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The Cognitive Revolution In The 1950s And 1960s

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The changes in how different psychological processes were identified and understood in the 1950s and 1960s is what many refer to as the “cognitive revolution.” The introduction of research in problems that have already been met - for instance, studying problems of memory and decision making - led to the new approach of theorizing. The cognitive revolution focused on just a couple of key concepts. One idea that stemmed during the cognitive revolution is that the science of psychology cannot direct study the mental world. Another idea that grew during the cognitive revolution was that in order to understand behavior, the science of psychology has to study the mental world (Cognition, pg. 8). Research performed by Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener concluded that the only way to study thoughts is to introspect, or examine one’s own thoughts and feelings, to observe and record content of their personal minds and understand the sequence of their own experiences. This proved to be a difficult task, nonetheless. Wundt and Titchener believed that introspectors would need to be carefully trained. The training included being given a vocabulary to describe what they observed, taught to be as careful and complete as possible - reporting solely on their experiences, with as little personal interpretation as possible. Concerns grew with this style of research over the years. Investigators were forced to acknowledge that some thoughts are unconscious, which would mean that

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