Processes
Cognitive Science is the science of mental representations and processes. What are processes?
Primary Readings
Everyone should read these and be prepared to discuss.
| Donders, F.C. (1898) | On the speed of mental processes. Acta psychologica, 30, 412-431. |
| Sternberg, S. (1966) | Memory Scanning: Mental Processes Revealed by Reaction-Time Experiments. American Scientist, 57(4), 421-457. |
Secondary Readings
The presenter should read and incorporate these.
| Smith, P.L. & Ratcliff, R. (1995) | An Introduction to the Diffusion Model of Decision Making. In An introduction to model-based cognitive Neuroscience (pp. 49-70). Springer, New York, NY.The diffusion model of decision making is introduced in this chapter. The model assumes that decisions are made by accumulating noisy evidence until reaching a response criterion. The time taken to reach criterion determines the decision time, while the response is determined by which criterion is reached first. The chapter describes the main features of the model, methods for obtaining response time predictions, fitting it to experimental data, and representing the fit graphically. The model is compared to other models and is the most widely applied to empirical data in psychology. The diffusion model focuses on two-alternative decision tasks and uses continuous-time versions of random walks to interpret evidence. The model predicts choice probabilities and response time distributions and has been extensively studied. It can account for speed-accuracy trade-offs and bias effects in decision making. The chapter also discusses the links between evidence accumulation and processes in psychology and neuroscience. Overall, the diffusion model provides a useful tool for analyzing decision-making data and understanding the cognitive processes involved. |
| Meyer, D.E. & Schvaneveldt, R. (1976) | Meaning, Memory Structure and Mental Processes: People’s rapid reactions to words help reveal how stored semantic information is retrieved. Science, 192(4234), 27-33This passage provides an overview of a research study conducted by experimental psychologists on human learning and memory, with a focus on semantic information retrieval. The study used a reaction time method to measure word recognition and sentence comprehension. The researchers manipulated set relations and sizes of categories in sentences and found that reaction times were faster when the meanings of category names were closely related and slower when the sizes of the categories mentioned were more different from each other. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to a model of human memory and the effects of category size on reaction times. |
| Shiffrin and Schneider (1977) | Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing: II. Perceptual Learning, Automatic Attending, and a General Theory. Psychological Review, 84 (2)This article presents a series of experiments that explore the two-process theory of human information processing, specifically focusing on automatic detection and controlled search. The experiments manipulate variables such as frame size, memory-set size, and mapping procedure to investigate the differences between these modes and their impact on attention. The results suggest that automatic attention can be learned in certain paradigms and that the presence of categories can improve performance in controlled search and facilitate the development of automatic detection. |
Questions under discussion
- How can we measure mental processes from behaviors?
