Evolution of Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychology draws the comparison between the human mind and a computer, suggesting that we like the computer process the information we acquire from around us and then react accordingly. Hearnshaw, (1987), claims that Cognitive Psychology is both one of the oldest and also one of the newest parts of Psychology, cited in ?T. Malim?, (1994). Information is collected through our senses i.e. vision, touch, smell etc and then processed through our

Cognitive psychology is a pure science based mainly on laboratory experiments and began to revolutionize psychology in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s and became the dominant approach in psychology by the late 1970’s [ (McLeod, 2007) ] according to Saul McLeod. An example of the cognitive perspective would be when one learns to take blood pressure. First you must learn how to manipulate the blood pressure manometer, learn how to hear blood pressure sounds and understand the meaning of the sounds. As each time you practice these activity, you will gain more confidence and competence in performing the task. The strong point of this perspective is that it mostly uses rigorous scientific methods and the approach has had many practical applications. The weakness of this perspective is that it is to simplistic. It ignores the complexity of the human function, biological influences of the human function and it ignores the emotions, conscious experience and free will.

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

Skinner created the theory of Operant Conditioning as he believed that all behaviour can be controlled by rewards or reinforcement. This is very different from Pavlovs theory of Classical Conditioning as Skinner is trying to control voluntary behaviour. This is done by giving the subject a positive or negative reaction to an action with the theory that a negative response will discourage the subject to repeat the action. A good example of this is house training a dog, as the dogs natural reaction is to relieve itself, however it must be taught to wait until it is outside. The more the dog waits until he is outside, the more praise he receives therefore it is less likely to wish to instigate a negative reaction by relieving himself inside the house.

Lifespan development is a scientific approach to questions about growth, change, and stability in physical, cognitive, social, and personality characteristics at all ages from conception to death (Feldman, 2014 Seventh Edition). In reading the chapter I found three theories very interesting evolutionary, cognitive, and psychodynamic. The reason I find evolutionary perspective because I feel as though this perspective or theory is the base of study. When we are born we have genetic make-up for two people with two family trees. The blending is sometimes a hard transition. We all have been around child and seen their parents’ characteristics in the child. Evolutionary perspective attributes to the genetic inheritance from our ancestors, contending that genes determine not only traits such as skin and eye color, but certain personality traits and social behaviors (Feldman, 2014 Seventh Edition). We all see and new edition in a family and sit and try and pick out which parent the child looks like. We are a very diverse place. The traits and genetic studies are a constant for new developments and updated current practices. Education on social norms of new populations are a must. As we learned throughout history change is a shock. We need to educate and adapt to the societal new comers. Problems occur in the lag between establishment of new members and educative process which has caused some havoc for community members. With more and more cultural differences and blending there

Behaviorists and cognitive psychologists have debated for many years. It is from these two schools of thought that dueling informational ideas have been born. Originally, behaviorism was the leading school of thought being led by John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner. Later new ideas regarding the mind became more prominent. Edward C. Tolman was one of the more prominent figures of this field. Behaviorists looked for more evidence of behavior and rejected any ideas about the mind. An idea that was highly looked into by cognitive psychologists.

There were countless pivotal events that occurred in the 1960’s that contributed to the current popularity of experimental cognitive psychology. Miller, Galanter, and Pribram published Plans and the Structure of Behavior which explained that concepts such as information feedback could explain human behavior that is goal-directed. Additionally, Miller and Bruner originated a Center for Cognitive Studies to promote research and thoughts. Miller also published articles such as Some Psychological Studies of Grammar (1962) and Psychology: The Science of Mental Life (1962). In 1969, Miller was appointed president of the APA. Further, cognitive psychology was finally mature enough to have courses and textbooks specifically designed for it and Neisser’s

Cognition is the process by which human beings learn about the world and the objects in it and also understand the relationship

Cognition refers to the process in which people are able to acquire and comprehend various forms of knowledge through their thoughts, experiences and use of their sensory systems. This process of cognition is in itself takes various processes. It must be said as early as now that the ultimate result of cognition processes is to result in one learning. The cognitive processes are started by one having to pay attention. This

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 “

To study the evolution of human behavior, we must first understand the evolutionary foundation of modern human behavior. Using the knowledge we have about human behavior while observing for patterns that are consistent with evolutionary models. Taking advantage of natural experiments that produce different combinations of variables that can allows us to obtain new approach on human behavior. This chapter will focus on various aspects of human behavior from an evolutionary viewpoint. These involve the “ecology and demography of traditional human societies, patters of human behavior that have been shaped by sexual selection, the interaction between culture and biology in the expression of language, and the emergence of behavioral disease in an

Cognitive psychology is defined as “the scientific study of mental processes” (Riegler & Riegler 2008, p. 1). During the 1960s, cognitive psychology became an emerging presence in the field of psychology. During this time period, attention to the study of “how internal states, such as thoughts, feelings, and moods influence behavior” (Cherry 2010, p. 12). Cognitive psychology studies how individuals think, comprehend language, and form beliefs. Human development involves cognitive development. Researchers attempted to study thought through introspection. However, introspection was not impartial because individuals are far too complex and do not share similar thoughts and ideas.

Cognitive psychology is the segment of psychology that explores internal mental processes such as visual processing, memory, problem solving, and language. Cognitive psychology also focuses on information processing and the method of how people store, manipulate and use information (Barsalou, 2005). With an emphasis on thought processes, cognitive psychology also explores and discusses thinking and knowledge acquisition as conceptual terms. Well known contributors to the fields, such as Jean Piaget, are especially concerned with the development of cognition and formed stage theories to explain

Smith (2001) defines psychology as the study of the mind. One major subset within the broad study of psychology is popularly known as cognitive psychology. According to Aukrust (2011), cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with the study of mental processes which includes how people or individuals think, perceive, learn and remember. As a part of the larger cognitive science field, this psychology branch is by means related to other disciplines such as neuroscience, linguistics and philosophy. Processes included in cognition are judging, thinking, remembering, knowing and problem solving.

“Cognitive psychology is a modern approach to the study of [processes by which people come to understand the world- such processes as memory, learning, comprehending language, problem solving, and creativity. Cognitive psychology has been influenced by developments in language, computer science, and of course, earlier work in philosophy and psychology” – Hayes (cited by Lundin)