Psy 360 - Cognitive Psychology Definition

Cognitive Psychology Definition

Christina Backer

PSY/360

November 11, 2013

Devlin Crose

Cognitive Psychology Definition

Cognitive psychology began in 1879. The father of cognitive psychology was Ulric (Dick) Neisser, however it was influenced greatly by the Greeks and their philosophies, and the Renaissance through the 19th century. The opening of the first psychology lab by William Wundt in the 1800s also changed the thoughts and theories of cognitive psychology because shortly after this is the time in which psychology became a science. Cognitive psychology views how one thinks, remembers information, how one comprehends what he or she reads, how one speaks, and even how one utilizes memorization. When understanding cognitive psychology one must first observe behaviors and thus a person may truly can use cognitive psychology to understand such aspects of the individual’s actions and his or her mind. To understand why this information is pertinent one must understand where cognitive psychology stems from and how to use it in practice (Willingham, 2007).  

Knowing that cognitive psychology had been formed in 1879 by Neisser is of course, pertinent information, but this makes one wonder where he got his ideas from or if those ideas are of value based upon previous thought. Therefore, one must understand that psychology started with important thinkers who made philosophies based upon their ideas about the mind. Those original thinkers were the Greeks. The Greeks stated three philosophical theories and those theories began psychology as it known today as a science. The first philosophy Willingham (2007) stated, “The world can be understood and predicted because it works in systematic ways. If events occurred randomly or at the whim of capricious gods, trying to predict events would be hopeless” (p. 7). Second philosophy Willingham (2007) stated, “Humans are part of the physical world, and as is true for other entities in the world, we can potentially understand and predict how they will operate. If humans were completely different from physical objects and animals, we could never hope to predict what people might do or think” (p. 7). The third theory Willingham (2007) stated, “Explanations of events in this world should rely on other events within this world instead of invoking magical or mystical happenings. For example, Hippocrates proposed that epilepsy was a disease of the body (as other diseases were understood to be), thereby rejecting earlier views that it resulted from direct intervention of a god” (p. 7). This was the first major milestone in cognitive psychology as a sound theory (Willingham, 2007).