Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of experimental psychology focused on investigating the mental processes that give rise to our perceptions and interpretations of the world around us.
Cognition, or mental activity, refers to the acquisition, storage, transformation, and use of knowledge.
Cognitive psychology has two meanings
Sometimes it is a synonym for the word cognition. (Rarely, in practice.)
Refers to a theoretical approach, the cognitive approach, to psychology, emphasizing people’s thought processes and knowledge.
Historical Perspectives on the Field
The contemporary version of cognitive psychology emerged in the 1950s, though its origins can be traced to the classical Greek philosophers.
Aristotle examined topics such as perception, memory, and mental imagery. He discussed how humans acquire knowledge through experience and observation, emphasizing empirical evidence.
Wilhelm Wundt: founder of experimental psychology. Advocated the introspection technique to study mental processes.
Trained observers would systematically analyze their own sensations and objectively report them.
Early memory researchers
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)
Tested recall of lists of items— nonsense syllables such as “DAX.”
Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930)
The recency effect: recall is especially accurate for the final item in a series of stimuli.
William James (1842-1910) preferred to theorize about everyday experiences.
Principles of Psychology: textbook emphasizing human mind as active and inquiring.
tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
Behaviorism: psychology must focus on objective, observable reactions to stimuli.
Dominated US psychology in first half of 20th century.
John B. Watson (1878-1958) was the earliest, prominent behaviorist.
Typically studied non-human animals’ behavioral response to changes in environment. e.g. rat’s maze.
Operational definition: a precise definition that specifies exactly how a concept is to be measured.
The Gestalt Approach
Origins of Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Revolution
Cognitive Psychology in Present Times
Mind, Brain, and Behavior
Cognitive Science
Computer Metaphor of the Mind
Cognitive Neuroscience
Textbook Overview
Chapter Preview
Themes in the Book
How to Use Your Book Effectively
Ch. 2: Visual and Auditory Recognition
Overview of Visual Object Recognition
Perception uses previous knowledge to gather and interpret the stimuli registered by the senses.
For example, you use perception to interpret each letter on this page.
Perception combines aspects of both the outside world (visual stimuli) and your inner world (previous knowledge.)