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Introduction
Psychology is the branch of science which deals with the study of the mind. It has a further sub-category of behaviorism which is the study of behavior. But the extent of Behaviorism Psychology had flaws. Scientists and researchers needed something more in-depth and advanced to study the internal mental states. Behaviorism only dealt with the external behavior that a person observed. This gave birth to Cognitive Psychology.
Cognitive Psychology better interlinks itself with linguistics, neuroscience and philosophy. The development of cognitive psychology circled back to the research of the study of the mind.
Definition of Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology is the term used to the study of the mind’s mental state. It is the study of all the mental processes. These mental processes include the stats of believing, thinking, memory, analyzing, problem solving, and reasoning, making decisions, understanding and learning. There are advanced techniques and methods that are used in cognitive psychology to study these different mental states.
The main focus of cognitive psychology is to study and analyze how and individual inputs, processes, stores and understands information. In cognitive psychology, behavior is understood from its characteristics rather than the obvious properties.
Key Development Milestones in Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
Neuroscience is a huge development milestone in cognitive psychology. It helps the field of cognitive psychology understand how the brain and the nervous system are linked to behavior. In the field of neuroscience, the scientists get a better understanding of the brain in the states of consciousness, sensory experiences, motivations and emotions. These phases are studied on the basis of life spans, and psychological and physical health factors.
- Information Processing Model
The model of Information Processing is also considered to be an important milestone of cognitive psychology . This model gives insight into the human mind and is used by scientists to explain and study the various mental processes. The human mind works like a computer taking in and processing information. The memory has the function of storing this important data for further use. The output of this information processing is through behavior. Human though and behavior is supported by this information processing model.
- Behaviorism Criticism
The criticism in the study of behaviorism is what led to the development of cognitive psychology. Behaviorism was incomplete and did not have the answers to a lot of human processes and aspects of the mind.
- Artificial Intelligence
With the introduction of human mental states and behavior patterns in artificial intelligence, it gained a lot of recognition. Abstract processing was introduced as a way to help construct the computers to think like a human mind. Artificial intelligence shows how unobservable processes are defined through behavior.
Importance of Behavior Observation
Observation of behavior is the key component of cognitive psychology. The observation of behavior is the stage of cognitive psychologists. It offers them a means of testing and evaluating data and theories. Mental processes cannot be dealt with directly. Therefore behavior observation is the missing link between the mental states and the scientists.
Conclusion
Cognitive Psychology can be simply stated to be the study of the mind and its processes. This special branch of psychology is the result of the criticism faced by the theories of behaviorisms. There are many important milestones that have paved the development of cognitive psychology.
References
Stone, D. (2011, February 28). Defining Cognitive Psychology. Retrieved November 25, 2013, from Psycological Musings: http://psychological-musings.blogspot.com/2011/02/defining-cognitive-psychology.html
Willingham, D. T. (2007). Cognition: The Thinking Animal. Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
