2: Core concepts (information processing, modularity)

Core Concepts: Information Processing and Modularity

Cognitive psychology examines mental processes like perception, memory, and reasoning. Two foundational concepts underpin this field: the information-processing approach and the notion of modularity.

Information Processing

This approach conceptualizes the mind as a computational system, analogous to a computer. It posits that cognition involves sequential stages where information is encoded, stored, manipulated, and retrieved. Key stages include:

1. Input: Environmental stimuli (e.g., sights, sounds) enter via sensory receptors.
2. Processing: Information moves through systems:
   • Attention filters relevant data.
   • Perception organizes sensory input into meaningful patterns.
   • Memory systems (sensory, short-term, long-term) retain and transform information.
3. Output: Responses (e.g., decisions, actions) are generated.

Central to this model is serial processing (operations occur step-by-step) and parallel processing (multiple operations simultaneously). Limitations like attention bottlenecks and memory decay explain cognitive constraints. For example, George Miller’s "magical number seven" (1956) highlights short-term memory’s limited capacity ($\pm 7$ items).

Modularity

Proposed by Jerry Fodor (1983), modularity argues that the mind comprises specialized, innate cognitive modules—domain-specific systems operating independently. Key features include:

• Domain specificity: Modules process distinct inputs (e.g., vision vs. language).
• Information encapsulation: Modules operate with internal data only, unaffected by other brain areas (e.g., visual illusions persist despite conscious knowledge).
• Automaticity: Fast, mandatory processing (e.g., recognizing faces involuntarily).
• Neural localization: Modules map to specific brain structures (e.g., Broca’s area for speech production).

Modularity explains efficiency in tasks like language acquisition but faces criticism for underestimating interconnected processes (e.g., top-down influences in perception).

Interplay

While information processing outlines cognition’s flow, modularity dissects its architecture. Together, they frame debates on innate versus learned processes and holistic versus compartmentalized cognition—cornerstones for understanding phenomena from memory errors to developmental disorders.