by Albert Major
Cognition
"A Latin term meaning 'the faculty of knowing.' A set of processes (cognitive functions) that perceive and process stimuli from outside and in; store and retrieve information; decide upon and execute actions to achieve goals."
- NOT defined as: processes carried out by the "mind" (too hard to define, restricted to subjective sense of self)
- The course treats the brain AS the mind—a system that takes input, transforms it, stores it, and acts upon it
Natural Philosophy and Early Psychology
Early physicians and psychologists who built models of mental processes through behavioral observation and experimental manipulation, using methods like psychophysical judgment and memorization for later testing to quantify cognitive processes.
Key figures:
Example: George Miller's "magic number 7 plus or minus 2" experiment on working memory capacity—demonstrates how behavioral testing can reveal cognitive limitations.
Many methods from this era are still used today, such as verbal working memory span tests.
Behaviorism
"A school of psychology that focused on highly controlled experiments that match objective external stimuli to measurable behavior. Behaviorism rejects subjective work on mental functions as being outside the domain of proper scientific inquiry."
- Key figure: Burrhus Skinner (1904-1990)
- Contrasts with: Cognitivism (which looks inside the "black box")