Lernen & Gedächtnis an der Universität Konstanz

- the work from Freud: the unconscious 

-> the finding that a lot of the mechanisms of the brain are unconscious 

-> makes it difficult to rely on humans -> problem with evaluating the accuracy 

the same:

- both believe that most operations of the brain are unconscious and that introspection can provide little information about these processes

- both believe that our ability to observe the mind are seriously limited

the difference

- cognitive psychologists believe that theories of how the mind works would deepen our understanding, which would inevitably increase our ability to help people

- behaviorists: only study behavior

- cognitive psychologists: study mind and behavior 

with experiments: in the laboratory -> artificial settings

- we only manipulate one variable at a time

(?)

strengths:

- we can discover laws

-  those principles we discovered can help us understand the human behavior 

- way better than introspection

weakness:

- slow progress 

- artificiality of experiments 

- because when we discover any principles in artificial settings it can help to understand the more complex human behavior in the real world

arguments for

- controlled environment -> much better than with humans (simpler systems)

- similar behavior of animals and humans in important areas (language, problem solving)

arguments against

- ethical issues 

problem solving:

- study with chimpanzees (Premack & Woodruff, 1978)

-> humans are not the only species who are able to solve problems

language: 

- study with chimpanzee (Gardner & Gardner) -> baby chimpanzee learned sign language 

- study with parrots

- learning emphasises the acquisition of knowledge and skills 

- memory emphasises the retention of this information 

-> two sides of the same coin: you can't study one without studying the other at the same time

because the conditioning of salivation and food provided an objective technique for tracking the formation of associations

1. contiguity —> associations are formed between events that occur together

    2. frequency —> the more often two words occurred together, the more strongly they would be associated

    3. intensity

- if you present the CS again ->  previously extinguished response would suddenly reappear -> showed that connection still exists 

evidence: physiological research confirmed the existence of excitatory and inhibitory connections

- yes, behavior is lawful 

-> our environment and heredity jointly determine how we behave

arguments for

- examples of lawful behavior: obedience, child abuse, male violence

-> everyday life: advertising, sexual attraction

- neural determinism: brains operations are lawful -> behavior is managed by the brain -> behavior must be lawful

• Emotion, movement, thought 

arguments against

- free will -> humans feel like they can choose and behave in a free way and how they want