end
process through which we recognize and interpret incoming information. To be able to understand
what you are taught in class or what your friend is telling you , you must discern what is being
taught or said to be able to make sense of what it is . To recognize and interpret the incoming
information you need a buffer to hold the information long enough to enable you ascertain what is
being taught or said to you. The sensory memory acts as a buffer. To act on the information you
are receiving you will need to remember the things said to you. . This is the working memory. For
example, suppose your friend asks you to call her father and report that she is unwell. She might
recite her father’s telephone number to you. Through your auditory senses you will be able to
recognize the numbers. But you will need to remember the number to be able to make the call.
This could be either through noting it down or reciting. All these are cognitive processes.
Cognition is therefore important in your day to day to day living.

Cognition is the most applicable way in psychological sub-disciplines. This is because typically
psychology is the study of thinking and behaviour and questions of thinking is at the core of every
psychological discipline. For example;
▪ Clinical psychology: How depressed people remember events in their
lives
▪ Neuropsychological: What happens in the areas of brain
▪ Developmental psychology : How cognitive process like memory and
reasoning change with age
▪ Personality: How personality affects decision making.
▪ Social psychology: What factors our ability to remember individuals?
Cognitive Psychology is also a key player to interdisciplinary approach in the field of cognitive
science. Cognitive psychologists adopted the computer as a metaphor for mind, and described

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mental functioning in terms of representation and computation Freedenberg & Silverman, (2006),
cognitive psychology has enabled better understanding of how the mind works as an information
processor and also the understanding of language acquisition. Similarly through modular
approach, cognitive psychology has enabled better understanding of how different subsystems of
cognition combine to effect action.

Activity 2:

1. List down different ways in which a school psychologist would apply cognitive
psychology
2. Explain the importance of memory in your daily functioning

1. 5 History of cognitive psychology

Early psychophysics
Early psychophysicist were other scientists who contributed to the development cognitive
psychology .Psychophysics refers to the study of relationship between physical properties of
stimulus and properties taken on when the stimulus is filtered through subjective experience. E.g.
Light is a physical property but light intensity could be subjectively determined by one
experiencing it . Brightness is a psychological dimension not physical.

Understanding the relationship between physical and psychological dimension was a major
concern of psychophysicist such as Gustav Fechner (1801-1878).A major contribution of
Fechner was his quantification of the relationship between incoming stimuli and corresponding
perception. He demonstrated relationship between changes in the physical intensity of a stimulus
and changes in psychological (perceived) intensity are not objective. Individuals have perceive
physical stimuli subjectively. Other psychophysicist such as Herman von Helmholtz (1821-1894)
influenced the developing scienceof themind throughhis work on visual perception. He argued that
through use of the information we gather as we perceive the stimuli in our world, and previous
experiences we make inferences about the world. For example, if we see a crowd of people inside
a football match after a score, based on our previous experience we may interpret it as a celebration
or an attack. Helmholtz argued that our visual systems are constantly making inferences about

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the external world based on information gathered as well as previous experience. Three important
principles can be deduced from Helmholtz concept of unconscious inference. This are
⮚ Perception is not passive and therefore the perceiver plays an interpretive role
of what in what is perceived.
⮚ Perceptual and cognition process are influenced by previous experience
⮚ Perception and cognitive process often occur outside conscious awareness.
The psychophysicists were among the first people to apply the scientific methods to bridge the
physical and mental processBoth psychophysicists and cognitive psychologist are interested in
how stimulation and information in the outside world are linked with internal process,
representation and conscious experience. However, psychophysicists tend to focus on early stages
of how we process information, cognitive psychologist focus at all stages of information
processing.
Structuralism
Structuralism is another branch of psychology that contributed to cognitive psychology.
Structuralism Wilhem Wundt (1832-1920) established the first psychological laboratory with the
goal of studying the mind scientifically. Wundt used structuralism. Structuralism proposes that
our overall experience e.g. Experiencing a happy moment are based on combining basic elements
of sensation. According to the structuralism, elements could likely be ;a) sensation ( the basic
sensory dimensions that encode from the stimuli b) feelings (emotions aroused by stimulus) and
c. images (purely mental representations that would seem sensory in nature). Wundt wanted to
understand the basic elements of the mind that combine to provide an overall experience. He
sought to use introspection technique in which participants would describe their experiences and
thought process in response to the stimuli. Introspection is a procedure that requires participants
to provide rigorous unbiased report of every element of conscious experience that accompanies
the presentation of some stimulus.
Functionalism: The Function of Mental Experiences
The functionalist approach emerged as a critique of structuralism. William James (1842-1910) and
others were highly critical of the structuralism and argued for the focus of to be on understanding
the function of the mind. So while structuralist would attempt to determine the basic images,
feelings and sensation that comprise conscious experiences of being angry, the factionists would
study the emotion such as anger by trying to determine the purpose or function of being angry.

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Given its emphasis on mental processing rather than the structure, functionalism had more
influence on cognitive psychology

Behaviorism:
Another group that contributed to the development of psychology were the behaviorists.
Behaviorial psychologists like psychologist John B. Watson (1878-1958) suggest a shifted from
consciousness to Observarable and measurable behaviour. Accordingly the behaviorist
psychologist should dedicate itself to discovering the connection between the stimulus and the
response. They argued that between the stimulus and the response there is a black box that houses
the consciousness Stimulus Response. However, the behaviorist believed
that investigation of the black box is futile since its contents do not lend themselves to scientific
observation. They believed that although it was not possible to study the mind in the same way as
hard sciences rigorous observation and measurement of mental process is possible
However, behaviorists were not able to explain all forms of learning and this led to many
questions especially the complex behavior. Among the critics was Lashely (1948) who argued that
complex behavior cannot be explained from stimuli and response perspective. For example, in
calculating mathematical problem it is no possible to understand all the mental process through
stimuli and response.

Equally from language perspectivefrom the Language field, Chomsky as cited by Riegler&Riegler,
(2004) rejected the S-R view in the study of language. She challenged the conceptualization of
language learning from an S-R perspective arguing that the stimuli could mean different things to
different people thus application of S-R losses meaning in Language
She argued that language involved creativity and comprehension that could not all be explained
through S-R. Accordingly the productivity and novelty in language can only be explained by
appealing to mental representation.

The criticism about behaviorism pointed to convergence of one important point that lies at the
core of cognitive psychology and that is that any satisfactory explanation of behaviour must take
references to mental process and mental representations

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Laying a foundation for cognitive psychology
Bartlett’s memory Research
Bartlett objected to the use of tightly controlled laboratory procedures for revealing memory.
He believed in naturalistic approach in the study of psychology. Following this principle his
approach involved presentation of meaningful materials rather than nonsensical. In assessing
participants’ memory of stories and folk tales Bartlett (1932) discovered fair amount of
reconstruction. He characterized memory as reconstruction rather than reproduction. The
reconstruction was guided by schemata, generalized knowledge structures of situations and
events based on experience. This approach though not controlled experiment provided an
alternative to behaviorism setting a stage for scientific study of cognitive psychology

In a similar attempt to study cognitive process scientifically, EbbinghausPioneered experiments

on memory. In late 1980s he embarked on investigation of his own memory, an experiment that
demonstrated that complex mental process could be submitted to experimental tests.He memorized
list after list of nonsense syllables letters and after sometime tested himself on recall. He coined
the word saving to show the reduced time he used to recalling the lists he had earlier memorized.
From his experiment he found that
⮚ recall was more difficult when the list is long
⮚ Retention increased with repetition
⮚ He captured the pattern of forgetting over time in what has been termed the
forgetting curve.
The experiment demonstrated the possibility of studying mental process in a controlled setting
thus laying a foundation for cognitive psychology as a scientific study. In general many fields
have contributed to the development of cognitive psychology

Technological influence
Other than different disciplines of psychology, development of technology has contributed a great
deal to development of cognitive psychology. From the communication Engineering, devices such
as radios, TVs and telephones are examples of information transmission systems that have helped
in understanding how information is processed. In 1948 for example, Bell Telephone
mathematician Claude Shannon develop a theory of how communication systems works

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According to Shannon communication channels have several key components including
information source, a transmitter, Channel through which the message is transmitted and the
receiver. Consider yourself taking to a friend over the phone. Your fried is the source of
information, the phone is the transmitter and you are the receiver. Shannon also argued that an
effective communication channel will transmit information with as much fidelity as possible
minimizing distortion and the effects of outside interference or system. In the example above,
the information that will come to you via your phone will be what your friend say, but how you
respond will be based on your own interpretation.
Shannon’s concept of communication provided a fruitful metaphor for considering how human
thought process might work and suggested ways they may be analyzed and investigated (Riegler
and Riegler, 2004
Computer Science
Computer science was the second technological advance that had dramatic impact on developing
the study of the mind.Cognive psychologists viewed the mind as a computer
Computers handle information in three basic stages: In-put, some type of processing and out-put.
The computer provided a good description of how the mind could works. For instant you receive
information from the stimuli through your sensory organs (Input), your mind works on the
information you receive ( processing) and you respond ( output). Like computers, human beings
can also store information and retrieve when needed. The parallels drawn between computer and
human processing of information has helped in understanding how the mind works. For example,
Lachman , Lachman and Butterfield as cited by Riegler and Riegler, observe that
● Human and computer are general information processers . This means they can process
any type of information
● Both can perform a wide variety of tasks based on manipulation of internal processes
● Both translate incoming information to different form
● Both have capacity for executing logical decision chain
● Both have capacity to store programmes.

Using the metaphor of a computer paved way for better understanding of mental processes

Activity 3:
1. Describe different fields that have contributed to development of cognitive psychology
2. Using the metaphor of a computer, explain different aspects of human mental
processes

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 3. Outline the key aspects that can be deduced from Helmholtz concept of unconscious
inference.

1.6 SUMMARY
In this lesson you have learnt about the concept of cognitive psychology and how it applies in our
day to day living. You will recall that cognitive psychology is a discipline that employs scientific
methods to study how the mind works. You have also learnt that the mind creates and controls all
mental representation. Cognitive processes such as attention, memory, problem solving, decision
making among others are ever present in our daily lives. You have also learnt that cognitive
psychology is applicable in many sub-disciplines of psychology. In this lesson we have also traced
the development of cognitive psychology and you have learnt that different fields have contributed
to development of cognitive psychology. In addition communication engineering and computer
technology has helped in understanding how the mind works.

Assessment
1. Differentiate between cognitive psychology and other sub-disciplines of psychology
2. Explain how different aspects of different cognitive processes apply in our daily lives.
3. Explain how technology has contributed to the development of cognitive psychology

References
Riegler, G. R and Regler B. R. (2004) Cognitive psychology, Applying the Science of the Mind;
Pearson Boston, New York
Goldstein E. B (2011) Cognitive Psychology Wadsworth Cengage

LESSON TWO: PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVEOPMENT

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2.1 INTRODUCTION

Hello student, welcome to lesson two. In this lesson we discuss Piaget’s theory
of cognitive development to help us understand the system through which cognitive
development takes place. Remember , in lesson one you learnt that cognitive is the study of
the mind and the mind is the system that creates and controls all our mental representations.
Are young children able to control their mental representations? How creative is a child in
standard one compared to a form two student who has been exposed to scientific knowledge
and skills? Theories are important in understanding how our cognition develops. There are
many theories that explain the process of cognitive development. These include Piaget’s
theory, Sociocultural theories, Core-knowledge theories and Information-processing theories.
All theories of cognitive development explain how one should characterize the acquisition and
nature of conceptual representations that can support the development of cognition. In this
lesson we will focus on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. This will help you learn
and effectively understand cognitive development process

2.2 LESSON OBJECTIVES

By the end of this lecture, you should be able

1. Define a theory
2. Explain the basic concepts of Piaget’s cognitive development theory
3. Describe stages of cognitive development
4. Explain how Piaget’s theory of cognitive development apply in different settings in life

2.3 THE CONCEPT OF THEORY

Cognitive development takes place within fairly regular stages of development which when
carefully examined make sense. Different theories try to explain conditions under which different
stages develop to enable development of cognition at various stages. According to Skimodore
(1979), a theory is set of interrelated, abstract proposition or statements that offer an explanation
of some phenomenon. The key words in the definition are proposition which are statements

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about a relationship between some elements of a theory. Piaget’s cognitive theory therefore
proposes stages and conditions through which cognitive process develop.

Piagets theory of cognitive development

Piaget was a Switze biology scholar who studied children’s cognitive development extensively.
He disagreed with those who saw intelligence as comprising a number of fixed characteristics that
could be measured. His basic idea was that our senses take in information from outside world , our
brains process and store this information and our behaviour changes as a result of it.This process
is called cognition. Piaget believed that genetic make-up prepares every animal including human
beings to live and behave in certain ways. Accordingly, humans learn and have many ways of
adapting to various situations Davenport, 1988). He therefore proposed that to understand the
human mind we should start at birth

Piaget observed that human infants are born with a few reflexes that help them to survive in the
first months of life. A reflex is any action that is triggered by some stimulus. The reflexes are
uncontrollable and so they are involuntary responses to particular stimuli. They are a result of our
first mental structures. Children use reflexes to enable them meet their needs. All reflexes have
one thing in common which is survival value i.e. they help us to protect ourselves from harms.
Imagine you lift a very hot pan without knowing, what will you do. Definitely you will drop it
without thinking twice. This is reflex action. It saves you from burning your hand badly. So
reflexes are mainly for survival.
From reflex actions the mental process develops in children in different stages as children grow
older. Therefore from different experiences children construct their own knowledge from
experimenting as they interact with their world.

Activity one
1. Explain the cognitive process as outline by Piaget
2. What is the role of genetic in our day to day living
3. How do young babies respond to to their environment

Invariant functions and variant structures

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According to Piaget thinking develops through the same sequence of stages. It starts with simple
mental structures called schemas. The first schemas are for reflexes. From reflexes children
develop thinking process gradually as the grow. The first mode of thinking is concerned with the
babies senses and with learning to control their movements for the first few years. For the first few
years thinking is mainly about the babies own needs and it is quite illogical but improves with
years. By around the age of seven children start thinking about their actions and consequences for
other people. According to Piaget the thinking development of cognition is sequential and fixated
and all children will go through the same order. He described the sequence as invariant.

Knowledge of invariant stages of cognitive development in children is crucial for many reasons
and is applied for planning different activities and services for different groups of people in
different fields of life. For example, in a school setting knowledge of invariant development helps
in planning and providing learning activities of children in different stages of development. It helps
in placement and even development of play materials. School psychologists are able to identify
children with learning disabilities based on knowledge of invariant development. In health settings
the knowledge of invariant development has helped in development of treatment, drugs and even
administering drug dosage for people of different ages. Can you think of how business community
may use knowledge of invariant development. What about religious communities can they be
informed by invariant development process.

Variant cognitive development

Although stages of invariant development individuals have different experiences and will learn the
same things differently. Accordingly, each individual’s cognition is a result of countless ideas as
a result of different experiences which leads to variant cognitive development. Some experiences
are stimulating leading to fast development of children’s cognitive development. A two year child
who grows up in an environment full of toys and with friendly social support is likely to develop
faster, improve /sharpen their cognitive development than one who grow up in a poor physical
and social environment. In addition different communal setting will expose children to different
experiencing influencing their schemata. Depending on the environment through which children
grow, they learn to comprehend and conceptualize different aspects in life. For example, people
from different environments will utilize same resources differently depending on exposure.

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Imagine you have one hundred and fifty thousand Kenya shillings and you want to give to three
people from different cultural settings. They can use the money in the way they want. If you gave
the money to people from different ethnic cultures such as Masai, Luo and Kikuyu of Kenya,
would they use the money in the same way? Based on Piaget’s cognitive development theory,
different environments exposes people to different experiences that leads to development of mental
structure through which effect our behavior. This is the variant development

Piaget observed that there are two types of variant mental structures. These are called schemas and
operations. Schemas are mental representations about what things are and how we deal with them.
They are acquired from different environments that we interact with.
Operations are mental structure that allow us to combine schemas in an orderly sensible and logical
manner e.g. gazing and reaching and grasping in order to pick up something( Devort, 1988). This
allows as to operate in our environments. These mental structures grow over the years. As children
grow their experiences broaden so they will be able to handle increasingly difficult operations.
Therefore older children are able to handle more complex operations.

The broadening of different mental process occurs through learning as we interact with our
environment. Learning according to Piaget is a process of adapting to the environment. He
believed that intelligence was all about making appropriate adaptation to things around our
environment quickly and efficiently.

Adaptation involved taking in, processing and using the new information in appropriate way. For
this to occur, it requires that we take in the main elements of a situation called assimilation and
modifying schemas through a process called accommodation. To adapt our thinking to things we
want to do in a specific way children must organize their experiences. The mental organization
involves intelligence, memory e.t.c. Without mental organizations we will find it difficult to learn
new experiences. Fortunately some of our mental organizations is automatic and therefore we do
not have to spend a lot of time organizing our experiences.
Knowledge of invariant development has also been used widely across different disciplines. In a
school setting knowledge of invariant development has been used to design and organize

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environment to improve learning. Can you think of how knowledge of invariant development has
been used in health settings?

Activity two
1. Differentiate between variant and invariant cognitive development

2 . Explain how a school psychologist may apply knowledge of variant development

Stages of development
Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development. These include Sensory motor stage, Pre-
operational stage, Concrete operational stage and formal operation stage. Qualitative changes
occur in children of different ages at different stages. Children at different stages think in different
ways and the type of thinking is determined by the content areas in the stage. Transitions to higher
stages of thinking are not necessarily continuous, but the sequences of stages are stable for all
people through all time. Stages are not skipped. The table below shows developmental stages and
development process that occur in the stages.

Piaget’s four stages of intellectual development

Age Stage Characteristics
0-2years Sensory motor ● Reflexive behavior
stage ● Learns to use limbs and muscles for movement
● Reflexive schemas provide solutions to experiences in the
first few weeks. He called this action schemas
● Egocentric and unable to see anybody else’s needs or
interests
● Babies start to learn about objects and what they can be
made to do
● Assimilation and accommodation
● Beginning to understand how things can cause others.
● Building of mental structures
● Feeling and studying objects
● Expanded existing action schemas
● Object permanence

2-7 Pre-operational Symbolization

years stage ● Allowing things to stand for other
● Expanded vocabulary
● Expanded imagination

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 Egocentrism
● Children see things only from ther own perspective
Animism
● A belief that everything that exists has some
consciousness
● The children believe that everything feels pain
Moral realism
● Children believe that the way they view things to be
wrong or right will be shared by others.
● They discover how children of various ages regard rules

7-11 Concrete Thinking becomes operational i.e. more rational and adult like.
years operational stage The period is divided in two stages
● Concrete operational
Children think logically, they can manipulate objects
● Formal operational;
They develop abstract learning and can manipulate thoughts
During concrete stage egocentric declines so is the belief in
animism
Ideas about objects are dominated by how objects appear.
They leran about conservation i.e. objects are not always what
they appear to be
Conservation: to be able to think about several features
They learn
● Conservation of volume
● conservation of numbers
● conservation of length
● conservation of mass
11-16 Formal operation More adult like
years stage Can depend more on ideas rather than manipulate objects
Abstract thinking e.g. mental mathematics
Teenagers think of moral philosophical issues
This takes several years.

Summary
In this lesson we have learnt about Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. You will recall that
according to Piaget, cognitive development is not fixed and develops sequentially over the years.
The stages of development are stable and they build on each other.This sequential development is
referred to as invariant However; different environments mediate in cognitive development

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process. This leads to variant development of people of the same age. Different disciplines use this
knowledge of variant and invariant cognitive development to plan and offer services
References

1. Davenport, (1988) G.C. An introduction to Child development second edition Collins

2. Galotti, K. M (2004) Cognitive Psychology In and Out of the LaboratoryCalifonia
Wadsworth

3.0 LESSON THREE: RESEARCH METHODS IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION
Welcome to lesson three. In this lesson you will learn methods used in psychology research as
applied in cognitive psychology. You will recall from lesson one that cognitive psychology is a
scientific study of mental processes. Mental process are in most part completely unobservable.
Researchers in cognitive psychology face unique challenges in studying mental process. Recall
that behaviourist psychologists proposed that psychologists should only study the observables.
You will also recall that there was a lot of criticism about behaviourist ideas arguingthat we cannot
understand mental process without considering the underlying process. This has led to
development of different methods being used to study cognition.

As stated cognitive psychology is a science, scientific methods are used in the study. According to
Riegler&Riegler, (2004), all scientific research seeks to describe, explain, predict and modify
some sets of the problem they address. Research in cognitive psychology is no different. The
researchers use different designs to describe, explain, predict and modify the process of the mind.
To achieve the goals of cognitive research is challenging since most mental\process are not
observable. The existence of most the mental process such as memory must be inferred based on
behaviour that is observable. To achieve this cognitive psychology creatively design the studies
using different methods. In this lesson you will learn different methods that you can use to study
cognitive process.

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3.2 Lesson objectives
By the end of the lesson you will be able to
1. Outline different methods used in cognitive psychology
2. Differentiate naturalistic and experimental designs
3. Explain the strengths and limitations of different research methods
4. Use different methods to study cognitive psychology

3.3..Research methods
Research is a science and therefore research methods are underpinned by scientific principles.
Scientific methods hence research are systematic, controlled empirical and aim at critical
investigation of hypothetical (Imaginary) propositions about the presumed relations (Cohen et
al 2000). Research is also a controlled investigation: this refers to the need for researchers to
use different techniques and procedures to isolate and test one or more variables of the alleged
influence. The scientists are aware of multiplicity of factors that might influence an
occurrence; hence they attempt to apply control measures. By isolating the occurrence and then
testing variables of the interest the researchers are able to make accurate observations. Science
searches for causes in the problem the study addresses . Further science is provisional and
therefore all the scientific findings are tentative In addition scientists strive for objectivity.
. Characteristics of scientific methods are outlined in the table below

Summary of Characteristics of science

Characteristic Interpretation
Empirical Science is based on direct observation
Systematic The procedures used by scientists are organized, methodological, and
public and recognized by other scientists.
Search for causes Scientist assumes that there is order in the universe , that there are
sustainable reasons for occurrence of all events and that science can be
used to discover the orderly of the world
Science is Scientific conclusion are always accepted as tentative and subject to
provisional question and possible refutation.
Science strives for Scientists avoid attempts of having their own personal biases and values
objectivity influence their scientific conclusions

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These are the characteristics that should govern you as you undertake studying cognitive process.
This has the implication that all methods used in studying should be underpinned by these scientific
principles.

Activity one
Why should scientific findings be tentative
Why should cognitive researchers remain objective in their studies?

In the next section look at different specific methods that are applied in studying cognitive
psychology

3.3.1 Descriptive research

Descriptive research as the name suggests aims at describing the set of phenomenon under
investigation. Descriptive studies are mainly undertaken in the natural setting with minimal
controls. They include designs such as naturalistic observations, case studies , surveys and self
reports. This methods can help you describe targeted behaviour that is related to cognitive process.
However, they are limited in explain why behaviour occurs. However, they remain important in
cognitive psychology because they serve as spring board for experimental research.

3.3.1.1 Naturalistic observations

Naturalistic involves observation of behavior in its natural setting uninfluenced by the researcher.
They are descriptive in nature and therefore do not allow inferences. This method provides means
of studying psychological constructs that cannot be controlled. For example, a researcher may
watch children playing a mathematical game to find out if play enhances development of
mathematical skills. Naturalistic observations are extremely important in initial stages to gain
ideas about the problem of interest. Naturalistic observation is important in psychology because of
the following reasons:
❖ They are important part in collecting data in psychology

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 ❖ They provide a major part of data base that can lead to subsequent more highly controlled
research
❖ Helps describe the thoughts and behavior of organism
❖ Observing permits a general impression of the characteristics and the range of behavior
However, like any other descriptive studies, they are limited in explain the causal factors and how
different behavior occurs. They are prone to confounding because of lack of any control
3.3.1.2..Case studies
Case studies are intensive investigation of a single case or small number of cases of some sought
such as a neurotic patients, A spiritual medium, A class autistic children. Case studies have played
a major role in brain research. Individual who have suffered brain damage have been studied and
this has provided important information on different mental process. According to
Riegler&Riegler (2004), amnesic people who have lost much of their memory due to trauma have
provided important information on the mechanisms underlying memory. In general case studies
have the following strengths
Provides in-depth information about the case under study
They catch unique features that may otherwise be lost in large scale data
They are strong on reality
Provides insights into other similar situation
They can be undertaken by a single researcher
The results are more easily understood
However, case studies have also weakness. These include
❖ The results may not be generalized
❖ They are not easily open to cross checking
❖ They are prone to the problems of observer bias
❖ The are descriptive and do not allow inferences
3.3.1.3…. Surveys
Surveys are descriptive research that is used to study conditions or relations that exist, practices
that prevail, and general , Beliefs, opinions, preferences. Surveys are characterized with large
samples which makes them attractive to many researchers. Cognitive researchers can conduct
survey for example to study learning conditions of children learning different environments and

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compare their learning outcome to enable them describe environment for learning. There are
different types of survey. These are longitudinal or cross sectional survey .

Longitudinal as the term suggests is used to describe a variety of studies conducted over period
of time. The design gathers data over extended period of time mainly developmental. Short term
investigation may take several weeks or months while long term goes over years. Longitudinal
surveys are important in understanding stages of development.

Cross sectional surveys are designed to study different respondents at the same time or at different
points in time across different groups. They could be used to study for example development in
children across cultures to understand the influence of culture on cognitive development. Variant
development of cognitive development in children can benefit from cross sectional surveys.
Survey studies have both strengths and weakness. The strengths of survey include:
Gathers data on one shot-basis, hence its is economical
Generation of numerical data
Provides descriptive data ,
Gathers standardized information
The findings could be generalized to a larger population
Presents data that can be used to develop hypothesis for testing
The weakness include
Results are descriptive in nature so cannot be used for inferences
Cannot be used to study psychological constructs in controlled environment
Limited in collecting in-depth information

3.4 Correlation Methods

This a research method that is used to determines the relationship between variables, e.g. the
relationship between learning and change of behavior, different emotions and associated
behavior e.t.c. Correlations studies are intended to answer three basic questions about two
variables under study
● Is there a relationship between variables

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 ● What is the direction of this relationship?- is it negative, positive or curvilinear
In negative relationships: the increase in one variable is accompanied by decrease in the other.
For example, example in cognitive process, increase in ability could be negatively correlated
with reduction in making errors in mathematic exercises. On the other hand in Positive
correlation: where the two variables fluctuate or increase in the same direction. For example,
the increase in age is could be positively correlated with increased mental development. The
relationship in the two cases is linear. However, in some cases the relationship is manifested
in curvilinear model e.g.- Little stress increases performance and as stress increases it
debilitates performance

The other question that is answered in correlation studies is . What is the magnitude of the
relationship? (statistical analysis is applied Pearson’s product moment coefficient of
correlation is used -1.0- +1.0 ). The coefficient is represented by the symbol (r)

Strengths of correlation methods

❖ They help establish relations between variables under study; Allows study of relationships
between variables
❖ The analysis is done in form of correlation coefficient, therefore inferences can be made
❖ Helps identify some of the factors leading to behavioral change
Weakness of Correlation methods
Corrections studies do not allow control of the intervening variables
Even high correlations can be accidental and not linked to one another
Researchers cannot infer causal effect because of confounding effects of other variables

3.5....Experimental methods
Experimental research is a controlled method of observation in which the value of one or more
independent variable is changed in order to assess the causal effect on one or more dependent variable.
Owing to the control afforded by experiments they are the surest method of observing causal
relationships among variables. The strength of experiments as a research design is that they are

26
designed to make us able to make inferences. Holding conditions constant is the technique researchers
use to avoid confounding. The factors held constant cannot co-vary with intended independent
variable (it does not change). Therefore researchers choose to control only those factors that they
think might influence the behavior they are studying (a plausible alternative cause).
Logic of experiments

Experimental control
Independent variables
● gained through
Dependent variable
manipulation
● inferences

Validity Confounding
Internal validity When alternative
Co variation-relationship between IV and DV explanation of exists
Time-order relationship internal validity lacks
Elimination of plausible alternative causes

There are many experimental designs that researchers can use. These include:

3.5.1INDEPENDENT GROUP DESIGNS

An independent group design also known as between subjects design refers to designs where a
researcher is testing two independent groups. In this design each group represents different
conditions as defined by the independent variable. This could be an experimental group and
control group or two or more experimental groups and a control group . The results from the two
groups is measured to ascertain if there is a signifant difference.

3.5.2 REPEATED MEASURES DESIGN

Also known as within subjects design is another experimental design that could be used in research.
As the name suggests, in this design each subjects take part in all conditions of experiment. Unlike
independent group design that has a control group, in repeated measures subjects serve as their
own control.

5.3.8.2 FACTORIAL DESIGNS CAN ALSO BE USED IN RESEARCH.

This is a design that take into consideration that many factors can influence a given behavior or
phenomenon. Researchers therefore often conduct studies to investigate more than one factor. In
factorial design each possible combination of two independent variables constitutes one of the

27
experimental conditions. For example, in cognitive psychology experiment you might want to
study factors that enhance memory. This could be rehearsal, type of encoding, repetition or
learning methods.. All this could done in one study to establish perhaps how each contributes to
memory . They will all be tested as independent variables while memory will be the dependent
variable.

5.3.8.3 QUASI EXPERIMENT

Quasi experiments are best alternative when a true experiment is not viable. The term quasi refers
to having some but not all of the features of an experiment. This means that it resembles an
experiment but does not have all features of an experiment. For instance quasi experiments lack
some degree of control; it may sometimes lack control groups or comparison groups and in certain
circumstances the independent variable is not a truly manipulated. In cognitive psychology, you
may want to study different approaches in problem solving. Is it not possible that the to control all
the underlying problem solving? Are you able to manipulate the mental process involved?
Therefore experimenting with different on different methods of problem solving may be possible
but limited in control issues. Just like true experiments there are also different types of quasi
experimental designs. This include

5.3.8.4 SINGLE GROUP POST-TEST ONLY DESIGN

It refers to single group to which some treatment is given. For example a researcher may wish to
test the effectiveness of a teaching method on on memory. . The group could be exposed to the
teaching method . The group is then assessed on dependent variable which could be
remembering.Testing on the effectiveness of teaching method in this case may not require a
comparison group

5.3.8.5 SINGLE GROUP PRETEST/POSTTEST DESIGN

This is an improvement over posttest only design. The dependent variable is measured before
treatment and after treatment. The two measures are then compared

5.3.8.6 SINGLE GROUP TIME SERIES DESIGN

It involves single group of participants taking multiple measures over time before introducing a
treatment and then continuing to take several measures after treatment. Multiple measures allow
the researcher to see if the behavior is stable before treatment and how or if it changes at the
multiple points in time when measures are taken after treatment
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5.3.8.7 STRENGTHS OF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS:
● Experiments allow researchers to infer causal factors
● It is also the best method to study associations between variables.
● Leads to evidence based solutions

Limitations:
● The control measures applied present unnatural environment thus affecting behaviour

Activity two
Differentiate between experiments and naturalistic studies.

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Ethical issues in cognitive research

Agreed ethics and acceptable standards are important for any credible work in your research.
Ethics safeguard both participants and the researchers. You will recall that cognition has to do
with the mental process which are entrenched in brain. Researchers therefore need to be careful
not to cause any harm to the participants . In addition they need to respect the participants and
allow voluntary participation. On the other hand they researchers need to conduct themselves
with integrity carrying on their research work with honesty and objectivity. Below are some of the
ethical considerations that will protect your participants and you as a researcher.

Authority
Researchers need to seek permission from relevant authorities. In each country there are bodies
that regulate research and therefore researchers should seek formal authority to be given
permission to conduct research. According to Cohen et al (2000), researchers should clear official
channels by formally requesting permission to carry out research. These may include national
research bodies and institutions/organizations of interest. For example you may get a permit at the
national level but you may also require a research permit from a health ethical board if you are
conducting research on health issues.

29
In Kenya National commission for science technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) is currently in
charge of research at a national level. From national level you should also seek authority from
relevant institutions
Informed consent
Ethical codes in research hold that participants are autonomous therefore researchers should
informed consent.An informed consent is autonomous willingness of an individual to take part in
research. This means that you should practice and encourage voluntary participation in research

Respect for privacy

It refers to the ability to control when and under what conditions others will have access to your
beliefs, values or behaviors. Participants including institutions in which research will be conducted
have rights and privacy of their life experiences. They therefore have freedom to decide for
themselves when and where, in what circumstances and to what extent their personal/institutional
matters are to be communicated or withheld from others (Cohen, et al, 2000) .Collecting data in
research raises issues of privacy. Therefore, researchers should ensure confidentiality of their
research respondents

Debriefing
Debriefing can be described as a critical incident or stress reduction technique that includes
structured stages of group discussion (Mitchell 1983). The ‘debrief’ in research refers to a common
form of retrospective analysis of research process (Ireland et al 2008). Cognitive psychological
research can be emotional evoking. Debriefing should be done to help participants obtain
appropriate information about the nature, and possible results, and conclusions of the research to
dispel anxiety associated with the research process and their participation.

Deception in research
Deception in research occurs when researchers withhold or intentionally misinform the
participants ( Shaughnessy et al, 2003), This violates the ethical consideration of informed
consent. You should always tell the truth about your research

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3.6 LESSON SUMMARY

Remember cognitive psychology is a scientific study and research methods

irrespective of the design should be guided by scientific principles which include systematic
approach, empirical , provisional and objectivity. You have also learnt different methods that
you can use in studying cognition. Remember that the goals of research in cognition is to
describe, explain, predict and modifying phenomenon under study. In the choice of the method
you should be guided by the goal of your study. You should also remember that when carrying
out research you should take into account several ethical principles to guide your practice.

Assessment
I. Explain why psychologists study cognitive process
II. Explain the advantages of conducting experiments to study cognitive process
III. What are the limitations of naturalistic studies in studying cognitive process

References

1. Goldstein E. B (2008) Cognitive Psychology 3rd Edition Wadsworth Cengage Learning

2. Hayes, N. (1998) Foundations of Psychology An Introductory Text, Nelson
3. Robinson-Riegler G. & Robinson –Riegler B (2004) Cognitive
PsychologyPersonsEducatio, Inc, USA

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4. 0 Lesson four: Investigating the mind and Brain: Cognitive
Neuroscience:

4.1 Introduction

Hallo student. We are now in lesson four. In this lesson will learn about the brain as the seat
of cognitive process and the methods that are used in studying the brain. This will enable you
to learn different parts of the brain that are responsible for cognitive processes and how they
can be studied.
4.2 Lesson objectives
By the end of this lesson you should be able to
● Explain the role of the nervous system in cognitive process
● Identify different parts of the nervous system and their roles in cognitive process
● Describe different methods used to study the brain

4.3 Studying the brain

Other than the traditional methods of studying psychology, cognitive neuroscience offers methods
that help in understanding cognitive process.Cognitive neuroscience may be described as a

32
coalescence of biology and psychology (Gazziniga, Ivry and Mangun, 1998). It is about the
anatomy of the neuron structures and the psychological roles they play in our lives. Gazziniga
et al (1998), cognitive neuroscience began to emerge in the 1970s out of need to understand more
complex issues about cognition e.g. how the visual cells process and information combine to form
percepts. As neuroscientists advanced beyond simple approaches so did psychologists.The interest
of cognitive psychologists turned towards brain representation and the union of the two approaches
was inevitable.

An overview of the Nervous System

The nervous system is the major controlling, regulatory, and communicating system in the
body. Its activities can be grouped together as three general, overlapping functions:

o Sensory
o Integrative
o Motor

Millions of sensory receptors detect changes, called stimuli, which occur inside and outside the
body. Sensory input is converted into electrical signals called nerve impulses that are transmitted
to the brain. There the signals are brought together to create sensations, to produce thoughts, or
to add to memory. Decisions are made each moment based on the sensory input. This is
integration.

Based on the sensory input and integration, the nervous system responds by sending signals to
muscles, causing them to contract, or to glands, causing them to produce secretions. Muscles
and glands are called effectors because they cause an effect in response to directions from the
nervous system. This is the motor output or motor function.

Activity one

Explain the importance of the of the nervous system of the day to day activities

Overview of the Nervous System

33
The nervous system is the bodies system for processing information and the neuron, or nerve cell
is the basic unit.

The structure of the Neuron:

The diagram shows the basic parts of the neurons. Neurons are electrochemical information
processors that carry out the functions of the nervous system by conducting nerve impulses.It is
estimated that there are about 100 billion neurons throughout the nervous system. Many of these
are located in the in the brains cerebral cortex, the seat of the complex thought.
There are many different types of neurons with different shapes, sizes and functions. For example,
the sensory neurons or bipolar carry signals from the sensory nerve receptors to the CNS; Moto-
neurons or multipolar neurons carry signals from the CNS to muscles and glands. These neurons
have many processes originating from the cell body. The dendrites branch out from the cell body
to receive signals from other neurons and the Axon or the nerve fibre to other neurons. The
neurons have receiving and transmitting ends (Goldstern, 2008).

The neuron transmitters released into synapses interact with dendrites of many receiving
neurons leading to their excitation or inhibition. This system of excitatory and inhibitory
connections between these basic units of the nervous system underlies all thinking and behavior.
34
According to Hebb(1948) when Axon of cell A for example is near enough to excite Axon B
and it occurs repeatedly, efficiency of one of the cells exciting B increases. In other words the
association between neurons can be stronger with experience. This view has been supported by
the connectionist approach of mental process which attempts to explain thinking in terms of
strengthening and weakening in association among simple units.

Cognitive neuroscience has not advanced to the point of explaining what a single and neuron
networks in their seemingly complex functions, but have come long way in modeling how
cognition might work. Hence they may not be able to explain the cognitive processes that occurs
to result to a particular action, but they are able to fairly state the part of the brain where the
activity is taking place and how some of the component process may play out in the system.

The Brain

35
The Brain
The brain serves as the primary focus for cognitive neuroscience because it is the centre of
information processing. The seat of cognitive functioning is the brain. Therefore it is important for
you to learn some major areas of the brain and some of the functions they play in cognitive process.
The neuroscientists distinguish between three major areas in the brain. These include:

● The hindbrain located at the base of the brain, just above the spinal code. Its primary
function is to monitor maintain and control basic life functions such as breathing and
heartbeat.
● Above the hindbrain is a relatively small area the midbrain. It involves the area that are
involved in some sensory reflexes and helps to regulate brain arousal
● The forebrain comprises most of the brain that includes cerebral cortex with billions of
neurons.
● The cerebral cortex is the primary neural substrate of what might be termed higher
cognitive functioning- remembering; planning; deciding communicating e.t.c.
● Beneath the cortex lies an array of important structures that that are involved in basic
processes such as the regulation of memory and emotions.

These are important process in cognitive psychology, therefore a brief overview of cerebral
cortex is important for you to understand the role of the brain in cognitive functioning.

The cerebral Cortex

It consists of two nonsymmetrical hemispheres with tremendous complex interconnections and
networks. Each hemisphere can be subdivided into four major areas or lobes. These are; frontal
lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and temporal lobe.The diagram below shows the major areas of
the cerebral cortex
Major lobes of left hemisphere of human cortex

36
Adapted from Friedenberg and Silverman (2006)
The neuroscientists have conducted research to understand what brain areas are active during
different processes. Through the studies researchers have been able to map the brain substrates of
cognition. Some areas within each of the lobes specialize for particular functions. The major areas
of cerebral cortex and the specialized cognitive functions are described below:

⮚ The frontal lobe is the anterior portion located immediately behind your fore head,
running back the middle of the top of your head. The posterior area of the frontal
lobe is the motor cortex. It plays an important role in carrying out voluntary
movements
⮚ Areas in the anterior region of the frontal lobe (Prefrontal cortex) are important in
higher aspects of motor control such as planning and executing complex behaviors.
⮚ The frontal lobe also includes Broca’s area and important area related to physical
production of speech

37
 ● Behind the frontal lobe lies parietal lobe centered more or less under the crown of the
skull.
⮚ In the anterior portion of the parietal lobe resides the somatosensory cortex which
controls the experience of bodily sensations such as touch temperature and pain.
⮚ In terms of cognitive processing the parietal lobe houses areas important in regulating
among others the process of attention and working memory
● Beneath the parietal lobe is the posterior portion of the cortex is the occipital lobe which
contains the primary visual cortex and the ability to recognize visual patterns ( eyes in the
back of the head)
● Finally the temporal lobe is appropriately located behind the ears.
⮚ It contains the auditory cortex the brains primary sensory area for audition.
⮚ It also includes wernicke’s area which is involved in speech comprehension
⮚
Many other areas are not specifically devoted to sensory or motor function and have been dubbed
association area. Association areas of the cortex are believed to integrate the process of other brain
areas serving as the basis of higher mental processes that require integration such as language
processing, problem solving, creativity and decision making.

The cerebral cortex is made up of two hemispheres the right and left. The hemispheres appear
more symmetrical in their appearance but each has different features.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Brain Hemisphere

38
Adapted from Sternberg et al 2012

The operation of the hemispheres is lateralized: the left hemisphere receives information from
and controls the right side of the body; the right hemisphere receives information and controls the
left side of the body. However, the two hemispheres communicate primarily by means of corpus
callosum; a nerve bundle located in the centre of the brain above the limbic system. The main
distinction in the hemispheres relates to the verbal ability. In most people the left hemisphere is
specialized for verbal processing while the right hemisphere is relatively non-verbal. However, the
hemispheric view of the brain this should not be over generalized on the brain functions as the two
hemispheres form and elegantly integrated system that involves close interactions.

Some of the functional areas of the cerebral cortex are shown in the diagram below.

39
Functional area of the cortex, Adapted from Sternberg et al, 2012

Subcortical structures
Beneath the cerebral cortex lies a complex system of structures that play an important role in a
variety of cognitive processes.Most of the structures are grouped together and termed the limbic
system.The limbic system is integral to learning and remembering new information as well as
processing of emotions. Important structures in the limbic system include
● Hippocampus which is vital for encoding new information to memory

40
● The amygdale which plays a key in regulating emotions and in forming emotional
memories.
● The thalamus serves as a relay point that routes incoming sensory information to
appropriate areas of the brain e.g. visual to visual cortex, audition to auditory cortex e.t.c.
and also it seems to play a role in attention
● The hypothalamus which controls the endocrine system ( the body’s system of hormones)
and plays an important role in emotions as well as maintenance of important and basic
survival processes such as, temperature regulation and food intake. Together, the
hypothalamus and thalamus are termed diecephalon
● The basal ganglia play a critical role in controlling movement and are important for motor
based memories such as procedures in riding a bicycle
Although different areas of the brain may be specialized for specific functions it is important
to remember that the brain is an integrated system and no function takes place in a single brain
structure. While some subcomponents of cognitive process may be localized, complex
cognition involves an intricate interplay between the brain areas and brain structures
distributed throughout the brain.

Activity two
Identify the major parts of the limbic system and explain the roles they play in cognitive
processes

Structure of the brain

41
 Adapted from Sternberg et, al 2012

HOW NEUROSCIENTIST STUDY COGNITION

Cognitive neuroscience relay on a number of investigative techniques to discover the neural

underpinnings of cognition. As stated earlier mental process are mainly unobservable, and because
of ethical and health issues the neuroscientists had to rely on studying on people who had brain
damage before the development of technology. These include

● Brain Trauma

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Patients with brain trauma provided a vital opportunity for cognitive neuroscientists to gain
knowledge about the brain areas that underlie cognitive functioning. According to Riegler and
Riegler (2004) much of knowledge about the brain patients who had suffered some sought of
trauma to the brain through injury or disease were studied to understand cognitive functioning. A
prominent relevance to the field of psychology for example is the work of Paul Broca a
neuroscience pioneer in the mid 1850. Broca had a patient named Tan because this was the only
word he could utter (Riegler&Rirgler (2004).In spite of his inability to speak his ability to
understand was relatively unimpaired. Broca discovered that his patient had damaged left frontal
lobe. This made Broca conclude that physical speech was associated with left frontal lobe. The
condition of his patient became known as Broca’s aphasia

Later in 1870s Wernicke had a patient who could speak but what he could say was gibberish. He
was also unable to understand written or spoken language. He discovered that his patient had
damage left frontal lobe. There condition became known as Wernicke’s aphasia. In the diagram
on the functional area of the cortex, you will notice the regions of the brain labeled as Broca’s and
Wernicke’s area. The labeling is based on the discoveries of the two neuroscientists.
Riegler&Riegler observe that based on these findings and other patients with language
impairments researchers were able to clearly describe the role of left hemisphere in cognitive
processes.

However, a setback in using such technique is that they allow absolutely no control. Researchers
can’t map out human brain by systematically damaging areas of the brain associated deficits. .
Studies of brain trauma also suffer limitations in generalizability. Finally the evidence yielded is
purely descriptive.

Single and double associations;

Single and double association is another approach that the neuroscientists used before the
advent of technology. In this approach the scientists compare performance on two tasks
that differ in the use of one proposed mental operation e.g. a patient with brain damage in region
x who cannot comprehend written language but has no problem with spoken language. This is
single dissociation (performance deficit in one task and no performance deficit in the other. The
attempt is to draw a conclusion that area X is responsible for written language.

43
Limitation: It is difficult to be certain of the conclusions. Area X could be responsible for both
tasks but the damage may not be severe or spoken language depends on other areas

In Double association the researchers could compare patients with different areas of brain
damage e.g. comparing patient with damaged area X who cannot comprehend written language
and another patient with damaged area Y who has deficit in understanding spoken language. This
pattern is termed double association. Double association provides stronger evidence than single
association.
Although double association may be quite informative as far as informing the researcher that the
two tasks are operated from different regions of the brain, they still do not provide conclusive
answers.
However, double association remains valuable in research beyond cognitive neuroscience . Find
out different ways in which you can apply double association in studies.

The advancement in technology led to better ways of studying cognitive process. Although it is
still difficult to find out the exact part of the brain that is responsible for different cognitive process,
studies have been able to study the brain and localize different brain areas for specific cognitive
process using technological aided techniques . These include

Electroencephalograph:
To understand the functions of the brain in cognitive process, researchers use techniques that
involve recoding electro activity of the brain and relating it to cognitive functioning.
Electroencephalograph (EEG) is one such method that uses electrodes placed on the scalp to pick
up the electro current being conducted through the skull from the activity of neurons underneath.
EEG measure the electro activity that is produced by neurons as recorded by electrodes placed
along the scalp essentially providing the global recording of the action potential occurring in the
brain ( see Goldstein 2008) The diagram below shows a participant in a brain wave study using
EEG Technique

Electroencephalograph

44
 The brain electro activity is picked by the electrodes
attached on the participants scalp and amplified on
the egg machine to be viewed as brain waves

This method has been successful in terms of mapping precision in specifying time cause of events.
Researchers can observe EGG over time and look for changes in the brain electro activity at certain
critical points e.g. when a participant is undertaking some activity. The changes that are observed
called event related potentials (ERP) because they represent some potential actions that occur in
relation to some event. These potentials allow research to plot out when as brain activity is
occurring . This method is effective in localizing cognitive process in the brain

However, although it is possible for researchers use this method to localize brain activity, it is
limited in isolating specific area responsible for the activity as cognitive process under
investigation. This is because the electroencephalograph records a combination of activity of
millions of neurons making it had to isolate the activity of interest. Also because the neurons
impulses travel over the brain and through the skull there is some distortion in recorded signals
further compounding localization of the brain are where the process is occurring
Activity three
Explain the limitations of using EEG in studying cognitive process

45
Functional Imaging Techniques: PET and Functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging fMRI scans
The greatest stride in cognitive neuroscience has been has been made using functional imaging
techniques. The imaging techniques have proved more successful than EEG in precisely localizing
the brain areas associated with varies cognitive process.
The Imaging techniques do not involve direct measure of neuron activity rather the changes in the
flow of blood is taken as indices of where the brain activity is occurring during various cognitive
processes especially providing the map of the brain activity.
It involves comparison between active and relatively inactive parts of the brain during specific
task. To tell which parts are active during cognitive process such as retrieving word from cognitive
dictionary the researchers must first obtain the image of the brain when it is at rest (baseline or
control scan) and when the test is onBy comparing the two scans the research can be able to extract
areas that seem consistently associated with the task in question
Positron emission tomography PET
It uses radioactive substance ingested (harmless amounts) by willing participants to trace brain
activity. The technique is based on features of brain metabolism: active areas are associated with
increased blood flow and decaying radioactive substance can serve as a gauge where this blood
flow is occurring. Detectors pick up this blood flow and convert it into visual image . The image
is a map of the brain in which hot colors like red and yellow indicate increased activity while cool
colors eg. Blue and green indicate less activity

46
 Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
It is similar to PET in that it reflects brain activity through changes in blood flow, but it picks that
activity with magnetic detectors that are sensitive to hemoglobin levels. The magnetic scanner
picks up hemoglobin (oxygenated blood) or non oxygenated blood . It has some advantages over
PET

⮚ It is noninvasive (No foreign body is ingested)

⮚ It is cheaper as equipment in many hospitals can be modified to do it whereas
PET scanning machine is exotic
⮚ fMRI is a little more subtle and relates to how the brain scans are collected over
time. In PET you need to allow time for the radioactive substances ingested to
dissipate to allow for the next scan which means only a few scans can be taken.
In fMRI there is no decaying radioactive tracer so the test control scans can be
interspersed with much greater frequency which means many
⮚ control scans can be taken

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Limitations of imaging techniques
● The techniques have been efficient in localizing the brain area of specific cognitive
processes but they are limited in providing time based analysis of cognition
● Most cognitive activities occur on the order of fractions of seconds and the temporal (time)
resolution is nowhere near so they only give global picture of brain functioning
● It also provides only descriptive information about where the brain activity that
accompanies the mental activity taking place but says nothing about individual neurons
and how their complex interplay is related is related to cognitive process

However, it has allowed researchers to isolate subsystems of brain where neurons do their work

Activity four

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State the disadvantages of using PET to study cognitive process
Explain the advantages of using fMRI in studing cognitive process

Lecture summary

Lesson Five

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PERCEPTION
Basic perceptual process

INTRODUCTION

Perception is important in our lives. Without perceiving we can not make sense of the
environments in which we live in. We need to carry on different tasks but this can only be possible
we can perceive the information from stimuli. In this lesson we will learn basic perceptual process.
This will enable you understand of how you make sense of your world.

Lecture objectives
By the end of the lesson, you should be able to
1. Describe the concept of perception
2. Explain the process that are involved in perception
3. Describe different senses and their role in perception
4. Explain how perception apply in our day to day activities

Cognition and perception

The main function of cognition is information processing hence cognition starts soon as the
information enters the cognitive system. This means that to understand the cognitive system we
must start from how information is registered in the basic sensory and perceptual process.

Cognition is underpinned by two basic process. These are perception and sensation.
Sensation has to do with the physiological process that underlie information intake which is the
way our sensory organs take in information. For example, our visual sensory takes in imagery
information from our environment. We are able to see people, animals and plants and architectural
and artistic images from the world.

On the other hand perception is psychological perspective associated with the immediate
organization and interpretation of those sensations. For example, if we see an animal we may
interpret it as a friendly or a dangerous animal

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According to Riegler&Riegler (2004), the process of perception results from
⮚ Bottom up processing: This refers to flow of information that proceeds from the
stimulus to the neuron activity driven by the stimulus to its eventual
identification. It is sometimes termed as the data driven processing because it is
the data that leads to sensible perception.
⮚ Top down processing which refers to the process where we bring previous
knowledge to bear in determining what we see or hear. Because it to application
of concepts top-down processing is sometimes labeled conceptually driven
processing

The relationship between physical properties of the stimulus and how it is perceived, is also
determined by how much information about the stimulus is received. For example, you may not
be able to perceive what your roommate is saying unless he /she is loud enough for you to hear
what they are saying. Similarly it may be difficult for you to clearly identify an object that is
covered three quarter way.

Riegler and Riegler (2004) observe that we need at least threshold 50 % of the amount
stimulus energy to perceive stimulus with some accuracy. The threshold will change with
different intensity of stimuli. In addition, the detection of the stimuli as well as the change in
the intensity depends on how sensitive the observer is

Vision and auditory sensory organs

Most of the information we process and respond to are taken in through our senses of vision ( eyes)
and audition ( ears). As such vision and audition sensory modalities are important in cognitive
studies

Visual perception

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This is the use of our visual sense (eyes) to get information we process and respond to it. Our
visual perception is based on both bottom up and top down process. From the bottom up process,
the light from the stimuli in the environment creates an object in our retina to reflect the properties
of the object that we see e.g. a moving car, a barking dog or a house.

The top down process is when we use our knowledge from previous experience to interpret what
we see e.g. the car is moving at a high speed which could be dangerous or the barking dog could
bite the stranger. According to Sternberg et al (2012) we do not perceive the world as we see it
through our vision. Instead our brains work on it to give it meaning and interpretation.

Perception of depth
An important aspect of perceptual processing is to locate objects in space. Perceptual depth refers
to making judgment about the distance of objects from our viewing points to where the objects
are. Knowing distance between you and the things in your environment is critical to information
encoding as it enables us to make reasonable decisions. Visual cues to depth are a consequence of
physiological process of visual system. These include
⮚ Accommodation which refers to change in the shape of eye’s ball lens with
changing distance from visual stimulus. This change provides information about
depth.
⮚ The second cue is convergence: the degrees to which two eyes turn inward each
other when brought to fixation. When looking at stimulus that is close our eyes turn
inward quite a lot but to a lesser extend when objects are not close. In combination
with accommodation convergence gives reasonably accurate information about the
depth of relatively close objects
⮚ A third cue is retinal disparity; which refers to the differing views of the scene
offered by each retina; fusion of this images leads to stereopsis or 3-dimensional
division
⮚ Notably however, not all depth perceptions rely on all cues.
Monocular cues for example refers to environmental depth cues that require use of one eye;
This include
⮚ Interposition: overlapping objects

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 ⮚ Relative size (two objects with one appearing smaller, the smaller object is
perceived to be further.
⮚ We also have a number of environmental cues that fall under perspective
cues to depth or those that arise from changes of information received e.g.
linear perspective in which two parallel lines seemingly converge; texture
gradient which refers to variation in perceived texture that occur as we move
closer and further; aerial perspective ; which refers to the way light scatters
making objects appear hazy and unclear- and shading cues which enables as
to perceive depth. Two dimensional objects do not cast shadows)
⮚ Environmental cue is unique in that it only provides depth when we are in
motion, as you pass them or as they pass you.

Visual perception
Our visual perception can be said to be constructed or interpreted. Constructed perception entails
our active involvement in what falls on our retina. We use both bottom up (sensory information
we receive from environment ) and top down process which is about our past experience. This
view emphasizes the role of top down factors (expectation, knowledge and context) in perception.

Perception can also be direct

● According to this view what we perceive about our visual environment is picked up
directly from the environment and is not always interpreted. This is referred to as direct
perception. Accordingly the sensory information is sufficient to accurately perceive and
move about in the environment
● This is described as ecological approach to perception because it emphasizes perception
as it occurs in really world rather than contrived perceptual displays

Sensory memory

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● Our sensory memory plays a crucial role in our visual perception. According to Atkinson
&Shaffrin, (1968) incoming information is briefly held and processed by sensory store or
sensory memory.
● From there the sensory memory, information is passed on to short term memory an
information buffer in which incoming information is identified and held for further processing
● From the short term memory information moves to long term memory which is made up of
everything we know about our lives

Retrivial

Rehearsal

Sensory store Short term store Long term

External world store

Visual sensory memory

● The processing buffer in which we initially take in and briefly store information has been
termed as visual sensory memory, or iconic memory
● An icon is a visual image or symbol
● Iconic memory is a fleeting image of the stimulus that was just presented but is no longer
present
● Iconic memory is important in integrating what one sees from one eye fixation to the
subsequent one
● The iconic memory holds information for a brief time and decays with time
Auditory perception
Sound Localization

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● Our ability to localize sound is an important aspect of auditory perception and might be
considered analog to depth of perception.
● We need to know the direction where the sound is coming from to be able to make the right
decision
● Unlike the vision, there is no information inherent in the stimulus that itself that allows us to
put in sound in space
● Sound localization critically depends on the fact that we have two ears which functions on
inter-aural time difference (ITD) the discrepancy of time of arrival of sound at each ear. The
greater the discrepancy the easier it is to localize the sound
● A second source of information is the inter-aural intensity differences (IID) that ear.) the
difference of sound intensity as it enters each ear. Greater intensity in one ear indicates that the
sound is closer to
● For low frequency sounds localization depends on ITD while for higher frequency sounds
localization depends on IID
● Most sounds involve a mixture of frequencies hence both cues are important in just about every
situation.

Auditory sensory memory

● This is a processing buffer in which we initially take in and briefly store auditory
information has been termed auditory sensory memory or echoic memory
● The importance of echoic because the nature of speech is transient, hence echo seems
needed if we are to hang on the stimulus

Other senses used in perception

Together with the visual and auditory senses we have the sense of touch (Somethesis) , taste (
gustation) and smell (olfaction)

Somesthesis

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Somesthesis or Touch is another important aspect of cognition. We learn a lot about our world
through touch . A study by Faldowski, Rao and Young (1993) revealed that that there are three
fundamental dimensions of touch perception. These are roughness/smoothness; hardness/softness
and sponginess

Touch can also be active or passive. A passive touch / somesthesis may occur out of our conscious.
It is not deliberate and most of the time there is no further exploration. Through passive touch we
gather basic information about stimulus impinging on our skin receptors. The factors that affect
our ability to sense through passive touch (tactile acquity) include the cortile area devoted to
somesthesis in different regions of the body. Some parts of our body are more sensitive hence in
touch is detected e.g. the face is very sensitive while your upper arm is less sensitive. Therefore
if there is any somethesis on our face we will quickly notice

On the other hand an active touch involves information from kinesthetic sense (the ability to sense
position and movements of one’s body parts) to information gathered from passive touch. The
acuity (our keenness) of somestheis is also affected by the activity related to touch.

More information is picked from active touch. The relatively simple information gathered from
skin senses with information gained through hand position and movement is termed haptics,
perception about touch is informed by what we receive from senses and past experience. The
sense of touch is important in our lives. However given our incredible proficiency as visual
perceivers we fail to notice how much information is available through touch. For example,
through somethesis , hepatic sensing provides useful distinct information e.g. through exploratory
procedures (EPs) motor patterns performed by hands in haptic glance provides useful information
for our perception.

Klatzky, Lederman &Metzger (1985) identified six exploratory procedures. These include
⮚ Static contact ; used to ascertain temperature in an object
⮚ Unsupported lifting; used to ascertain information on weight
⮚ Lateral motion; information about texture

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 ⮚ Pressure; extract information about hardness
⮚ Contour following; extract information about shape
⮚ Enclosure; information about size of the object
According to Lederman &Klatzky (1990) hepatic exploration proceeds in an orderly manner

Chemosenses
Cognitive correlates of gustation( taste) olfaction( smell), sometimes collectively referred to as
chemosenses. Chemo senses are important in our daily information processing

Gustation
Taste is an important aspect of our life. We are able to perceive different flavours through taste.
Taste involves a complex interaction among the basic categories The basic tastes combine with a
number of other factors to produce perception of flavor. Flavour includes the combination of four
basic tastes which include; salty, sweet, bitter and sour and savory. These basic flavor along with
other factors such as smell , texture and temperature to inform our perception

Olfaction
There is tremendous variation in people’s sensitivity to smell and their ability to discriminate
different smells as well as their ability to recognize and label a given smell (Lawless , 1997).
Some people are more sensitive to smell than others . However, for reasons not known yet women
are better at labeling smells. A sense of smell is important in our lives as we are able to make
important decisions in our lives

Interactive Effects in perception

There is a high degree of interrelatedness among cognitive processes, for example what we see
affects what we hear. In addition the same sensory stimuli can be experienced in more than one
modality leading to sysnesthesia (different experiences from one sensory modality).

For example, in Vision and audition a great deal of information involves the joint intake between
visual and auditory stimuli. That is to say that what we see may influence how we interpret what
we hear.

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Similarly , vision and touch allow us to gather richly elaborated information about objects in the
environment. However, vision exerts undue influence at times causing conflict.

Synethesia is the term used to describe an experience in which input from one sensory system
produces an experience not only in that modality but in another as well. For example, what you
see may influence what you hear.

Interaction with experiences and context

As we experience and describe our perceptions we build our abstract network of concepts that
applies to these experiences and with further experiences some of this concepts become highly
associated. Towards this end , sometimes the top-down processing leads to speed and efficiency
but at times this is at the cost of perceptual accuracy. For example when we have experience in
a certain area, we fail to be critical about the information we receive from our senses leading to
poor perception. It is common to find students who are good in a subject area to perform poorly
because they did not read the instructions well because they assumed that they know.
////////////////////////////////

Perceptual grouping/ organization

A vital characteristic of perception process is tendency to segregate and group things to create
orderly pattern. Gestalt psychologist pioneered in the work of how we group elements of our
environment. They sought to explain the process underlying perceptual and mental organization.

They came up with principles that underlie perceptual process. These principles account for most
of the order we see in our visual environment. . These principles are believed to be the cornerstone
of perception.

The most fundamental principle is the figure –ground which refers to our tendency to segregate
visual scenes into background and a figure that appears to be superimposed against it.
Several cues allow as to recognize figure from the ground. Regions picked up from the fore tend
to be smaller and have more symmetrical than regions designated as background.

https://www.usertesting.com/resources/topics/gestalt-principles

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Other principles include:
● The principle is proximity; which refers to tendency for objects that are near one another
● The principle of similarity is the other one
● The principle of good continuation which refers to tendency to perceive lines as flowing
naturally in single direction
● Principle of closure which refers to the tendency to close the incomplete perceptually
connecting contours that are almost but not quite connected
● The principle of common fate which refers to tendency to group elements together if they
are moving in the same direction
● The principle of uniform connectedness which refers the tendency to group elements that
are connected in some way.
● Common region which refers to grouping elements that seem to a common designated area

Although gestalt principles are demonstrated with visual examples, they still play an important
part in auditory perceptions. According to Bregman (1990) gestalt principles play an important
role in analyzing auditory scenes e.g. we are able to group sound in music according to instruments,
pitch or timbre , group taste as either sweet sour, bitter e.t.c and we also group surfaces to smooth
or rough.

Gastalt principles explain the orderliness that we often see in our environment and are used by
individuals, groups and organization for different functions. For example the principle of
uniformity is used by many organizations for identification which facilitates control of the group.
For example a school uniform helps in identification of students and also serves as an easy way of
monitoring students. Football players wear uniform that helps in identity which makes it easy for
them to play along their team and defeat the opponent. The principles of similarity enable business
communities to group items in the shop making it look neat orderly and easy for customers to pick
what they wish to buy. Similarly in or kitchens we group items according to similarity. The
principle of good continuation is applied by security organizations, and schools in parades . In
general the gestalt principles of grouping apply in all spheres of life.

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Global procedures
When we look at items in our environment e.g a painting, we tend to blend elements into an
integrated whole. The gestalt proposal that whole is greater than the sum of its part view perception
( and thinking in general) as a process of apprehending whole configuration or relationships and
this apprehension is more than just the sum of a group of independent sensations and thoughts..
Accordingly in our perception we first perceive the whole item before we start analyzing its part.
For example, when you walk into a shop to buy a dress, or a key board, you will be attracted to the
overall look before you start analyzing the individual details of its features.

Gestalts view apprehending wholes as a natural tendency of our perceptual system and as such is
done fairly easily and automatically. The global features are registered first followed by systematic
analysis of the local features.

The global features represent the visual primitive in that they are registered automatically without
higher level interpretation or analysis. To analyze, an object for accurate perception we need more
information. This has the implication that we are likely to make inaccurate perception if we just
perceive things in our environment based on a global view. We should always endeavor to receive
as much information as possible for accurate perception

Lesson SIX: Attending to information

Attention is one of the processes that make up the whole process of perception. Attention can thus
be seen as the gateway that allows information to be processed for action. According to Riegler,
and Riegler, (`2004), attention might also be seen as a reservoir of mental resources that we can
draw on to accomplish our daily thinking tasks. Information on which we choose to focus on our
attention is further analyzed by our working memory to enable us respond appropriately.

Attention has two notable features.

One feature is that- attention is voluntary control of how we deal with incoming information. This
feature is basis for conceptualization of attention as gateway into working memory. We can choose

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what we want to attend to thus leading to further analysis for comprehension of information we
receive.
The second feature is that the attention is limited in capacity. We cannot monitor all events in
the environment; neither can we pay attention for ever. There is a limit on events or things we can
pay attention to in our environment and there is also a limit on how long we can remain attentive.
The notion of limited capacity serves the basis of conceptualizing attention as a reservoir of mental
process. There is a limit to attention resources we have to devote to performing tasks. When dealing
with multiple streams of information we have two choices; we can engage in selective attention or
engage in divided attention.
Theories of attention
Theories of attention attempt to explain how cognitive systems operate under conditions of
potential sensory overload. One of theory that has been proposed is one that views attention as a
gateway or filtering mechanism that allows some information to come into conscious awareness
while keeping other information out.
One of the first theories view attention as a gateway of information is the early selection theory
Accordingly, multiple streams of information make their way to our sensory memory. The initial
processing encodes each source of information in terms of its physical characteristics. At this point
sources are filtered based on this information and only one source is selected for further processing
(identification and manipulation of working memory. For example, when there is music and at the
same time you are talking to a friend, you may select to listen to what a friend is saying rather
than rendition from the music. Similarly, if you do not want to listen to what your friend is saying
you could choose to listen to the rendition in the music.It is referred to as early selection because
selection process whereby we have designated information for further processing is selected early.
However early selection theory is problematic in the sense that people can attend to more than one
source.

Attenuation Theory
The attenuation theory was proposed by Treisman (1960). Attenuation theory is essentially a
slight modification of early selection theories. According to this theory unattended information is
not completely blocked from further analysis beyond sensory memory rather it is attenuated or
turned down. Thus the early filtering of information is not complete, it is partial, hence we may
still get to process some unattended information. Unattended information although weak can make

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its way to working memory. Riesman as cited by Riegler&Riegler,(2004) proposed that some
words in our mental dictionary are permanently more available than others because of their
personal importance. Similarly some words are temporarily more available due to a current
circumstances

Late selection theories

According to this theory all incoming information (attended and unattended makes it past the
sensory and enters working memory for identification. After identification only selected piece
enjoys further cognitive processing. Non selected information is quickly forgotten due to limited
capacity of working memory. The late selection easily accounts for identification of unattended
message.Attention according to late selection theory is limited and this limitation operates at a late
stage. Hence although all incoming information is identified we cannot reason about the respond
to or remember all of it. Notably, attenuation and late selection theory share similarities because
both theories make prediction about allowing for identification of unattended information.
However, in the Attenuation theory, identification of unattended information is the exception
rather than the rule. This means that not all the unattended to information is further processed.
Whether information is identified depends on the context of the exact nature of the information.
On the other hand late selection theory argues that the identification of meanings is the rule rather
than exception. That means even if we are not paying attention we still make meaning out of the
information we receive.

Attention as capacity
According to capacity theory attention is limited and must be allocated according to the particular
demands of a situation. Some tasks require more of attentional budget leaving less attention for
the performance of others. For example, if you are working out a mathematical problem, you may
need to pay more attention to the calculations than listen to the sweet story from your friend.
According to Kahnemann (1973), a cognitive mechanism involved in attention involves central
processor which allocates our mental resources. The resources are allocated according to the
demand put on cognition. However, under limited resources allocation policy to distribute
resources is employed. This depends on three factors i.e.
● the capacity available in relation to the mental tasks under consideration

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 ● enduring disposition such as personality habit or long term goals and momentary
intentions that is immediate relevance of the stimuli
● our moods,

The three factors combine to determine what the central processor will notices

It is also important to not that it is easier pay attention from two different modalities than attending
to two tasks from same sensory modality e.g. driving as you speak. Driving requires more of visual
perception while speaking or listening to music is more auditory. Paying attention to different
tasks in the same modality is difficult e.g. driving and reading where visual perception is required.
Accordingly tasks interfere to a degree that makes it hard to tap into the same pool resources
(mental image at hand). With different tasks using different sensory processing we could attend to
both types of information. Another factor that determines whether we are able to attend to more
than one task is how difficult the task is

Multimode theory of attention (divided attention)

Multimodal theory suggests that people can be able to pay attention to several tasks. This made
possible because of flexibility in that people can shift from early modes of attention ( processing
only the physical characteristics to late modes processing which involves meaning of the incoming
stimuli. Given that we have voluntary control over how we deal with in coming information we
are capable of determining the basis on which we select information for further processing

However attending in these modes has some cost. More mental capacity is required for information
processing more . In addition, divided attention could lead to some lapses leading to inaccurate
information

Effects of practice
There is evidence that we are able to extend the upper limit of our attention capacity with some
practice. Spelke , Hirst and Neisser (1976) found that with practice people get better. Shiffrin &
Schneider (1977) argued that practice improves people’s ability to perform more than one task
because the skills of one of the task becomes nautomated- they become so well learned that they

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are performed automatically without requiring conscious attention. We can attend to more than
one task if one of them becomes habitual

Automaticity
Develops as a result of extensive practice. After years of repeatedly engaging in a set of process
such as driving, the process occurs with little mental effort. Posner &Synder (1975) note three
features of automaticity which are
⮚ They occur without intention ; they seem to be obligatory
⮚ Automatic process are not open to conscious awareness (you don’t reflect on
automatic process
⮚ Automatic process consumes very little in way of mental resources.
Logan (1988) observed that practice results in different skills involved in performing tasks being
welded together into a single unit ( the more we practice the more elements of the task are chunked
together into larger units.Cheng (1985) argued that practice produces automatization.
Automatization enables us to
⮚ work more quickly and efficiently and
⮚ makes us able to share attention between tasks
Automatization also has disadvantages, it leads to action slips i.e. making mistakes in what we do,
● Action slips occur in the absence of attention (absentmindedness)
● This could lead to activation error(going to do something and you forget what it was you
wanted to do)
● It could also lead to description era (incomplete description of what you want to do
● Data driven era is the other blunder that can occur, as a result of automation ( external event
cause inappropriate activation leading to unwanted behaviour
● It can also lead to capture error( an event that share some similarity with the other leading
to wrong action.
● Automated actions are controlled by memory structures called schemas (an organized body
of knowledge that guides motor activities. Each schema is assumed to cover only a limited
range of knowledge

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Lecture summary

LESSON SEVEN: Memory;

Memory is the faculty of cognition by which we encode, store and retrieve information (Atkinson
& Shiffrin, 1968). Memory is an important aspect in our life as it enables us to carry out our daily
activities and navigate our environment. Without memory it would be difficult to operate. You
would require a lot of mental resources to function in the world. In fact if you do not have memory,
you cannot learn, we could not learn or develop language, relationships, nor personal identity
(Eysenck, 2012).

Memory is an informational processing system with explicit and implicit functioning. Explicit
memory is intentional and it is about purposeful intention of storage and retrieval of information.

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Under explicit memory is the semantic and episodic memory. It is the conscious storage of
information. The implicit memory is unintentional and it refers to unconscious storage of
information. An example would be learning unconsciously or procedural memory.

The memory processor has three different components. These are

● Sensory processor
● Short term or working memory
● Long term memory

Sensory Memory

Our sense are responsible for receiving and storing information just long enough to allow the
information to move to the short term memory. We have five senses that that allow individuals to
retain information after the stimuli that we have interacted with disappear. These include;

● Sense of sight- iconic memory

● Sense of hearing – echoic memory
● Sense of touch- haptic Memory
● Sense of smell – olfactory memory
● Sense of taste- Gustatory memory

According to Atkinson &Shaffrin, (1968) incoming information is briefly held and processed by
sensory store or sensory memory. From there the information is past on to short term memory an
information buffer in which incoming information is identified and held for further processing

Short term memory

Cowan (2008) defines short term memory faculties of the human mind that can hold a limited
amount of information in a very accessible state temporarily. Riegler and Riegler (2004) on the
other hand describes Short term memory as the set of process that we use to hold and rehearse
information that occupies our current awareness. The short term memory has also been described
as the working memory. Through rehearsal information from the short term memory is transferred
to the long term memory

Characteristics of short term memory

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● Short term memory has limited duration. That means that the information received from our
sensory lasts for a very short time basically for seconds.
● It also have limited capacity and this is tested through memory span. STM can only keep only
so much of information i.e. 7+/- 2items
Based on the characteristics short term memory can be very limiting. However, we can increase
the capacity of short term memory through chunking

Chunking in STM
Although STM is limited, we can increase the capacity by combining information into larger
components through the process of chunking or recoding (translate information in to more
manageable forms. For example, to remember a long a telephone number e.g 00254723444 222
which has more than 9 numbers we could chunk the numbers as 00254 72344 4222. We could
also translate information in a manageable e.g use of acronyms e.g Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome as AIDS

Our ability to chunk or recode information is affected by a number of variables. If there are many
variables we may not accurately remember. In addition because STM has brief duration, the rate
of presentation can be a limiting factor in chunking
⮚ Recoding is also affected by knowledge base
⮚ Expertise in a given domain
Effects of word length
● Short term memory seems not only to be limited by the items but by the duration it
takes to recode the set of items
● The longer one takes to recode information e.g. word lengths. The longer the words the
more difficult they are to be remembered
Encoding in short term memory
Encoding refers to the process of acquisition of material to the memory. Using our senses, we
encode information from the outside world Auditory channel is dominant form of encoding in
STM. This has the implication that is we hear information as it is being rehearsed in our inner
voices. Researchers have used experiment on phonological similarity to demonstrate that more
information is encoded through echoic senses. Accordingly, similar sounding items are more

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difficult to remember than a list of different sounding words ( see Riegler&Riegler, 2004).
Therefore STM depends on the characteristic of pronunciation.

Notably however, the coding in STM is not limited to auditory coding, there is evidence that visual
coding also takes place in STM. Visual coding is an important form of representation and
processing in STM. He processing material in our conscious awareness also allow for visual
coding. Imagine that you are taking a trip to the market, do you always rehearse the name of the
market or the visualization of the of the direction of the market? Lori-Meier &Halpen (1999)
observes that the ability for simultaneously maintain representation of Visual/spatial information
as well as well as what objects would look like when viewed from another perspective is critical
in manyfields. For example, in art and design, the artists must visualize the design they want to
make, they do not rehearse verbally. Equally forarchitectures it is perhaps the visual images that
are at play in their working memory other than the sounds of the processes of the procedures that
they use. Processing in STM can be conceptualized in four components
● This include ;
⮚ Image generation bringing an image from LTM to STM
⮚ Image maintaining (holding Image for sometime
⮚ Image scanning- searching the image being held in STM
⮚ Image transformation
These components allows us to hold visual images in our short term memory

FORGETTING IN STM
As discussed STM is limited in capacity and duration, as a result one of the most obvious
characteristic of STM is quick loss of information. This is attributed to several factors which
include

● Decay
This refers to loss of information due to time passage.
● Interference;

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 this refers to presentation of new material while still processing the older materials.
Interference can occur in one or two basic patterns. When earlier information interferes with
ability to retain information that comes later it is called proactive interference.
Where later information interferes with the ability to retain the information that occurred
earlier, it is termed retroactive. Interference may have damaging effect because it makes the
storage of information difficult through displacement or overwriting. Interference as a result
of overwriting is more likely when the information being presented has some similarities. This
causes confusion. The interference may also make retrieval exercise difficult

A modular approach to STM

The research in STM has revealed several models in STM. The most popular is the working
memory
Working memory is a number of closely interacting subsystems that combine to sub serve a host
of higher level mental processing including language comprehension, problem solving and
reasoning among others. Two of the subsystems incorporate notions of auditory (articulatory
loop) and visual (visuo spatial sketchpad) coding in STM. The third component serves (the central
executive) serves as the boss in STM supervising the operation of the other subsystems and
carrying out important duties of its own.

Central executive
Comprehension
Reasoning
Problem solving

Articulatory loop Visual spatial sketchpad

Sub-vocal rehearsal Imagery
Spatial reasoning
Phonological storage
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The articulatory Loop
Information in the short term memory can be held temporarily in active form based on audition.
This is accomplished by articulatory loop. Articulatory loop is made up of two sub components,
phonological store that holds information temporarily and articulatory process referred to as the
vocal rehearsal mechanism used to rehearse information. The phonological loop deals with sound
or phonological information. Phonological traces are prone to rapid decay.Acoustic rehearsal also
known as articulatory rehearsal component helps revive the memory traces.Articulation requires
the coordination of various motor movement to produce the basic units of communication system
where those units are sound or hand movements as in sign language . This means that although
audition is dominant in STM other forms of articulation also exists in working memory

There are five features that support articulatory loop. These are
● The effects of phonology on remembering. Words with phonological similarity are
difficult to remember
● Articulatory suppression: Memory for verbal material is impaired when people are
asked to say something irrelevant. This is associated with difficult in rehearsal. People
are not able to rehearse irrelevant material
● Transfer of information: Information presented in visual is transferred to an auditory
code to allow sub-vocal rehearsal
● Neuropsychological evidence:A defective phonological store explains the behavior of
patients with a specific deficit in phonological short-term memory. For example
Aphasic patients with developmental verbal dyspraxia are unable to set up the
speech motor codes necessary for articulation caused by a deficiency of the
articulatory rehearsal process.
● On the other hand, patients with dysartria whose speech problems are secondary

Visuo- spatial sketchpad

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Visual according to Baddley also takes place in working memory. Baddley (1986) proposed
corresponding system within the short term memory. He termed it visuo-sketchpad. This
component of Working Memory is responsible for storage and manipulation of visual and spatial
information. The visuo sketchpad seems to operate independently of other system such as
articulatory loop.In other words the visuo sketch pad encoding and articulatory coding do not
interfere with one another

The central executive

This is the third component of Working Memory. The central executive is the capacity allocator
for attentional systems. When a particular task demands extensive involvement central executive
deploys necessary. The central executive is also thought to be involved in higher level of thought
process such as reasoning and language comprehension.Because the capacity of attentional is
limited , the executive only has so much. If the task is so demanding the central executive will be
drained and complex thinking will suffer
Summary of working memory
Working Memory is characterized by limited capacity. Chunking is the method that can help
increase the capacity of short term/working memory. The main mode of coding phonological and
is prone to rapid decay. Acoustic rehearsal helps revive the memory trace The WM represents
the immediate as dynamic set of process not only for storage but also for manipulation and
consideration. Working Memory is extremely important and serves as assort of foundation for
more complex tasks such as language and reasoning

Long term Memory

Encoding and Retrieval process in long term Memory

As we highlighted memory serves as the cornerstone of cognition, informing and assisting every
process in our cognition. Working memory is critical for processing of incoming information
especially when carrying out tasks, but as argued, it is very limited in capacity and duration. This
means that it is impossible to use the short term memory a lone for our cognitive process. Long

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term memory is the other component of memory that is crucial for our cognitive processes. Long
term memory has a huge capacity to store information and can store information for a long time.

Long term memory forms the data base for pattern recognition, language, problem solving,
reasoning, creative thinking and decision making. This is important cognitive tasks in our daily
lives. For example, for us to solve problems we need previous information that is relevant to
combine with the current information to effectively solve problems. Procedures used in addressing
various problems need to build on previous experience. Similarly, recognition of patterns, things
in our environment and even people is based on memory. Therefore without long term memory
life would come to a standstill.

Long term memory is also important from a personal stand point, it houses our autobiographies,
the personal histories that give us a sense of identity and place in the world.

COMPONENTS OF LONG TERM MEMORY

Long term memory is made up of different sections that store information. There are different
subsections of the long term memory that are responsible for different types of memory. However,
from a broader perspective there are two types of memory. These are explicit and implicit memory
Explicit memory (declarative memory)
This refers to memories that are consciously available such as information you use in examination,
remembering events at a party, meaning of words or knowledge on animals within the
environment e.t.c. Explicit memory is deliberate and we draw on it to carry out many activities in
our daily lives. Explicit memory has three major subdivisions. These are;
● Episodic memory
● Semantic memory
● Autobiographical memory

Episodic memory:
Episodic memory refers to memory for personally experienced eventsin time as well as supporting
their information and retrieval. An example of episodic memory is remembering about a party you
attended, a sports events in your campus or an attack by gangsters. Episodic memory is typically

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associated with a recollection of strong feelings. Episodic memories often include an affective
(emotional) component (Tulving 1983). This has been found to affect encoding. For example, if
you find yourself in a very fearful event such as an attack from gangsters, you may not encode all
aspects of the event due to fear. Similarly when you are too happy you may over look certain
information and focus only on the information that you enjoy. Towards this end, episodic memory
has been found to be vulnerable to forgetting.

Semantic memory

Semantic memory refers to knowledge of information about the world such as meaning of words
and items in the world. Unlike episodic memory, semantic memory is not characterized with strong
recollectivenes. Semantic memory is also resistant to forgetting. You can remember names of
people or places you learnt long time ago. You also can remember meanings of many words, or
things you learnt in primary schools

Autobiographical memory

This is memory about events and personal experiences from an individuals own life . The major
difference between episodic and autobiographical is that the later is highly self referenced.
Towards this end, autobiographical memories are as varied as people who make them. Many
factors affect the form and quality of autobiography. This include: ; include emotions,
developmental stages and the gender of cultural background of the rememberer. Researchers on
autobiographical memory identify three main patterns

⮚ There are few memories from earlier life almost none before the age of three (3
yrs) a phenomenon typically termed childhood amnesia
⮚ There is greater number of memories from age 10 - 30 a phenomenon termed
reminiscence bump

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 ⮚ There is a standard forgetting curve for information that occurs in the last 20 years.
Most of the information recalled by elders is for events that have happened
recently.
Functions of autobiographic memories
● Communicative function
A significant part of conversation we have with others is about our personal storiesreminiscence
bump. Autobiographic memory are powerful in this regard. Relating detailed autobiography also
allows us to connect emotionally with others in an intimate and immediate way
Emotional function
According to Palmer (1998) autobiographic memory serves an important function in that it helps
us to organize, reflect on and think through important life events. Most approaches in
psychotherapy emphasize on connection between ones personal memories and psychological
functioning. The inability of many depressives to recall the specifics of memories deters their
ability to solve current problems and to imagine a better future. According to Herman , (1992)
recounting ones personal memories of trauma in details is critical for recovery
Directive Function
According to Palmer (1998), directive function of autobiographic memory can help direct future
behaviours.Lessons learnt from previous experience are crucial in the future events even if when
all details are not remembered

Implicit memory

Implicit memory also referred to as procedural memory is the memory about the use
of objects or body parts to carry out a task. This memory is considered nondeclaration
because it occurs out of our conscious. Implicit memory is remembering information without
conscious awareness. Schecter (1996) and other researchers suggest that implicit memory may use
information based on previous experience but without realizing that you had interacted with the
information before. For example you might be describing something to a friend with a thought that
it is a new idea before you learn that it was not a new idea. Barrios (1995) on the other hand views
implicit memory to be understood in terms of cues. Accordingly, he argues that in coding

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specificity principle, some pieces of memory get activated by a cue but the entire memory is not
retrieved. Instead one is is left with a feeling of familiarity that cannot be readily explained.
Implicit memory is typical measured in terms of priming or benefit in performance from previous
exposure to the word

Encoding, storage and retrieval in the Long term memory

The process of remembering and application of information from the long term memory can be
viewed as a descriptive framework hat encompasses three aspects which are: encoding , storage
and retrieval. Melton (1963) suggested that the process of remembering can be characterized in
terms of the three stages : encoding , storage and retrieval
Encoding
You will recall that our five senses are the gates through which we receive from the stimuli in
our world. The information is transmitted chemically to a brains and via the short term memory
and further processing the information is coded in the long term memory. The main mode of
encoding information in the long term memory semantic (Meaning) coding. We try to make
meaning of the words, the images, sounds and smells e.t.c to enable us remember for a long time.
However, other than meaning, visual , acoustic as well as other mode e.g. feeling smell and taste

Storage in the long term memory

Storage of information involves formation of some types of memory representation or memory
traces. It will be recalled that there are different subdivisions responsible for storing different types
of memories. Towards this end, processing in the long term memory entails sorting to allow storage
of information in appropriate sections.

Retrieval

Retrieval refers to your ability to get something out of the memory once it has been encoded and
stored. It is the ability to recall information stored in memory.
Remembering in the Long term Memory
The three aspects of memory, work together to enable remembering of information. Remembering
depends critically on interaction between encoding, and retrieval; that is to suggest that encoding
factors influence memory. Our ability to remember depends on what we do to the incoming

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information. There are several encoding factors that might affect our ability to remember.These
include
Attention;
Attention is the gate way of conscious processing. You are likely to call something to which you
paid attention Attention leads to longer lasting and more retrieval memory trace. Focused attention
is necessary for explicit and recollection of events

Repetition ;
Material that is presented more than once is easier to remember. However, the mode of repetition
will also affect remembering. As students we can try to repeat information learnt in class through
massed practice or distributed practice. Massed repetition refers to repeated representation that
occur closely together in time .An example of massed practice is when wait until the last week of
the semester and start revising in all units learnt. Distributed repetition refers to presentations
spread over time. For example as student you may programme yourself to revise every week
through out the semester.

The distributed repletion has advantages over massed repetition as a result of spacing effects.
Massed repetition suffers from deficient processing view (in second representation one does not
pay attention required. Similarly from the encoding variability view , under massed condition
there is little amount of time between presentations hence the corresponding memory
representation will be similar and relatively indiscriminable.
Rehearsal;
Rehearsal is closely linked to repetition but they are different. Repetition refers to the fact that an
item is presented more than once, while rehearsal refers to how that item is thought about
internally. It refers to applying a label to any active processing that keeps information available
in consciousness such that the information can immediately and accurately be recalled . It refers
to deeper processing that enables accurate maintenance of information. Rehearsal is necessary
for remembering as it leads to improved ability to recognize information. However successful
recognition depends on the degree to which you have thoroughly processed individual item while
recall depends more on marking associations the would be remembered items.A better alternative
to maintaining rehearsal is elaborative rehearsal. This involves thinking about the meaning of the

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information that is to be remembered as well as making association from that information to the
information already stored in your memory
Levels of processing
The notion of memory depends on how information is processed at encoding. Craik & Lockhart
cited by Riegler&Riegler, (2004)observed that the level of processing
is a critical determinant of whether information will be remembered. Accordingly, analysis of
incoming information proceeds from shallow and superficial analysis of the structural features
to more deep and thorough analysis of meaning. Information processed to a deep level will be
easily remembered than that that which is shallow (Riegler&Riegler, 2004).
Organization
Memory also depends on the degree to which events are organized or structured .
The degree to which incoming information is structured exerts powerful effects on memory.
Strategic organization for example which refers to , deliberately imposing structure in incoming
information can be a powerful determinant of effective encoding. This could involve chunking
by grouping items with similar meaning to aid our memory. For example we could group plants
as monocotyledons or fruits for easy remembering

Distinctive encoding
Distinctiveness refers to the degree to which an event contrasts with other events in the
surrounding. The classic the effect of distinctiveness on memory the Von Restorff phenomenon
demonstrates that isolated item is well remembered. In learning institutions learners could use
different color for the key words they wish to remember in a lesson

Visual encoding
Visual coding is another factor that has powerful effect on memory . Information that is coded in
pictorial form or imaging tends to be remembered well. The picture superiority effect is thought
to benefit from the dual code theory. According to this theory there are two systems of encoding
that is verbal which includes symbolic codes and imaginable and includes symbolic codes that
corresponds to the actual physical objects. Concrete concepts and concepts presented in the picture
are encoded into both systems while abstract information is encoded in a single mode.
Retrieval process from LTM

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Successful encoding and storage of information is necessary but not sufficient guarantee later
memory. Remembering also involves retrieval whereby we gain access to encoded material. The
effectiveness of retrieval depends on effectiveness of encoding and storage.Information encoded
in our memory may be available yet we are unable to recall.Accessibility to information available
in our memory depends on appropriate reminders .The reminders or rather cues aid us to get
material from memory. In essence, remembering depends on the amount of overlap between what
is happening at retrieval and what happened at encoding. Encoding specifity is important for
remembering. The implication is that the appropriate retrieval cues that are determined by what
happened at encoding are important for retrieval of information from the long term memory
Retrieval: An effective Encoding strategy
Retrieval is necessary to demonstrate that information has been effectively encoded
However, retrievalcan be utilized to enhance your ability to retrieve information at a later point
in time . That means that while you are studying the material you need to remember it is important
to periodically attempt to retrieve the information you are trying encode. In other words test your
ability to recall information as you practice. Testing effect indicates the periodical retrieval of to
be remembered information during acquisition is more beneficial for later retention

Memory Improvement
● Improving memory is hard mental tasks and requires application of basic principles such as
attention, organization, elaboration and imageryAnother way of improving memory is through
memory aids . This could be internal memory aids or external memory aids
● Internal memory aids refers to internal encoding strategies we employ to make information
more memorable and involve the practical application of encoding factors. For example, we
may want to remember cognitive psychology through encoding the processes that fall under
cognition.; we could remember a place based on the experiences we encountered at the place,
or we could remember someone based on our personal relationships with them. We could also
memorizes signs that help us remember places e.t.c.
● People also use external memory aids which are physical reminders we create in the external
environment.This may include notes, diaries or combining features of external and internal
memory aids.
Memory distortion

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Sometimes our memory is distorted and we cannot remember information when we need it. This
could be in an examination room, or in the house when looking for something you want to use.
Memory distortion is frustrating because we may not effectively accomplish what we want to do
because we have forgotten some or the entire information. There are several factors that lead to
distortion of information. These include

● Transience which refers the loss of information with passage of time.

● Absentmindedness which refers to the problem of the interface between attention and the
long term memory
● Blocking which is a failure in retrieval of information stored in the LTM
● Transience, absent mindedness and blocking are as a result of omission because we miss
out on some information in the process of retrieval

● Some distortion are a result of the presence of unwanted information or inaccurate

memories
● These includes misattribution which refers to memory ascribed to wrong sources
● Suggestibility which refers to one is led to a false recollection perhaps through leading
questions
● Biasness refers to influence of how we are- our beliefs, expectations and desires of what
we remember
● Persistence refers to continued unwanted automatic retrieval of the materials we could
just soon forgotten

Activity; Explain how biasness and blocking can lead to memory distortion

Eye Witness Memory

The accuracy of memory is critical in courtroom. Justice lies on reliability of testimony from eye
witness. If the testimony is not reliable. The innocent will be imprisoned. The guilty will go free.
Several factors affect eye witness recollection These include:
● Perceptual factors these refers to the quality of viewing conditions e.g. light levelsangle
of view, distance from the events
● Emotional stress: Our encoding of the event is also influenced by emotional arousal and
stress that are often a powerful component of witnessed events. E.g. Weapon focus can

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 make one to focus narrowly resulting in lack of peripheral details in the memory
representation. Christiansen (1992) arrives at a conclusion that emotional stress narrows
attention such that central details are processed in details at the expense of peripheral
details.
● Cross Racial identification this is between the race of the observer and the observed ,
people are better at recognizing faces of their own race
● Unconscious Transference; Previous exposure to someone either through a photo array
in police stations
● Misinformation effects: this refers to misleading information presented between
encoding of an event and the subsequent recall. The memory impairment view contends
that the original memory is inalterably affected with the presentation of misleading post
event information

Lecture Summary
Memory is important for our day to day operation. In this lecture, we have learnt that there are
three type of memory. The sensory memory which acts as a buffer before information is transferred
to the short term memory. The short term memory which is also our working memory. It is limited
in capacity and the duration in which it can hold information. The last is the long term memory
that has limitless capacity The long term memory has subdivisions that serve different purposes.
We have also learnt that all types of memory has three feature; encoding, storage and retrieval.
Our memory can be distorted but we can enhance and improve our memory.

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]

LESSON EIGHT: LANGUAGE

Language is an important aspect in our daily lives. Language the intricate master piece of
representation and process that allows to communicate our thoughts to others. Language is in many
ways culmination of all our cognitive process. It is also a means through which cognitive process
are revealed. Psychologists are interested in language and a cognitive process. Psychologist who
specialize in language are called Psycholinguists.
Linguistics and psycholinguistic
Psycho linguistic is similar to linguistics but differ in the sense that the former is interested in
social dynamics of language e.g. misperception or perceptions while the later is interested just in
the rules of the language. Cognition researchers investigate what could be termed as
psycholinguistics, the psychological process involved in using language as reflected in the varied
process such as speech perception to conversing politely. Psycholinguistics are also interested in
how we execute language abilities or linguistic performance
According to Goldenstein (2011) psycholinguistics are interested in
⮚ Comprehension: How people understand spoken and written language
⮚ Speech production: How people produce language which includes physical production of
speech and the mental process that occur in the process of creating speech

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 ⮚ Representation: How language is represented in the the mind and brain which includes
grouping of words in phrases to make meaning and their activation to the brain
⮚ Acquisition which is about how people learn language

The scope of psycholinguists is wide so we will only cover some aspects of this field.

Phonemes and Morphemes: the basic Elements of spoken language

Phonology refers to the analysis of the basic speech sounds. When you say a word you produce
sounds called phoneme e.g the word MAMA has phonemes of MA and Misunderstanding
language is an exercise in auditory perception pattern recognition. First sound must be registered
in auditory system ; and the sounds must be active representation of corresponding concepts in
semantic memory

Morphemes are the smallest units of language that have definable meaning. For example the work
“ book” contains the phonemes b-oo-k but only one morpheme because non- of the phonemes that
create the meaning, but all combined. The syllables a lone have no meaning. Morphemes are
complete words. Some words have more than one morpheme. For example a word bedroom has
tow morphemes; bed and room.Research indicates that both bottom up and top down processing
are involved in perceiving words and phonemes. Understanding speech relies on identification
of pattern based on components of data and extensive top down processing

Perceiving spoken phonemes and words

Language can be defined as a set of symbols and principles for combination of this symbols that
allows for communication and comprehension. The ability to read and understand is based on our
knowledge of the words we read and understanding rules that dictate how they can be combined.
Without following rules of combination, it is difficult to comprehend language For example ‘your
mother is coming’ are understood because you have followed the order of combination. The same
word ‘coming mother is’ may not make sense

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One characteristic of language is that everything to which we refer is symbolized by words. All
the words a person knows comprise of mental lexicon or mental dictionary. Our mental lexicon is
part of our semantic memory, the general knowledge store..presentation of words is not just the
meaning but also the sound, its written form and the roles it can take in a sentence.\

Language has many features that enable us to make use of them. These include features such as
● Vocal auditory channel Auditory reception of voice message
● Rapid fading: Disappearing of message over time
● Broadcasting transmission: Hearing of message by anyone who is nearby and cares to listen
● Interchangeability: reproduction of linguistic message by the receiver
● Semanticity; Specific meaning of language words
● Productivity: Understanding by the listener unique information in the massage
● Reflectiveness: Thinking about what is communicated in words
● Arbitrariness : Little or no connection between linguistic symbols with what they mean
● Persuasion: Deceptive use of language among other.

Language is therefore not just symbols. Many features must be taken into consideration. All
features of the language are made possible because of our cognitive ability. For example we must
take into consideration the meanings of sound produced- semanticity to make sense of our world.
Meaning making is based on the ability of our cognition to integrate the incoming sound and the
previous experiences of the symbolic word to make appropriate interpretation, Similarly for
productivity of the language the listener must make sense of the symbolic words used. This
depends on their previous experience with the words in relation to incoming information which is
a cognitive process.

Language as a cognitive process is important in our lives. Use of language is pervasive in all
spheres of life . Use language to communicate our thoughts, emotions beliefse.t.c.
Languageenables us to carry out other cognitive tasks such as reasoning, problem solving and
decision making.

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Language has the power to transport us beyond the present place and moment.We can talk about
things in present, past and future. Language also allows for the displacement i.e. the creation of
alternative realities through deception. The flexibility of language is also evident in the design
feature of reflectiveness. We can also use language to reflect on language as well

The most important feature of language is productivity. Language is a means of communication

and therefore understanding of the information loaded in the words that are communicated to us is
important. It is through understanding the information that we can be able to act appropriately. For
example in an examination we must understand the meaning of the key words used to be able to
answer a question. When one is send to carry out a duty, they must be able to understand the
command. Productivity is the key aspects in creative thinking. We use our language to
communicate our ideas of what we have come up with a new creation. In essence in all spheres of
life productivity is crucial

Stages in language production

Language production involves several stages . Level (cited by Riegler&Riegler (2004) provides a
framework of language production that is based on four overlapping stages.
This include
● Conceptualizing: Conceptualizing means forming an abstract idea of what you want to say.
This has the implication that we always think and develop ideas of what we want to say before
we say
● The nest stage is planning. In this stage we engage in linguistic planning. Basically we
organize our thoughts in terms of the words we want to use to present our ideas
● The third step is articulating the linguistic plan which is basically expressing our ideas
● The forth step is self monitoring which is about keeping track of what we are saying and
whether the message has been communicated including the tone we use in communication

These four steps are considered as basic steps in language communication.

Language in social context

Language involves use of words and rules in spontaneous interaction with others. Language is
perhaps the most cognitive process employed in the social world. In a social gathering for
example, we use intentional words depending on our interest. For example if you are invited to

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make a presentation on parenting styles you will intentionally select your words based on this
topic. Accordingly, Riegler& and Riegler (2004) argue that language is a social activity and it
involves intentional and referential communication between at least two people.

Language from its social context is also what is used in learning cultural specific information.
Based on language people are able to be socialized in various culture. In conversation, language
is the key thing that structure it. Basically in all social activities including learning in school,
language is the key feature. Sign language is used where people have language impairment. has
also been used to demonstrate this aspect of language.

Language is also context related. This means that context dictates the appropriateness of language
used.
Language modular
Chomsky’s contention that human language is unique, species –specific ability relates to the
philosophical issue regarding the nature of the language. Some theorist including Chomsky (1975)
believed that language to be modular in function. Modular view holds that language is made up
of unique sets of abilities and capacities that cannot separate from other cognitive process. Towards
this end Chomsky cited by Riegler and Riegler, (2004)argue that language cannot be reduced to
be explained solely in terms of other cognitive processes.. Language is special and language is
species specific ( only human posses the module) it is and innate (module is present from birth)

On the other hand the non-modular view contends that language perception, production and
comprehension are the joint product of cognitive process.

Processing of Written word

Perceiving written words is also influenced by bottom up and top down processing. To understand
written words we must read. Reading is enabled through saccades which refers to our eye discrete
movement that our eyes make when reading. The other aspect is fixation. When our eyes are
moving we seem to take in little or no visual information. This is referred to saccadic suppression.
Our eyes must come to fixation to enable us to take in information. The fixations thus occur in

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between saccades to enable us perceive word. The length of fixation depends on the reading task .
In difficult tasks we may spent longer time . Consecutive fixation in the same spot is referred to as
gazes.

Word recognition is determined by orthography which is direct access view to semantics. This has
the implication that memory representation of how words are spelt help us recognize the word.
Other than direct access, words can also be recognized through indirect route. Phonological
representation combined with top down process can also facilitate recognition of words. Many
researchers hold the view that most people combine both direct and indirect routes to make
meaning of the words we read. The evidence for dual route comes from studies of dyslexia a
condition characterized by problems in visual word recognition(Riegler&Riegler, 2004).

Dyslexia
It is a condition that involves severe reading difficulties ( among them difficult in word recognition.
Dyslexic seems to have difficult in taking a visually presented word, decoding it and retrieving the
corresponding sound.This process is termed as phonological assembly. People suffering from this
condition have a problem processing the correspondence between orthography (look of words)
and phonology (sound of words).

Dyslexia is often classified as acquired or developmental. In acquired dyslexia language

difficulties are in some form of brain damage.Developmental dyslexia refers to language
difficulties not associated with any brain damage. .Recent research has shown some connection
between Left Hemisphere and dyslexic condition. Accordingly neural correlates of dyslexia have
revealed abnormalities in the Left Hemisphere systems that underlie certain language systems most
notably the process that allows for mapping the visual representation (printed words) into
phonological ones.

However , although the etiology of acquired and developmental dyslexia is different their
manifestation is similar. They are often poor spellers, the misspelling is often phonetically . In
addition the problems in individual word recognition have detrimental effects on reading. Dyslexic
readers tend to read more slowly than non-dyslexic readers.They have more pronouncement errors

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than non-dyslexic and their comprehension is poorer that that of non dyslexic. However, it should
be emphasized that dyslexia is not simple poor reading neither is it as a result of psychological
issues. There are different types of dyslexia and the problem varies with nature of dyslexia

Types of dyslexia
There are different types of dyslexia, depending on the nature and severity. This include surface
dyslexia; phonological dyslexia and deep dyslexia
Surface dyslexia
❖ People with surface dyslexia must rely almost completely on indirect access
(phonological) route to word recognition on “ sounding out words” as they encounter
them
❖ As such they have difficult with words with irregular pronunciation. For example words
like steak, break or bird
❖ However, some surface dyslexic can pronounce some irregular words correctly
suggesting that phonological route is the only one used.
Phonological dyslexia
❖ Phonological dyslexia is quite unusual.
❖ They have selective inability to read pseudowords (fake words)
❖ They have little or no trouble with familiar words and both regular and irregular words
❖ Therefore, it seems that they have trouble indirect access route to word recognition
❖ Their inability to sound out pseudo words is indicative that they are unable to sound out
words in general and must rely on direct access (nonphonological) route to word
recognition.
❖ Phonological dyslexia provides evidence that there is direct route to word recognition
Deep dyslexia
❖ They exhibit some of the difficulties seen in phonological and surface dyslexia (reading
some both words and non words)
❖ However, the most striking aspect is deficit in semantics (meaning of language)
❖ Deep dyslexic exhibit semantic errors in reading e.g. they may read daughter as sister

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 ❖ They have an easier time reading words concrete and imaginable referents ( e.g. truck)
than abstract words such as( love)
❖ In addition, function words like below, present a problem and will randomly substituted
with another function like into
Psychological challenges
❖ Anxiety due to inability to meet social expectations
❖ Frustration and anger due to non achievement
❖ Poor self image due to constant failure
❖ Lack of self confidence
❖ Inferiority challenges
❖ Lack of positive self esteem
❖ Poor social skills
❖ Could lead to withdrawal
❖ School dropout is possible

Lesson Summary
WE have learnt that language is a cognitive process that are important in our lives. We use
language to communicate ourselves. To be able to comprehend language we must consider the
features of language. Specifically we need to observe rules of word arrangement to allow
comprehension. We have also learnt that both bottom up and top down process are important in
comprehending language. In written word we use both direct access and indirect access to
meaning. This has been proven through the study of dyslexia a condition characterized by visual
recognition of words.

Activity
Describe the challenges experienced by dyslexic learners
Explain the stages of language production
Describe the focus of psycholinguistics in study of language

Further reading

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Goldstein B.E. (2011) Cognitive psychology 3rd edition WADSWORTH

LESSON NINE:

Problem solving
What is a problem? A problem consists of basic components: and initial state (the situation at the
beginning of the problem ) a goal state (the solution to the problem a set of rules or constraints)
that must be followed and usually a set of obstacles that must be overcome. Problems can be well
defined or ill defined

Well defined and ill defined problems

The problems we encounter in life can be classified against continuum from well defined to ill
defined. Well defined problems are clear and structured: the initial state; the goal state and
constraints are all understood and once you reach a solution it is easily assessed.

In contrast an ill defined problem is fuzzy and abstract.Ill defined problem has no clear goals and
is difficult to over come the constraints. It is also problematic in the assessment of solutions
reached.
Routine and non-routine problems
Problems also vary in terms of how familiar we are with the procedures they involve.
A routine problem is one that can be solved by applying well practiced procedures.

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The non-routine problems e.g. students their first course in research could require in approach the
student may not be familiar with.People have an easier time conceptualizing routine problems than
in non routine problems

Problem solving as acognitive process.

Problem solving is one of the most complex tasks of cognition.In many ways problem solving is
the culmination of all the processes that make up cognitive arsenals e.g. completing problem
students would need perceive the problem ( to take in the problem information), pattern
recognition( to recognizes words in the paper guideline), attention and working memory (to hold
information in conscious awareness when necessary), language (to understand the exam items )
and decision process to (decide how to prioritize what has to be done)

The complexity in problem solving often occurs over longer time interval than many cognitive
process.The time required to solve a problem is challenging to researchers. Often the participants
can only be presented with a problem within given time.Therefore assessing the problem solving
in terms of accuracy rate presents a gross estimates of problem solving proficiency.Measuring
problems provides useful information but does not shade much light on the nature of processing
that occurs during problem solving

Varied nature of problems

The complexity of problem solving presents another problem to researchers.Problem can apply to
diverse sets of circumstances Meyer (1992) provides some order to the diversity by distinguishing
between five sorts of problems. These include:
⮚ Transformational problems (they present to the solver, a goal state and the solver
must find the proper strategies to move that will change the initial state into the
goal state
⮚ Arrangement problems: involves presentation of all the necessary information to
solve the problem. The solver must figure out how the elements are to be arranged.
A good example is a cross word puzzle
⮚ Induction problem: Premise or conditions are given a series of exemplars or
instances that pattern or the rules that relates to instances

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 ⮚ Deduction problems :Premise or conditions are given and the solver must determine
whether a conclusion fits this premise
⮚ Divergent problems: requires the solver to generate as many solutions as possible
to a given problem
Approaches to problem solving
Different researcher have theorized on the approaches used in problem solving Some are
discussed below;
Thorndike and behaviorist problem solving: The law of effect
Thorndike was among the pioneer researchers in problem solving. He was interested in the basic
process involved in learning. He designed an experiment in which the cats were the participants
and put them into a puzzle box . The cats normally do not enjoy being confined . The initial state
was being in enclosed space, the goal state was to be out of the enclosure. The constraint was
the enclosure itself.Thorndike was interest in the whether the ability to solve the confinement
problem would appear suddenly as an insight or gradually through process of trial and error . He
found out that the cats learnt through trial and error
He describe this process the law effect. According to the law effect, if a response leads to
satisfying outcome , the connection between the response and the situation in which it took
place will be strengthened. If the response leads to unsatisfying outcome the connection will be
weak.
Kohler and gestalt psychologists: problem solving as insight
Gestalt psychologist have radically different view of the problem solving. According to cognitive
psychologist the mind has an inherent tendency to recognize incoming information and this
organizational process are the defining features of cognition.Rather than mindless playing out of
a situation that gradually build up over time , problem solving involves restructuring or
reorganization of problem elements that results in sudden realization of the solution

Newell, Simon and the cognitive psychologist: General Problem solver (GPS)
Newell , Shaw and Simon (1958) felt that computer programs might serve as useful tools for
modeling human problem solving. Newell & Simon (1972) originated the conceptualization of
problem solving as a step by step progression from the initial state to goal state. They did so within
the frame work computer programme termed the general problem solver (GPS) which they
proposed a human solving model That can be applied to any problem.

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GPS approach to problem solving attempts to minimize the distance between the initial stages and
goal state by breaking down the problem into sub goals. The sub goal analysis is accomplished
through the operators. Operators are words for problem solving technique. To resolve a problem
in a car you may need technique to open up an engine, the technique that allows you open is an
operator because it helps you to partly work on the problem. You will need another operator
(technique to repair). The techniques are applied at a micro level to reduce the distance between
the initial and the goal state.

Another important aspect of the GPS is the notion of problem space. The problem space refers to
the basic which refers to the problem solver’s mental representation of the initial state, the goal
state and all possible intermediate states and the operators that can be applied to reach the sub-
goals.Hence the problem solving process is essentially navigating through problem space

The main features that define GPS as an information processing model suggests that external
information is transformed into internal mental representation, then a sequential version various
mental operations are applied.

Problem representation
As` stated problem solving involves converting the presented information into some internal
representation. With the frame work of GPS problem representation involve correctly specifying
the problem space i.e. correctly identifying the initial state as well as well as the operators that
might be applied within the constraints of the problem.

The process of problem representation may seem automatic or trivial in some respect but it is a
critical component of successful problems solving. There are various representation which may be
important to the problem solving. The ability to solve a problem depends critically on the exact
nature of problem representation.

Initial representation of a problem is critical in it s eventual solution. Failure in proper

representation might result from a number of factors the problem elements may not have received
attention, the problem elements may not have been understood or previous with similar may have
led to encoding the problem in a rigid manner, This could be due to Mental Set, Mental set is the

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tendency to rely on habits and procedures used in the past. A mental set can interfere with our
ability to solve every day problems

Functional Fixedness refers to people’s tendency to view objects in a narrow fixed sense that is in
terms of typical functions.
Problem solving Process
Once the problem has been transformed from external from externally presented problem to
internal representation, the next problem solving involves searching for , testing and evaluating
the problem. Within the context of Newell & Simon (1972) information processing approach
problems solution a mounts to traveling through the problem space
The general approaches to this excursion are through algorithms or heuristics
Alogorithms
A logarithms is basically a set of rules that can be applied to solve certain sorts of problems.
A mathematical formula is a good example of algorithms.A logarithms are very powerful problem
solving techniques : applied correctly an a logarithm will always lead to correct answers if one
exists. A good example of logarithms is use of mathematical formulas to solve mathematic
problems. But it is not a perfect world; a logarithm is not used to problem solving on day to day
basis.
Heuristics
Given the strengths and limitations of human problems solver along the fact that most problem
are ill defined and have relatively large problem solving space heuristic problem solving is much
more effective. Heuristic are general strategies or rules of the thumb that can be applied to various
problems. Heuristics serve as shortcuts through problem space. Specific heuristics exist for
specific problems domain.

However, there are a number of general purpose heuristics that can be applied to a wide array of
problem. They include
Working backwards :
One effective strategy for solving some problems is to focus on the goal state and work
backwards in order to much out the steps that would get you there. Working backwards aids
problem solve by imposing constraints on what may be difficult.
Means end Analysis:

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The general problem solver developed by Newell and Simon utilized means –End Analysis.
Means_ End Analysis involves breaking a problem down into smaller sub goals where
accomplishing each goals moves the solver closer to the final goal- the problems solution. As the
term means end analysis implies the solver systematically attempts to devise means to get to each
sub-goal. Means end analysis can be an effective way of to solve a transformational problems
Analogies
Analogies are heuristic strategy of using already solved problem to represent and solve current
problem. Analogues using problems that have already been solved as aids for aids for solving the
current problem being faced is potentially one of the most powerful heuristics. For analogues to
succeed as problem solving strategies (Novick and Holyak (1991) summarized the or of analogy
by describing three processes that might be termed noticing , mapping and schema development
● First the problem solver must recognize that a relationship exists between the problem at
hand with a similar one
● The solver must be able to mark the main elements of the two problems
● The solver must arrive at the general schema underlying the problem that will allow for the
solution of the targeted problem
● Making connection between two analogous problem is more likely if two analogous
problem share surface features than if they only share structural features
Insight and Creativity
Creativity in problem solving can be described in terms of four stages
⮚ Preparation: Where the solver gathers information that make attempt at problem
solution
⮚ Incubation which might be termed as productive inactivity
⮚ Critical insights which is an important realization or understanding that leads to
illumination
⮚ Creative thought which has to do with verification in which the problem solver
assess whether the solution will actually work
Insights
● The question of insights in problem solving has occupied the minds of many researchers
in cognitive psychology

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 ● Insights involves a sudden realization of the problem solution or of a key idea necessary to
solve the problem. Accordingly, Gestalt psychologists believe that the key to problem
solving is to be found in restructuring the problem which if successful leads to sudden
realization of the solution. The sudden realization is the insight.
●
● However, the notion of insights is controversial; many theorists believe that problem
solving is incremental process of getting closer and closer to the solution rather than
sudden.Another problem is that insights has not been defined clearly or experimentally
demonstrated. In addition insights cannot be applied to all problems. Some problems
cannot be solved by sudden insights and this are non insight problems
● .
Creativity
● Experts on creativity agree that creative solutions have two components – novelty and
appropriateness. Creative solutions are novel different from previous solutions and are
usually unexpected. However, surprise and originality cannot make the solution to a
problem creative. The solution must also satisfy the constraints of the problem ahead, it
must fulfill a need and be sensible and useful
● Factors associated with creativity include
⮚ Creativity as a cognitive process
⮚ Creativity is influenced by a person’s personality
⮚ Creativity is influenced b the style of thinking and seems to follow a constant
pattern of development over the life span
⮚ Creativity is also a product of intellectual and social environment in which a
person works.

Reasoning, Judgment and Decision making

The three aspects of cognitive processes depends on different processes and presents different
challenges, but they depend on each other.Reasoning involves evaluation of a conclusion based
solely on given information. Decision making and judgment requires that one go beyond the
information given. With judgment we apply reasoning about given information but you must use
given information to arrive at a conclusion. Decision making involves a further information

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beyond the given information to a situation that involves uncertainty or risks. In decision making
you must evaluate given information, arrive at judgment and based on this judgment make a choice
among several alternatives.This is risky because it involves considerable amount of guess work.
In decision making often provide limited information or require a degree of knowledge or
computational skills that is well beyond what humans do
REASONING
There are two main approaches to reasoning. These are deductive and inductive reasoning
reasoning
Deductive reasoning
● Deductive reasoning refers to determining if a specific conclusion is valid based on
general principles or assertions.Deductive reasoning is like solving a well defined
problem in that deductive reasoning problem involves large degree of constraints and the
conclusion is easily assessed
● It is also as a well defined problem in that algorithm (step by step formulae) is appropriate
for solutions
● Two forms of deductive reasoning have received a great deal of attention from cognitive
researchers. These are syllogistic reasoning and conditional reasoning
Syllogistic reasoning
Syllogistics consist of two premises and conclusion. The premise and conclusion may begin with
a universal quantifier or a particular quantifier. The terms in the syllogism may be stated
positively or negatively. Syllogisms are either valid or invalid
All students are bright
All bright people complete assignments
Therefore all students complete assignments.
Syllogism may be valid depending on the truth of the premise. Bias effect also affects syllogistic
reasoning
Conditional reasoning
The second form of deductive reasoning is called conditional reason or (if then reasoning) and
involves evaluating whether a particular conclusion is valid given that certain conditions hold
e.g. If someone likes children then they are sensitive person
Mary likes children therefore marry is a sensitive person

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Conditional statements provide the rules that are expressed in if then format. In general deductive
reasoning fall into one of the two camps and could be described as rule based accounts. Basically
this view contents that people posses representational equivalent to logic rules. The rules are
applied to the premise to determine the conclusion

In general the explanation of how we reason deductively general falls under two categories. One
overview might be rule based account of deductive reasoning. In this view it is assumed that people
possess representational equivalent of logic rulesThe rules are applied to the premise to determine
if the conclusion is valid. Another version is mental models view. According to this view we first
form a mental model based on the information in the premise and our own previous experience.
Next we search for mental model in which the premise would be true but the stated conclusion
could be false. If the model is found the conclusion would be termed valid

Inductive reasoning
The flip side of deductive reasoning is the inductive reasoning. Rather than working from general
premise to arrive at specific conclusion we move from specific to general. Bisanzi, Bisanz and
Korpan (1994) described some characteristics that seem to typify inductive reasoning

First the product of inductive reasoning (i.e general principle) is not necessarily correct. The
validity of validity of a conclusion is inherent in the premise. Inductive arguments are evaluated
in terms of their strengths rather than the validity

Secondly with inductive reasoning there is need for constraints on the conclusion reached. This
would help check on confirmation bias that often influences our reasoning. Inductive reasoning is
pervasive in some form it underlies just every day process(omnipresence of inductive reasoning)
and is applied in problem solving. For example, most of problems we encounter are specific and
we have to solve them inductively

Judgment

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Inductive reasoning involves arriving at general conclusion based on the data. Judgment is an
extension of inductive reasoning. Hastic and Dawes (2001) define judgment as human ability to
infer, estimate and predict the character of unknown events. It is about making educated gueses
based on limited information along with our previous knowledge expectations and belief. To make
judgments we rely on memory and the incoming information. Thus judgment may be affected by
Biased encoding or biased retrieval
Decision making
Despite the error we make in judgment they form an important part of data base for the process of
decision making. However decision making goes beyond judgment to include a choice between
alternatives. E.g. Do I go to class or remain in the house?. Several factors influence our decisions
this include expected utility.

Expected Utility: A normative approach

In making decisions people are guided by various factors. Among them is utility theory
Basically this theory states that when faced with some type of uncertainty choice we make our
decisions based two factors ; utility of the outcomes and their respective probability. Utility refers
to whatever end a person would like to achieve e.g. happiness , money e.t.cBaron 1999) argues
that utility refers to amount of good that comes out of a decision. It involves weighing the good
that might come up out of eachalternative.
Prospect theory: A descriptive approach
Kahneman&Tversky (1979) prospective theory as an alternative to utility theory
Prospective theory is a descriptive model of decision making.. It attempts to describe how we
make decisions and why our decisions violate the expected utility model. According to prospective
theory decisions are valued not based on absolute value of the end result as proposed by expected
utility. Rather we value decision based on the amount of gain or loss from what we have now.

Another important feature of the model is that it proposes that gains and losses are on different
scales of value. The value we attach on gains increases more slowly as functions of the size of the
gain than of the negative (losses).Basically we feel losses more acutely than we do for the gains.
The psychological pain that is associated with loosing is greater than the psychological pleasure
of gaining. Therefore we tend to make decisions based on avoiding pain of loosing

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Prospect theory predicts that our preference will change whenever our reference points changes.
If information is presented in terms of positive gains (gain frame)we will be more likely to avoid
risks. However if the same information is presented in a negative lose frame e.g. emphasizing what
we may lose we will be more likely to take a risk to avoid this loss. Framing is the term used to
describe the effects of how a scenario is presented.

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