Cognitive Psychology explained in less than 5 minutes
Summary
TLDRThe script delves into the cognitive revolution of the mid-20th century, contrasting behaviorism with the emergence of cognitive psychology. It highlights cognitive psychology's focus on internal mental processes like learning, memory, and problem-solving, using the human mind as a computer metaphor. The script also touches on the evolution of cognitive psychology, its intersection with social and developmental psychology, and the rise of cognitive neuroscience due to advanced brain imaging techniques. It concludes by emphasizing the benefits of interdisciplinary research in psychology.
Takeaways
- đ Cognitive psychology emerged as a response to the limitations of behaviorism, focusing on internal mental processes in addition to observable behaviors.
- đĄ The cognitive revolution marked a significant shift in the field of psychology, emphasizing the study of mental processes like learning, memory, language, and problem-solving.
- đ„ïž Cognitive psychology uses the computer metaphor to understand the human mind, with early concepts mirroring the simplicity of early computing machines and evolving with technological advancements.
- đ§ The term 'cognition' refers to the acquisition, storage, and utilization of knowledge, highlighting the broad scope of cognitive processes.
- đ As technology advanced, so did the cognitive metaphor, moving from simple computing to complex neural networks and cloud computing.
- đŹ Cognitive neuroscience is a growing interdisciplinary field that combines cognitive psychology with brain imaging techniques to study the physiological underpinnings of mental processes.
- đ The development of sophisticated brain imaging techniques, such as fMRI and PET, has allowed researchers to observe the brain's activity during psychological tasks, opening new research opportunities.
- đ There is now a more complementary relationship between different psychological approaches, indicating a maturing field where specialties overlap and inform each other.
- đ Cognitive psychology has expanded into other areas of psychology, such as social and developmental psychology, which also explore the hidden cognitive processes at work.
- đ Piaget's stages of development are an example of how developmental psychology examines the growth of cognitive processes in individuals.
- đ€ The script suggests that interdisciplinary research, where different specialties work together, can enhance our understanding of the human mind.
Q & A
What was the prevailing belief in psychology before the emergence of cognitive psychology?
-Before cognitive psychology, the field was dominated by behaviorism, which believed that psychology should focus on studying people's behaviors.
Why were some psychologists frustrated with behaviorism?
-Some psychologists were frustrated because behaviorism only studied behaviors and did not account for the internal mental processes that were occurring.
What is the fundamental focus of cognitive psychology?
-Cognitive psychology focuses on the study of mental processes and complex behaviors, aiming to understand how external behaviors are facilitated by internal mental processes.
How does cognitive psychology view the relationship between behaviors and mental processes?
-Cognitive psychology does not dismiss the importance of behaviors; instead, it seeks to connect external behaviors with the internal mental processes that enable them, such as learning, memory, language development, and problem-solving.
What is the most prevalent metaphor used in cognitive psychology to describe the human mind?
-The most prevalent metaphor in cognitive psychology is that the human mind is like a computer.
How has the development of computer science influenced the metaphor used in cognitive psychology?
-As computer science has advanced, so has the scope of the computer metaphor in cognitive psychology, evolving from simple computing machines to the more complex neural networks and cloud network computing.
What does the term 'cognition' mean in the context of cognitive psychology?
-In cognitive psychology, 'cognition' refers to all the ways in which knowledge is acquired, stored, and used.
How has cognitive psychology contributed to other psychological specialisms?
-Cognitive psychology has influenced other psychological specialisms, such as social psychology, which examines hidden cognitive processes resulting from interpersonal and environmental interactions, and developmental psychology, which studies the development of cognitive processes.
What is cognitive neuroscience and how did it emerge?
-Cognitive neuroscience is a discipline that emerged from the intersection of cognitive psychology and the study of the brain's physiological processes. It was facilitated by advancements in brain imaging techniques, allowing scientists to observe the brain's activity during psychological tasks.
How have new technologies in brain imaging impacted the field of cognitive psychology?
-New technologies like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) have allowed psychologists to observe the brain in action, providing insights into learning, memory, and neural network activation, thus opening up new research opportunities.
What is the key message from the development of cognitive psychology regarding the relationship between different psychological specialisms?
-The key message is that research outcomes are likely to be enhanced when different psychological specialisms work together and are linked, rather than being kept separate.
Outlines
đ The Cognitive Revolution in Psychology
This paragraph introduces the cognitive revolution that occurred in the mid-20th century, a significant shift in the field of psychology. It contrasts the behaviorist approach, which focused solely on observable behaviors, with the emerging cognitive psychology that sought to understand internal mental processes. Cognitive psychology aimed to integrate external behaviors with internal mental processes such as learning, memory, language development, and problem-solving. The human mind was metaphorically compared to a computer, reflecting the influence of computer science at the time. The paragraph also notes the evolution of cognitive psychology, which has expanded to include the study of neural networks, and the development of various psychological specialties with a cognitive flavor.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄCognitive Psychology
đĄBehaviorism
đĄMental Processes
đĄCognitive Revolution
đĄComputer Metaphor
đĄNeural Networks
đĄCognition
đĄCognitive Neuroscience
đĄFunctional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
đĄPositron Emission Tomography (PET)
đĄInterdisciplinary Approach
Highlights
The cognitive revolution emerged in the mid-20th century as a significant shift in psychology.
Behaviorism dominated psychology before cognitive psychology, focusing solely on observable behaviors.
Cognitive psychologists sought to understand internal mental processes in addition to external behaviors.
Cognitive psychology studies complex behaviors and mental processes like learning, memory, and problem-solving.
The human mind was metaphorically compared to a computer, reflecting the technological advancements of the time.
Early cognitive psychology concepts were simple, mirroring the early stages of computing machines.
As computing advanced, so did the cognitive psychology metaphor, evolving towards neural networks.
Cognition encompasses all ways in which knowledge is acquired, stored, and used.
Cognitive processes are central to various psychological specialties, including social and developmental psychology.
Piaget's stages of development exemplify the focus on cognitive processes in developmental psychology.
The maturation of psychology has led to a more complementary relationship between different approaches.
Cognitive neuroscience has gained momentum, combining cognitive psychology with brain physiology.
Advancements in brain imaging techniques have allowed psychologists to observe the brain during psychological tasks.
Cognitive neuroscience has opened new research opportunities, bridging the gap between mental processes and brain activity.
Research outcomes are enhanced when different psychological specialties are linked together.
The development of cognitive psychology shows the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing knowledge.
Transcripts
you
in the middle of the 20th century
alongside the massive proliferation of
computers and new specialism in
psychology emerged some thought it was
so influential that they call it a
revolution the cognitive revolution so
what is cognitive psychology what answer
that question it's worth thinking for
just a moment about what psychology
looked like just before cognitive
psychology existed the subject was
engulfed in a movement called
behaviorism with the prevailing belief
that the role of psychology was to study
people's behaviors but some
psychologists were becoming increasingly
frustrated that by only studying
behaviors they weren't able to
understand the processes that were going
on internally and so in a grand shift
cognitive psychology emerged as the
study of mental processes and complex
behaviors notice that cognitive
psychology wasn't saying that behaviors
aren't important they wanted to tie the
external behaviors in with the internal
mental processes that facilitated them
processes such as learning and memory
language development and mental
problem-solving the most prevalent
metaphor within cognitive psychology is
that the human mind is a computer the
approaches really tracked developments
in computer science early cognitive
psychology concepts were very simple
like early computing machines a and B go
in C comes out as computers they're
developed so then did the scope of the
metaphor to the point that nowadays with
cloud network computing becoming the
norm cognitive psychology too has
developed the computer metaphor and now
we use the analogy of neural networks
cognition itself means knowing so
cognitive processes actually refer to
all ways in which knowledge is acquired
stored and used because of this we see a
large number of later psychological
specialisms which we could say our
cognitive in flavor for example a lot of
social psychology looks at the hidden
cognitive processes at work as a result
of interpersonal and environmental
interactions
and certainly large swathes of
developmental psychology is looking at
the development of cognitive processes
just think of piaces stages of
development as psychology is developed
and new specialisms emerge we now see a
more complementary relationship between
approaches which could be indicative of
the subject maturing approaches are
looking to supersede a weaker precedent
like functionalism dismissing
structuralism but instead specialisms
now overlap an area of overlap that's
really built momentum over the last
decade or so is cognitive neuroscience
now traditionally conda's psychologists
didn't really get involved in the brain
on a physiological level they were
interested in process not biology and
structure however developments in the
sophisticated brain imaging techniques
like functional magnetic resonance
imager II and positron emission
tomography now allow scientists to
actually watch the brain in action
whilst a person is performing a
psychological task suddenly a whole new
world of research opportunities opened
up psychologists were able to watch
learning as it happened to see memories
being coded and recalled through
activation of neural networks as if the
brain were a great organic television
and so with new technology came these
new opportunities and a new discipline
of cognitive neuroscience emerged
traditionally cognitive psychology could
only make inferences about mental
processes based on behavior focused
experimentation with the continued
development of research methods our
understanding of the human mind
increases to perhaps the most important
message to take away from this story of
cognitive psychologists development is
that research outcomes are likely to be
enhanced when different specialisms
linked together rather than apart I hope
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