Cognitive psychology is a relatively young branch of psychology, yet it has quickly grown to

become one of the most popular subfields. Topics such as thinking, decision-making,
problem-solving, learning, attention, memory, forgetting, and language acquisition are just a
few of the practical applications of this science. But what exactly is cognitive psychology?
What do cognitive psychologists do?

A Closer Look at Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including
how people think, perceive, remember, and learn.

As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other
disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.

The core focus of cognitive psychology is on how people acquire, process and store
information. There are numerous practical applications for cognitive research, such as
improving memory, increasing decision-making accuracy, and structuring educational
curricula to enhance learning.

A Brief History of Cognitive Psychology

Until the 1950s, Behaviorism was the dominant school of thought in psychology. Between

1950 and 1970, the tide began to shift against behavioral psychology to focus on topics
such as attention, memory and problem-solving.
Often referred to as the cognitive revolution, this period generated considerable research on
topics including processing models, cognitive research methods and the first use of the term
"cognitive psychology."

The term "cognitive psychology" was first used in 1967 by American psychologist Ulric
Neisser in his bookCognitive Psychology. According to Neisser, cognition involves "all
processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored,
recovered, and used.
It is concerned with these processes even when they operate in the absence of relevant
stimulation, as in images and hallucinations...Given such a sweeping definition, it is
apparent that cognition is involved in everything a human being might possibly do; that
every psychological phenomenon is a cognitive phenomenon."

Important People in the History of Cognitive Psychology

 Gustav Fechner

 Wilhelm Wundt
 Edward B. Titchener

 Hermann Ebbinghaus

 William James
 Wolfgang Kohler

 Edward Tolman

 Jean Piaget
 Noam Chomsky

 David Rumelhart

 James McClelland

Major Topics in Cognitive Psychology

 Perception

 Language

 Attention
 Memory
 Problem-Solving
 Decision-Making and Judgment

 Intelligence

As you might imagine, studying what’s happening in a person thoughts is not always the
easiest thing to do. Very early in psychology’s history, Wilhelm Wundt attempted to use a
process known as introspection to study what was happening in a person’s mind. This
involved training people focus on their internal states and then write down what they were
feeling, thinking, or experiencing. As you might imagine, this approach was extremely
subjective, so it did not last long as a cognitive research tool.

To study the human mind, cognitive psychologists have developed different models to
represent how the thinking works. One of the most popular of these is the information-
processing model. In this approach, the mind is thought of much like a computer. Thoughts
and memories are broken down into smaller units of knowledge. As information enter the
mind through the senses, it is then manipulated by the brain that must then determine what
do to with the information. Some information triggers an immediate response. Other units of
information are transferred into long-term memory for future use.

Units of Knowledge

Cognitive psychologists often break down these units of knowledge into three different
types: concepts, prototypes, and schemas.

A concept is essentially a larger category of knowledge. Similar items are grouped together
in the mind under this broad category. You have concepts for things that are concrete such
 as a horse or a dog, as well as concepts for abstract ideas such as love, beauty, and
gravity.
A prototype is the most prominent and recognizable example of a particular concept. For
example, what comes to mind when you think of a bed. If a large, four-poster bed
immediately springs to mind, that is your prototype for the concept of a bed. If a futon, crib,
or platform bed pops into your mind, then that would be your prototype for that concept.
A schema is a mental framework that you use to understand and interpret the world around
you. Concepts serve as the building blocks that help build schemas, which are mental
models for how you expect from the world around you. You have schemas for a wide variety
of objects, ideas, people, and situations.
In some cases, however, you will encounter information that does not quite fit into your
existing schemas or dramatically challenges the ideas you already hold. When this
happens, you can either assimilate oraccommodate the information. Assimilating the
information involves broadening your current schema or even creating a new one.
Accommodation the information by changing your previously held ideas altogether. This
process allows you to learn new things and develop new and more complex schemas for
the world around you.

How is Cognitive Psychology Different?

 Unlike behaviorism, which focuses only on observable behaviors, cognitive

psychology is concerned with internal mental states.

 Unlike psychoanalysis, which relies heavily on subjective perceptions, cognitive

psychology uses scientific research methods to study mental processes.

Who Should Study Cognitive Psychology?

Because cognitive psychology touches on many other disciplines, this branch of psychology
is frequently studied by people in some different fields. The following are just a few of those
who may benefit from studying cognitive psychology.

 Students who are interested in behavioral neuroscience, linguistics, industrial-

organizational psychology, artificial intelligence, and other related areas.
 Teachers, educators, and curriculum designers can benefit from learning more about
how people process, learn, and remember information.

 Engineers, scientists, artists, architects, and designers can all benefit from
understanding internal mental states and processes.