The broad field of psychology encompasses several different subsets in order to touch upon every aspect of the practice. A particularly interesting one would be cognitive psychology. This area of study focuses on several mental processes; mostly memory, perception and learning. Through the adaption of science and technology, cognitive psychology continues to grow as an important field in psychology.
History of Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Psychology originally did not begin as that title. In the 1950’s, behaviorism was the dominating factor of the profession. However, much interest grew in the mental process area. Around this time era, American psychologists eventually “rejected the idea of behaviorism and adapted a model of mind based on the computer.” (Smith, 2001). Ultimately, this was because something as complicated as the brain was difficult be compared to. That is, until the arrival of the computer. It was able to “help psychologists help understand how the human mind handles information” (McLeod, 2016). How we store, use, and produce our intellectual thoughts to be exact. Yet, the term “cognitive psychology” was not coined until around 1967 when American psychologist Ulric Neisser published his book Cognitive Psychology. Since then, he has been known as the “father of cognitive psychology”. Neisser adapted this title when he disagreed with the behaviorist approach. Behaviorism focuses on a person’s motives, but there had to be more to a person’s behavior aspects
“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)".
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
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
Then that response is measured as to negative and positive impact to discern a mean level which is normal for that individual (Zimbardo &Johnson, 2009, pg. 53).
Cognitive psychology is the study of mental processes surrounding learning, memory, perception, and thought. Though it is still a relatively new formal branch of psychology, its roots extend back to Descartes who sought a way to explain how the mind worked, proposing the analogy of a “hydraulic system of nerve function” (Willingham, 2007, p. 26) after he observed animated statues in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. It has been the restless pursuit of not only the idea of how the mind works but also what exactly constituted the mind that eventually led to the foundations of cognitive theory. As psychologists examined how
Cognitive psychology is the study of the brains internal processes that guide behaviour; to study cognition, psychologists examine case studies of patients with damaged brains that can infer areas, and functions involved in particular processes. Patient studies have provided insights into the processes that take place within our minds, and have enabled psychologists to create models, which can be tested and fractionated. Cognitive neuropsychology has developed from cognitive psychology to become a discipline in its own right; it investigates the function and structures of the brain involved in cognitive processes and should not be confused with cognitive neuroscience, which is primarily concerned with neural structures and their
Some developmental psychologists focus on a specific period of time during development such as early childhood, adolescence, or late adult. This field covers a huge range of topics including everything from prenatal development to Alzheimer's disease. Cognitive psychology studies how we perceive, learn, and remember information. It also studies how we speak, think, and how we solve problems. Cognitive psychology is a larger part of cognitive science which is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. The major topics that cognitive psychology have are perception, language, attention and memory, problem solving, decision and making judgments, and intelligence. Behavioral neuroscience is the study among the brain, mind, and behavior. Psychologist study the functions of the brain involved in learning, emotion, social behavior, and mental illness. Neuroscience involves various disciplines and sub disciplines of psychology. Behavioral neuroscientists use noninvasive advanced imaging techniques and electrical recordings, to study the structure and functions of the living brain. There are three perspectives when involving classical conditioning
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 “
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.
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 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)
Cognitive psychology is the study of how we think. It studies how we learn, forget, memorize, and make decisions. Cognitive psychology studies how an individuals mind works and why they choose to do what they choose. Why they chose to go left instead of right or why they chose option A verses option B. Because of the nature v nurture theory therapists or psychologists try to understand why a person chooses to do what they do. Is it because of this branch in psychology that helps us understand the individuals mind more in depth.