Cognitive psychology
Devinder Rana, Dominic Upton in Psychology for Nurses, 2013
Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that is concerned with the study of mental states and processes such as problem-solving, memory and language. The cognitive psychology perspective is different from previous approaches on two fronts. Firstly, this perspective suggests that data that is introspective (an individual's recalled information) is not scientific, i.e. cannot be tested or measured. This is what the psychodynamic perspective is largely based on (see Chapter 4). Secondly, cognitive psychologists focus on mental states as being important in determining and predicting behaviour, which behavioural psychologists do not consider. Instead, behaviourists propose that only behaviour that is observable can be studied. Cognitive psychologists in contrast, suggest that a large part of behaviour that is not observable, e.g. memory, is equally important.
ENTRIES A–Z
Philip Winn in Dictionary of Biological Psychology, 2003
(from Latin, cognoscere: to know) Cognition is the act or process of knowing. Cognitive psychology is a programme of study that emerged in the 1950s, pioneered by psychologists such as George Miller and Donald Broadbent (1926-1993). The emergence of cognitive psychology was stimulated by three things. The first was a reaction against BEHAVIOURISM, which was seen as unnecessarily restrictive: its strict emphasis on the analysis of behaviour did not permit investigation of such things as MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS, LANGUAGE OF the processes of information handling. The second was the introduction of practical computers, which could be used both to manipulate large amounts of information and provide models of information storage, manipulation and use. The third was the rapid advance of INFORMATION THEORY, which provided mathematical models of information coding and decoding. Cognitive psychology is a term used now to refer to areas of study that include processes of knowing, including sensation and perception (see SENSATION vs. PERCEPTION), ATTENTION and the mechanisms of information handling (including LANGUAGE and MEMORY for example). Cognitive psychology is often contrasted with PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY but in fact the two are closely related: it is cognitive psychology that supplies the theoretical constructs with which physiological psychologists attempt to understand brain functions. The emergent discipline of COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE is the outcome of this happy union.
Psychological approaches to understanding people
Dominic Upton in Introducing Psychology for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, 2013
Cognitive psychology first emerged in the late 1950s, a period often referred to as the ‘cognitive revolution’, and grew in part out of increasing dissatisfaction with behaviourist explanations. Cognitive psychology is concerned with human thought processes and the ways in which these processes interact with behaviour (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). There are many facets of cognitive psychology but some of the major areas include memory, learning, intelligence, thinking and language. Like behaviourism it too rejects introspection as a valid method of investigation and maintains that the only true source of knowledge is that which is obtained through observation and experiment (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). Yet somewhat incongruous to this is the fact that it explicitly acknowledges the existence of unobservable mental processes. Although there have been many contributors to cognitive psychology, no specific person can be identified as central to its development. What is more, unlike other approaches cognitive psychology does not yet have a unifying theory.
Going Back to Normal
Published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2021
However, free will is not supported by most biological and behavioral sciences (McLeod, 2019). As our scientific understanding increases, so the case for determinism versus free will strengthens. We observe cause-and-effect in most branches of science—in cellular behavior in biology, chemical reactions in chemistry and similarly in physics. Behavioral psychologists observe stimuli and how they affect our behavior and biological psychology explains our behavior by our genetics and biochemical makeup. (Sister Callista Roy’s nursing model fits into this explanation of environmental stimuli and adaptation). Cognitive psychology understands our behavior to be a result of various neurological processes, including thoughts, accepting the nuances of our individual differences rather than the influence of personality and free will on our behavior. In looking for a compromise between these two positions, some propose that we have a moral responsibility for the choices we make even if the impetus for our choices is predetermined. Others have proposed that a freedom to choose is always there, but the “wrong” choice will result in dysfunction, illness, and inability of the organism to maintain itself.
Assessment programs to enhance learning
Published in Physical Therapy Reviews, 2018
Dario Cecilio-Fernandes, Janke Cohen-Schotanus, René A. Tio
The aspects mentioned above all fit in findings from cognitive psychology. These suggest on the one hand that spacing study activities benefit students’ long-term retention. This is known as the spacing effect.11 Thus, avoiding students to cram before a test and spread their study activities benefits their knowledge retention. This is explained by the fact that students would retrieve the same information repeatedly over time, which would make it easier to retrieve it later on. Another important finding from cognitive psychology is the so-called testing effect, which refers to improving the long-term retention by being tested instead of re-studying.12 So on the other hand testing itself induces a learning effect. Combining both effects would result in a cumulative assessment in which previous material is repeated over time and it would steer students to study in a spaced way instead of cramming before the test.
Progress testing anytime and anywhere – Does a mobile-learning approach enhance the utility of a large-scale formative assessment tool?
Published in Medical Teacher, 2020
Yassin Karay, Birger Reiss, Stefan K. Schauber
Evidently, shifting to a mobile platform of assessment might change how students and institutions use both the test itself and the test scores. For instance, students in the mobile group might have used the progress test as an opportunity to learn rather than as an actual test or exam. Indeed, in the mobile group, almost a quarter stated that they had sought help when answering the questions on the test. Still, students have a choice of how to take the test and how to work through the questions, which may be a key factor in using the test in a way that enhances learning. Furthermore, research in cognitive psychology and learning science has long shown that the context in which learning occurs is particularly important for learning (Godden and Baddeley 1975; Anderson et al. 1996; Frankland et al. 2019). One way of enhancing learning is, according to this strand of research, to diversify the context of learning and assessment. In this way too, students might benefit from not taking the exam under standardized testing conditions.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Attention
- Behaviorism
- Cognition
- Creativity
- Expressive Aphasia
- Memory
- Perception
- Receptive Aphasia
- Mind–Body Dualism
- Psychological Nativism