L8: Cognitive Models

A learning module on cognitive models.

Goals

• Introduce the motivations and ideas behind computational modeling
• Discuss some examples of contemporary cognitive models

Instructions

Work through each of the following sections: Read, View/Watch/listen, and Engage. You have the full week to complete any quizzes or assignments for this module.

Read

This book chapter is available on Canvas. It is under Modules > L9. There will be quiz questions about this chapter and any additional content covered in class.

• Farrell, S., & Lewandowsky, S. (2018). Introduction. Computational Modeling of Cognition and Behavior (pp. 3-23). Cambridge University Press.

View/Watch/Listen

There are two sets of slides for this module.

Lecture 1

L8: Slides

Lecture 2

This is a guest lecture by President Safa Zaki! You will not be tested on content discussed in this lecture.

Engage

When you are ready complete any or all of the following assignments.

1. QUIZ: Complete the L8: Cognitive Models quiz (on Canvas)
2. WRITING: There are reading/writing assignments to choose from (instructions below, submit on Canvas).
3. REFLECT: Submit a meme for the Memer of the Semester contest on Canvas (1 extra credit point for winner at the end of the semester)

Submit your work before the due date posted on Canvas. Then, move on to the next learning module.

Writing Option 1: Explain the exemplar model

The reading for this chapter as well as the class lectures described the exemplar model of categorization. Your task for this assignment is to explain the following in at least 250 words:

1. Describe how the similarity between different cartoon stimuli was determined in the model.
2. Describe how seeing a new cartoon face would activate different cartoon faces based on the exemplar model.
3. Describe how a decision is reached based on these activations.

Writing Option 2: Examining the trends in psychology

In this assignment, you will use Google’s n-gram viewer to chart out the frequency of different terms/ideas found in sources printed from 1500 and 2019. Your task is to:

1. Specify a time range for the period you want to explore. I would suggest 1900-2019 but feel free to explore other time periods.
2. Specify a collection of terms/ideologies from the learning modules so far whose frequencies you want to explore.
3. Some suggestions for terms:

• Different terms can be graphed using different lines if you separate them by commas (e.g., Winston Churchill, Barack Obama, Mahatma Gandhi).
• If you want a combined line for some terms, you can use the + sign and parentheses (e.g., (Mahatma Gandhi + Mother Teresa) )

4. Make sure “case-insensitive” is not selected/highlighted: we don’t care about capitalizations vs. lowercase frequencies.

This is a fairly open-ended assignment. Your task is to analyze the plot you obtain from the n-gram viewer for different cognitive terms and interpret the plot. For example, you may look at trends for behaviorism vs. (cognitive psychology + cognitive science) vs. eugenics. Some questions you should address are:

• What is the pattern of EACH line?
• Is there a bump/rise and fall for some terms? When do these bumps appear? Does it align with the history we’ve explored so far?
• If the pattern does not align with your expectations, what might be some possible reasons?

Your assignment should contain your final graph and its analysis in at least 250 words.