Cognitive psychology is the scientific method of the human mind and the mental functions of the human brain. These cognitive abilities consist of learning, memory, attention. Perception, learning, reasoning abilities, decision making, and language. The basis of cognitive psychology rests around the belief that the brain can be understood simply as a complex computing system. Cognitive psychology has evolved over the ages, and with each new age something new was discovered, and more people added to the discipline of studying the human mind. Each person that added to this discipline gave a different viewpoint of cognition and how cognitive functions worked. Aristotle and Plato were the first to set the wheels of cognitive psychology in motion.
…show more content…
Wundt became the unofficial beginning of cognitive psychology. “Wundt wanted to establish a “science of mind” to discover the laws and principles that explained our immediate conscious experience” (Galotti, K. M. 2014 p. 3). Wundt sought to find the essential elements that make up human mental processes. Once he had believed that he had found this process, he moved forward with his work, even as far as developing writings, that he titled Principles of Physiological Psychology. Wundt first started with studies on a technique called introspection, which we now note today as “soul searching”. His techniques done with his students were focused on trained observers attempting to describe their personal conscious experiences using various types of …show more content…
F. Skinner. Skinner took a different stance on mental events. He argued that images, sensations, and thoughts should not be excluded from the study of psychology simply because they seemed too difficult to study. He basically objected to hypothesizing the existence of internal depictions of information, or otherwise known as mental representations. Skinner believed that images and thoughts were no more than verbal labels for body processes, and even if these mental events were real and separate, they were triggered by external environmental stimuli. Other behaviorists agreed with this idea as well. Edward Tolman believed that even rats had goals based on his explanation of a rat learning its way through a maze to reach the end goal of obtaining food. Tolmans’ work centered on the idea that animals also had internal representations that led to the way that they behave (Galotti, K. M.
Wundt became the unofficial beginning of cognitive psychology. “Wundt wanted to establish a “science of mind” to discover the laws and principles that explained our immediate conscious experience” (Galotti, K. M. 2014 p. 3). Wundt sought to find the essential elements that make up human mental processes. Once he had believed that he had found this process, he moved forward with his work, even as far as developing writings, that he titled Principles of Physiological Psychology. Wundt first started with studies on a technique called introspection, which we now note today as “soul searching”. His techniques done with his students were focused on trained observers attempting to describe their personal conscious experiences using various types of …show more content…
F. Skinner. Skinner took a different stance on mental events. He argued that images, sensations, and thoughts should not be excluded from the study of psychology simply because they seemed too difficult to study. He basically objected to hypothesizing the existence of internal depictions of information, or otherwise known as mental representations. Skinner believed that images and thoughts were no more than verbal labels for body processes, and even if these mental events were real and separate, they were triggered by external environmental stimuli. Other behaviorists agreed with this idea as well. Edward Tolman believed that even rats had goals based on his explanation of a rat learning its way through a maze to reach the end goal of obtaining food. Tolmans’ work centered on the idea that animals also had internal representations that led to the way that they behave (Galotti, K. M.