McCarren 1

Kylie McCarren

Professor Reynolds

ENG 1201

1 May 2022

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology has many elements for discussion when evaluating the true

meaning of it. The main focus is that this process is uncovering the science of how each one of

us thinks (Farnsworth). Cognitive psychology involves and explains our internal mental

processes. Inferences made by visual studies and the use of specific measures create a common

ground for psychologists and researchers to go by. The best way to understand this is asking

what is cognitive psychology? Is it a valid method of psychology to use to understand mental

processes? Cognitive psychology addresses the science of how we think, which offers the

validity of cognitive psychology and gives psychologists and researchers new opportunities for

new understandings of mental processes (Farnsworth).

Cognitive psychology originated in the 1950’s and derived off of the previous approach

of behaviorism. Saul McLeod (Ph.D.) who has over seventeen years of experience as a

psychology teacher and who has recently worked at the University of Manchester in the Division

of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology explained the history of cognitive psychology.

McLeod explains that when people became dissatisfied with the behaviorist theory people started

to go to cognitive psychology. Unlike cognitive psychology, behaviorism was a theory that was

learned and based off of observations only from external behaviors (McLeod).

In 1925, Wolfgang Kohler published the book, The Mentality of Apes, which discussed

how he found, through his observations, that animals have insightful behaviors (McLeod).
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Norbert Wiener, in 1948, introduced input and output terminology when he published

Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (McLeod). Later

that year, 1948, Edward Tolman performed an experiment that helped create the new approach of

psychology that was beginning to form. Tolman’s experiment included cognitive maps, which he

gathered from the results of his experiment in training rats in mazes. This experiment concluded

that animals had an inner representation or depiction of behavior (McLeod). These precursors led

to the book, The Magical Number 7 Plus or Minus 2, written by George Miller, which was

acknowledged to be the start of cognitive psychology in 1956 (McLeod). In 1960, Miller

continued his work and established the Center of Cognitive Studies at Harvard with Jerome

Bruner (McLeod). In 1967, Ulric Neisser published the book Cognitive Psychology. All of these

advancements in showing pieces of brains in animals helped researchers and psychologists

connect these aspects to human brains. All of these pieces acted like that of a puzzle and when

the last piece was put into place it created the final product, cognitive psychology.

One very important factor of how cognitive psychology came to be one of the new main

approaches is from an analogy. This analogy compares the human brain to a computer, which at

that time, was understood far better than the brain. When the computer was introduced it gave

psychologists the right thing to use as terminology to describe the aspects of cognitive

psychology (McLeod). The model of a computer and the way it codes and stores information,

uses that information, and produces and retrieves information can also be said about the brain

(McLeod). The computer had enough complexity that the human brain could be compared to but

the computer was also well enough understood to make accurate assumptions and descriptions

that were applied to the human brain (McLeod). This analogy was heavily influenced by

cognitive psychologists to help them, as well as others, explain and understand how the brain
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works. One main thing that was brought from this analogy was the term information processing.

Information processing is based on assumptions and they include how the human brain uses

environmental aspects and processes them, how this information is altered in specific systematic

ways, how the main goals for research is to identify the formations that occur under cognitive

performances, and to rely on the analogy (McLeod). All of this information is stored internally,

which is what a lot of cognitive psychology is based on, internal mental processes.

Internal mental processes have a great deal to do with the definition of cognitive

psychology. In fact, the primary definition is that it is a study of the internal mental processes,

which is thinking (Cherry). However, there are many applications that go along with cognitive

psychology. These applications include memory, perception, attention, problem solving,

language, and thinking (Cherry). Kendra Cherry has more than fifteen years experience in

teaching psychology and has her masters in psychology. Apart from being a teacher of

psychology she has also written her own book and has written many articles about many

different aspects of psychology, including cognitive psychology.

Thinking is one of the primary applications of cognitive psychology as included in part of

the definition. Thinking is something that can not really be observed internally so instead

psychologists study and infer on the products that occur from thinking. Observing how people

think can help psychologists further understand and develop ways that can help people that

undergo cognitive difficulties (Cherry). Being able to learn more about thinking and information

processing helps researchers develop a deeper understanding of mental processes (Cherry).

Thinking takes up a great deal of time for people and the products of thinking have gotten people

where they are today. Thinking is so important that researchers want to learn more about it to

help understand all kinds of cognitive aspects.

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Meghan Andrade (M.A.) is a professor at the College of the Canyons in the psychology

department and wrote her own book called Cognitive Psychology. Memory, which is another one

of the primary applications of cognitive psychology, is thought to be distributed throughout the

neural networks of the brain (Andrade 69). Short term memory, long term memory, and sensory

memory are all connected to those networks that the brain has (Andrade 69). A lot of the

research done has shown that the encoding processes of the brain with memory help cognitive

psychologists understand certain aspects of the internal processes of cognition. Consolidation is

when short term memory turns into long term memory (Andrade 65). If information is

consolidated well then there is a higher chance of the retrieval of the information (Andrade 66).

Mastering the consolidating concept helps psychologists and researchers understand more about

a person’s cognition in terms of memory, which plays an important part in the science of how

people think.

Perception is a little different for everyone because each person’s brain interprets stimuli

different from other people (Andrade 225). Perception can be impacted by each person’s

differences in memory, learning styles and abilities, emotions, and even expectations (Andrade

225). Perception reflects distal objects, objects that are out in the world around you, very

accurately (Andrade 227). However, one of the points in perception that needs more attention is

understanding how the mind and brain obtain perceptions of objects and events from information

that is only based on what someone sees (Andrade 227). This helps in understanding how, on

average, people interpret things, which can help in recognizing certain patterns that could be

applied to further studies of the brain.

Attention can be defined as the mind being taken by possession of something that is vivid

and in clear focus (Andrade 242). Certain lengths of time and certain conditions can impact the
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level of attention and can potentially increase or decrease the original level of it (Andrade 242).

Two types of attention are divided attention and selective attention and both types have been

used in different studies to learn more about cognition (Andrade 242). Attention plays a very

important role in mostly all types of perception, cognition, action, and the influences of choices

(Andrade 243). The studies of attention have held a great importance since the 18th and 19th

centuries (Andrade 243). Today, attention still holds great importance in cognitive psychology

and cognitive neuroscience and with further studies and research, more things can be learned

about attention and how it affects the brain.

Daily situations call for people to problem solve, but what really is it? Problem solving,

in the cognitive sense, is identifying a problem and applying a strategy to fix the problem, much

like the word implies (Andrade 159). There are many different classifications of problems that

are studied, which are used to understand specific types of stimuli in the brain (Andrade 160).

Problem solving is a skill that can be improved with practice, and there are different types of

problem solving that can be used for different problems (Andrade 161). One specific type of

problem is called transformation problems. These problems indicate a shift in a person’s thought

or behavioral pattern (Andrade 167). Psychologists have come to the conclusion that a person

has to carry out a certain sequence of transformations to be able to accomplish their desired goals

(Andrade 167). Cognitive psychology relates to problem solving because solving problems

brings the brain back to thinking and the science behind it. The ability that the brain has to

understand a problem and figure out a way to solve it enables the cognition aspect to understand

the new knowledge.

Language can be hard for people to understand and even if something is stated with

context doesn’t mean that people will interpret what is said the same way. Daniel Levitin (Ph.D.),
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a cognitive psychologist, makes the point that putting something into simple English can restrict

thinking patterns that allows the brain to delve deep into thinking. Levitin wrote and argues

through the things he has studied and learned that these thoughts can be lost because of the ease

of a language, and it would be nearly impossible for these skills to be regained. His audience

reaches many people through the book he wrote, Foundations of Cognitive Psychology: Core

Readings, in thoroughly explaining these principles. Since language plays an important part in

cognition it is therefore an important application in cognitive psychology.

Although it is not one of the primary applications of cognitive psychology, consciousness

still has a great deal to do with cognition. Bryn Farnsworth is a doctor of philosophy and has his

masters in neuroscience. He explains that consciousness is another important application and a

lot of the things that people do are done without direct thought, which is an example of

unconsciousness. For example, you may be able to consciously make the decision to focus on a

lesson that the teacher is presenting, but unconsciously you notice something that takes your

focus away so that the lesson is not in clear focus anymore (Farnsworth). Studying this helps to

understand why people do things that are not directly applied or focused in the moment, and why

people revert to other things instead of what is in front of them.

The definition of cognitive psychology has been defined and there are understandings of

the primary applications. This brings up the second question of research, which asks whether or

not cognitive psychology is a valid method of psychology to understand mental processes?

Cognitive psychology is a valid method of psychology because with the many studies done and

the amount of research performed there is a lot of information to understand mental processes.

One specific reason that cognitive psychology is valid is because it is measurable, or

quantitative. Schubert (Ph.D.), Hagemann (Ph.D.), and Gottmann (Ph.D.) discuss the
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measurables of cognitive psychology in their journal entry. In studies done under the cognitive

psychology approach there are specific guidelines that have been defined in other studies that are

applied to current studies to measure comparisons between people (Schubert et. al.). This means

there are certain characteristics that are looked for in studies to be able to measure from other

studies to have a common measure. With more studies being conducted to find common ground,

and to find a certain level that is consistent with specific aspects, individuals in the study will

then be compared to the “universal” psychological laws (Schubert et. al.). This proves that

cognitive psychology is not only based on observations and inferences but it is also assessed

based on things in the study that can be measured.

Cognitive psychology has been used to understand mental processes and certain

applications that the brain undergoes. To be able to understand all of what researchers and

psychologists do today there were many studies and a lot of research that needed to have been

done first. The studies provide measurable data that can be used as common ground for similar

studies, but what is the purpose of having and applying this data and research? First, cognitive

psychologists try to build models to make sense of their discoveries and to understand the

aspects of what the brain undergoes (McLeod). Then studies are done and they can include

human experimental psychology, studies about the primary applications (thinking, memory,

perception, attention, problem solving, and language), brain damage and effects on cognition,

computer analogies and information processing, cognitive neuroscience, artificial intelligence,

and computer simulations (McLeod).

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This chart shows how all of these possible studies concerning cognitive psychology can be

related. There was also further research done in strict laboratory investigations with these studies

too (McLeod). Cognitive science is based on the assumptions made by experiments formed in a

lab (McLeod). This provides psychologists with reliable data that was properly performed and

data that can be used to learn new, important things. These aspects help our understanding of

internal mental processes so that they can be observed, studied, analyzed, and learned. With

understanding that these applications make up cognitive psychology, it is important to note that

they provide a great deal of the understanding of cognition. With the studies already done and

with further research these things can be applied for people who have cognitive difficulties,

where new treatments can be discovered.

Cognitive psychology has provided researchers and psychologists with valuable

information about cognition, and with further studies and research only more information will be
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gained. The importance of learning more about cognition is because it helps people better

understand the science of how each person thinks. The validity of cognitive psychology in

another aspect includes the true importance and value of it. Cognitive psychology has led to the

emergence of many things that have helped understandings of the brain and have led to new,

important discoveries. An example of this would be the experiment that Alfred Yarbus conducted

in which he showed internal processes of cognition and how they are reflected by saccadic eye

movements (Farnsworth). Although this was already anticipated it still provided answers to

many questions regarding cognitive processes with a new level of accuracy that had never been

reached (Farnsworth). There is also an idea that surrounds cognition that has impacted the

understanding of facial expressions (Farnsworth). With this study, researchers were able to show

how there was unconscious awareness in psychological responses that indicated that there were

unconscious cognitive processes (Farnsworth). The term cognitive load was also introduced from

cognitive psychology and it has to do with how much working memory needs to be used to do a

task, which is related back to the computer and brain analogy (Farnsworth). These examples of

studies done under cognitive psychology have helped researchers and psychologists better

understand the human brain. Without the knowledge gained from these studies answers to the

questions that were able to be answered may still be unknown. The importance of cognition has

influenced many studies and the value that cognition has has helped in understanding the brain

on a whole new level.

One weakness of cognitive psychology is that it is such a narrow focus of understanding

the brain (McLeod). This weakness is accurate in its assumption and does raise concern about the

validity of cognitive psychology, along with the ways that it has offered psychologists to learn

and discover new information. McLeod discusses that this narrow focused approach of
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understanding the brain allows psychologists to pinpoint small, accurate details of cognitive

performances. This allows researchers to uncover more information in studies that can further

help deeper understandings of cognition. The validity that forms with being able to pinpoint

small, accurate details allows researchers and psychologists to have common ground between

studies, just like they are able to in relying on how cognitive psychology and its studies are

measurable. Being able to learn more about the science of how each one of us thinks and being

able to learn more about the brain, even in small amounts of accuracy, give many opportunities

for advancements in understanding the brain and new, important discoveries. The validity that

cognitive psychology has through studies produced from it has provided many foundations that

psychologists can learn from.

The brain has proven to be more complex than the most advanced computer, given the

previous analogy of how the brain relates to similar functions of a computer (McLeod). This

weakness does question the analogy that has been a foundation for understanding cognitive

psychology and the brain. If the brain is less like a computer than originally thought then it raises

questions on how the brain actually works. However, this analogy has been thoroughly

researched and studied to provide the most accurate representation of the brain. It is known that

computers have inputs, outputs, storage, and processing (Farnsworth). This can also be compared

to the brain and the stimuli that exerts very similar parallels (Farnsworth). Just like a computer

can be analyzed and understood, the brain can be too. This is how the analogy connects the brain

and a computer. The analogy still provides an accurate model and representation of how the brain

can be broken into different parts for understanding and explanations for others. Therefore, the

analogy still upholds to be true because the main points that it discusses about the brain and

information provides a very similar relationship, even though the brain has further complexities.
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Cognitive psychology addresses the science of how we think (Farnsworth). This includes

the primary applications of memory, perception, attention, problem solving, language, and

thinking. Cognitive psychology is the most widely accepted approach to understanding mental

processes. These mental processes are observed and studied into discovering new theories of

cognition. The validity of cognitive psychology provides psychologists and researchers new

opportunities for new understandings.

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Works Cited

Andrade, Meghan. “Cognitive Psychology.” CC BY, 2019, Cognitive Psychology- College of the

Canyons,

www.canyons.edu/_resources/documents/academics/onlineeducation/Psych126Textbook

FinalV1_2.pdf.

Cherry, Kendra. “How Cognitive Psychology Explains the Science behind Mental Processes.”

Cognitive Psychology: The Science of How We Think, Verywell Mind, 17 Feb. 2022,

www.verywellmind.com/cognitive-psychology-4157181.

Farnsworth, Bryn. “What Is Cognitive Psychology?” Imotions, IMotions, 10 Feb. 2021,

imotions.com/blog/cognitive-psychology/.

Levitin, Daniel J. Foundations of Cognitive Psychology : Core Readings. MIT Press, 2002.

Sinclair Library,

http://sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr

ue&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b2178116&site=eds-live. Accessed 25 Mar. 2022.

Mcleod, Saul. “Cognitive Psychology.” Cognitive Approach, Simply Psychology,

SimplyPsychology, 5 Feb. 2015, www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive.html.

McLeod, Saul. “The Divisions of Studies in Cognitive Psychology.” Cognitive Approach Simply

Psychology, 2014, www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive.html. Accessed 2022.

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Schubert, Anna-Lena, et al. “Do Individual Effects Reflect Quantitative or Qualitative

Differences in Cognition?” Journal of Cognition, vol. 4, no. 1, 2021,

doi:10.5334/joc.171.