What´s Cognitive Psychology?

The hand book of brain theories and neural networks. Cambridge, MA: MIT press. Lusebrink, V. (1990). Imagery and visual expression in therapy. New York: Plenum press.

Introduction Much interest has been raised recently in cognitive science and in the philosophy of mind by a debate that focuses on the nature of the cognitive mechanism that underlies our folk psychological practices. One side in this debate is represented by proponents of the reigning paradigm, the theory theory. Theory theorists say that our ability to give explanations, predictions and interpretations of intentional behavior is subserved by tacit knowledge of an internally-represented theory of commonsense psychology (Fodor 1987). The simulation theory challenges this view on the grounds that there is no evidence to support the suggestion that we have such know... ... middle of paper ... ...mith (eds. ), Theories of theories of mind.

The definition of psychology is: “the science of the mind or of mental states and processes” ("psychology." Dictionary.com). The key to understanding all life and the purpose of everything is believed to lie inside the many facets of thought and behavior which we study through psychoanalysis. Many people conflicted about whether digging deeper into the human psyche will help us penetrate the seemingly unanswerable questions such as: Why do we behave as we do? What events trigger different behaviors immediately or later in life?

In order to develop his own definition of the mind and the soul, Aristotle brought forth the idea of empirical studies of behavior as evidence upon his theories. Not only that, he instilled the idea that empirical observation is not to enough alone. It is only with both empiricist and rationalist methods that one can produce optimal data. Then it is through those discoveries, Aristotle placed forth his definition of the mind and soul which he later based his theories upon. Thus, throughout the history of psychology, his theories are used as a backbone which psychologists later contested.

Cognitive Science and Its Link to Artificial Intelligence In recent years, researchers in the field of psychology have turned their collective attention to the developing field of cognition. The term comes from the Latin word cognoscere, meaning “to come to know”, and today is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the act or process of knowing, including both awareness and judgment”. Cognitive psychology seeks to identify and examine the elements composing human intelligence. This includes the study of human learning or intellectual development, problem solving, memory, the human language, and the processing and comprehension of information. These functions are often taken for granted as part of human existence.

Cognitive psychology is concerned with the internal processes involved in making sense of the environment and deciding what action may be appropriate. These processes include attention, perception, learning and reasoning, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010).There are a number of approaches which can be used within this field, however for the purposes of the essay only two will be compared; cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology. The aims of cognitive neuroscientists are often similar to those of cognitive psychologists; they are both interested in the brain and cognition, (Medin and Ross, 1996). Nevertheless, it could be argued that there are also some fundamental differences between the two approaches, especially in the research methods employed. This assignment will explain and evaluate the models in comparison to one another.

Additionally, I will suggest that explicating the role of mental variations in cognition may be seen as a vital component of maintaining the strength of certain approaches and "schools" of cognitive science. (1) Preliminary Remarks (a) Introduction What is the role of mental variation in cognitive science? I will attempt to answer this question, as it often happens in philosophy, by dividing it into two separate questions: (1) What role does mental variation already (implicitly) play in cognitive science? and (2) Would cognitive science benefit by inquiring (explicitly) into the role of mental variation? I will attempt to show that mental variation already plays an important, although not always explicit, role in cognitive science.

Additionally, he stated that if he could doubt, then something or someone must also be doing the doubting, therefore the very fact that he doubted proved his existence. The questions of the mind are a major aspect of psychology hence this could have been the beginning of psychology. Hergenhahn (2009) also stated... ... middle of paper ... ... and humanities (philosophy, languages, music and art). While early philosophers relied on methods such as observation and logic, today’s psychologists utilize scientific methodologies to study and draw conclusions about human thought and behavior. Physiology also contributed to psychology’s eventual emergence as a scientific discipline.

Psychology is an integral part of our modern society, and its influence is quite widespread. Many important decisions, which are made in our society, can be based on psychology - decisions which affect the lives of many people. This is why it is important to determine whether or not psychology is a science. The answer to the question if psychology is a science is not a simple 'yes' or 'no' – it depends on the area of psychological study, on the theory used within an area, and often on the way the researcher chooses to study a phenomenon ( Makunda, 1997). It also depends on what is meant by 'scientific' – for the philosopher of science Karl Popper, for instance, the most important criterion was what he called 'falsifiability'.

Embodied cognition is a relatively recent comprehensive framework for the study of mind. This kind of approach has recently attained high acceptance in cognitive psychology arena. There is a growing idea that the mind must be understood in the context of agent’s relationship and interaction with the world. Lots of support coming in from the experimental procedures in psychology where the psychologists will ask subjects to perform some sort of tasks and then by making manipulation on their bodies in certain ways. They find that the subjects differ and the result depending on simple facts even such as whether they are right or left handed.