cognitive psychology

Evaluation of single resource theories

(+) Explains why dual tasking can lead to poor performance • (-) No independent assessment of central capacity- can't truly say how big the capacity is. (-) Experimental evidence is also consistent with multiple resource theories (-) Tasks in the same modality are more disruptive than tasks in different modalities (even when matched for difficulty!)- (Treisman & Davies 1973)

3 Levels of Description (Marr 1982)

1.Computational Theory level -What is the function of cognition? -What is cognition for? -What cognitive functions are there? specific models that allow us to understand cognitive processes. 2.Representation and Algorithm level -How does the cognition work? -How is information stored or "internally represented" -What operations or "algorithms" are used to manipulate internal representations? 3.Hardware level -How are the representations instantiated in the real world? - •Our primary interest as cognitive psychologists are levels 1 & 2

Norman & Shallice (1986)

1.Fully automatic processing controlled by schemas - 'Sport Stacking' (Foerster et al., 2011)- when you start stacking cups you're thinking then it becomes automated. - 2.Contention scheduling - Chooses between simultaneously active schema - Biased by goals and desires but does not require attention 3.Deliberate control by Supervisory Attention System (SAS) - System for overriding automatically generated behaviours - Generating novel responses Doing anything for the first time (e.g. learning to use JASP have to choose alternatives due to goal of task, no intentional processes. can override alternate responses Evidence 'Action Slips' in healthy participants (e.g. Reason 1979) - when you do wrong action in enviro eg you go to put ketchup in your tea as oppose to on your plate. caused by enviro. -Diary study of 35 neurotypical people - Average 1 action slip per day Put something in the wrong place Go the wrong way in a familiar environment Add ingredients in the wrong order Using the wrong implement - Typically occur when attention elsewhere (e.g. daydreaming, very tired) Evaluation (+) Describes properties of automatic processes (+) Very influential • (-) Descriptive- it doesn't explain why or how practice makes tasks automatic. (-) Practice could speed processing, or it could change processing

The computational metaphor

Assumptions •The mind contains symbolic representations of external world content. -Something that stands for, designates or represents something else -In computers, binary numbers symbolically represent specific pieces of information (e.g. a words, the colour of a pixel, a musical note). -There is a limited & well defined set of symbols -These symbolic representations are stored in memory •Cognition is the product of 'operations' -Internal processes that act on symbolic representations -In computers, these are functions like copy, assign, insert etc -Operations are deployed according to rules that are also stored in memory theory says that humans might be like computers not that they actually are computers. and that cognition is the processing of initial representations. optical illusions can be an example of cognitive operations.

Attention as a central process

Attention a capacity for conscious processing of information we can allocate attention to different task.s attention is the capacity for conscious processing. This capacity is limited. Capacity is required for 1.Semantic analysis of perceptual information 2.Reasoning and decision making 3.Planning 4.Response selection 5.Response inhibition

Capacity Limits

Attention capacity limited to 3-4 items - Sperling partial report: participants report 3-4 items- only some of total information is recalled. only recall letter in one special role. this limits output. -Change blindness: effect vanishes when < 3 objects present -Multiple Object Tracking (Pylyshyn & Storm 1988) - can track less than 4 moving objects,. over that too much. In some special cases capacity limited to 1 item - Attentional guidance from WM (e.g. Downing & Dodds 2004)- 1 shape target in search display and also had to hold one shape in memory. found that one remembered didn't get as much attention as one searched for. Debate over number of locations that can be attended - Some argue for multiple loci (up to~4) (Baldauf & Deubel 2010) - Other argue for a single, indivisible locus of attention (Jans, Peters & De Weerd., 2010)

Evidences for Early selection

Broadbent (1958) argued that unfiltered stimuli are not processed at all! • - Shadowing (Broadbent 1958):Very poor recall for information presented to unattended ear. - Selective looking (Neisser & Becklen 1975) transparent overlapping videos, when images not overlapping less visual errors produced. Also -Change blindness (Rensink et al. ,1997)-when focus on centre can't see the change between two images but when pointed out u can - -Inattentional Blindness (Mack & Rock, 1998)- pay attention to cross in centre don't take notice of unexpected event in centre of vision. - -Attentional Blink (Raymond, Shapiro, & Arnell, 1992) Some evidence that unfiltered stimuli can be processed - Breakthrough: Occasionally words from unattended ear reported Attenuated Filter (Treisman 1964) - Irrelevant information can pass through filter if capacity not filled by relevant information ERPs Studies of visual attention suggest attention operates at an early stage of processing (from Luck, Woodman & Vogel 2000) Attention affects signal enhancement: - Attention enhances spatial resolution (Yeshurun & Carrasco, 1998) - Attended locations have higher perceived contrast (Carrasco, Ling & Reid 2004) Evidences from Neurophysiology: - Attention modulates the responses of early visual areas such as V1, V2, V4 and V5 - Attention lowers phosphene thresholds in V1 (Bestmann et al., 2007)

Problem of Dissociations

DF has visual agnosia but shows normal visual imagery abilities (Servos & Goodale 1995) •E.g. Does an animals ears stand up or flop down? •Image generation: "Imagine the letter 'D', rotate it 90 degrees to the left. Put a triangle directly below it having the same width and pointing own. Remove the horizontal line. Now describe what the object resembles most." intact visual impairment despite no object recognition. Double dissociations between imagery and visual problems: •Some hemianopes (loose visual field) have no problem with imagery (Bartolomeo 2002) •JB has deficit of imagery but not visual perception (Sirigu & Duhamel 2001)

Moors (2016)

Decompositional approach not everything is conscious or unconcious Recap •Attention' probably not a single capacity •A variety of different mechanisms that allow us to control information processing - Different pools of processing capacity for verbal / spatial information - Different pools of processing capacity for visual/auditory/tactile information - Supervisory system for conscious control of action and decision making •Dual tasks possible when engaging different attentional resources - Or when processing demands are low • •Automating tasks can reduce their requirement for attention - Enables dual and multi tasking

Multiple resource theories

Different pools of attentional resource that are modality specific eg visual or acoustic. (e.g. Wickens 1984) Similar tasks compete for the same resources, but dissimilar tasks do not. • • • • • • • (-) Doesn't address touch (-) Ignores co-ordination problems for dual tasks (-) Some disruption for dual tasks in different modalities

Two systems of orienting

Endogenous Orient to task relevant location -Voluntary -Goal-directed -Slow (Max effect after 300ms) -Sustained -Superior Parietal Lobule, FEF (bilateral) Exogenous Orient to salient location -Involuntary -Stimulus-driven -Fast (Max effect @ 150ms) -Transient -Inferior Parietal Lobe & ventral frontal regions (right) -Inhibitory after-effect

Posner spotlight = Treisman glue?

Exogenous / Preattentive Search Orient to salient location -Involuntary -Stimulus-driven -Fast / efficient -Inferior Parietal Lobe & ventral frontal regions (right) Endogenous / Attentive Search Orient to task relevant location -Voluntary -Goal-directed -Slow / Inefficient Superior Parietal Lobule, Intraparietal Sulcus, FEF (bilateral

Cognitive General Imagery

Few controlled studies looking at mental planning • •Case reports of athletes using general imagery Canoe Racers (MacIntyre & Moran, 1996) American Football (Fenker & Lambiotte, 1997) Wrestling (Rushall, 1988) Gymnastics (Mace et al. 1987; White & Hardy 1998)

Filter and resource theories

Filter theories argue that attention prevents the processing of irrelevant stimuli. - Broadbent (1958) - Treisman & Geffen (1967) Resource theories argue that attention permits the selection of appropriate responses - Kahneman (1970)

Filter and resource theories are limited

Filter theories argue that attention prevents the processing of irrelevant stimuli. - Broadbent (1958) - Treisman & Geffen (1967) Resource theories argue that attention permits the selection of appropriate responses - Kahneman (1970) - Deutsch & Deutsch (1963) resource theory. there is some kind of filter but physical characteristics are the reason why a stimulus is selected, relevance of stimulus is dictated by characteristics. Both approaches assume the capacity of the resource or filter is limited

Types of Creativity

Guilford (1950) identified 2 types of creative process: •Divergent Thinking -Fluency and novelty -Search for new solutions, e.g. 'Uses of a Brick' test -as many solutions as possible •Convergent Thinking -Search for an 'optimal' solution •Remote Associates Test (Mednick 1968) -Anagrams & 'Polygon' word puzzles one best solution. - •Use together for optimal problem solving

Loss Aversion

How big a prize would be needed for you to risk your £10 on the toss of a coin? •VOTE! • •Tversky & Kahneman: American UGs wanted at least £30! •We are more sensitive to loss that would be predicted by SEU theory: prize win lose £10 EV = (0.5 x 10) - (0.5 x 10) = £0 £20 EV = (0.5 x 20) - (0.5 x 10) = £5 £30 EV = (0.5 x 30) - (0.5 x 10) = £10 people say that £30 but any logical person should say when they make a profit according to SEU however, we take losses to heart more.

Automatic processing

How do we explain the effects of practice? Practiced task become automatic, and do not require any attention • Automaticity Fast Do not disrupt other tasks (i.e. require no attention) Unconscious Reflexive (always occur when the appropriate stimulus is presented- a bit like a conditioned response...) Stroop effect

Instance theory (Logan 1988)

How does practice lead to automaticity? • - Each encounter with a stimulus produces a separate memory trace - Repeated encounters (practice) produces a greater store of information about the stimulus and how to process it - This increase in knowledge means retrieval of relevant information about the stimulus is fast - Automaticity occurs when the stimulus directly triggers the retrieval of a past solution from memory - In other cases the solution must be arrived using conscious strategies or heuristics. practice leads to a new memory trace , stored in memory this is what makes it automatic. no control over retrieval

Methods for identifying modules

How many modules are there? •Dissociation: A manipulation that affects one cognitive task but not a different task -Articulatory suppression disrupts verbal short-term memory but not spatial short term memory - •Double Dissociations •Articulatory suppression disrupts verbal but not spatial memory •Making saccades (eye-movements) disrupts spatial but not verbal memory • •The two tasks must be controlled by different cognitive modules •Same logic can be applied to people with brain injuries multiple modules can be used in memory.

Attention is not a single construct / not unitary

Humans have evolved to focus on one thing at a time, cannot attend to all thoughts at once. attention is a limited capacity resource. It is a bottleneck that restricts the flow of information. we need this attentional filter to limit the amount of sensory info. helps us to stay on task. capacity to focus on relevant info for a task. Better to think about an 'Attentional System' Several different modules & process that interact to guide behaviour A modular model of attention (Posner & Petersen 1990; Corbetta & Shulman 2002) •3 components of the attention system • Alerting / Arousal (central process) • Selection / Orienting (input module) • Executive (central process) selective attention- people don't notice a gorilla in a playground etc, attentional blindness. Selection is modular, with distinct anatomical correlates in the parietal lobe and premotor cortex

Why should we all be interested in attention?

Humans have very limited cognitive resources An overwhelming amount of information enters our sensory system! Key questions 1.At what stage of processing does the 'bottleneck' occur? 2.How do we select relevant sensory signals for processing? 3.How do we decide which of these signals needs to be acted upon, and what action should be taken? ● Attention seems to refer to both input and central processes

Motivational Specific Imagery

Imagining winning or being praised for good performance •Endorsed by many athletes (e.g. Moran 2008) •"I have been visualizing myself every night for the past four years standing on the podium having the gold placed around my neck" Megan Quann (US gold meal winner) • Novice golfers practice more (Martin & Hall, 1995) Imagery may be important for goal-setting (Munroe et al., 1999) • •Few well controlled studies of the efficacy of this type of imagery

What is mental imagery?

Internal representation that creates the experience of sense-perception in the absence of appropriate sensory input •Visual •Auditory •Kinaesthetic (movement) •Proprioceptive (placement of limbs) •Gustatory (taste) •Olfactory (taste and smell)

Filter theories of attention

Is there any evidence you can think of for a module for selective attention? Colin Cherry (1950's): The "cocktail party" effect Cherry's (1953) Shadowing Task 1) Did not notice when language changes or when talking backwards But, did notice a beep. basically don't recall unattended speech. 2) Couldn't recall words from unattended ear

Kahneman Resource theory

Kahneman (1973): Attention more flexible that suggested by filter accounts - Capacity is related to the level of arousal: Inverted U shape curve - Resource is used flexibly across tasks - This pool of resources is also known as 'attention' or the 'central executive' possible activities are background things, that will acquire our eventual attention. either more effort or another capacity. available capacity deduced by level or arousal, which is decided by how important info is.

Neuropsychological Evidence

MS (an achromatopsic patient) can't imagine colours •Imagine sky on a summers day, a policebox and the sea on a summers day •Which blue is the darkest? can't answer • •Some patients with left-neglect & hemianopia (blindness on one side) can't generate images (Bisiach & Luzzatti 1978). They were asked to visualise and describe the view of the cathedral in the square in Milan, could only describe side had vision on, couldn't imagine other side. • •Making eye-movements reduces intensity of visual imagery (Andrade Kavanagh & Baddeley 1997; expt 4) would look at emotive negative stimuli , harder to recall it when made eye movement.

Illusory Conjunctions

Mistakenly combining features from two different stimuli to perceive an object that is not present. Triesman & Schmidt (1982) Participants identify numbers then identify shapes in briefly presented displays (200ms) Participants incorrectly report letter/colour combinations that are not present Triesman argues this shows attention needed to bind features into objects

Evidences for Late selection

Number of paradigms which appear to show late selection Can occur when meaning of distracting stimuli is processed, resulting in stimulus conflict 1.Flanker Effects (Eriksen & Eriksen 1974) 2.Stroop Effect (Stroop 1935) 3.Negative Priming (Tipper & Driver 1988) • Can also occur when responses must be selected sequentially 1.Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) Bottlenecks occur at level of response selection If two stimuli are presented in quick succession (within ~100ms), reactions to 2nd stimuli are greatly slowed e.g. Press a button when a light flashes and a pedal when a beep sounds

Early vs. Late : can we reconcile both?

Perceptual Load Theory Lavie (1995;2005), Lavie et al., (2004) Propose a 'passive' limited-capacity filter and an 'active' central resource - Filter used to process the perceptual properties of stimuli -Central resource used for identification and decision making Perceptual load: How hard it is to process the perceptual features of a display - Low load: all items in a display pass through the filter and get analysed Irrelevant items interfere with processing of relevant ones - High load: only task relevant items pass through filter Irrelevant items cannot interfere with processing of relevant stimuli Perceptual Load Theory: neurophysiological evidences Perceptual load modulates activity of early visual areas Rees et al., (1997) Low load= words in upper/lower case High load= how many syllables Irrelevant= motion field in background Muggleton et al., (2008) Perform letter ID task TMS delivered over MT/V5 Higher intensity TMS required during high load Exp 2 no load condition Exp 3: TMS delivered 500ms after array onset

The Spotlight Metaphor

Posner (1980): focus attention is like a spotlight that moves through space. small area immlumiated can't see much outside it. Eriksen and St James (1986) : focused attention is like a zoom lens •Spotlight is flexible •Wide focus, little detail •Tightly focused, lots of detail

Types of decision

Risky vs Riskless -Risky: Which horse should I back?- may loose something -Riskless: Cinema or theatre?- won't loose anything • •Single attribute vs Multi- attribute -Buying wine when you know nothing about wine- just going off a singular value like price -Which house to buy?- have to take in to account many factors • •One-stage- only one stage of decision making, simple yes or no vs Multi-stage- many stages of decision making. Deciding between single attribute, risky choices

Social-Functionalist approach

Tetlock (2002): Need to understand the goals of the decision maker in order to evaluate decisions and understand biases. •We are motivated to justify our decisions to ourselves and others •Expected Value approach assumes we are 'intuitive economists' •Try to maximise value •We may adopt other roles: •Intuitive Politicians: Justify decisions to other people •Intuitive Theologians: Trying to protect 'sacred values' •Intuitive Prosecutors: Trying to prevent violations of 'normal' rules of society You've just taken your 1st year exams. It's the end of term, you're tired and run down and you're not sure if you passed. If you failed, you'll have to resit at the end of the summer holidays. You have the chance to buy a very attractive 5-day vacation package to Barcelona at an exceptionally low price. This offer expires tomorrow, but your exam results will not be available until the following day. Would you A.buy the holiday package B.not buy the holiday C.pay a £5 nonrefundable fee to retain the right to buy the package at the same low price the day after tomorrow (i.e. after you find out whether you passed your exam) Tversky & Shafir 1992

Shiffrin & Schneider (1977)

Theoretical distinction between controlled and automatic processes • Controlled Processes (concious) - Require engagement of limited attentional resources - Are conscious - Can be used flexibly in changing circumstances Automatic Processes - Have no capacity limit - Do not require attention - Hard to modify when learned (e.g. learning bad driving habits...)

problem solving summary

There are different types of problem: •Well/poorly defined, Knowledge rich/poor • •Different ways to solve them •Insight vs trial and error •Representational change (may contribute to insight) •Heuristics (Hill climbing and means-end analyses) • •Most theories apply best to well defined problems

evidence for insight

They argued that if insight could be demonstrated in animals, it must also exist in humans. Evidence •Kohler (1925) •Sultan the ape •Has to get a banana from outside his cage •Provided with two bamboo sticks that can be joined • •Birch (1945) •Apes raised in captivity can't solve the task •Sultan had experienced trial and error learning in the wild? Sultan given 2 bamboo sticks that can be joined. Initially he tried each stick separately which didn't work. He gave up and sat in the corner, then played with the sticks again. He tried pushing one stick with the other. This allowed him to poke the banana, but not move it towards the cage because the sticks were not joined. Kohler tried to give him a hint by pushing his own finger into the hole, but this didn't help Sultan solve the problem. Sultan then started playing with the sticks again and accidentally pushed one stick into the other. This seemed to trigger an insight, as he immediately attempted to used the joined sticks to solve the problem. What about insight in humans? •Problem: How can I tie these two strings together? (Maier 1931) two strangles dangled from the ceiling, can't reach both strings at the same time, given rope, table, chair etc. •Four solutions, Maier looking for 1 particular solution. •P's told to keep trying until they get the desired solution Couple of minutes to think about this problem. Maier would brush past one of the strings after 10 minutes without a solution, then 10 minutes later offer the pliers. 39% solved without hints, 38 with hints (avg solution occuring 42 s after hint 1), 14 never reached 'pendulum' solution Gestaltists claim that this problem is very difficult to solve in trial-and-error fashion. Rather, participants must restructure the problem (i.e, understand the pliers can be used to make a pendulum) until a solution presents itself. Participants typically report 'seeing' the solution as a single insight. Maier's desired goal was to get them to swing one. A well known example of this is Maier's `pendulum problem'. The problem was to tie together pieces of string hanging from the ceiling. However , they were far too apart to catch hold of both at once. The room was full of other objects including pliers, poles and extensions. Although various solutions were proposed by participants, few chose to use the weight of the pliers as a pendulum to swing the strings together. However, when the experimenter brushed against the string, setting it in motion, a lot of participants came up with the idea. This can be interpreted as an example of productive restructuring. This experiment also illustrates functional fixity: participants were unable to see any use for the pliers beyond the 'grabbing'.

How does the mind relate to the body?

To assume all consciousness is due to firing neurone is reductionist. The issue with type identity is that you can have the same mental state but different firing. mental state s a though/emotion. mental processing is theory. Functualism is an ambition. The purpose of cognitive psychology is to understand mental states and create a functional explanation of them.

What is cognitive Psychology?

Understand the mental processes that allow us to make sense of our environment, decide how react to the environment and implement those decisions.

Single resource theories

We have one single pool of cognitive resources that has a limited capacity - Used flexibly across tasks - If demands of task exceed capacity, performance suffers. so if one task takes up too much capacity the other tsk will suffer. - This pool of resources is also known as 'attention' or the 'central executive' Kahneman (1973) - Attention is limited, but flexible- attention can be distributed differently but also different amounts depending on motivation, and arousal - Motivation and arousal increase cognitive resources This resource is only needed when we consciously control behaviour so things that don't require conscious effort such as breathing and sometimes walking don't take up capacity.

Early vs. Late selection

Where does the attentional "Bottleneck" occur? At what level of processing do these bottlenecks occur? Evidence for bottlenecks at several levels of processing Filter theories place the bottleneck early in processing Attention operates at the level of sensory analysis- unattended stimuli are not processed semantically Resource theories place the bottleneck late in processing All inputs get processed at semantic level, attention operates at level of response selection

Divided Attention

Why is it difficult to do 2 things at once? - Rub tummy and pat head - Walk and talk - Park and listen to radio... Dual Tasks - Can give insight to the limits of human information processing - Limits of attentional resource Factors affecting dual task performance - Similarity - Practice - Difficulty Similarity How similar is the input ('stimulus modality') - Trying to do two visual tasks at once vs doing a visual and auditory task How similar is the output ('response modality') - Verbal response to task A and manual response to task B - Left hand response to task A, right hand response to task B Performance is worse when tasks are similar! 2. Difficulty Harder tasks require more information processing - They require more 'attention' • May also require extra coordination - Processing requirement more than the sum of the two tasks 3. Practice The more a dual task is practiced, the better performance becomes - Even on tasks that are similar! • Spelke, Hirst & Neisser (1976) - Taught two students to read stories and take dictation - Initially had poor handwriting and reading speed - 6 weeks of training... Reading speed was normal, handwriting improved! Practice: why? People develop effective new strategies that minimise interference? Effectively interleave the different tasks • Practice reduces the amount of cognitive resources the tasks need? i.e. they become easier • Practice helps to differentiate between tasks? i.e. they become more different Practice reduce the number of different cognitive processes required?

Posner Cueing Task

asking the question, does a shift in attention improve memory? participants not meant to make any eye movements. reaction time reduced when cue was valid. (80%)even when cue is not productive they still react quicker when its valid.

what is attention?

attention can be used when searching, monitoring stimulus, excluding irrelevant info, paying attention, shifts on and off, ready to react, responsible inhibition. Every one knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration of consciousness are of its essence. William James (1890)

Treisman & Geffen (1967) Attenuation Theory

both go in to the sensory store, info attenuated based on physical characteristics. goes in to dictionary unit, every word has different threshold. common words have lower attenuation such as names. higher attenuation for less common words.

Model of Salvucci and Taatgen (2011)

he idea of threaded cognition. related to WMM previously looked at above. processing of two tasks may involve 2 separate threads. tasks can compete but only one can be processed at a time by the same module. A given cognitive resource can be used by only one process at any given time. Nijboer et al. (2013) (1: easy) (2: hard) 336789495 3649772514 -224578381 -1852983463 given easy task or hard task, easy given first than performance of hard task went down. basically more disrupted when at once.

Broadbent (1958) Filter Theory

info goes in to a sensory store then in to attention filter (irrelevant removed) and then in to a higher level of processing This explains the cocktail effect and the shadowing task. information moves in parralel in to the sensory store. only one bt of info is allowed through the attentional filter based on characteristics, basically not processed at higher level (unattended). + : Accounts for the findings of Cherry - : Not all unattended information is lost: Cannot account for analysis of information from unattended ear ? "breakthrough" from unattended ear ? When word in unattended ear is makes sense in the context of the message in the attended ear ? Hearing your name across a room

modularity 2 Fodor

input systems process sensory information central processor makes decisions and is not modular output models execute responses

start of cognitive psychology

introspection is separating a thought in to domains. This is perhaps the scientific introduction to consciousness William James- emphasised experimenting, the Gesalt approach then went against this. cognitive psychology is an extension of functionalism. This focuses on mental operations/ processes.

Model of Baddeley (1986)

slave modules are the VSS and the PL. episodic buffer ins conscious experience central executive controls experience.

feature integration theory

the idea that focused attention is not required to detect the individual features that comprise a stimulus, but is required to bind those individual features together •2 stages of processing •Preattentive, when objects defined by single, salient feature •Attentive, when features need to be combined •Attention acts like a 'glue' that binds features into objects

the binding problem

visual processing is split in to component features. this was found out using visual search tasks, if its multiple components you are searching for the longer it takes

Types of Problem

well defined All aspects of the problem are specified •Assembling flat-pack furniture •Escaping from a maze •Solving arithmetic problems ill defined Some aspects of the problem are unspecified •How should I vote? •How do I get a 1st class degree? • Most real life problems are ill-defined! Knowledge rich Specific prior knowledge is required •writing a good psychology essay •Solving a crossword Knowledge lean problems Little prior knowledge is required •Everything that is required to solve the problem is contained within it •Solving Soduku

Problems

•A situation where... "...a living organism has a goal, but does not know how this goal is to be reached" Karl Duncker, 1945 • •What are the major characteristics of solving a problem (2mins)? understanding root of issues, evaluating solutions, having specific end goal, reasoning, creative thinking. • •Problem solving has 3 major characteristics goal directed requires cognitive processes lack f relevant info to produce immediate solution. Example: My boiler broke down last week. The pressure was too low. I needed to raise the pressure. So the problem is, how do I increase the pressure in the boiler? Why is this a problem? 1 I have a goal , 2 I need to think about how to achieve this goal, 3 I lack the relevant knowledge to immediately solve the problem

Morphological Synthesis

•Allen (1962) •Use a 2 or 3 dimensional matrix to represent different aspects of a problem •New ideas found by combining 2 points in the matrix •Ideas then evaluated ALLEN, M. S. Morphological creativity. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1962. basically two categories on either side / axis, help think of ideas. Morphological is from the Greek for "form" Evidence •Warren & Davis (1969) Compared 3 methods for generating ideas 1.Short checklists of idea-spurring suggestions (e.g. add something, change colour) 2.Long checklist of questions organised into categories 3.Morphological Synthesis • •Morphological Synthesis produced the most 'good' ideas in the fastest time

Motivational General

•Arousal: Imagery can increase physiological arousal (Heart-rate: Heckor & Kaczor 1998) Used for both increasing and controlling arousal (e.g. Hanin 1987) •Useful for limiting effects of anxiety e.g. Munroe et al., (2000), Vadocz, Hall & Moritz (1997) •Mastery •Interventions tend to increase confidence Badminton players report increased confidence (Callow, Hardy & Hall, 2001) •Improved self-efficacy (Feltz & Riessinger 1990) Imagine feeling confident and in control on an endurance task Reported higher levels of confidence and efficacy than controls Fewer negative visualizations about performance

Normative" approach

•Based on economic and philosophical models •A rational decision maker will choose the option with greatest value •Assumes 1.Full knowledge of all possible options, and the value of all outcomes 2.Infinitely sensitive to subtle differences in value 3.Decision makers are motivated to maximise value ●assumes people are rational •Led to development of expected value theory

Applications: Increasing creativity

•Brainstorming •Morphological Synthesis Brainstorming •Alex Osborn (1956) •Increase idea production • •2 main principles •Deferment of Judgement •Quantity breeds Quality • •4 rules 1.No criticism 2.Free-wheeling is welcome (no constraints on ideas) 3.Quantity is encouraged 4.Everyone is free to combine and improve ideas Evidence Lots of positive results from the lab •Meadow et al., (1959) -Think of uses for a broom and a coat-hanger •Ideas rated for uniqueness and usefulness. Good idea had to score on both -Brainstorm group produced more good ideas than control group - •Brilhart & Jochem (1964) -Investigated deferment of judgement -Most creative when ideas produced 1st, then evaluated •Similar to geneplore findings? • •Not specific on HOW to generate ideas

Expected Value theory

•Calculate the expected value of different decisions, choose most valuable decision • •Assumes -We know the relevant probabilities -We can assign a value to the outcome (e.g. monetary value, lower mortality, higher student ratings...) -Either decision is better than no decision Expected Value = probability of outcome x value of the outcome ( a lot of effort) Expected Value based on outcome over a number of trials... The red horse wins 80% (0.8) of races The yellow horse wins 20% (0.2) of races You can bet £50 on red to win £100 or £10 on yellow to win £400 which bet should be chosen? EV = (0.8 x 100) - (0.2 x 50) = 70 EV = (0.2 x 400) - (0.8 x 10) = 72

Cognitive Specific Imagery

•Can mental imagery really be used to modulate behaviour? • •Driskell, Copper & Moran (1994) •Meta analysis of cognitive specific imagery to enhance skill Imagery effective, but not as effective as real practice (effect size of 0.261 vs 0.382) Experts benefit more from mental practice than beginners Effects of mental practice fade over time • •Is there an optimum amount of mental practice? Probably not: the more the better!

creativity summary

•Creative thought can be studied as a form of ill-defined problem solving •Wallas provided a reasonable description of creative thought •Guilford coined terms convergent & divergent thinking •Ward & colleagues suggest processes in creative thought, supported by empirical evidence •Methods such as brainstorming and morphological synthesis can facilitate creative thought

What is a decision?

•Decision Making: Choosing between various options -What house should I buy? -What should I study? -Which horse should I bet on? - •Judgement: Considering information from multiple, sometimes competing or conflicting sources and deciding what is going on, deciding what the truth is. -Which theory best explains the data? -Who is the best sportsman? -Whodunnit? - •Decisions assessed relative to their consequences, Judgements assessed relative to their accuracy

Graham Wallas (1926)

•Described 4 stages of thinking, based on his own introspection and the reports of 'great thinkers' • •Preparation -Systematic, conscious, fruitless work on problem •Incubation -Problem set aside for other work -Unconscious work? Rest? Light exercise? •Illumination -Solution to problem presents itself - a sudden insight •Verification -Solution is developed and tested tried to code this idea. •Some experimental evidence that incubation is important -Smith & Blankenship (1991): Remote associates task -What links wheel, electric and man? (chair!) wheelchair, electric chair, chairman -57% of p's given break solved problem, only 27% of non-break solved problem. - •Why does incubation work? -Forgetting: Allows the 'forgetting' of unnecessary constraints or decay of mental sets (e.g. Simon 1966, Woodworth & Schlosberg 1954) -Unconscious Work: representations related to problem are still active and interacting with LTM, but are not strong enough to reach awareness -Spreading Activation: similar to unconscious work account Evaluation •Useful framework for describing creativity •Empirical support for concept of incubation makes sense and personal experiences match • •Descriptive not explanatory •Is illumination really a stage? Is there always insight?

Experience

•Does experience of problems help with problem solving? •If PS is just trial and error, more experience should lead to better/faster solutions- so people with more experience with matches should be faster at challenge •Duncker (1945):Candle Problem •Matches, 3 small boxes full of tacks, 3 candles •Fix candle to a doorframe so it burns in a stable fashion what you do is use boxes that hold tacks, use wax to make base.

Framing effects

•Does the presentation of a problem affect our decisions? Imagine that the U.S. is preparing for the outbreak of an unusual disease, which is expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative programs to combat the disease have been proposed. Assume that the exact scientific estimates of the consequences of the programs are as follows: Program A: 200 people will be saved. Program B: A one-third probability that 600 people will be saved and a two-thirds probability that no people will be saved. Which of the two programs would you favour? Program C: 400 people will die Program D: A two-third probability that 600 people will die and a one-third probability that no people will die Which of the two programs would you favour? The expected value of these programs are the same! in the first option we pick A because of the word 'saved' which emphasises gains, whereas in scenario 2 we pick D because risk seeking

Evaluation

•Expected Utility theory delivers best, most 'rational' decisions •Loads of biases which are inconsistent with EU •Risk seeking •Loss aversion •Framing and dominance effects • •Prospect Theory accounts for many biases in decision making •We rarely make decisions based only on utility! •Can be difficult to evaluate the probability of many outcomes •Doesn't reflect the social and emotional aspects of decision making

functional Fixity

•Failure to perceive new uses for old objects • •Participants who fail to solve problem often don't remember the boxes!

Insight vs Trial-and-error

•Focused on well defined, knowledge lean problems • •Reproductive thinking: Relies on experience to solve problem. A typical example of this is trial and error learning. (skinner box) •Productive thinking: Coming up with new response or strategies for solving a problem. Requires re-structuring of the problem by mentally simulating possible solutions. • •Behaviourists: •All problem solving is reproductive, trial and error. •Gestaltists: •Some problems can be solved by engaging in mental simulation, not physical trial and error •The problem must be restructured so that the solution becomes clear Behaviourists treated all problem solving as trial-and-error learning. The 'thought' was simply covert trial and error (i.e. thinking "if I try this, what will the consequences be?") Gestalt psycholgists believed problem solving occurred as a consequence of insight.

Theories of Mental Imagery

•Functional Equivalence (e.g. Kosslyn 1980, Decety 1996) imagery resembles perception, not identical but functionally equivalent. sensory areas of brain are engaged as they would be if you were actually doing the activity. •Imagery is generated using neural machinery used for sensation and motor control •Visual imagery relies on visual system •Motor imagery relies on motor system Propositional Codes (e.g. Pylyshyn 2002) •Imagery is an epiphenomenenal (happens before other processes) product of propositional codes •Images are manipulated by manipulating symbolic representations, NOT the image itself (e.g. changing the code in a computer program)- eg the image will be the same if you say there is a pear in the bowl, or the bowl contains the pear. •Imagery is independent of sensory and motor systems •do not store mental representations of the image. proposition underlies context •How could you test these two theories?

Creative Cognition- the geneplore model

•Geneplore model (Fink 1990) •Creative thought has two stages: -Generation -Exploration •Generation: -Develop 'preinventive forms': ideas that don't solve the problem, but that might be useful -Forms are based on prior knowledge -Divergent thinking •Exploration: -Using preinventive forms to try and solve problem -Convergent thinking •If no solution or idea is produced, cycle back to generation and start again iterative process - several rounds. •According to Finke, participants were most creative when given category after creating forms •Least creative when P's chose category •Concluded that pre-inventive forms facilitate creative thinking •Bit like the restructuring we discussed last week?

Path-of-least-resistance

•Generation of new ideas constrained by existing knowledge •Rely heavily on existing knowledge to create new forms •Often an unconscious constraint • •Ward (1994) Imaginary Forms task •Draw creatures from another plant that's nothing like earth (1 min) •Animals structured like earth animals •Bilateral symmetry •Sensory receptors •Manipulatory appendages people can't imagine something entirely new because of constraints of own imagination. Evaluation •Some empirical evidence that generation and exploration are important processes •Deferring evaluation of forms does seem to increase novelty • •Does not describe processes involved in generating preinventive forms •Focus is on originality, rather than creativity per se

Cognitive Neuroscience Evidence

•Imagery activates visual areas involved in perception (O'Craven & Kanwisher 2000) • •Activation depends on the task •High resolution imagery tends to activate early visual areas E.g. comparing two gratings and deciding which has the thickest stripes •Spatial judgements tend to activate more dorsal visual areas •Nonspatial judgements that don't require high-res comparisons (e.g. faces vs places) activates ventral areas so same areas of brain were activated when recalling faces as they were when actually being them. • •TMS over V1 disrupts visual imagery (Kosslyn et al., 1999) shown in table TMS stops brain functioning, when placed over visual area can't perform visualisation.

mental imagery summary

•Imagery appears to utilise much of the same machinery as perception • •Imagery used to practice specific skills or modulate arousal • •Mental practice can be successfully applied to many domains, e.g. •Sport •Psychiatric disorders •Neurorehabilitation (not discussed here)

Interim Summary

•Imagery not a single, undifferentiated ability Different types of imagery activate different brain areas Imagery is modular •Precise relationship between imagery and perception remains unclear Behavioural evidence open to different interpretations Some evidence for overlapping brain systems Other evidence for separate systems Are imagery & perception separate modules? •Imagery may use both depictive and propositional representations (Pearson & Kosslyn 2015)

Evaluation of Gestalt Approach

•Introduced and investigated insight as a method of solving problems •Emphasised restructuring and 'representational change' - very influential concept •Showed that experience does not always help problem solving • •Focus on knowledge-lean, well specified problems •Insight and restructuring very vague •Describes what happens during problem solving, but not how it happens

Modularity 1

•Marr (1982) : Human cognition is composed of multiple sub-components or 'modules' computers have different models that run independently of each other. •Each module has a specific function and processes •Cognitive activity is comprised of activation of several, independent modules -E.g. naming a face might draw on a visual module, a memory module, and a linguistic module •Damage to one module does not necessarily affect processing in other modules -E.g. prosopagnosia (inability to recognise faces, but can recognise objects) •Modules correspond to a anatomically defined brain areas Modules are similar across all humans

Einstellung

•Mental Set: •A strategy is used to solve a problem even when it is inappropriate or inefficient • •Experience can make you worse!

Behavioural Evidence

•Mental scanning (e.g. Kosslyn,Ball & Reiser 1978) • •Memorise a map, then imagine the map • •P's asked to inspect the map and report whether a feature is present or absent. asked to memorise 7 key locations then asked to recall one than another Time to response correlated with distance between starting point and probe location. showing that mentally participants were going from one place to another.

Computational Approach

•Newell & Simon (1972): Developed a computer simulation of human problem solving •"General Problem Solver" • •Designed to solve well defined problems •Problems with a clear goal state • •Assumptions of General Problem Solver •Information processing is serial •We have limited short-term memory capacity •Relevant information can be retrieved from LTM Problem Space •GPS based on human problem solving • •Problem Space: Representation of a problem •Initial State •Goal State •All possible moves or operations to change the state of the problem •All possible problem states between the initial state and the goal state • •Problem solving = changing the initial state into the goal state via a series on intermediate states (i.e. processing information) •Each operation changes the state of the problem. •Human participants solve problems while thinking aloud •N&S used reports to define the strategies used for different problems •Programmed the General Problem Solver to use these strategies Example: Tower of Hanoi Goal: Discs in same order on last peg Constraints: One disc moved at a time, a larger disc cannot be on top of a smaller disc Operations: any move within these constraints that bring the goal state closer Which operations are selected? •Newell & Simon identified 2 important heuristics (rules-of-thumb) • 1.Means-end analysis -Identify difference between current state and goal -Form a SUBGOAL that reduces this difference -Perform operation that will attain subgoal -e.g. following instructions to assemble IKEA furniture by making sub-components 2.Hill-climbing -Change current state to a state that more closely resembles the goal -Used if you don't really know how to solve the problem! -e.g. assembling IKEA furniture WITHOUT instructions... Evaluation •Works well with well defined, knowledge poor problems •Experimental evidence suggests we do use heuristics • •General Problem Solver may not always operate in the same way as humans •Better at remember previous states •Worse at planning future moves (only 1 at a time) •Only works with well defined problems: most human problems are ill-defined •Cannot account for insight

What is creativity?

•Original or novel ideas do not have to be useful or worthwhile (35s) •Creative ideas are both novel and useful or worthwhile

Overt and Covert attention

•Overt Attention: A movement of the eyes to fixate the location of interest •Covert Attention: Orienting attention to a location that is not being fixated eg eyes can bot be looking at it.

Problem of Tacit Knowledge

•Pylyshyn (1981) modified the mental scanning task •P's had to report compass bearing of other landmark •Now RT unrelated to distance from starting point. •Tacit knowledge used during task? •Knowledge that is unconscious or that cannot be articulated •P's ask themselves "how would I do this in the real world" •Simulate as many of the details as possible, including irrelevant ones! •P's perform the task in the same way as they would in the real world, even if they don't have to! •Change the instructions (i.e. the way in which the participant represents the problem) and you change the way the task is performed when you really know something it changes how you mentally scan.

Cognitive theories- •Representational Change Theory (Ohlsson, 1992)

•Representational Change Theory (Ohlsson, 1992) • •Attempt to integrate gestalt insight theory with information processing approach •Structure of problem determines what related knowledge can be retrieved from long term memory (LTM) •Blockage occurs when relevant knowledge cannot be retrieved from LTM •Changing the structure of the problem means different knowledge can be retrieved from LTM, may allow person to solve problem Changing representation •3 ways to change representation of problems 1.Elaboration: Adding more information about the problem 2.Constraint Relaxation: changing what is permissible to solve the problem •e.g. use box containing pins, 3.Re-encoding: changing how some aspect of the problem is interpreted •See box as shelf, not container, scrambling letters in anagrams • ● •Similar to Gestalt theory, but more specific about how insight is achieved Evidence •Knoblich, Ohlsson et al., (1999): Importance of constraint relaxation •Move 1 stick to make the equation true Type A VI = VIII + 1 change the values typical or arithmetic type B IV = III - I change the operator- not allowed in arithmetic KNOBLICH, G., OHLSSON, S., HAIDER, H., &RHENIUS, D. (1999). Constraint relaxation and chunk decomposition in insight problem solving.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,25, 1534-1556. P's must relax the constraints of arithmetic in order to solve type B problems. a lot of people couldn't solve type B problems Solvers tend to fixate operators prior to insight occurring. Non-solvers did not (Knoblich et al., 2001 Knoblich, G., Ohlsson, S., & Raney, G. E. (2001). An eye movement study of insight problem solving. Memory & Cognition, 29(7), 1000-1009. doi:10.3758/BF03195762 Evaluation •Restructuring does appear to help with many insight problems •Mechanisms of problem solving are better specified • •Does not predict what types of restructuring will help problem solving •Constraint relaxation is critical - but is it always required? •May be specific to certain types of problem

Omission Bias

•Ritov & Baron (1990): Your child has 10 chances in 10000 of dying from flu •There is a vaccine that is certain to prevent flu -BUT, it has potentially fatal side-effect • •What is the maximum death-rate from the vaccine you would be willing to tolerate? •Average was 5 deaths per 10000 (i.e. less than the death rate of the disease!) • •Why? anticipated regret is greater for own actions (as opposed to inactions)

Luchins (1942) Water Jar study

•Studied effect of experience on problem solving • •Controlled the past experience •½ trained on complex 3-jar problems •Rest given no training • •New problem with 2 jar solution •95% of no training group used 2 jars •64% of trained group FAILED to solve the problem!

decision making summary

•We are not always rational decision makers (in the normative sense) •Decisions influenced by many biases that affect our valuation of outcomes •We are averse to losses, and will takes irrational gambles to avoid them •We don't like to risk our gains •We are influenced by a perceived need to justify our decisions

Cognitive Neuropsychology

•What can brain damage tell us about normal cognition? -Reverse engineering cognition -Localisation of functions less important -Typically investigate single cases - •Patient HM (Scoville & Milner 1957) -Neurosurgery to cure epilepsy •Severe anterograde amnesia: a couldn't form new memories •Short term memory OK, could learn new skills. •LTM, STM and Procedural memory must be different systems! -Revolutionised understanding of how memory functions Limitations •What is 'normal' performance for that patient? -Rarely know how good a person was at a task before injury after we compare them to the average but don't know what they were actually like before. - •Functional reorganisation of cognition -Perhaps patients adopt compensatory strategies - •Can say anything about time-course of information processing • •Damage is rarely focal -E.g. Stroke affects lots of brain area and lots of cognitive systems

Subjective Expected Utility theory (SEU)

•What if we don't know probabilities? •Use subjective estimate of probability •This can be problematic: we're not very good at estimating probability, particularly of rare but emotive events overestimate emotive things like murders or plane crashes. - •Utility: the subjective value we attach to an outcome •Is the subjective value of cash always the same? •Would a rich man cross the street to pick up a pound? does a poor person and a rich person view £10 in the same way. Expected Utility = probability of outcome x utility of the outcome Is this really how people make decisions? •Lots of empirical data seemed to be inconsistent with EU theory. -Satsificing: When faced with limited time or very similar options people picked the option that meets minimum requirements, rather than searching for optimal outcome (Simon 1957) •Tversky & Kahneman (1979,1984) -Set out to test SEU empirically

Risk Aversion

•Which would you prefer? 1.A certain prize of £800 2.85% chance of £1000, but 15% chance of NOTHING •Most people go for option 1, even though the utility is less! Option 1: EV = (1x 800) - (0 x 0) = £800 Option 2: EV = (0.85 x 1000) - (0.15 x 0) = £850 Risk Seeking •Which would you prefer? 1.A certain loss of £800 2.85% chance of losing £1000, but 15% chance of losing NOTHING - •Option 1: EV = (1x -800) - (0 x 0) = £-800 Option 2: EV = (0.85 x -1000) - (0.15 x 0) = £-850 • • •People take more risks to avoid losses! relationship is not linear and a -10 loss is more emotionally loaded than a +10 win.

Functions of Mental Imagery

•Why use mental imagery? •Paivio (1985) Imagery has 2 functions, each with 2 levels Distinguishes between imagery content (what is being imagined) and imagery function (why it's being imagined)