...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Gregory Finch PSY/360 Axia College/University of Phoenix Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Because of a prominent contrast, behaviorism and cognitive psychology are often compared. Cognitive psychology focuses on determining understandable explanations of the human mental processes, whereas behaviorism does not address the concerns of mental processes. The main objective of cognitive psychology is to explain the human transformation of thoughts into manifistations by a cognitive process. As behaviorism was being questioned and at the end of popular opinion, cognitive psychology, with the assistance of the application of abstract concepts, neuroscience, and new technology sprung into existence. With a scientific approach of the psyche, cognitive psychology has allowed new applications in the treatment of human dysfunction and disease. It is the intension of this paper to discuss the importance of behavioral observation in cognitive psychology while identifying a minimum of four prominent milestones in the development of the discipline of cognitive psychology. Cognitive Psychology Defined According to Merriam-Webster, by definition, cognitive psychology is “a branch of psychology concerned with mental processes (as...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper PSY 360 Cognitive Psychology Definition The cognitive approach to human and comparative psychology supports two major projections: 1) there are cognitive representations and processes that act on those representations (Willingham, 2007). 2) we can discover these representations and processes, albeit indirectly (Willingham, 2007). This approach proposes a consensus amongst B.F. Skinner’s cut-and-dry input²output relations and C.L. Hull’s hypothetical constructs and intervening variables. In the first case, there is limited access for intermediary cognitive processes among stimulus and response, independent from the domain of effortless associative learning. In the second case, there is lacking a definite scientific means by which to impartially observe the theoretical cognitive mechanisms at hand. Nonetheless, E. C. Tolman was one of the first psychologists to insinuate that intermediary cognitive processes could be determined through the results of scientifically meticulous experimentation. It is on this extremely complex proposal, that theoretical cognitive processes can be inferred by observing behavior, which most informs the developmental milestones in the formation of the cognitive perspective as a branch of psychology. Cognitive Psychology relates to developments, both past and present, in the investigation of the memory process, verbal communication, discernment, the ability to...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper PSY/360 July 21, 20xx xxxx Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Defining Cognitive Psychology Cognitive psychology focuses on the way human’s process information, looking at how we treat information that comes in to the person, better known as stimuli, and how this treatment leads to responses (McLeod, 2007). Cognitive psychologists study internal processes including perception, attention, language, memory and thinking. In ancient Greece, cognitive psychology created the need to understand how the mind works and what processes are involved in learning. Philosophers and early psychologists studied the mind, however the ancient Greeks knew little about the human mind and the mental process. Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology that emphasizes the study of mental processes (Galotti, 2014). These processes include thinking, language, problem solving, knowing, reasoning, judging and decision making. Cognitive psychology concluded that humans were not pushed or pulled by environmental factors. Cognitive psychology also studied how people view and understand the world. Subjects wanted to describe the patterns and irregularities during the operation of his or her mind. There were several key milestones in the development of cognitive psychology. Key Milestones in the Development of Cognitive Psychology Developmental milestones began in ancient Greek times have set a precedent in today’s views of cognitive psychology...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Cognitive psychology can be defined as basically the study of the mind. These mental processes include thinking, believing, problem solving, remembering, speaking, decision making, learning, perceiving, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology uses scientific research methods in studying the mental process. It focuses on how someone acquires, processes, and stores information, and it studies how someone views and understands the world around them. Using this method also utilizes other methods to identify behavior through characteristics other than its obvious properties. This discipline of psychology was not just created overnight, it took some milestones in psychology to help create. Neuroscience Neuroscience is used to see how the brain and nervous system determine behaviors, cognitive psychologists use this to identify brain areas that enable functioning. Neuroscientists can account for intelligent behavior through the use of abstract constructs, hypothetical representation, and processes. They have also established definitive links between structures of the brain and functioning. The research of neuroscientists enables the understanding of states of consciousness, sensory experiences, emotion, motivation, development through life spans, and psychological health. Behaviorism Behaviorism helped create cognitive psychology because when behaviorism was criticized, it was not able to answer many of the questions or account for different...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Judith Reitz University of Phoenix PSY360 Abstract Since one major branch in psychology cannot contribute strongly enough to the greater understanding of human kind, there came many others that were developed and had to follow. However, each of these specific disciplines has had their own purpose and area that uses its tools and knowledge that can properly explain their many different actions. In taking into consideration all these aspects and views from each individual discipline can help one to grasp many different behaviors better including the causes of an action. Take for instance, an action say as a thought grants to seeing something as a whole instead of only from one perspective. Being able to perform this way leads to an overall better comprehension of one’s world, which is significant to the quality of life. While understanding requires thinking, the occurrence of cognitive psychology was never one of a doubt but more one of a timely fashion. Cognitive Psychology Definition Foundation of Cognitive Psychology As simple cognitive psychology might appear for many these days, the same cannot be applied to its...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper PSY/360 December 10, 2013 In psychology there are several important factors and milestones in the development of cognitive psychology; each approach is important to the foundation of cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology’s purpose is to study the mental process to give a better understanding of how individuals think, what they remember, and how they perceive and process information. If we were to consider psychology as a discipline; the question then becomes what key elements are important and why. The ancient researchers of ancient Greece approximately 2, 400 years ago, made notes of how individuals reacted to different situations; “We can see that the answers that Greek philosophers came up with were not accurate; but were their questions at least good ones?” (Willingham, 2007, p. 7) “ Many books will tell you that the Greeks’ lasting contribution lies in the questions they raised, which set the agenda for future philosophers and eventually for cognitive psychology” (Willingham, 2007, p. 7). During a period noted as the Dark Ages, “few contributions were added to the philosophy of mind between the time of Aristotle, who died in 322 B.C., and the birth of Descartes at the end of the 16th century” (Willingham, 2007, p. 8). During the Renaissance period, the platform of cognitive psychology began to take on a more personal form and its findings not only appealed to researchers but to individuals. “The Renaissance brought...
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...Cognitive Psychology Cognitive psychology is a scientific examination of a person’s cognition. It focuses on how we distinguish, learn, and retain information, think, rationale, and respond. There are sub domains of cognitive psychology which are insight, attention, knowledge, memory, idea formation, way of thinking, judgment, choice making, predicament solving, and language dispensation. Perception is how we understand things around us. Attention is how we decide what is significant to us when offered with numerous things. Learning helps to enhance the response that we have to our surroundings. Memory is the capability at which we obtain things. Concept configuration is the ability to systematize our many diverse perceptions. Conclusion, decisions, reasoning, and predicament solving are how we shape the choices that we create and how we believe about the choices that we create. Language insight is how we understand the things we say and hear (Scholarepedia, 2011). Perception is one of the main landmarks of cognitive psychology. Perception is how people deliberately distinguish objects. From a visual point of view insight would include recognizing the form of an object, dimension, and distance away from the person. Perception is how a person gains access to information about the adjacent environment right away (Willingham, 2007). George Berkeley discussed insight as being a fraction of the empiricist versus nativist dispute. Berkeley happened to be an intense empiricist. He...
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...Cognitive Psychology The field of psychology is made up of different branches and each branch gives a range of different ideas and theories toward the compound field of psychology. Cognitive psychology is one branch that focuses on how cognition directly affects human behavior. Primarily cognitive psychology tries to uncover the underlying mental processes that play a role on particular human behaviors. Cognitive psychology was created in distinction of behavioral psychology. Major human functions can be observed through theories from the cognitive branch of psychology. These things can range from language, problem solving skills, memory functioning, and perception. Cognitive psychologists have developed many theories over the years that have made major contributions to the general field of psychology. The Foundation of Cognitive Psychology Prior to cognitive psychology becoming a significant branch of the psychology field, behavioral psychology was the main branch within psychology. Cognitive psychology came about when psychologists began to have questions about the behavioral method to psychology. Several psychologists felt that the behavioral approach to psychology had many gaps when it came to basic human functions such as memory, language, and learning. Psychologists attempted to fill these gaps by comparing the human mind to a computer (Willingham, 2007). Psychologists and scientists who studied artificial intelligence considered that the human mind functioned similar...
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...Material Introduction to Psychology Worksheet Complete each part with 100- to 200-word responses. Your responses must total 500 to 800-words for the entire worksheet. Part I: Origins of Psychology Within psychology, several perspectives are used to describe, predict, and explain human behavior. Describe three major psychological perspectives and name at least one leading theorist for each. Three major psychological perspectives are behavioral, sociocultural, and cognitive. The behavioral perspective views behavior as the result of environment experience. Environmental experience is basically all of a person’s life experiences that they have been subjected to in the past, and also the new experiences that will take part in their behavior. The behavioral perspective gained great momentum in the 20th century because it was a powerful tool in training, education, and industry. Critics claimed that behaviorism was dehumanizing. (John B. Watson, http://www.ccis.edu/, 5/17/13) and others conducted a thorough explication of Classical Conditioning and B. F. Skinner, responding somewhat to the critics of behaviorisms dehumanization, explained and expertly defended the processes of Operant Conditioning. Basically based off of a person’s environment will depict the way that they may behave. The cognitive perspective focuses mainly on the cognitive processes that are involved in learning, also on how a person’s brain works. It’s a form of psychology that examines internal mental...
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...Cognitive Processes Paper Psych/560 June 6, 2013 Prof. Pitt Cognitive Processes According to Robinson-Riegler and Robinson-Riegler (2008), learning is a natural task carried out by humans to facilitate better and more fulfilling life development. In general, human beings learn through, observation or even through other classical methods. Humans learn how to adapt to specific disciplines as well as how to ignore some unnecessary responsive stimulus though classical methods. However, in applying the available learning methods, human beings must pass through a comprehensive cognitive process. There are several types of stimulus or cognitive processes common in human growth and development. Different people employ the available cognitive processes at different times in their life time. The identification of the common cognitive processes as well as their purpose in human development is exceptionally decisive in facilitating the understanding of human cognitive development. Common Cognitive Processes By referring to Robinson-Riegler and Robinson-Riegler (2008), the first main cognitive process is perception. Perception entails the front-end process which helps in the organization and interpretation of the received information. Perception is usually based on auditory information as well...
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...Cognitive Psychology Known as one of the fastest growing and most interesting subfields of psychology today, cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies the mental processes of learning, memory, perception, as well as problem solving. The study includes analyzing the step by step process in the manner in which a person moves, talks, thinks, and remembers, or how the brain acquires, processes, and stores information. It is crucial to understand what cognitive psychology is and how it pertains to the field of psychology as a whole. There are four key milestones in the development of cognitive psychology as a discipline which will be discussed further in this paper. Of the various milestones present in the development of cognitive psychology, the process of introspection; the method of study in which people have attempted to follow their own thought processes, usually as they performed a simple task (Willingham, 2007). For example, while brushing his/her teeth, an individual may be reminded of being taught how to brush their teeth. This simple task may bring joy to someone as they outwardly smile as their memory brings them back to a simpler time. Functionalism is another milestone worth mentioning as this process is where there is a purpose; they must be for something (Willingham, 2007). For example, an individual may be inspired to obtain a higher education in an effort to obtain knowledge which leads to career opportunities and financial opportunities...
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...Human Development Amber Jones PSY 280-Human Growth and Development October 13, 2012 Linda Baker Human Development The growth and development of humans is a very interesting topic to discuss with anyone. There are so many theories that people have on human development and it always makes for interesting conversations. In this paper, I will put focus on the psychoanalytic theory, the stages of psychosocial development theory, and the stages of faith theory. I will focus on the three theories because I feel that they are extremely interesting to the growth and development of humans. To be more specific, I want to focus on exactly what the theories are and how they are important and/or related to the human growth and development. As well, I want to focus on at least on theorist who is known specifically for the theory I focus on. I also want to identify the aspects of the life span from that theory’s perspective. Last, but definitely not least, I want to discuss in detail how the heredity and the environment have influence on human development. By the end of the paper, you as the reader, should have a better understanding of the three theories of my choosing and how human development works. Psychoanalytical Theory The first theory related to human growth and development that I want to focus on is the psychoanalytical theory. With this specific theory, the personality organization and the development of the personality dynamics is he focus. Probably the most...
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...Jayquan S. Salmond Significant Event Final Paper 28 November 2014 Psychology 105 The purpose of this paper is to share a significant event I've had in my childhood. The event I would like to share is when I was in the fifth grade. This event in my life became very world-shattering when I was eighteen years old in Navy boot camp. When I was in the fifth grade I have had the most undesirable opportunity of seeing a little boy drown in our city pool. Actually, I was taught how to swim when I was in the third grade. After that fifth grade summer, I was afraid of the deep end of the pool. Seeing the little boy drown at the age of ten did not give me the desire to swim in any depth pass my waist line. As stated in the textbook Introduction to Psychology, “Cognitive behavior focuses on the processes such as memory, thought or reasoning” (Page 10). As I stood on the diving platform at the pool in Navy boot camp, my mind went back eight years to where I saw the little boy drown in the city pool. Deep inside my mind I knew I was trained well and I knew without a doubt that the instructors were highly trained in not letting me drown in that pool. However, I was still in fear that I would drown like the little boy did eight years ago in the city pool. I approached this situation with what psychology calls cognitive perspective. The memory of the kid drowning in the pool had my focused on only one thing, I may drown rather then I can swim and I will make it. How did...
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...Cognitive Processes Paper Cristala Walker August 8, 2012 INTRODUCTION This paper will examine the cognitive processes of attention, language, and problem solving. This paper will explain the purpose of each cognitive processes. This paper will also summarize and evaluate the studies of these cognitive processes and also the research methodology that they focus on. Cognitive processes are very important for human behavior. It is about the knowledge and the way people use his or her knowledge. Cognitive processes affect individuals in everyday life, often occurring within fractions of a second. EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE OF EACH COGNITIVE PROCESS Language is used to communicate feelings, thoughts, and ideas effectively. The use of language begins at a very young age, some would agree before birth. Language is spoken in a mixture of techniques from oral, to sign language to body language. In language there is a collection of terms, which is related to a particular topic, and the collection of terms is identified as a lexicon. Language and lexicon mutually combined because of the recollection of vocabulary or verbal communication, which transmits to cognitive psychology because the occurrence of lexical judgments in processing vocabulary in the cognitive mind. The main aspects of verbal communication are communicative, uninformed, controlled, generative, and self-motivated. The communicative part of language is the speech between two individuals. The uniformed part is the...
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...Lenora A. Mayne American Intercontinental University May 2013 EDU 622: Applying Learning Theories Identifying The Components of Cognitivist Theories used in, "Kermit and The Keyboard." Abstract Cognitivism emphasizes on the explanation of cognitive structures and process, and the intervention of these structures and processes between instruction and learning (Glaserfeld, 1989). The study of cognitivism has allowed for educators, theorist and psychologist to understand the concepts of knowing, thinking and formulating feedback. In reviewing the sample texture, "Kermit and the Keyboard," has allowed for philosophers and psychologist to review the interactional theories of learning process. Within this paper, will identify, compare and contrast the views of congnitivist theories, Cognitive Information Processing (CIP), Piaget's Theory and Perspective of Interactional Theories of Cognitive Development as it relates to the sample text. The essence of utilizing cognitivist learning theories allows for educators such as myself to capture the meaning of cognitive and knowledge development within the classroom setting. Identifying The Components of Cognitivist Theories used in, "Kermit and The Keyboard." The developmental concept of learning theories allows for people to inquire the fundamentals of human engagement. The core concepts of learning has allowed for philosophers and psychologist to examine the nature of learning in applying those concepts in expanding...
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