Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology: Basic concepts. Cognitive paradigm, approaches and basic research methods in cognitive psychology. Ethics of research in cognitive psychology.
Sensation and perception: definition and basic properties of perception. Measurment of perception, psychophysics and neurobiology of perception. Perceptual modalities and their functions. Vision: light as a physical stimulus, structure and function of the eye, basics of neuronal processing, cortical processing of vision, color perception, paths of visual perception, perception of objects, movement, and space. Hearing: sound as a physical stimulus, structure and function of the ear, cortical processing of hearing, sound localization and perception of auditory scene. Cutaneous senses: skin and mechanoreceptors, perception of detail, vibration, texture, objects, perception of pain. Chemical senses: olfactory system, coding of olfactory quality, taste, coding of taste quality, perception of flavour. Attention: Definition of attention, early models of attention, binding of perceptual qualities, mechanisms of perceptual selection, change blindness, inattentional blindness, impairments and dysfunctions of attention.
Memory and learning: Definition of the memory system: divisions and models. Sensory memory. Working memory. Long term memory. Amnesia and memory dysfunctions. Brain memory systems. Neurobiology of memory and learning. Types, processes and determinants of learning.
Language and knowledge: Concepts. Organization of knowledge. Structure of the language system. Reading, perceiving speech, speech production. Speech impairments and errors. Theories and models of language and speech.
Thinking: Control of behavior: executive processes, automatisms, two systems of behavioral planning and control. Problem solving: definition of problems and problem solving process, stages of problem solving, types of problem solving, insights, types of problems, problem space, factors affecting problem solving, transfer, expertiese, theories and models of problem solving. Reasoning: types of reasoning, reasoning biases, mental models, theories and models of reasoning. Judgement: errors and heuristics. Decision making: theories of decision making. Limited rationality.
Emotions and cognition: Relationship between cognition and emotion, cognitive theories of emotion, emotion regulation, effect of emotion on cognition, cognitive theories and models of emotion.
Consciousness: Challenges in the study of consciousness, neurobiology of consciousness, theories and models of consciousness.

- Eysenck, W. E. in Keane, M. T. (2020). Cognitive Psychology: A student’s handbook, 8th Edition. Psychology Press. COBISS.SI-ID – 73610755
- Goldstein, E.B. in Cacciamani, L. (2021). Sensation and Perception. Cengage Learning.