Definition of Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology is the study of how people gain and use knowledge. Cognitive psychologists seek to find the origin of knowledge and whether it is innate or gained through experience (Willmingham, 2007). The word “cognition” literally means “to know”; so, the study of human cognition focuses on mental abilities such as thinking, learning, and memory (Lu & Dosher, 2007). This paper will study the philosophical influence of, the addition of the scientific method to, and the assumptions made in cognitive psychology. Artificial intelligence and computer science are also deeply tied into cognitive psychology, and continue to be areas of interest and research.
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greek philosophers began pursuing knowledge and the sources of knowledge in the mind, and logged the first written records of those ideas. The written records of the time reflect the Greek philosophers’ ideas about how the mind works, namely how humans acquire knowledge (Willmingham, 2007). The ancient Greeks asked many questions, and developed many answers about how the mind works; however, it is not the answers, nor the questions that cognitive psychologists have found most useful. The greatest contributions of philosophy to cognitive psychology are the assumptions made that led to the questions being asked. Two types of assumptions are typically made by psychologists: which parts of the brain are significant enough to study; and that the questions and ideas that form during a study are influenced by the beliefs about something (Willmingham, 2007). The ancient Greek philosophers may not have had the right answers, or even the right questions; but seeking how knowledge is attained and used in the human mind, set the path for the future of cognitive science. The free-thinking style embodied by the ancient Greek philosophers led to the assumptions that “the world can be understood and predicted” because physical events are not the random actions of a god; “humans are part of the physical world,” which makes human behavior predictable; and events of this world can be explained within the defines of the physical world (Willmingham, 2007, p. 7).
Introduction of Scientific Method
The Renaissance, meaning “re-birth,” signifies the birth of intellectuality and modern science; scientists realized a greater understanding of the world was not only possible but also worth exploring (Willingham, 2007). With a new scientific method to experiment with, scientists could gain empirical knowledge based on observation in addition to contemplation and logic. Thus, during the Renaissance period scientists learned that the earth revolves around the sun, thanks to Copernicus; the relation of time, speed, and distance of falling objects was formulated by Galileo; and gravity was discovered by Isaac Newton (Willingham, 2007). The reasoning stage of contemplating a hypothesis is either proved or disproved by the results of observation. One can observe human behavior, but it was impossible to study the physical origins of such behavior. Because scientists of the 17th Century did not have magnetic resonance imaging or electroencephalograph machines to observe the inner workings of the mind, early physiological research contributed “…to the application of scientific methodologies to the study of human thought and behavior (Cherry, 2010, para. 6). Now fast-forward 200-to-300 years to 1950s America, where behaviorism storms the field of psychology.
Behaviorism
In the early part of the 20th Century, following Edward B. Titchener’s structuralism and William James’ functionalism, behaviorism dominated the discipline of psychology. Behaviorism focuses on the relationship between objective and observable behavior to conditioned stimuli (Cherry, 2010). In this manner, behavior was studied systematically with no consideration of genetic influence in human behavior, which was ultimately the undoing of behaviorism. Behaviorists were correct in thinking that some behavior could be defined through environmental means based on positive or negative reinforcement; humans do gain knowledge from experience through the environment. That does not mean however, that humans do not also have knowledge that originates from innate factors. Behaviorism failed to account for fixed-action patterns and critical periods, both of which are functions attributed to the nervous system which does not only respond “…to reward or punishment following an action” (Willmingham, 2007, p. 23). Cognitive psychology is the answer to the questions left by behaviorism; such as the use of language and the ability to strategize.
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence
With the decline of behaviorism, scientists broadened the field of psychology by introducing new theories to explain human behavior. Computer technology allowed a different view on the brain, and how humans perceive, memorize, and utilize information. Computers calculate information with representations and processes. For example, the computer brain “sees” everything from numbers to images represented as a series of one’s and zero’s; the computer then processes the representations and produces a perceptible image (Willmingham, 2007). Scientists studying artificial intelligence have figured that the human brain may function similarly to the representation and processing functions of a computer. Humans process information which is the basis of thought and behavior. Information processing is based on representations through the environment, and processes of the representations. Information processing, in the human brain and in the computer, takes place in different modules that pass information to and from each other. These assumptions, according to Willmingham (2007), outline the information processing metaphor in association with the study of the human mind.
Conclusion
Cognitive psychology was not always the focus of previous psychologists and philosophers, but the ideas that cognitive psychology represent always have been a subject of interest and study. Ancient Greek philosophers did not have the knowledge or resources to study the mind accurately; but they could begin the thought processes necessary to make educated assumptions that contributed to the development of the disciplines of science and psychology. The utilization of the scientific method to study human behavior took large strides in the future of psychology, especially in America where behaviorism was the ruling theory of psychology until the second part of the 20th Century. The idea that observable behavior is a result of conditioning and information learned through the environment, although a little close-minded, was an important step leading to the development of cognitive psychology. In addition to environmental factors, scientists take into consideration innate factors that affect behavior. Understanding how computers process information has had a tremendous effect on understanding the human brain, and continues to be relevant in the development of computer science and of cognitive psychology.
References
Cherry, K. (2010). The origins of psychology. About.com. Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/psychistory.htm
Cherry, K. (2010). What is behaviorism? About.com. Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism.htm
Lu, Z. L. & Dosher, B. A. (2007). Cognitive psychology. Scholarpedia. Retrieved from
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Cognitive_psychology
Willmingham, D. T. (2007). Cognition: The thinking animal. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
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