1. Introduction and History

2. Collected by
Saeid Nezareh
Information Science student
Tehran ,25th May 2009
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3. In this session we will cover
 Introduction about Cognitive
 Today Cognitive science
 Historical reviews of cognitive science

5. How do minds work?
What would an answer to this question look like?
 What is a mind?
 What is intelligence?
 How do brains work?
Neurons
Brain structure
 What’s the difference between the brain and the
mind?

6. Cognition
Cognition – from Latin base cognitio – “know
together”
The collection of mental processes and activities
used in perceiving, learning, remembering,
thinking, and understanding
 and the act of using those processes

7. Cognitive Processes
Learning and Memory
Thinking and Reasoning (Planning, Decision Making,
Problem Solving ...)
Language
Vision-Perception
Social Cognition
Dreaming and Consciousness

8. So What IS Cognitive Science?
Some possible definitions:
 “The interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence”
 “Study of cognitive processes involved in the acquisition,
representation and use of human knowledge”
 “Scientific study of the mind, the brain, and intelligent
behaviour, whether in humans, animals, machines or the
abstract”

10. Disciplines of
Cognitive Science
 Anthropology
 The study of human life and culture.
 How people live? What they think? What they produce? How they
interact with their environment?
 Artificial Intelligence
 The development of artifacts that perform similar functions as
human thought.
 Education
 Focuses on improving methods of human learning and
development.
 Linguistics
 The scientific study of language.
 Origins of language. Acquisition of language. Relationships between
languages. Language change over time.
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11. Disciplines of
Cognitive Science
 Neuroscience
 Studies the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of
nerves
 The brain and the nervous system.
 Philosophy
 “love of knowledge” from Greek philosophia.
 Metaphysics: the investigation of reality.
 Epistemology: study of the origins, validity, and limits of
knowledge.
 Psychology
 The scientific study of behavior and the mind.
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12. 2 June 2009 12

13. Schools of Thought
 Aristotle and Tabula Rasa
 Wundt and Introspection
 Titchener/ Wundt and Structuralism
 James and Functionalism
 Ebbinghaus and human memory research.
 Watson/ Skinner and Behaviorism
 Information Processing
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14. Aristotle
 384-322 BC
 Greece
 Philosophy
 Notion of tabula rasa
 Mind as “clean slate”
which experience writes
upon.
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15. WillhelmWundt
 1832-1920.
 Germany
 Background in medicine
 First experimental
psychology laboratory
(Europe).
 Leipzig, around 1879
 Founded first
psychological journal
 Philosophical Studies
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16. Introspection
 “Self-observation”
 A method in which one looks carefully inward
reporting on inner situations and experiences.
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17. Wundt’s criteria for introspection
1. The observer must know when the experience
begins and ends.
Observer is master of situation
2. The observer must maintain quot;strained
attention.“
Mind does not wander
3. The phenomenon must bear repetition.
4. The phenomenon must be capable of variation
Useful for descriptions and experimentation.
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18. Edward Titchener
 1867-1927.
 Born in England.
 Studied in Germany
under Wundt
 Head of psychological
lab Cornell University in
U.S.
*Photo courtesy of http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de
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19. Structuralism
(Wundt andTitchener)
 The study of the structure of the conscious
mind.
 Focus on the sensations, images, and feelings
that are elements of consciousness.
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20. Structuralism
 Psychology as a counter-part to biology
 Classifying structures of the conscious mind similar in
approach to classifying species in biology.
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21. Difficulties with Structuralism
 Observers were highly trained, but self-
reports were not consistent across people.
 Contents of reports were not observable and
thus hard to study scientifically.
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22. William James
 1842-1910
 Born in U.S.
 Studied in U.S. and
Europe.
 Started first
experimental
psychology lab (U.S.)
 around 1875, Harvard
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23. Functionalism
(James)
 Focused on the functions of mental and
physical capabilities of humans.
 Influenced by Darwin’s notion of survival of the
fittest.
 Emphasized techniques such as intelligence
and aptitude tests.
 Use controlled environments to test learning
and problem solving abilities.
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24. Hermann Ebbinghaus
 1850-1909.
 Germany
 Professor of
Philosophy
 Studied memory in his
spare time.
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25. Ebbinghaus’ studies of memory
 Memorized lists of nonsense syllables
 Example: cvc mhj plk wqf bnd khk
 Examined memory over time
 Many of his methods are still used today.
 Due to simplicity and reproducibility
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26. Memory Curve
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27. John B. Watson
 1878-1958.
 America
 Professor of
Psychology
 Founder of
behaviorism
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28. B.F. Skinner
 1904-1990.
 America
 Professor of
Psychology
 Behaviorism
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29. Behaviorism
 A response to Wundt’s introspection
 The scientific study of observable behavior
only
 Behaviorism is “antimentalistic”
 Since mental processes can’t be seen, they have
no place in psychology
 Reinforcement and operant conditioning
important concepts.
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30. Reinforcement
 A stimulus that strengthens or weakens a
behavior.
 positive
 praise
 negative
 punishment
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31. Operant conditioning
 The frequency of a behavior is modified by
the consequences of the behavior
 Individuals “operate” in the environment and
encounter reinforcement.
Person
Operates on… Consequences
(i.e. behavior) reinforce…
Environment
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32. Challenges to Behaviorism
 Learning (i.e. operant conditioning) could not
override instinct
 Ex. Pigs learning to put coins into a piggy bank
eventually degenerated.
 “The Misbehavior of Organisms”
 World War II
 Focus more on human performance less on learning.
 Timing and accuracy of behavior important.
 Concepts of attention, vigilance, and signal detection theory
emerge.
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33. Challenges to Behaviorism
 Ebbinghaus’ memory studies
 Observable, rigorous methods allowed the study of
mental processes.
 Measure time and accuracy
 Atheoretical methods showed that an overarching
theory was not always necessary.
 Linguistics-- Chomsky versus Skinner
 Skinner: language is the result of reinforced learning.
 Chomsky: emphasized novelty and rules of grammar
in language.
 Generative grammar: use rules of language to generate novel
sentences.
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34. Noam Chomsky
 1928-
 America
 Professor of Linguistics
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35. Allen Newell and Herbert Simon
 1927-1992 • 1916-2001
 Computer Science, • Economics,
Artificial Intelligence Mathematics,
• Nobel Prize
– decision making
Image courtesy of turing.acm.org
2 June 2009 Image courtesy of www.post-gazette.com
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36. Information processing
 Sequence of mental operations
 Encoding
 Storage
 Retrieval
 Symbol manipulation
 Metaphor of the mind as a computer
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Images courtesy of www.dell.com

37. Timeline-Cognitive Science History
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38. 6/2/2009