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Theoretical Perspective of Cognition

In: Philosophy and Psychology

Submitted By bdrumheller
Words 1907
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The Theoretical Perspective of the Cognitive Personality Approach
Brett

Abstract
What I as an author am trying to do in this essay is to grab my audiences attention and explain and appeal to them about the theoretical perspective of the Cognitive Personality approach. I provided historical statements, theories, and research to make each individual aspect of the perspective as clear as possible. This essay will consist of the Theoretical perspective of the approach, Theorists who have contributed to this approach, Compare and contrast two theorists perspectives within this approach, Identify and describe measurement and assessment instruments, and Clinical application of the approach.

If you believe the saying 'Perception is everything,' then you may well be a cognitivist. Cognitive theory is focused on the individual's thoughts as the determinate of his or her emotions and behaviors and therefore personality (Dasen). Many cognitive theorists believe that without these thought processes, we could have no emotions and no behavior and would therefore not function. In other words, thoughts always come before any feeling and before any action. The theoretical perspective of the Cognitive approach of personality can be simply described as what personality does, but is much more complex than that. Cognitive Psychology revolves around the notion that if we want to know what makes people tick then we need to understand the internal processes of their mind (Dasen). Cognition literally means “knowing”. In other words, psychologists from this approach study cognition which is “the mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired.” Cognitive psychology focuses on the way humans process information, looking at how we treat information that comes in to the person (what behaviorists would callstimuli), and how this treatment leads to responses (Dasen). In other

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