Examples Of Cognitive Psychology

In order to understand the interdisciplinary perspective in relation to cognitive psychology it is necessary to understand the discipline itself and its attractiveness. History shows that cognitive psychology was originally considered experimental psychology (McLeod, 2007). The term cognitive psychology came into use around 1967 with the publication of a book titled "Cognitive Psychology" by Ulric Neisser (McLeod, 2007). The Cognitive Science Society officially began in the late 1970's. Psychology was not considered a main player. The core group was formed from three main disciplines, artificial intelligence, psychology, and linguistics. While philosophy, neuroscience and anthropology played smaller roles (Gentner, 2010). Since cognitive psychologusts play a dominant role in the field of psychology, a large amount of practitioners consider themselves cognitive psychologists.

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

The empiricist following throughout Western philosophy was started by John Locke. In spreading this new idea of learning, he saw his mission as clearing away the metaphysical rubbish left by rationalists which was hindering the path to knowledge. Locke rejected many of the ideas which Descartes fought for. Rationalists claimed there to be two fundamental innate ideas, the logical principles of identity and non-contradiction. Locke argued that for any innate ideas to exist they must be approved by everyone. He decided that a test should be created, thus determining if these ideas reside in the minds of everyone regardless of age or education. In his study he found that these principles, as he suspected, failed to be universally assented.

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.

Locke also believed that children are born with no knowledge, or a “blank slate”and it is gained through sensations received and from experiences. John Locke also wrote “Some Thoughts Concerning Education”(1693) which primarily advises people to seize the moment to teach a child when they have the child’s attention. He explains further that adults should simplify questions when needed, answer questions of curiosity, realize that everyone learns differently, people all have different intelligence levels, and teachers and parents should observe children learning to make themselves aware of individual differences(2). Locke was one of the first Empiricists. Empiricism is using reason to come to conclusions, not just having others decide if it is good or bad(6).

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

John Locke, an English philosophe, had an empiricist view on reasoning. He believed that everyone was born with a blank mind and as life went on, the learned things for themselves and interpreted situations with the knowledge and opinions they had produced over time. Locke believed that ‘our senses convey in our mind what produces our perceptions.’ “Perception, thinking, doubting, believing, reasoning, knowing, willing, and all the different actings of our own minds; which we being conscious of, and observing in ourselves, do from these receive into our understanding as distinct ideas, as we do from bodies affecting our senses.” Locke, J (1690) pp. 185 – 187. Locke’s theory was based on his thoughts around the scientific changes, specifically around the same time Isaac Newton discovered the universal law of gravity.

Through out the course of the movie Inside Out, there were many examples and demonstrations of different strands of psychology. The first one is an example of cognitive psychology. When Joy, Sadness and Bing Bong were traveling to get back to headquarters they ran into Riley subconscious. This part of the brain that you are not fully aware of while thinking, and talking using that little voice in your head, but the thoughts and feelings that reside in your subconscious impact your personality and decisions. For example, your fears are stored in that portion of the brain and if something occurred during your day that reminded you of that fear, your body and mind would react, you would most likely physically move away from

This was one of the first major texts of the Enlightenment and it had a great influence on the movement. Locke argue that at birth, the human mind is blank and shaped by experiences. This ran contrary to Descartes’s previous notion that ideas, placed in the mind by God, are present in humans when they are first born. On the other hand, Locke argued that the human mind is predominantly molded by its environment. This concept put more stock in the Enlightenment ideals of observation and experimentation. Locke’s belief in the importance of reason and deduction helped give rise to empiricism as a new way of thought. Empiricism then developed into other thought processes, such as the scientific method, which are still used today.

Cognitive psychology is the study of mental processes. The American Psychological Association defines cognitive psychology as "The study of higher mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, and thinking."[1] Much of the work derived from cognitive psychology has been integrated into various other modern disciplines of psychological study including social psychology, personality psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, and educational psychology.

John Locke (1632-1704) was the first of the classical British empiricists. (Empiricists believed that all knowledge derives from experience. These philosophers were hostile to rationalistic metaphysics, particularly to its unbridled use of speculation, its grandiose claims, and its epistemology grounded in innate ideas) If Locke could account of all human knowledge without making reference to innate ideas, then his theory would be simpler, hence better, than that of Descartes. He wrote, “Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas: How comes it to be furnished? To his I answer, in one word, from EXPERIENCE.” (Donald Palmer, p.165)

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

This essay will be focused on two different approaches to cognitive psychology: Cognitive Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. Cognitive Neuropsychology is concerned with the patterns of cognitive performance and emphasis on the cognitive effects of brain-damaged patients who suffered lesions, injuries or diseases, providing vest information on normal human cognition. (Eysenck and Keane 2015, p.5) Whereas cognitive neuroscience involves in-depth study of our brain and behaviours. As the brain contains numerous neurones and is so complicated, the cognitive neuroscience emphasis on the biological side of the brain and focuses on the lobes that are divided from the cerebral cortex.

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)