Cognitive Psychology
Psychology is defined as the study of mind, emotion and behaviour. One
major perspective within psychology is known as cognitive psychology,
which is primarily concerned with the explanation of thought processes
through the development of theoretical mental systems. Cognitivism is
somewhat broad in it’s approaches to psychology and only linked in
it’s goal to create hypothetical mental structures to explain
behaviour (“History & Scope Of Psychology”).
The exact origins of cognitivism are difficult to pinpoint. Ideas that
make up the perspective have been traced back to ancient Greece;
however it is in modern times that it has developed to it’s prominent
status of today. This period of time is referred to as the “cognitive
revolution” of the 1960’s, lead by the work of those such as Piaget
and Chomsky. Prior to this revolution, behaviourism (the study of
cause and effect; environmental factors and their effect upon
behaviour) was considered to be the dominant school of thought in
psychology; however cognitivism soon emerged as the new dominant
perspective. (“The History & Scope of Psychology”). It was in the 1967
publication of Cognitive Psychology by Neisser that a name was coined
for the rising field of psychological science, and an outline of major
research-to-date and significant concepts was offered. (Maclin &
Solso, 2000)
The goals of cognitivism are to attempt to understand the way in which
the many processes of our minds work, through use of the scientific
research method. It emphasises the importance of the mind in
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The study of psychology began as a theoretical subject a branch of ancient philosophy, and later as a part of biological sciences and physiology. However, over the years, it has grown into a rigorous science and a separate discipline, with its own sets of guidance and experimental techniques. This paper aims to study the various stages that the science of psychology passed through to reach its contemporary status, and their effects on its development. It begins with an overview of the historical and philosophical basis of psychology, discusses the development of the various schools of thought, and highlights their effects on contemporary personal and professional decision-making.
Albert Ellis & Aaron T Beck developed the present form of the Cognitive approach to psychology in the 1950’s. This development emerged from a growing dissatisfaction with the narrowness of the behaviorist approach as it neglects complex human activities such as planning and communication. Behaviorists emphasize the relationship between the environment surrounding a person and how it affects a person’s behavior. This approach has a tendency to ignore mental processes. Behaviorists believe that studying the brain is not ultimately the best or most effective way to understand behavior.
Clinical psychology aims to understand, treat and prevent psychological distress and dysfunction thus to encourage good health, good adaptive thinking and a healthy lifestyle. People working in this field research into mental dysfunction suffered by the patients, assess their cognitive state of mind and perform psychotherapy to decrease the psychological symptoms and/ or the underlying causes.
Developmental Psychology Attachments in Developments = == == == ==
In exploring the discussion about developmental psychology, there is a need to review the historical background of the works, which led to what we have today. Most of the work started as philosophical subjects with argument being the interplay between biology and culture. Leading these discussion on these dichotomous view were philosophers such as John Locke attributing development completely to the effect of sensory input. His view suggested that babies are born with a clean tablet where all information needed is input from experience. On the other side, of the discussion was the French philosopher Descartes' who believed that we are born with the specific kind of idea (Keller, 2000). Beside those two there were many other theory on human development one being development follow the same stages as the evolution of species. These theories had birth new ideas and propelled developmental Psychology to new heights and pushed researchers to develop different methods in conducting researches on children
When I began my studies at the University of Northern Iowa, I had an interest in the field of psychology, but I was not yet sure that I wanted to pursue a career in that area. The classes that I consequently took and the professors that taught them solidified my desire to receive a degree in psychology.
Gross, R (2010). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hodder Education. p188.
My paper is based on an article from the text’s web site (chapter 9) entitled “Lack of sleep ages body’s systems.” The basic claim of the article is that sleep deprivation has various harmful effects on the body. The reported effects include decreased ability to metabolize glucose (similar to what occurs in diabetes) and increased levels of cortisol (a stress hormone involved in memory and regulation of blood sugar levels). The article also briefly alludes (in the quote at the bottom of page 1) to unspecified changes in brain and immune functioning with sleep deprivation.
Several acheivements occurred in the development of cognitive psychology. The study of neuroscience brings us to what we know about cognition today. Cognitive psychology came from the criticisms and flaws of behaviorism. The focus of behaviorism is on observable behaviors, although cognitive psychology became a means to studying mental processes. Cognitive psychology can answer the questions behaviorism could not provide. Behavioral observations are key factors in cognitive psychology, and help with interpreting mental processes and behaviors. Through studying mental processes cognitive psychologists’ expanded psychology through and beyond observations. Behavioral observations helps researchers test cognitive theories. Behaviorists study observable behavior and cognitive psychologists study the mental processes. When studying these processes, researchers attempt to explain how unobservable processes interact with the observable behaviors and helping cognitive psychologists test their theories in
Cognitive psychology is defined as a perspective that examines human thought and behavior in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember environmental events. The strategies and schemas that we use to view the world are important to understanding why we think and behave the way we do. Many of the experiences people have determine the way they think about oneself, without even realizing it. Also, most of the time people do not realize the way the brain interprets situations they are in and how it impacts the person they are. In Redirect, by Timothy D. Wilson, cognitive psychology is discussed as well as ways to cope with it. It is important to notice the way you react to things and make sure you are participating in recovery steps that have been proven to be successful. Cognitive psychology plays a very important role in human behavior and how tolerant one will be throughout life.
For this research requirement I chose three different experiments to examine thoroughly. The first of these experiments came from the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. The study done in this journal was an examination of orthographic learning and self-teaching in a bilingual and biliterate context. The aim of the study was to figure out the advantages and/or disadvantages of a student learning a native language when they are either monolingual, bilingual, or biliterate, and the study was focused on learning English because this is the most commonly learned non-native language in the world.
For this week's discussion the theory that resonated with me the most is the Cognitive Behavioral Theory with Dr. Krumboltz. I have always been drawn to the CBT, as I feel that an individual's negative or destructive behaviors can be changed for the better with the right intervention, client understanding, acceptance and awareness of their role in their behavior. Dr. Krumboltz terms this as a learning approach (01:35). The video displays Dr. Krumboltz and his client Robin discussing the issues Robin is experiencing with her mother-in-law, as well as the impact those issues at times have on her marriage.
The brain has been studied for hundreds of years. Many great psychologist have questioned why we have thoughts and feelings and they all had different answers. Some thought you should only look at what can be directly observed about a person, some focused on their mental behavior, and some said that our culture shapes us to act a certain way. None of them are wrong about how we should look at the mind, we need to look at the mind in all these way to truly understand it. There are 6 main perspectives in psychology that help us understand the mind.
Throughout the ages, humans have had an inherent interest in studying the complex area of human behaviour, even before psychology was established as a science. Because the study of behaviour is so broad and multifaceted, its scientific study poses particular challenges. Therefore, it can be beneficial to approach the scientific study of human behaviour from the perspective of cognitive psychology. This is the study of cognition, the mental processes that underlie human behaviour (Ling & Cattling, 2012).