What is Cognitive Psychology? - iMotions

Cognitive Psychology is the science of how we think. It's concerned with our inner mental processes such as attention, perception, memory, ... BlogWhatisCognitivePsychology?BrynFarnsworth,Ph.DPostDoc.&ExpertContentWriterAugust3rd,2022ShareCognitivePsychologyisthescienceofhowwethink.It’sconcernedwithourinnermentalprocessessuchasattention,perception,memory,actionplanning,andlanguage.Eachofthesecomponentsarepivotalinformingwhoweareandhowwebehave.Thethoughtsrelatedtotheseconceptscanbeconsciousornonconscious–wemightconsciouslymakeanefforttofocusourattentiononalectureforexample,butthelightflickeringintheroomcouldtriggeranonconsciousshiftelsewhere.Manycognitivepsychologists[1]refertothisfieldasencompassingboththetraditionalcognitivepsychologyapproach,andalsocognitiveneuroscience.Cognitiveneuroscienceisafieldthatusesneuroimagingmethodstoexaminecognitiveprocesses–ithasmanyoverlapswithcognitivepsychology,takesasimilarapproachandworldview,butoffersaroutetovisualizethebrainactivitythatisassociatedwiththeseinnerthoughts.Cognitivepsychologyalsohasmanyoverlapswithcognitiveneuropsychology(primarilyconcernedwiththeeffectsofbraindamageoncognition)andtoanextent,withcomputationalneuroscience(concernedwithcreatingcomputationalmodelsofbrainfunction).ThebeginningsofcognitivepsychologyToreallyunderstandthebasisfortheseoverlaps,it’simportanttoconsiderthecontextandtimeinwhichcognitivepsychologyemerged.Startingasadiscipleinthe1950’s,thefieldwasinsomesenseareactiontothedominantpsychologyresearchapproachatthetime–behavioralpsychology(atopicwe’vecoveredbeforeinapreviousblogpost).Behavioralpsychologystartswiththepreceptthatallhumanbehaviorislearnedandadaptabletothecontextandenvironmentit’sin.Behaviorcanbereinforcedorpunishedinvariousways,leadingtoincreasesordecreasesofcertainactions.Aslifeprogresses,asetofbehaviorsisultimatelyshapedbytheseexperiencesgivingrisetoamultifacetedhumanwithvaryinginterests,desires,pursuits,skills,andhabits.Cognitivepsychologyontheotherhandessentiallyassumesmoreagency–thoughtsandfeelingsareseenasmoreactiveintheprocessofbehaviorformation.Individualsareperceivedtoprocessthoughtsthatdetermineifandhowbehaviorsaretobecarriedout(ratherthanbeingseenasamorepassiverecipientandproducerofexperiencesorbehavior).Thisparadigmshift,fromaprimarilybehavioristviewtoaprimarilycognitivistview,hasmultipletriggersanditisdifficulttosingleoutasinglesource.However,somecrucialinfluencescanbefoundintheemergenceanddevelopmentofinformationtheory(aformalizationofinformationcommunicationthathassimilaritieswiththecognitiveapproach)[2],andNoamChomsky’sdevastatingcritiqueofbehaviorism.Informationtheory,computers,andcognitionInformationtheorywas–andremains–importantasitformalizeshowinformationcommunicationoccurs.Theextentofinfluenceandreachofthistheoryisdifficulttooverstate–almostanydomainthatfeaturesthetransmissionofinformation(beitsignallinginthebrain,genetics,physics,andbeyond)hasbeeninfluencedbyinformationtheoryinsomeway.Informationtheoryemergedhand-in-handwiththemostimportantinventionofmoderntimes–thatofthecomputer.Theemergenceofthecomputerinvitedparallels(bothinthepopularandscientificimagination)tothewayinwhichthebrainprocessestheworld–alogicalbreakdownofinputs,outputs,storage,andprocessingwereeasilycomparedwithstimuli/theenvironment,behavior,memory,andcognition,respectively.Thishelpedgiverisetocognitivepsychologybyconsideringthebrainasacomputationaldevice,therulesofwhichcouldbeformalized,reduced,andunderstood.Whilebehaviorismalsofollowedareductionistapproach,itlargelyavoided(ordownplayedtheimportanceof)theprocessandimpactofinnerthoughts.Chomskyvs.SkinnerOneoftheotherpivotalinfluencesthatleadtothe(temporary)dampeningofbehaviorism,andtheemergenceofcognitivepsychology,emergedfromanintellectualdebateaboutlinguistics.B.F.Skinner,thecentralfigureheadofbehavioristpsychology,positedinanarticlethatlanguageislearntinabehavioristmanner–wordsarememorized,spoken,andunderstoodpurelybecausethesound,production,andmeaningisreinforced.NoamChomskywroteacritiquetoSkinner’sarticleonlanguage,statingthataninnatecomponentmustexisttodrivelanguagedevelopment,aslanguageisessentiallytooregularandlearnttooquicklytobeexplainedsolelybyreinforcement.Thedisagreementessentiallyechoedthatof“Naturevs.Nurture”–withSkinnerarguingfornurture,andChomskyfornature.Inreality,bothpersonsinvolvedhadanddevelopedmorenuancedviewsoflinguisticsandlearning.Ultimately,neitherofthemwasevercompletelycorrect,yetthecritiqueledtomanypsychologistsreconsideringthedogmaofbehaviorism–andthenewframingofthecognitiveapproachwasbroughtforwardasaresult.CurrentCognitivePsychologyAstheapproachofcognitivepsychologybecamemoreacceptedandpopular,severalinfluentialstudieshaveemergedthatshowtheutilityofthisapproach.Inthe1950’sand1960’s,AlfredYarbus,aRussianpsychologist,showedhowsaccadiceyemovementscouldreflectinnercognitiveprocesses[3].Thiswasabreakthroughnotinthesensethateyemovementswererelatedtocognition,asthiswaswidelyanticipated,yetinsheerscopeandingenuity.Yarbus’devicewasattached–bysuction–totheeyeball,providinganewlevelofaccuracythatprovidedreliableanswerstoaplethoraofquestionsconcernedwiththeminutiaeofeyemovementsandcognitiveprocesses.Recentstudieshavebuiltuponthisworkwitheyetrackingglasses,showinghowaninvestigationofcognitiveprocessescanbeexpandedtonaturalisticenvironments[4].Researchhasrevealednotonlyhowdetailedeyemovementschangeinrelationtostimuli,butalsohowthepreviousdebatebetweencognitiveandbehavioralpsychologyismoot.Eyemovementsareshowntobedependentoncognitiveprocesses,thatinturnareguidedbybehavioristicprinciples[5,6,7].Cognitiveprocessesrulebytheinvisiblehandofreinforcement.Thedevelopmentofideassurroundingcognitionhavealsoimpactedhowreactionstofacialexpressionsareunderstood.ResearchersfromUppsalaUniversityinSwedeninvestigatedthenonconsciousmusclemovementsofthefacethatoccurinresponsetosubliminalexposureofemotionalfacialexpressions[8].Byusingamaskingtechnique(topreventconsciousevaluationofthepresentedfaces),andfacialelectromyography(todetectchangesinmuscleactivitythatmaynotbevisuallydetectable),theresearcherswereabletoshowhowpsychophysiologicalresponsesoccurinevenintheabsenceofconsciousawareness,suggestedtobetheresultofnonconsciouscognitiveprocesses[9].Anotherunderstandingofthebraininfluencedbytheemergenceofcognitivepsychologyisthatofcognitiveload.AtermcoinedbyJohnSwellerfromNewSouthWalesUniversityin1988,itreferstotheamountofworkingmemoryrequiredtocompletethetaskathand.SimilartoRAMinacomputer,researchershaveattemptedtodefinetheprocessesthatareoccurringinthebrainwhencognitiveloadishigh.AstudybyresearchersfromtheUniversityofCaliforniain1994examinedbrainactivityusingEEGwith14AirForcepilotsinanaircraftsimulator[10].Itwasfoundthatalphawaveactivity(within7-12Hz)wassuppressed(i.e.activitywithinthisrangeoccurredless)astaskdifficulty,andthuscognitiveload,increased.AfurtherstudycarriedoutbyscientistsattheSanFranciscoBrainResearchInstitute[11]echoedtheseresults,findingageneralsuppressionofalphaactivity,yetalsoanincreaseofthetaactivity(4-7Hz)inconcordancewithtaskdifficulty.Whiletheresultscanvary,cognitiveloadappearstogenerallyassociatewithdesynchronizationofalphawaveactivity,andasynchronizationofthetawaveactivity.ConclusionThesestudiesrepresentofcourseamerefractionofscientificliteraturethathasbeenimpactedbytheemergenceofcognitivepsychology;manymoreinfluentialstudieshavebeencreatedandexecutedundertheframeworkofcognitivepsychology.Thepreeminenceofcognitivepsychologywasnottolastforever,itremainsacentraltopicinmodernpsychologyresearch.Itisoftentemptingtoviewhumansinsiloedterms(e.g.peopleoperatesolelyonbehaviourist/cognitivist/otherterms),yetthereislikelyagreatdealofoverlap,andnoreal“winner”.Theprogressofeachtheorybuildscollectivelybetterideasthatinchustowardsamoreobjectiveandaccurateunderstandingofhumanpsychology.Whilescientificthinkingandtheorieshavenowexpandedfurtherbeyondtherigiddichotomousdogmaofcognitive/behavioristschoolsofthought,thenewfindingsthatwererevealedalongthewayremainimmenselyvaluablewhenconsideringthefunctionofthemind,brain,andbehavior.Amoreholistic,andyetnuanced,viewisshownbymodernscientificresearchthatbenefitsfromthepastfixationsofprevioustheories.Toreadmoreabouthowpsychologicaltheoriesbuildmodernideasabouthumanbehavior,andhowhumanbehaviorisstudiedtoday,downloadourfreeguidebelow. References[1]Eysenck,M.,&Keane,M.(2005).Cognitivepsychology.Hove:PsychologyPress.[2]Anderson,J.R.(2010).CognitivePsychologyandItsImplications.NewYork,NY:WorthPublishers.[3]Yarbus,A.(1967).EyeMovementsandVision.PlenumPress[4]Hayhoe,M.,&Ballard,D.(2005).Eyemovementsinnaturalbehavior.TrendsInCognitiveSciences,9(4),188-194.doi:10.1016/j.tics.2005.02.009[5]Glimcher,P.(2003)Theneurobiologyofvisual-saccadicdecisionmaking.Annu.Rev.Neurosci.26,133–179[6]Hikosaka,O.etal.(2000)Roleofthebasalgangliainthecontrolofpurposivesaccadiceyemovements.Physiol.Rev.80,953–978[7]Stuphorn,V.etal.(2000)Performancemonitoringbythesupplementaryeyefield.Nature,408,857–860[8]Dimberg,U.,Thunberg,M.,&Elmehed,K.(2000).UnconsciousFacialReactionstoEmotionalFacialExpressions.PsychologicalScience,11(1),86-89.doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00221[9]Kihlstrom,J.F.(1987).Thecognitiveunconscious.Science,237,1445–1452.[10]Sterman,M.B.,Mann,C.A.,Kaiser,D.A.,&Suyenobu,B.Y.(1994).MultibandtopographicEEGanalysisofasimulatedvisuomotoraviationtask.InternationalJournalofPsychophysiology,16,49–56.[11]Gevins,A.,&Smith,M.E.(2000).Neurophysiologicalmeasuresofworkingmemoryandindividualdifferencesincognitiveabilityandcognitivestyle.CerebralCortex,10,829–839.RelatedArticlesNeurosciencepodcastsfeat.iMotions5EssentialsforanOptimalGalvanicSkinResponseResearchSetupReadmoreabouttheiMotionsPlatform 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