So hello and welcome to this introductory
course in cognitive psychology which is titled
basic cognitive processes.
I am Dr. Ark Verma, from the Institute of
Technology Kanpur.
I am in assistant professor of psychology.
Now today’s lecture is titled introduction
to cognitive psychology.
We will talk about what cognitive psychology
is actually about.
But before we get deeply involved in the topics
in cognitive psychology and what these basic
cognitive processes are let us ask more basic
questions.
The basic question is what is psychology?
Now should take this question around and you
take this question to your colleagues, your
family members and people around you.
You will actually get a variety of responses.
For example, some of them could tell you that
psychology is about knowing and predicting
peoples behaviours.
In this comic strep here you might see that
both the rat and the lab experimenters are
having a sense of controlling each other’s
behaviour.
They seem to know that they are doing something
which will actually predict this next persons
behaviour.
That is one way, another response that a lot
of students in psychology get and a lot of
students get actually, you know really embraced
by this is that a lot people would come and
tell you that psychology is about reading
people’s mind.
But at some point of the other people would
actually go out and say that, ‘Yes, I am
a student of psychology, but that is not meant
that I can read your mind’.
Psychology is not really about reading people’s
mind though it might help you in other ways.
One of the last answers about to what a psychology
you could get is that psychology could shape
people’s behaviour in social situations.
You might see this example here which says
in there is a plank advertise says that please
through your letter on the ground or on the
grass, but it actually gets the exact opposite
effect okay.
So this is also one of the examples which
psychology or one of the applications which
psychology has.
Moving ahead, but if psychology just about
behaviour modification I would say no.
It actuallly offers you much more, we will
see what.
What is the subject matter psychology then.
Let us begin with the basic definition.
Psychology as a science, is a science which
studies mental processes, experiences and
behavious in different contacts.
We will visit each of these one by one.
What are the mental processes we are talking
about whether we are talking about just brain
activity or mental activity or mental functions.
That part is not really clear, but we can
take some examples such as learning, remembering,
perceiving feeling those kinds of things.
Those are also examples of what psychology
helps you do or what psychology is actually
study.
Experiences, what are experiences?.
Experiences are subjective feeling, what your
feeling at any point in time what is your
awareness, let us say for example, I am in
this particular room, I see people around
me or I see this screen or I am seeing and
talking to you guys.
Also psychology could actually help you understand
experiences whether somebody is experiencing
at normal state or an altered state may be
in under the influence of a particular drug
or something.
Or say for example, very simply put somebodies
other energetic or active or someothers may
be feeling other passive or sad.
All of these comes under the view of psychology.
Coming to behaviours, what are behavious?
Behaviours most simply put our responses or
reactions to the events and actions in the
world.
You know we are surrounded by agents, we are
surrounded by people and situations and how
we actually come out acting is basicaly what
is a behaviour.
It is an other definition which I am taking
here.
Also behaviour includes sometimes as spontanious
activity in order to achieve various goals
or motives.
You might have a goal of becoming somebody,
or you might have a goal of becoming a cricketer,
you will continue and you will have some behaviour
which will lead on to you becoming a crricketer.
All of that also forms part of what is called
behaviour.
Behaviours conclude in two ways.
One of the way is either simple or complex
behaviour, what is the simple behaviour.
Simple behaviour is say for example the most
typical stimulous and reactions.
Say for example, if I ask you to touch the
tip of a needle, you will probably trying
to touch it, but you will take your hand back
very quickly.
It is in response to you being pricked.
On the other hand, I could actually give you
more complex behaviour that being I could
ask you to go in make a cup of coffee for
me.
That is basically a complex behaviour which
will actually involve a chain of very simple
behaviours.
Another way in which you can actually look
at behaviour is whether behaviour is covert
or coward.
Coward behaviour is simply is the behaviour
that can be observed by others the actions
let you do the things which you say or say
for example, the stage that you experience
and which you show people.
That is coward behaviour.
Covert behaviour on the other hand is something
that is typically going on in your mind thinks
that you would experiencing feeling of attraction,
feelings of anger, discusting all of that
or say for example, simply processing the
world around you.
All of that processing is happening inside
your head that is an example of covert behaviour.
Moving ahead, this is other commonly ask question
whether psychology is a science or it is just
about common sense.
We get ask this questions a lot of times.
Now if psychology were to be common sense,
it would be found with the few problems.
Say for example, confirmation bias.
Now one of the ways in which you can describe
a confirmation bias is that it is your internal
yes man.
If you say for example, develop at particular
opinion or a theory about something in the
world some person which you know, you will
actually look for and collect evidence that
agrees with your perspective or that agrees
with your point of view.
That basically is a confirmation bias okay.
Another problem with the common sense is basically
sterio types.
Say for example, people have particular opinions
and actually look at the world through those
opinions.
Say for example, most common sterio type that
you might have heard or come across of few
times is the aspect of, is for example the
fact that females are bad dirvers.
This is all the most common sterio types that
you will hear.
So for example, if somebody comes and tells
you that there has been an accident near your
house and there was a woman involved automatically
some of you will make the conclusion that
the woman must be at fault in this accident.
However, close examination and scientific
observation might tell you that this might
not be the case.
So psychology in that sense is slightly different
from common sense.
I would say much different from common sense
actually okay.
Moving ahead, let us talk about how psychology
is actually structured as a discipline.
As a discipline basically psychology seeks
to understand and explain how the mind works
and how the different mental processes lead
to different behaviours.
Psychology trace also in that sense to minimize
bias and the explanation of behaviour and
expeirence in a variety of ways.
You say that how psychology is differnet from
common sense in the last slide.
However, psychology also recognises the importance
of subjectivity in some cases, though always
trying to develop a scientific understanding
of those phenomenal.
So psychology basically draws from two screens
of knowledge.
One which makes use of methods in physical
and biological sciences and the other which
uses methods of social and cultural sciences
while studying a variety of psychosocial phenomenal.
In the first case, psychology focuses largely
and biological principle to explain human
behaviour thinks like how is the brain function,
what is the response to various neuro transmitters
in the brain, and stuff like that.
On the other hand, psychology focuses on how
behavioural phenomenal can be explained in
terms of the interaction that takes place
between the person and the social context,
how is the person behaving when he is alone,
or complare to how does the person behave
any when he is confronted with the group of
people when he is part of a larger group.
Those kind of phenomenal.
As a science psychology applies what is called
the scientific method?
It emphasizes objectivity it exphasizes that
your opinion should be based on facts, your
opinion should be based on measurements that
basically which is called empiricism.
In it is go psychology uses of particular
method or it basically functions around a
particular model which has been called the
hypothetic deductive model.
So let us have a look at this model for a
while, this is what this model looks like.
It is basically begins with some kind of literature
review, you actually look into literature,
you actually see what are the questions people
will ask you, actually look to see what are
the papers people of publish.
What are the topics that people have been
interested in studying and to what extent
they have actually studied of them?
What are the questions relevant to those topics
and how people have approach those questions.
Then basically move on to formulating your
own research questions on the basis of whatever
literature you actually started.
You move on to design in empirical study is
it could be an observation study or it could
be basic experiment we will talk about these
things later as we go on into the course.
And then when once you conduct an experiment
you gets some data, you get some measurements.
You analyse those data, you analyze that data
and basically that helps you reach particular
conclusions.
Once you reach a particular conclusion now
you also have to says something about that
particular topic.
This then gets added to this body of research
literature which people coming up to you might
again, review to contact their own research
questions.
That is what psychology broadly uses as a
method when we move on we actually talk about
these kind of methods in more detail.
Finally let us talk about what psychology
attempts to understand.
So psychology basically attempts to understand
two things, mind and behaviour and basically
the questions in psychology which are asked
around this dichotomy, what is mind, what
is behaviour okay.
Let us kind of take a bit of a person ask
these questions what is mind or what are the
functions of the mind or how does one really
studied his concept called mind.
This probably are these three questions basically
form the core of the topic or core of the
topics in cognitive psychology that we will
be focusing in this course.
So let us move from here and let us ask a
question like what is cognitive psychology?
What are you going to study in this course?
What am I going to talk about in the coming
lectures?.
Now cognitive psychology basically is been
simply defined as a science is basically defined
as a branch of psychology which is devoted
to the scientific study of the mind okay.
What is mind?
You remember we ask this question.
So let us actually move on, you know to a
simple definition.
Let us try in construct a simple definition
of what is mind.
Please note the following instances, the use
of this term called mind.
I will take out I will actually says some
sentences, one of them say for example, he
was able to call to mind, what he was doing
on the day of the accident.
In this sentence you see that the person is
referring to mind as memory.
You know the person is actually if trying
to bring to mind or recall what is involved
in that particular accident.
Let us take the second sentence, if you put
your mind to it, I am sure you can solve that
maths problem.
In this case you see the person is actually
taking mind as a problem solver.
So the mind must be able to help you solve
particular problems, the mind must be able
to help you take particular decisions, have
a particular algorithm take particular steps
and then reach a final goal.
Moving on, I have not made up my mind yet,
say for example I am of two minds about this.
This is basically again an instance in which
mind is being used to make decisions or consider
or evaluate possibilities okay.
So this is again one of the functions of the
mind.
Another sentence here could be he is off sound,
mind and body or when he talks about his encounter
with aliens, it seems like he is out of his
mind okay.
Here you can see that the sense is that healthy
mind is being associated with normal functioning
and non-functioning is being associated with
abnormal functioning.
Now these are two different things parts of
which we will definitely touch in the scores,
but to tell you that basically the mind then
it means something which is capable of taking
good decisions or say something which helps
to straight connected with the reality okay.
So what exactly then we know about mind.
Let us on the bases of the statement we actually
heard let us train in construct a basic definition
of mind.
A simple definition would be the mind creates
and controls mental functions such as perception,
attention memory, emotions, language, deciding,
thinking, and reasoning.
Now all of these terms basically are different
mental functions which we will talk about
in more detail in the coming lectures.
Also you can look at into the mind as a system
that creates representations of the world.
So that we can act within it to achieve our
particular goals.
So mind is also motivated resorts okay.
You will probably touch this definition as
well when we are going to the further lectures.
We talked about these different mental functions,
so let us ask what these different mental
functions are.
To understand what these different mental
functions are let me take you to a practical
example okay.
So take a moment read what is here and analysed
to be did along with you.
So as Raphael is walking across the campus
talking to Susan on his cell phone about meeting
at the student union later this afternoon,
he remembers that he left the book that she
had lent him at home.
I cannot believe it he thinks, I can see it
sitting there on my desk, where I left it.
I should have put it in my backpack last night
when I was thinking about it.
As he finishes his call with Susan and makes
a mental note to be on time for their appointment,
his thoughts shift to how he is going to survive
after Wednesday when his car is scheduled
to go into the shop.
Rending a car offers the most mobility, but
is expensive.
Bumming rides from his roommate is cheap,
but is rather limiting.
Perhaps if he pick up a bus schedule at the
student union, he thinks, as he puts his cell
phone back in the pocket.
Entering his anthropology class, he remembers
that an exam is coming up soon.
Unfortunately, he still has a lot of reading
to do, so he decides that they would not be
able to take Susan to the movies tonight as
they had already planned.
Because he needs time to study, as a lecture
beings, Raphael is anticipating, with some
anxiety his meeting with Susan.
And how he is going to tell her about this
decision.
Now you see this is a description of a lot
of small little thinks which are happening
at one particular moment in somebody’s mind.
You can actually put yourself in the situation
at any point in time or throughout the day
you can pick up yourself and just examine
one such instance you will realise that at
one particular point in time a lot of different
things are going on through your mind.
So let us try and see what all is happening
here, what all the mental functions are taking
place.
This is the figure of what different things
Raphael is doing as he is walking across the
campus, so we will see that is understanding
conversation, because he is on the phone.
He is visualizing his book on the desk which
he left, he is thinking that he has to be
on time for the appointment may be because
that will lead complications.
He is also remembering Susan’s book.
By the way he is walking in the campus.
So he is actually presume the campusing as
well as to avoid bumping into people and falling
off also you saw that he was thinking about
his car problem.
So he is doing variety of thinks, he is doing,
he is basically engaged and we called complex
behaviour at this point in time.
So what all is Raphael doing actually let
us boil out to that.
He is presuming his environment, he is basically
seeing people on campus walking.
He is also listening to Susan talking on the
phone.
He is paying attention to one thing after
the other person approaching is left what
Susan is saying and how much he is left for
the class.
So he is actually paying attention to these
different facts at the same time while he
is involved in this conversation on the phone.
Also Raphael is remembering, he is remembering
things from the past that he told Susan that
he was going to return her book today, he
is thinking of how he will get the book back
or say for example, how he is left the book
on his table.
Those kinds of things he is actually going
through in his memory.
He is also doing something interesting, he
is distinguishing different items in a category.
When he thinks about different possible forms
of transportation, so he actually is comparing
these possibilities whether he should take
a rental car, whether he should to take help
get a ride with his roommate or say for example,
he should go with the bus.
He is actually also evaluating possibilities
in here also he is visualizing.
He is basically thinking of where he had left
the book on his desk, he can actually see
okay I left the book there, I am just forgot
to keep it in my backpack while I slept in
the last night.
He is understanding and producing language
something very complex is actually thinking
to himself understanding what Susan is saying
and also answering her back.
So he is doing these three things at the same
point in time.
He is understanding whatever Susan saying,
whatever he is thinking and also he is actually
producing language why talking about to Susan.
Also you saw that Raphael is working to solve
a problem as he thinks about how do get to
places while he is car is in the shop.
He actually has a problem attend and while
to conversation is definitely going on, he
also needs to evaluate these different possibilities.
Finally he actually comes to a decision, so
decision making is also involved here.
He decides to postpone and he is going to
the movies with Susan tonight, because he
has to prepare for the exam that is going
to come afterwards.
So you will see in a particular moment in
time, we are involved in a variety of mental
functions.
We are involved in variety of these different
decisions we have to take, we are also doing
a lot of things at the same point in time.
While you watching this lecture on your laptop
or your computer, you are actually doing the
same thing as probably Raphael is doing in
this particular example.
You are remembering something, you are pursuing
the video you are listening to the audio trying
to understand what I am saying also thinking
to yourself, you were also making decisions
on whether say for example, to continue where
you like the course or whether you do not
like it.
Those different kinds of things you are doing
at this same moment.
This basically is what is the crux cognitive
psychology.
This is basically what we are going to study
in the coming lectures.
So if this interest you it mind actually help
to hang on.
Now let us come to the end, let us try and
talk about whether and what cognitive psychology
actually does.
Let us taking to account the earlier definition
of what cognitive psychology is.
The definition of what mind is and the definition
of mental functions and we can conclude that
cognitive psychology is the study of mental
functions okay.
Is the study of mental functions for example,
attention, learning, memory, visualization
or mental imagery, it is a study of language,
it is a study of problem solving when you
have a problem at hand.
And it is also the study of decision making
okay.
So in cognitive psychology these are the different
topics, these are basically the names of the
different chapters actually we are starting
in more and more detail okay.
Each of these are specific cognitive functions
and we will actually look into how do we study
these different cognitive functions, what
are the different ways of understanding these
cognitive functions and so on.
So with this in mind we will actually go on
to the next lecture in a next time which is
basically going to be about history of cognitive
psychology.
We will talk about what is the history of
the thought which basically cavern cognitive
psychology.
We will actually look into a bit of history
of psychology, how psychology develop from
philosophy.
We will also look into how cognitive psychology
or this cognitive with perspective or psychology
emerge from the earlier schools of psychology.
That is all we will see you in the next class.
