StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Factors in Cognitive Psychology - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Factors in Cognitive Psychology" tells us about human perception, attention, learning, memory, concept formation, reasoning, judgment and decision-making, problem-solving, and language processing…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.6% of users find it useful
Factors in Cognitive Psychology
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Factors in Cognitive Psychology"

? Face Recognition: Factors in Cognitive Psychology Human social interaction is strongly based on their ability to recognize others, and identify known individuals from unknown ones, and recognize those who are friendly from those who are not. Witnesses to crimes are often asked to recognize individuals from a line – up who may be associated with the crime scene; a condition that relies heavily on the ability of the witness to recognize the right individual without error. Given the value of being able to recognize faces, both at the individual level, and at the social level; research in cognitive sciences has helped in understanding the principles that affect this process and the problems and errors that are likely to be committed. Face Recognition, Identification, & Classification An individual recognizes a face by analyzing the features of the presented face, and drawing relationships between he observed features to form meaningful information for the self (Diamond & Cary, 1986). Humans receive information from the senses about the individual components of an object – like a face – and also extract information about the relationship shared by those individual components such that they form a whole object. Diamond & Cary (1986) describe this as the ‘first order relational information’. According to them, this information is not enough for appropriate face recognition, as this information only gives details like the relative positions of components and the distance between them. In order for the face to be recognized as one, it needs to be compared to a prototype of a face exists with the individual – the second order relational information. Second order relational information is gathered by individuals through experiences, and the abstraction of these experiences is used as a basis for comparison (Diamond & Cary, 1986). Research shows that faces are processed holistically rather than in terms of the component parts and that information about faces is also stored in relation to whole faces. This is evident from the studies that show that it is more difficult for an individual to recognize a partial face as compared to a whole one (Diamond & Cary, 1986). The processed information about faces is stored in a specific part of the brain’s visual cortex. Concepts and Categories in Face Recognition, Identification, and Classification Tarr and Cheng (2003) state that face recognition differs from other forms of recognition. According to them, information about faces comes in to the individual level entry point whereas information about most objects comes in at the basic level entry point. This is because the information at the basic entry point is not adequate for facial recognition. While, objects are differentiated amongst on the basis of component parts quite easily; faces are distinguished holistically. Thus, the human conceptualization of faces is based on whole faces; and categorization occurs after reviewing all the information and not information about individual components (Tarr and Cheng, 2003). Gauthier, Skudlarski, Gore, and Anderson (2000) have found that this process is similar across a number of species. Birds show the same fusiform face area activation in the visual cortex as humans. An interesting factor is the meaning associated with the object. The more meaningful the individual considers the object, the more likely that it will be processed holistically. For example, car experts show similar activation when recognizing faces and cars (Gauthier, Skudlarski, Gore, and Anderson, 2000). Long-Term Memory and its Affect on Face Recognition Encoding and retrieval procedures associated with long term memory have been found to be significant in an individual’s ability to recognize a face (Rakover & Cahlon, 2001). Encoding of faces seems to happen as whole units which are then stored in long term memory and the retrieval processes help in accessing these memories as required. Rakover and Cahlon (2001) find that the encoding process has to be adequate for effective retrieval. According to them, there are a number of steps associated with encoding of faces into long term memory. The first is structural encoding, a process which processes the visual information and stores it into long-term memory. There are two processes involved – the view centered description and the expression independent description. The view centered description represents the basic facial information like contrast, intensity and color. Factors like illumination, visibility and such other physical factors affect these representations (Rakover & Cahlon, 2001). Expression independent descriptions are constructed on the basis of the previously collected facial information and are similar to abstract representations of the faces, and provide information about whole faces to enable recognition. These are abstracted representations in that they store the commonalities associated with multiple viewpoints (Rakover &Cahlon, 2001). During the recognition process, information from structural encoding is matched to the presented stimuli; and facial recognition is use to eliminate instances from multiple matches. Coded information in the expression independent description is used to further filter the data available for matching. When the brain makes a match between stored and presented data, recognition takes place (Rakover &Cahlon, 2001). The integrity of retrieval processes also plays an extremely important role in the process of face recognition. It is important that the appropriate coded information is accessed and retrieved without distortion and forgetting for accurate recognition to take place. Brain damage studies have contributed to the understanding of who retrieval functions affect facial recognition (Robinson-Riegler, & Robinson-Riegler, 2008). Errors in facial recognition Although the process of face recognition is quite complex to control for errors, it is not perfect. There are multiple anecdotal references to mistaken recognition in fiction as well as academic literature. Brain damage is one reason for errors in facial recognition (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008). Damage to the fusiform face area can lead to the individual being unable to recognize themselves – a condition called prosopagnosia. Individuals who are not able to recognize themselves have difficulty coping with reflections, and experience a great deal of distress (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008). Another error that has been often depicted in fiction is that of unconscious transference. Unconscious transference is a situation in which an individual mistakenly associates the presented face with another face seen previously. These individuals are unable to differentiate between the two faces and seem to be unable to spot the differences (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008). This is also seen in criminal recognition procedures when a witness makes a mistake and selects the wrong individual in a lineup or is unable to tell the difference between the presented faces. Conclusion It is thus evident that the process of face recognition is valuable enough for human cognition to process it in a complex and elaborate manner. Thus, people are often able to recognize faces, of having seen those faces even when they are unable to recall any other information associated with that person. Nevertheless, the process is not foolproof, and is susceptible to errors. Inadequate information, restricted experience, brain damage and such other factors are likely to cause the individual to make errors in recognizing faces such that they are unable to recognize a previously seen face; or believe that they are able to recognize a face that they have not seen before due to a similarity with another face stored in memory. References Diamond, R., & Carey, S. (1986).Why faces are and are not special: An effect of expertise.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Vol. 115, pp. 107 -117. Gauthier, I., Skudlarski, P., Gore, J. C., & Anderson, A.W. (2000). Expertise for cars and birds recruits brain areas involved in face recognition. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 3, pp.191-197. Rakover, S., & Cahlon, B. (2001). Face recognition: cognitive and computational processes. NY: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Robinson-Riegler, G., & Robinson-Riegler, B. (2008). Cognitive psychology: Applying the science of the mind (2nd ed.). Boston , MA : Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Tarr, M. J., & Cheng, Y. D. (2003). Learning to see faces and objects. Trends in Cognitive Science, vol. 7, pp. 23-30. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Face Recognition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
Face Recognition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/psychology/1435724-face-recognition
(Face Recognition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
Face Recognition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words. https://studentshare.org/psychology/1435724-face-recognition.
“Face Recognition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/psychology/1435724-face-recognition.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Factors in Cognitive Psychology

The Diverse Nature of Psychology Paper

As the below diagram by McAndrew (2011) indicates, social psychology is a combination of cognitive psychology, sociolinguistics, social anthropology and individual psychology.... Meanwhile, Neisser defines cognitive psychology as “Cognition is the act of knowing, and cognitive psychology is the study of all human activities related to knowledge.... cognitive psychology has immensely varied impacts.... cognitive psychology has major impacts on psychology: Images and effects meet....
2 Pages (500 words) Term Paper

Understanding of Cognitive Psychology

Studies in cognitive psychology have been conducted ever since the conception of Psychology as a formal area of study.... The processes typically studied by cognitive psychology include Attention, Perception, Memory, Problem solving, Creativity and many other processes.... Understanding cognitive psychology ... hus we find that the study of cognitive psychology plays an important role in understanding human functioning from different perspectives....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Foundations of Psychology

Assumptions in cognitive science were previously limited to the transfer of information to the brain and the subsequent storage of the transferred information.... FOUNDATIONS OF psychology Tutor name 12 March 2012 FOUNDATIONS OF psychology Major schools of thought in psychology and their major assumptions A school of thought is an opinion or belief that has been approved and upheld to be true by an institution or a group of people....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Field of Cognitive Psychology

The paper "The Field of Cognitive Psychology" describes that the model of processing of information and computer by Miller has however in the recent past been discarded for a model majorly based on the brain thus contributing to the transformation in cognitive psychology.... cognitive psychology refers to the study concerned with the function of the mind and its processes including the use of language, attention, solving problems thinking, creative works perception, and memory....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

The History of Cognitive Psychology

This research will begin with the statement that cognitive psychology is the scientific study of human cognition.... This paper illustrates that cognitive psychology evaluates how mankind acquires and applies the knowledge and/or information in their day to day activities.... cognitive psychology is closely affiliated to the interdisciplinary cognitive science and also influenced by artificial intelligence, computer science, anthropology, biology, physics, and neuroscience....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Human Factors, Cognitive Psychology and Computer Interface

This coursework "Human Factors, cognitive psychology and Computer Interface" focuses on humans who perform both physical and cognitive tasks in organizations or workplace.... The incorporation of human factors in the human-computer interaction (HCI) in the design of the psychology of HCI has significantly been transformed.... However, the name was later changed to human factors in the US.... The physical and cognitive tasks are essential parts in the examination of human factor both in the workplace and in other situations....
10 Pages (2500 words) Coursework

Does Gender Influence Cognition

Cognitive processes are liberally explained in psychology in relation to the socialization processes.... The role of gender constancy in the development of gender type of cognitive behavior beyond doubt influences the overall view of life in relation to femininity and masculinity.... Gender schema presents the early cognitive processes that underlay the children's ability to label themselves as either boys or girls that play key roles in gender development....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Five Factors of Motivational and Cognitive Processes

The paper 'Five Factors of Motivational and Cognitive Processes' is a persuasive variant of a literature review on psychology.... The paper 'Five Factors of Motivational and Cognitive Processes' is a persuasive variant of a literature review on psychology.... The paper 'Five Factors of Motivational and Cognitive Processes' is a persuasive variant of a literature review on psychology.... The aim of this section is to analyse the five factors of motivational and cognitive process that are self-efficacy, task value, effort expenditure, academic buoyancy, academic engagement and disengagement in ensuring learners achieves their stated goals....
5 Pages (1250 words) Literature review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us