Unit V. Cognitive Psychology

Task 1. Read and translate the text “Cognitive Psychology”:

Cognitive psychology is a school of thought in psychology that examines internal mental processes such as problem solving, memory, and language. It has its foundations in the Gestalt psychology of Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka and in Jean Piaget’s work, which provided a theory of stages/phases that describe children’s cognitive development. Cognitive psychologists are interested in how people understand, diagnose and solve problems, concerning themselves with the mental processes which mediate between stimulus and response. Cognitive theory contends that solutions to the problems take the form of algorithms – rules that are understood but that do not always guarantee solutions. In other instances, solutions may be found through insight, a sudden awareness of relationships.

Ulric Neisser coined the term “cognitive psychology” in his book published in 1967, where Neisser provides a definition of cognitive psychology characterizing people as dynamic information-processing systems whose mental operations might be described in computational terms. Also emphasizing that it is a point of view which postulates the mind as having a certain conceptual structure. Neisser’s point of view endows the discipline a scope which expands beyond high-level concepts such as “reasoning”, often espoused in other works as a definition of cognitive psychology.

Cognitive psychology is radically different from previous psychological approaches in two key ways. It accepts the use of the scientific method, and generally rejects introspection as a valid method of investigation, unlike symbol-driven approaches such as Freudian psychology. It explicitly acknowledges the existence of internal mental states (such as belief, desire and motivation) unlike behaviorist psychology. The school of thought arising from this approach is known as cognitivism.

Cognitive psychology is one of the more recent additions to psychological research, having only developed as a separate area within the discipline since the late 1950s and early 1960s (though there are examples of cognitive thinking from earlier researchers). The cognitive approach was brought to prominence by Donald Broadbent’s book “Perception and Communication” in 1958. Since that time, the dominant paradigm in the area has been the information processing model of cognition that Broadbent put forward. This is a way of thinking and reasoning about mental processes, envisioning them as software running on the computer that is the brain. Theories refer to forms of input, representation, computation or processing, and outputs. Applied to language as the primary mental knowledge representation system, cognitive psychology has exploited tree and network mental models. One of the first cognitive psychologists, George Miller is well-known for dedicating his career to the development of WordNet, a semantic network for the English language. Development began in 1985 and it is now the foundation for many machine ontologies.

This way of conceiving mental processes has pervaded psychology more generally over the past few decades, and it is not uncommon to find cognitive theories within social, personality, abnormal, and developmental psychology. The application of cognitive theories to comparative psychology has driven many recent studies in animal cognition.

The use of computational metaphors and terminology enabled cognitive psychology to benefit greatly from the flourishing of research in artificial intelligence and other related areas in the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, it developed as one of the significant aspects of the inter-disciplinary subject of cognitive science, which attempts to integrate a range of approaches in research on the mind and mental processes (from http://en.wikipedia.org).

Task 2. Translate the words and word combinations into Russian:

1) mental processes; 2) to contend; 3) insight; 4) to endow; 5) explicitly; 6) cognition; 7) software; 8) to dedicate; 9) to pervade; 10) artificial intelligence.

Task 3. In the text find English equivalents to the following Russian words and word combinations. Write down your own sentences with these English words:

1) диагностировать; 2) гарантировать; 3) осознание; 4) поддерживать; 5) выдающееся положение, известность; 6) рассуждение, аргументация; 7) использовать, разрабатывать; 8) понимать, постигать, представлять себе; 9) извлекать пользу, выгоду.

Task 4. Match the words from the text and their synonyms:

1. internal	a. to contend
2. insight	b. fame
3. mental processes	c. to support
4. to postulate	d. inner
5. to espouse	e. envisioning
6. valid	f. intuition
7. prominence	g. argumentative
8. conceiving	h. mental operations

Task 5. In the text find sentences with these verbs, translate them into Russian. Form words of different parts of speech from these verbs, memorize their meaning. Check yourself and look through the vocabulary notes:

1) to examine; 2) to provide; 3) to solve; 4) to contend; 5) to guarantee; 6) to postulate; 7) to endow; 8) to expand; 9) to espouse; 10) to reason; 11) to dedicate.

Vocabulary notes:

1) examination – осмотр, проверка, исследование, экспертиза; examinational – экзаменационный; examiner – экзаменатор; examinee – экзаменующийся; examination paper – экзаменационный билет.

2) provided – обеспеченный; providence – предусмотрительность; provident – бережливый; providential – благоприятный; providently – расчетливо; provider – поставщик.

3) solution – решение, раствор; solvability – разрешимость; solvable – разрешимый; solvency – платежеспособность; solvent – растворитель, платежеспособный.

4) contender – соперник, претендент, кандидат на пост.

5) guarantee – гарантия, залог, поручительство; guarantor – поручитель, гарант.

6) postulate – предварительное условие, постулат; postulant – кандидат на религиозный пост.

7) endowment – дарение, завещание, дар, вклад.

8) expanse – пространство, протяжение; expansibility – растяжимость; expansible – растяжимый; expansion – рост, подъем, экспансия; expansionism – экспансионизм; expansive – откровенный, открытый; expansivity – экспансивность.

9) espousal – участие, поддержка, свадьба, обручение.

10) reason – причина, довод, разум, рассудок; reasonable – рассудительный, приемлемый, недорогой (о цене); reasonably – разумно, умеренно, сносно; reasoning – рассуждение, аргументация.

11) dedicated – преданный, посвятивший себя, убежденный; dedicatee – лицо, которому что-либо посвящено; dedication – посвящение, преданность; dedicator – тот, кто посвящает; dedicatory – посвятительный, посвящающий.

Task 6. Translate the sentences into Russian, pay attention to the words from task five and their derivatives:

1) When going abroad, everybody should go through the custom-house examination.

2) As an examinee you should know answers to all questions otherwise you’ll not satisfy the exams.

3) His parents provided him with a good education.

4) The provider failed his promises and was fined.

5) You are to solve your debt or your creditors will doubt your solvency.

6) It is postulated that man is endowed with reason.

7) He seems to be so sincere with such an expansive smile of his. I’ve never thought he is a smuggler.

8) Mr. Brown is dedicated to football. He can’t live without it. When he was young he was a football player himself. Now he trains a yard football team.

9) We evaluate your espousal in this scientific conference.

10) If you want to take a credit in our bank you should have a guarantor.

11) Before being employed you should go through a medical examination and prepare a medical book.

12) Could you prove the possible solvability of the problem to use wind energy in automobiles?

Task 7. Translate the Russian words in brackets into English:

1) Keep the fingers crossed for me. I am going to (сдавать экзамен).

2) He has a very large family to (содержать).

3) Invest your money in our organisation and you are (гарантирована обеспеченная жизнь).

4) The first person to (решить) an equation receives an excellent mark.

5) You (заявляете) that you (посвятили) your poem to St. Petersburg but you speak about Moscow streets and sites. How could that be?

6) I doubt his mental (способности).

7) The pupils understood teacher’s (объяснения).

8) (Лицо, которому посвящено) of the novel is a well-known singer.

9) We are expecting that our industry could (расти) this year.

Task 8. Translate the sentences into English, pay attention to the words from task five and their derivatives:

1) Мистер Уайт был главным подозреваемым, поэтому он первым подвергся процедуре допроса.

2) Возьмите экзаменационный билет и назовите его номер экзаменатору.

3) Он заранее извинился за свою забывчивость.

4) В кризисные времена нужно быть осмотрительным и расчетливым.

5) Хоть наши соперники и выиграли этот тайм, у нас есть шанс отыграться.

6) Посмотри на гладь озера, какая красота!

7) Не сходи с ума! Эта цена самая приемлемая. Ты нигде не найдешь дешевле. Даже не раздумывай. Покупай, не пожалеешь!

8) Кандидату на пост президента ответили отказом в регистрации, так как он подал заявление позднее утвержденного срока.

9) Надеюсь, вы уже ознакомились с предварительными условиями.

Task 9. Answer the questions:

1) What does cognitive psychology examine?

2) Do the cognitive psychologists deal with processes mediating stimulus and response?

3) What is U. Neisser’s definition of a person?

4) In what way does U. Neisser define the discipline of cognitive psychology?

5) What is the difference between cognitive psychology and previous approaches?

6) When did cognitive psychology become an independent science?

7) Who is D. Broadbent? What is he famous for?

8) What are cognitive methods of examining language?

9) What is a WordNet? When was it started?

10) Where could cognitive ideas be applied?

Task 10. Say whether the following statements are true or false. Correct the false statements:

1) The basis of cognitive psychology is in psycholinguistics.

2) Algorithm is a rule that is understood by a person and which guarantees solutions to the problems.

3) Max Wertheimer introduced the term cognitive psychology in his book “Experimental Studies of the Perception of Movement” in 1912.

4) Cognitive psychology supports the usage of introspection.

5) According to cognitive science a human being is not endowed with desire and motivation.

6) There were examples of cognitivism earlier than 1950s.

7) Cognitive psychologist conceives human mental process as behavioral activities.

8) G. Miller is famous for his invention of Internet.

9) Artificial intelligence was worked over without the help of cognitive science.

10) Cognitive science integrates different ideas and concepts of the mind and mental processes.

Task 11. Read an abstract and choose proper words from the brackets to make the sentences complete:

The term “cognition”, according to U. Neisser, refers to all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, … (reduced, reduce, reduction), elaborated, stored, recovered and used. It is concerned … (to, with, on) these processes even when they operate in the absence of … (relative, relate, relevant) stimulation, as in images and … (hurricanes, homes, hallucinations). Given such a sweeping definition, it is apparent that cognition is involved … (on, in, through) everything a human being might possibly do; that every … (psychological, psychology, psychologist) phenomenon is a cognitive phenomenon. But although cognitive psychology is concerned with all human … (active, activate, activity) rather than some fraction of it, the concern is from a … (part, particular, party) point of view. Other viewpoints are equally legitimate and necessary.

Task 12. Read an abstract and choose the best variant of answers to the questions:

Gestalt psychology

Gestalt psychology began in Germany in 1910. While travelling by train on vacation, a 30-year-old Czech-born psychologist Max Wertheimer was seized by an idea when he saw flashing lights at a railroad crossing that resembled lights encircling a theatre marquee. He got off the train in Frankfurt-on-Main, where he bought a motion picture toy called a “zoetrope”. When a strip of pictures is placed inside and viewed through the slits in a zoetrope, a succession of stationary pictures appear to be a single, moving picture. In his hotel room, Wertheimer made his own picture strips, consisting of not identifiable objects, but of simple abstract lines, ranging from vertical to horizontal. By varying these elements, he was able to investigate the conditions that contribute to the illusion of motion pictures, an effect that is technically known as “apparent movement” (from http://en.wikipedia.org).

Questions:

1) When did Gestalt psychology appear?

1. in Germany in 1910

2. in Belgium in 1910

3. in Germany in 1901

2) Under what circumstances did Max Wertheimer create Gestalt psychology?

1. while travelling by train on a business trip

2. while travelling by train on holidays

3. while travelling on a submarine on vacation

3) How old was M. Wertheimer when the idea of gestalt came to him?

1. thirty three

2. fifty one years old

3. thirty years old

4) Where was M. Wertheimer born?

1. Czech Republic

2. Czechoslovakia

3. Sweden

5) What did flashing lights at a railroad crossing resemble according to M. Wertheimer?

1. lights on the ceiling of a theatre

2. lights on the theatre scene

3. lights around a theatre

6) Where did he get off the train?

1. in Frankfurt-on-Main

2. in Frankfurt-upon-Main

3. in Stradford-upon-Avon

7) What is the principle of work of “zoetrope”?

a) when a strip of pictures is placed inside, you can’t see it at all

b) when a picture is placed inside it appears to be a stationary picture

c) when a strip of pictures is placed inside, a succession of stationary pictures appears to be a moving picture

8) What did M. Wertheimer do with a zoetrope?

1. made pictures of animals and put them inside

2. made his own unidentifiable pictures

3. broke the zoetrope into pieces

9) What was the effect M. Wertheimer noticed?

1. apparent movement

2. illusions

3. zoetrope

Task 13. Read an abstract and say whether the statements are true or false. Correct false statements:

Years earlier, Max Wertheimer had studied in Prague with an Austrian philosopher named Christian von Ehrenfels, who had published a paper in 1890 entitled “On Gestalt Qualities” in which he pointed out that a melody is still recognizable when played in different keys, even though none of the notes are the same, and that abstract form attributes such as “squareness” or “angularity” can be conveyed by a wide range of specific elements. Clearly, argued Ehrenfels, if a melody and the notes that comprise it are so independent, then a whole is not simply the sum of its parts, but synergistic “whole effect”, or gestalt. Likewise, Wertheimer concluded, the effect of apparent movement is generated not so much by its individual elements as by their dynamic interrelation (from http://en.wikipedia.org).

Statements:

1) M. Wertheimer studied in Vienna, Austria.

2) He was acquainted with Australian philosopher Christian von Ehrenfels.

3) Ehrenfels worked on Gestalt psychology.

4) Christian von Ehrenfels published his famous book “On Gestalt Qualities” in nineteen ninety.

5) He said that the melody is not recognizable if it is played in different keys.

6) Ehrenfels proved that a whole is simply the sum of the parts which he coined synergism.

7) Christian von Ehrenfels said that a synergistic “whole effect” is a gestalt.

8) Max Wertheimer followed Christian von Ehrenfels’s ideas.

9) According to Max Wertheimer movement is generated by separate elements.

Task 14. Read an abstract and put proper word in the blanks:

Max Wertheimer remained in Frankfurt for … (1) than 5 days. He continued his research of … (2) movement at the Psychological Institute, where he used a sophisticated … (3) called a “tachistoscope” that enabled him to flash shapes on the screen successfully for precise increments of … (4). He recruited as subjects two younger … (5), Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler. After gathering … (6) for more than a year, he shared the results with his colleagues, then … (7) his findings in 1912 in a paper titled “Experimental Studies of the Perception of Movement”. This was the first important … (8) in the history of gestalt psychology, a movement that grew from the subsequent work of its prodigious … (9): Wertheimer, Koffka and Kohler.

Words: event, apparent, psychologists, time, triumvirate, more, data, projector, published.

Task 15. Read an abstract and translate the Russian words in brackets into English:

The three founding gestalt psychologists (были разделены) by World War I, then (воссоединились) in 1920, when Kohler became Director of the Psychological Institute at the (университет Берлина), where Wertheimer was already a (в профессорско-преподавательском составе). While maintaining contact with Koffka, who continued to teach near Frankfurt, Wertheimer and Kohler (создали) a graduate program, located in the (разрушенном) Imperial Palace, and began a (научный журнал) called Psychological Investigation. For the most part, the students did not learn by (посещая лекции) but by actually conducting research using fellow students as subjects and by preparing (статьи для публикации). The success of the method is (очевиден) by the number of teachers and students at the Institute whose names are now (известны) in psychology, including Rudolf Arnheim, Kurt Lewin, Wolfgang Metzger, Bluma Zeigarnik, Tamara Dembo, Maria Ovsiankina and Kurt Gottschaldt (from http://en.wikipedia.org).

Task 16. Match the authors and their works:

1. Ulric Neisser	a. On Gestalt Qualities
2. Donald Broadbent	b. Perception and Communication
3. George Miller	c. Experimental Studies of the Perception and Movement
4. Christian von Ehrenfels	d. Cognitive Psychology
5. Max Wertheimer	e. WordNet