PSYC 301L Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Hermann Ebbinghaus, Little Albert Experiment, Franciscus Donders
Document Summary
Cognitive psychology- scientific study of the mind. Cognition- mental processes: ex) perception, attention, memory, etc. How the mind operates and its functions. Franciscus donders conducted the first cognitive psychology experiment: measured the time it takes to make a decision, measured reaction time- time to respond to a stimulus. Simple reaction time- measured by asking subjects to push a button when a light went off. Choice reaction time- measured by how long it takes to push the left or right button depending on whether the left or right light went off: thought choice reaction time- simple reaction time = decision time. Found to be about 1/10 of a second. Mental responses must be inferred from behavior: relevant to all cognitive psychology research. William wundt opened the first scientific psychology laboratory: structuralism- overall experience is determined by combining sensations, analytic introspection- technique where trained subjects describe their experiences and thought process in response to a stimulus.
