...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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...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 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 is figuring out what makes an individual tick and understanding the internal process of their mind. Cognition literally means “knowing”. In other words, psychologists from his approach study cognition which is ‘the mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired (cognitive psychology). This type of psychology focuses on how we as human process information, and how we react to this information. When studying cognitive psychology it basically means the studying of the mind. Cognitive psychology is one of the most important schools in psychology. This paper is discussing the history and milestones made with cognitive psychology. William Wundt is the individual who gets the credit for founding modern psychology in 1879 even knowing he was the not the first to publish psychological work. The reason it is told he was the first because Wundt was the first to establish a laboratory just for psychology. In the course book written by Willingham, D.T it states how this is not true. Wundt started his lab in 1879 and William James started a lab in 1875. But it does not count because James used his lab for teaching Wundt did what was necessary to get science going. In 1913 John Watson Published a paper titled “Psychology as the behaviorist views it”. Watson made it clear in that paper that he plans to overturn psychology. Wundt had train many students who remained introspectionists. Watson challenged their assumptions with his four basic principles of behaviorism...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Lakeshia Jackson May 2, 2011 PSY 360 Bonnie Johnson Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with a person’s internal states and their cognitive functions such as, their problem solving abilities, their motivation, their thinking, and even their attention. The development of cognitive psychology is marked by several milestones in the field of psychology. With the need for change in theories and methods on how things are researched, certain developments ultimately lead to the development of cognitive psychology. This paper will cover four of the milestones that lead to the development of cognitive psychology. This paper will also cover why observable behavior is important in cognitive psychology. Development of Cognitive Psychology The development of cognitive psychology came about marked by different milestones that all paved the way for the cognitive perspective. One of the four major milestones that helped the development of cognitive psychology was behaviorism. Behaviorism as a perspective of psychology had its shortfalls such as not being able to account for all the experimental data that was being introduced (Willingham, 2007). The experimental data included studies in language and memory. Another drawback to behaviorism was that it was founded on the basic principle that psychology should only focus on that which was observable. Everything that was not observable...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Gina S Washington Psychology 360 May 28, 2014 Keisha Pou Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Cognitive Psychology According to psychologist, cognitive psychology is associated with behaviorism due to the shrill differences of the perspectives (Willingham, 2007). While behaviorism neglects to deal with mental processes, cognitive psychology target to create a logical description of these processes typical to humanity. Opposed to other perspectives in psychology, cognitive psychology has a reputation founded in the scientific and experimentation technique (Willlingham, 2007). The key goal is clarify how humans convert ideas into actions and thoughts by the composite and frequent peculiar process of cognition (Eyesnck, 2004, Willingham, 2007). The human psyche nature is addressed through nature and observation through cognitive psychology while using abstracts to produce observable behavior and nature causing a further understanding of these processes (Willingham, 2007). Through the fall of behaviorism and by the help of technology, neuroscience and the application of concept abstract is when psychology essentially came to life (Willingham, 2007). The cognitive methodology has infused contemporary psychology by way of scientific interpretation of the convoluted human psyche, also the opportunity to infuse this knowledge in treatments of dysfunction and human disease (Eyseneck, 2004). Cognitive Psychology Defined Cognitive...
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...Introduction Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with a person’s internal states and their cognitive functions such as, their problem solving abilities, their motivation, their thinking, and even their attention. The development of cognitive psychology is marked by several milestones in the field of psychology. With the need for change in theories and methods on how things are researched, certain developments ultimately lead to the development of cognitive psychology. This paper will cover four of the milestones that lead to the development of cognitive psychology. This paper will also cover why observable behavior is important in cognitive psychology. Development of Cognitive Psychology The development of cognitive psychology came about marked by different milestones that all paved the way for the cognitive perspective. One of the four major milestones that helped the development of cognitive psychology was behaviorism. Behaviorism as a perspective of psychology had its shortfalls such as not being able to account for all the experimental data that was being introduced (Willingham, 2007). The experimental data included studies in language and memory. Another drawback to behaviorism was that it was founded on the basic principle that psychology should only focus on that which was observable. Everything that was not observable, such as a person’s thoughts, was considered not important to behavior. The second milestone that this paper will cover is that...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Jennifer Flynn PSY/360 October 27, 2014 Terry Blackmon Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Cognitive psychology is the study among psychology that discovers the internal mental processes by encompassing learning, memory, problem solving, perception, thought or language (Galotti, 2014). While still relatively new comparatively as a formal branch of psychology, its roots extend back to Descartes who sought a way to explain how the mind worked, proposing the analogy of a “hydraulic system of nerve function” (Willingham, 2007, p. 26) after he observed animated statues in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. It has been the relentless pursuit of not only how did the mind work but also what exactly constituted the mind that eventually led the foundations of cognitive theory. As psychologists examined how mental processes produced behavior, it was evident a different approach would be needed. The school of thought that arises from tactic is called Cognitivism and is also interested in how people mentally represent information processing (Galotti, 2014). According to ScienceDaily (2014), Wilhelm Wundt, the Gestalt psychology of Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka, and Jean Piaget was the foundations in this work. However, they presented the theory or segments that articulate children’s cognitive development and the two styles that cognitive psychologist use to realize, detect, and solve problems. These two approaches are psychophysical...
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...Cognitive Development and Aging Paper Psych/640 Cognitive development and Aging Paper As people age their bodies go through a lot of changes physically as well as psychologically. As humans age normally they undergo changes in their brain which affect cognitive functioning and development. Each person is different so the age-related changes in the structure of the brain and in its function as well as in cognition and cognitive domains are not uniform across the whole brain, nor are the uniform across individuals. This means that some of the changes that a person goes through due to aging another person may not experience. The two basic cognitive functions that are affected most by a person aging is attention and memory (Glisky, 2007). The thing that a person needs to know is that memory and attention are not unitary functions; there are multiple parts to both functions some of which may not be affected by a person aging while others are affected. According to the Glisky (2007), perception in a person as the person ages declines due to declining sensory capacities which can impact the cognitive functions later in a person. Perception is a person’s senses such as touch, sight, taste, and smells which is why some people believe that it is actually a precognition function. According to Anderson (2010), perception is the sensory experience of the world around individuals which involve recognition of environmental stimuli as well as actions in response to the stimuli. What...
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...Cognitive Functions and Phineas Gage The discussion of this paper is the role of cognitive brain functions and Phineas Gage. The amazing story of Phineas Gage will be analyzed and the explanation of cognitive functioning in regard to his situation is very interesting and is also a major topic in this paper. Cognitive brain functions will be thoroughly examined in this paper as well. Cognitive functioning is when an individual has the ability to use mental processes to learn, reason, problem solve, make decisions, and comprehend. It also helps in focusing your attention and remembering events. Without cognitive processing humans would not be able to function properly. We use these processes to eat, sleep, work, go to school, plan events, and teach. Our daily functions such as cooking, eating, completing hygiene, cleaning, washing clothes, and other life skills heavily depend on cognitive functioning. What are the cognitive functions of the brain? To answer this question we must first examine what the brain is made of and what structures in the brain create a variety of cognitions. The brain has a set of structures called the limbic system. This system is made up of the cerebrum, diencephalon, midbrain, hippocampus, amygdalae, anterior thalamic nuclei, septum, limbic cortex, and the fornix. This system helps with the functions of emotion, behavior, motivation, and long term memory. The four lobes of the brain are important for the brain’s cognitive functioning. The four lobes...
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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 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/340 Cognitive Psychology Dr. 07/14/2014 The cognition process study is an integral part of getting familiar with the human nature. Considering the topic of human nature, the most interesting thing to discover is the way people behave themselves, what is ascribed to the study of behavioral psychology. Nevertheless, the way people behave is fully dependent upon what people learn, what do they read, which information they process, and how does it take place. A human's behavior in different situations is just as set of theoretical and practical knowledge received in the process of cognition. All the questions regarding this topic are put under deep scrutiny by the branch of psychology, which is called the cognitive psychology. This kind of psychological studies is one of the most important, as it examines and researches not only what and who we are, but how do we acquire the features we possess. The 18th century was a harsh time for the development of psychology in the role of a scientific discipline. Towards the end of the 19th century psychology was dominated by an approach known as introspectionism. The basis of introspectionism was to study mental processes via a method of subjective self-examination. (Parkin, 2000, p. 1) In the middle of the 20th century, three general movements arose to inspire and shape a cognitive psychology. First of all, after the introduction...
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...we study the mind? In Precursors to Cognitive Psychology we saw that psychologists adopted a number of methodologies throughout the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century, including focusing only on observable behaviour. One early methodology was introspection, which was used to study the elements of perception, although this ran into difficulties. However, for higher-level cognitive processes such as decision making and voluntary behaviour, many social scientists continue to ask people about the reasons for their own behaviour. In a key paper published in 1977, and titled Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes, Richard Nisbett and Timothy Wilson reviewed several studies that appeared to show that people are sometimes unaware of the reasons underlying their own behaviour. In one study, Nisbett and Wilson observed consumers choosing between identical packs of nylon stockings arranged in a row. They found that people were biased towards choosing from the right side of the array but, when asked about their choice, people did not refer to the position of the stockings in the array. When specifically asked whether they might have been affected by the position of the item, almost everybody denied this. Based on this and the results of many other studies, Nisbett and Wilson concluded that people's explanations of their own behaviours were not based on having access to the underlying cognitive processes, but rather were theories about the causes...
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...Foundations of Psychology Camille Sere' PSY/300 September 25, 2012 Shari Tumlin Foundations of Psychology In this paper I will identify and discuss the major school of thought in psychology and their underlying assumptions. I will also identify the primary foundations of psychology linked to behavior. After reading this it is my hope for readers to have a better understanding of these points. There are four schools of thought or perspectives that I am going to discuss. These are the psychodynamic perspective, behaviorist perspective, the cognitive perspective, and the evolutionary perspective. According to the text book Psychology, Sixth Edition, perspectives are broad ways of understanding psychological phenomena, including theoretical propositions, shared metaphors and accepted methods of observation. The first perspective or school of thought I am going to discuss is the psychodynamic perspective. According to the book the psychodynamic perspective rests on three key premises, the first being that people’s actions are determined by the way thoughts, wishes, and feelings are connected in their minds. Next, many of our mental events occur outside of conscious awareness. Third, our mental processes may conflict with one another, causing people to compromise among competing motives. This means that people most likely do not precisely know the chain of psychological events that leads to their conscious thoughts, intentions, feelings, or behaviors. In the...
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