Cognitive Psychological Theory

“Cognitive Psychology revolves around the notion that if we need to know what makes people tick; then figure out which processes are going on in their minds. Psychologist theorized, from this study, that cognition is a mental act or process by which information exists, (McLeod, 2012)".

In life, humanity is on a journey much like walking through a forest full of trees that requires consistent observation while navigating the path traveled. Remaining on course is a very important part of arriving at the destination of achievement and success. There is no way to have complete certainty of always arriving on time, as all the variables come into the picture of that journey which psychology also does in relation to the mind. The psychodynamic theory in comparison to the cognitive behavior theory is somewhat well viewed in focus of examining the mental process of what one does based upon what one has thought of doing. To consider the contrast of

The Behaviorist and Cognitive Approaches to Psychology In this essay I am going to explore two of the major approaches to Psychology, Cognitive theories and Behaviorist theories. I will discuss in some detail the two approaches, state how they compare and illustrate the similarities and the differences between them. John Watson, one of the founders of Behaviorism, based his theories on the principles of learning outlined by Pavlov who suggested the theory known as Classical Conditioning; he trained dogs to salivate whenever he rang a bell. Dogs have a natural reflex response to salivate when they see food, Pavlov rang a bell when the dogs were given food and after several repetitions of this

Though we may not realize it nor want to acknowledge it, Cognitive Psychology is a part of every human 's daily life. Cognitive Psychology is the scientific study of the mind as an information processor. In a simpler definition, it is the study of how our minds interpret and process things that we either are informed of or something we take into thought. Cognitive Psychology is a part of our attention process, language use, our memory for both long and short term, perception, problem solving, creativity, and the way we think. Each of these different features are a part of how we perceive information, think, remember, and use the information we gather. Through this branch of psychology, researchers are able to observe the relationship

There are eight theoretical perspectives in contemporary psychology. Any topic in psychology has many approaches that have a variety of perspectives for each that is given. Starting with the biological perspective, it is noted that physiology has played a major role in psychology. The organ systems such as the nervous system, endocrine system, immune system, and genetics are greatly emphasized in studying physical bases of human and animal behavior. Neuroscience more specifically studies the nervous system, particularly the brain. The next theoretical perspective is the cognitive perspective, which is a relatively modern approach. It focuses on the important role of mental processes in how people process and remember information, develop language,

There are many definitions of counseling, but most share the same idea: it is when one person helps another. To me counseling represents one word more than any other: Change. One person is unhappy with some area of their life and wants it to change while the other person helps to facilitate that change. Just as there are many definitions of counseling there are many types of counseling with different philosophies.

Catalina came to counseling seeking help in dealing with traumatic events from her past, which has led her to problems in her marriage, mistrust in others, and high levels of anxiety. She is having a difficult time letting go of the past. Catalina was physically abused by her aunt from the age for 10-14. The only male figure ever present in her life was her aunt’s son Roberto, who attempted to sexually abuse her when she was 14 years old. Although her mother was aware of the situation, she did nothing to prevent it or stand up for her. Her relationship with her mother was pleasant prior to the abuse. Because her mother failed to protect her from her own family, the dynamics of their relationship changed. She feels that if she cannot trust her own family, she cannot trust anyone to protect her. Her lack of trust for other, and paranoia that someone would do the same to her young daughters had led her to become overprotective and overbearing. These actions have strained Catalina and her husband Jason’s marriage; they are on the brink of divorce.

The philosophy of cognitive behavioral therapy is that “think and feeling are connected people are creative (Halbur & Halbur, 2015, p.47)”. The key aspects of theory are to challenge the irrational beliefs that we hold about ourselves. Aaron Beck the primary founder of cognitive behavior theory assumed that people can control how they feel and what they think. He believed that our inner thoughts and beliefs affected how we are affected on the outside. One of the key concepts is that the client’s dysfunctional thinking can be derived from an erroneous internal process or bias.

Cognitive behavioural therapy is a major area of interest within the field of counselling. The cognitive behavioural approach has made significant contributions towards counselling over the years. As a result of this the cognitive behavioural approach has become more widely practiced (Dobson and Dobson, 2009). Despite these contributions, cognitive behavioural therapy has experienced a few limited cons as well as effective pros. In spite of this, previous studies have provided evidence, which confirms the effectiveness of the cognitive behavioural approach, to be higher than any other approach (McLeod, 2013). This essay, will examine and critically discuss the various pros and cons that exist within the cognitive behavioural approach. The objective of this essay is to, demonstrate an in depth exploration of the cognitive behavioural approach to the treatment of anxiety. The essay will be organised in the following way. The first section will give a brief overview of the cognitive behavioural approach. The next sections will then go on to critically discuss and compare the limited and ineffective contributions to the effective contributions cognitive behavioural therapy has made towards counselling anxiety. With particular reference to how cognitive behavioural therapy for women with anxiety during and after pregnancy. For the purpose of this essay the abbreviation CBT will be used, as it represents Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

The Cognitive approach focuses on mental processes, it assumes that how we perceive ourselves and our environment affect our emotions, which in turn affects our behaviour. The approach suggests disordered thinking causes abnormal behaviour. Cognitive disorders are learned, therefore, they can be unlearned, which is similar to the behaviourist approach. If the behaviour is monitored and evaluated, it can be altered. Therefore the approach assumes cognitive change will lead to changes in behaviour. The cognitive approach has been influenced by the development with computer science. Researchers often make comparisons are between how a computer processes information and how the human brain processes information. Cognitive research tends to take

Cognitive psychology is the scientific investigation of human cognition, that is, all our mental abilities – perceiving, learning, remembering, thinking, reasoning, and understanding. The term “cognition” stems from the Latin word “

Social Cognitive Theory is described as learning using interrelationship between behavior, environmental factors, and personal factors. It provides the theoretical framework for interactive learning used to develop both Constructionist and Cooperative Learning (IDEA). Social Cognitive Theory places an emphasis on the role of other people serving as models and teachers for new behaviors (The social part) but also includes thinking, believing, expecting, anticipating, self regulating and making comparisons and judgments (The cognitive part). (Wolfolk, 349).

The concept of personality is extensive and complex, but psychologists have tried to describe the nature of personality using different perspectives. Some of the perspectives are founded on empirical studies while others are based on clinical case studies or theories. Some common aspects of personality include psychodynamic, trait approach, cognitive, genetic, and learning approach. The cognitive approach emphasizes how our behavior is influenced by how we process, mentally represent, and store information. Psychologists who take the cognitive approach suggests that mental processes can help us understand several kinds of social and individual behaviors, from problem solving, to decision making, to intelligence and interpersonal attraction. According to Bernstein, (2011), a cognitive perspective on a person inherently describes meanings that are created by the individual, and these meanings are usually constructed out of cognitions on the environment. Personality psychologists taking a cognitive approach to a person, typically study the processes arising from behaviors and effects.

Cognitive psychology began emerging in the 1950’s. As highlighted by Kraiger and Salas (1993), this was partially as a response to behaviorism. Critics noted that behaviorism failed to explain how some internal development processes impacted behavior. Cognitive psychology focuses on how individuals acquire process and in the long run store information. Currently, cognitive psychology concentrates on few key human characteristics which include:

Cognitive psychology is primarily concerned with the study of subjective internal mental states. However, the subjective nature of cognitive activities such as thinking, memory, learning, perception, and language make it difficult to directly and empirically test these mental processes. Cognitive psychology therefore relies on a fundamental assumption of reductionism, where the dynamic and convoluted cognitive processes mentioned above are reduced to manageable and pre-agreed hypothetical constructs which can be operationalized, and thus empirically measured to highlight relationships between specific variables. Yes, many