The Classic Wanderer

Which Perspective Within Psychology That Emphasizes?

• Sabrina Sarro
• 05.05.2023
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Maslow, Rogers, and Humanism – During the early 20th century, American psychology was dominated by behaviorism and psychoanalysis. However, some psychologists were uncomfortable with what they viewed as limited perspectives being so influential to the field.

1. They objected to the pessimism and determinism (all actions driven by the unconscious) of Freud.
2. They also disliked the reductionism, or simplifying nature, of behaviorism.
3. Behaviorism is also deterministic at its core, because it sees human behavior as entirely determined by a combination of genetics and environment.

Some psychologists began to form their own ideas that emphasized personal control, intentionality, and a true predisposition for “good” as important for our self-concept and our behavior. Thus, humanism emerged. Humanism is a perspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans.

Two of the most well-known proponents of humanistic psychology are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers (O’Hara, n.d.). Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) was an American psychologist who is best known for proposing a hierarchy of human needs in motivating behavior ( Figure 1.7 ). Although this concept will be discussed in more detail in a later chapter, a brief overview will be provided here.

Maslow asserted that so long as basic needs necessary for survival were met (e.g., food, water, shelter), higher-level needs (e.g., social needs) would begin to motivate behavior. According to Maslow, the highest-level needs relate to self-actualization, a process by which we achieve our full potential.

1. Obviously, the focus on the positive aspects of human nature that are characteristic of the humanistic perspective is evident (Thorne & Henley, 2005).
2. Humanistic psychologists rejected, on principle, the research approach based on reductionist experimentation in the tradition of the physical and biological sciences, because it missed the “whole” human being.

Beginning with Maslow and Rogers, there was an insistence on a humanistic research program. This program has been largely qualitative (not measurement-based), but there exist a number of quantitative research strains within humanistic psychology, including research on happiness, self-concept, meditation, and the outcomes of humanistic psychotherapy (Friedman, 2008). Figure 1.7 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is shown. Carl Rogers (1902–1987) was also an American psychologist who, like Maslow, emphasized the potential for good that exists within all people ( Figure 1.8 ). Rogers used a therapeutic technique known as client-centered therapy in helping his clients deal with problematic issues that resulted in their seeking psychotherapy.

Unlike a psychoanalytic approach in which the therapist plays an important role in interpreting what conscious behavior reveals about the unconscious mind, client-centered therapy involves the patient taking a lead role in the therapy session. Rogers believed that a therapist needed to display three features to maximize the effectiveness of this particular approach: unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy.

Unconditional positive regard refers to the fact that the therapist accepts their client for who they are, no matter what he or she might say. Provided these factors, Rogers believed that people were more than capable of dealing with and working through their own issues (Thorne & Henley, 2005). Figure 1.8 Carl Rogers, shown in this portrait, developed a client-centered therapy method that has been influential in clinical settings. (credit: “Didius”/Wikimedia Commons) Humanism has been influential to psychology as a whole. Both Maslow and Rogers are well-known names among students of psychology (you will read more about both later in this text), and their ideas have influenced many scholars.

Which approach or perspective in psychology emphasizes mental processes such as thinking and learning?

Cognitive psychology emphasizes all mental processes, such as memory, thinking, perception, language, and learning. It also looks at how our thoughts or interpretations of situations can impact responses, emotions, and behaviors.

Which perspective in psychology emphasizes mental processes such as thoughts perceptions beliefs and expectations?

Cognitive view. the psychological perspective emphasizing mental processes, such as learning, memory, perception, and thinking, as forms or information and perception.

Which perspective in psychology emphasizes how we learn by observing others responses?

Observational learning describes the process of learning by watching others, retaining the information, and then later replicating the behaviors that were observed. There are a number of learning theories, such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning, that emphasize how direct experience, reinforcement, or punishment can lead to learning.

1. However, a great deal of learning happens indirectly.
2. For example, think about how a child may watch adults waving at one another and then imitates these actions later on.
3. A tremendous amount of learning happens through this process.
4. In psychology, this is referred to as observational learning.
5. Observational learning is sometimes called shaping, modeling, and vicarious reinforcement.

While it can take place at any point in life, it tends to be the most common during childhood. It also plays an important role in the socialization process. Children learn how to behave and respond to others by observing how their parent(s) and/or caregivers interact with other people.

Which perspective in psychology emphasizes personal growth choices and potential __________________ perspective?

7. The Humanistic Perspective – In the 1950s, a school of thought known as humanistic psychology arrived. It was greatly influenced by the work of prominent humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, The humanistic perspective emphasizes the role of motivation in thought and behavior.

Concepts such as self-actualization are essential. Psychologists with a humanist perspective focus on what drives humans to grow, change, and develop their personal potential. Positive psychology (which focuses on helping people live happier, healthier lives) is a recent movement in psychology with roots in the humanist perspective.

 

Which perspective in psychology emphasizes the study of thinking remembering and perceiving?

The Cognitive Perspective – Cognitive psychology stands in stark contrast to behavioral psychology. This approach focuses on how internal thoughts and feelings influence one’s behavior. The cognitive approach emphasizes the importance of memory, perception and attention, language, decision-making and problem-solving.

Encoding: Information is received. Storage: Information is retained. Retrieval: Information is recalled.

Cognitive psychology seeks to understand why people learn and process information the way they do. Cognitive psychologists might help patients cope with memory disorders, or they might consult on ways to improve educational environments and curriculum.

What is structuralism a perspective within psychology that emphasizes?

The Structuralist School of Psychology – Structuralism is widely regarded as the first school of thought in psychology. This outlook focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major thinkers associated with structuralism include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener.

The focus of structuralism was on reducing mental processes down into their most basic elements. The structuralists used techniques such as introspection to analyze the inner processes of the human mind. The introspective experimental technique used by the structuralists involved having trained observers examine their inner responses.

Using this approach, also known as experimental self-observation, experimenters like Wundt trained people to analyze their thoughts as carefully and objectively as possible. While these methods were understandably not the most empirically rigorous, the structuralist school of thought played an important role in the development of experimental psychology.

Which perspective in psychology emphasizes the study of behavior and mental processes across cultures and situations?

Answer and Explanation: The sociocultural perspective in psychology focuses on the roles of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status in behavior and mental processes.

Which psychological perspective argued that perceptions and mental processes are organized so that the whole is greater than and also different from the sum of its parts?

Gestalt psychology, school of psychology founded in the 20th century that provided the foundation for the modern study of perception, Gestalt theory emphasizes that the whole of anything is greater than its parts. That is, the attributes of the whole are not deducible from analysis of the parts in isolation.

1. The word Gestalt is used in modern German to mean the way a thing has been “placed,” or “put together.” There is no exact equivalent in English.
2. Form” and “shape” are the usual translations; in psychology the word is often interpreted as “pattern” or “configuration.” Gestalt theory originated in Austria and Germany as a reaction against the associationist and structural schools’ atomistic orientation (an approach which fragmented experience into distinct and unrelated elements).

Gestalt studies made use instead of phenomenology, This method, with a tradition going back to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, involves nothing more than the description of direct psychological experience, with no restrictions on what is permissible in the description.

1. Gestalt psychology was in part an attempt to add a humanistic dimension to what was considered a sterile approach to the scientific study of mental life.
2. Gestalt psychology further sought to encompass the qualities of form, meaning, and value that prevailing psychologists had either ignored or presumed to fall outside the boundaries of science,

The publication of Czech-born psychologist Max Wertheimer ‘s “Experimentelle Studien über das Sehen von Bewegung” (“Experimental Studies of the Perception of Movement”) in 1912 marks the founding of the Gestalt school. In it Wertheimer reported the result of a study on apparent movement conducted in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, with psychologists Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka,

• Together, these three formed the core of the Gestalt school for the next few decades.
• By the mid-1930s all had become professors in the United States.) The earliest Gestalt work concerned perception, with particular emphasis on visual perceptual organization as explained by the phenomenon of illusion,

In 1912 Wertheimer discovered the phi phenomenon, an optical illusion in which stationary objects shown in rapid succession, transcending the threshold at which they can be perceived separately, appear to move. The explanation of this phenomenon—also known as persistence of vision and experienced when viewing motion pictures —provided strong support for Gestalt principles.

Under the old assumption that sensations of perceptual experience stand in one-to-one relation to physical stimuli, the effect of the phi phenomenon was apparently inexplicable. However, Wertheimer understood that the perceived motion is an emergent experience, not present in the stimuli in isolation but dependent upon the relational characteristics of the stimuli.

As the motion is perceived, the observer’s nervous system and experience do not passively register the physical input in a piecemeal way. Rather, the neural organization as well as the perceptual experience springs immediately into existence as an entire field with differentiated parts.

1. In later writings this principle was stated as the law of Prägnanz, meaning that the neural and perceptual organization of any set of stimuli will form as good a Gestalt, or whole, as the prevailing conditions will allow.
2. Major elaborations of the new formulation occurred within the next decades.
3. Wertheimer, Köhler, Koffka, and their students extended the Gestalt approach to problems in other areas of perception, problem solving, learning, and thinking,

The Gestalt principles were later applied to motivation, social psychology, and personality (particularly by Kurt Lewin ) and to aesthetics and economic behaviour. Wertheimer demonstrated that Gestalt concepts could also be used to shed light on problems in ethics, political behaviour, and the nature of truth. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Pat Bauer,

What does the cognitive perspective in psychology emphasize?

Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology dedicated to studying how people think. The cognitive perspective in psychology focuses on how the interactions of thinking, emotion, creativity, and problem-solving abilities affect how and why you think the way you do.

Cognitive psychology attempts to measure different types of intelligence, determine how you organize your thoughts, and compare different components of cognition. Cognitive psychologists do clinical research, training, education, and clinical practice. They use the insights gained from studying how people think and process information to help people develop new ways of dealing with problem behaviors and live better lives.

Cognitive psychologists have special knowledge of applied behavior analysis, behavior therapy, learning theories, and emotional processing theories. They know how to apply this knowledge to the human condition and use it in the treatment of:

Anxiety disorders Academic performancePersonality disorders Substance abuse Depressive disorders Relationship problems Autism spectrum disorder TraumaEmotional regulation

Cognitive psychology gained popularity in the 1950s to 1970s as researchers became more interested in how thinking affects behavior. This period is called the “cognitive revolution” and represented a shift in thinking and focus for psychologists. Before this time, the behaviorist approach dominated psychology.

The behaviorists only studied external behavior that could be measured. Behaviorists believed it was pointless to try to study the mind because there was no way to see or objectively measure what happened in someone’s thoughts. The mind was seen as a black box that couldn’t be measured. The cognitive approach gave rise to the idea that internal mental behavior could be studied using experiments.

Cognitive psychology assumes that there is an internal process that occurs between when a stimulus happens and when you respond to it. These processes are called mediational processes and can involve memory, perception, attention, problem-solving, or other processes.

1. Cognitive psychologists believe if you want to understand behavior, you have to understand the mediational processes that cause it.
2. Some examples of studies and work in cognitive psychology include: Experts think differently.
3. Beginners think literally when they try to solve a problem.
4. They tend to focus on the surface details when they’re presented with an unfamiliar situation.

Experts are able to see the underlying connections and think of the problem more abstractly. Short-term memory. Your short-term memory is probably a lot shorter than you think. A classic study in cognitive psychology found that participants in a study could only recall 10% of random three-letter strings after 18 seconds.

• After 3 seconds, the participants could recall 80% of the letter strings, so there was a significant drop after 15 additional seconds.
• Mapping the brain.
• Some cognitive psychologists are working on the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative.
• This project has been compared to the human genome project.

It’s an attempt to learn more about the 100 billion brain cells, including the connections between them and how they relate to behavior and health. Cognitive psychology perspectives can be used to improve many areas of life, including how children learn.

• Researchers Pooja K.
• Agarwal and Henry L.
• Roediger III used insights from their cognitive psychology studies to develop better practices to encourage learning in the classroom.
• They used experiments to determine how students learn and apply their knowledge as well as disprove outdated theories.
• Experts used to believe that memory could be improved with practice, a theory that has been disproven.

Another popular theory that has been debunked is that errors interfere with learning. The opposite is actually true. You learn from your mistakes, so making errors improves your ability to learn. While most educators have moved beyond those theories, there are still some unproven ones that linger, like the notion that different people have different learning styles.

Retrieval practice, which is quickly bringing the information you’re learning to mindGetting feedback that lets you know what you don’t knowSpaced practice, which is returning to the material periodically over timeInterleaving, which is practicing a mix of skills

Cognitive psychologists can work at universities doing research or teaching. They can also work in the private sector in organizational psychology, software development, or human-computer interaction. Another option for cognitive psychologists is working in a clinical setting treating patients for issues related to mental processes, like:

Alzheimer’s disease Speech problemsMemory issuesSensory difficulties

You can work in some entry-level jobs with a bachelor’s degree in cognitive psychology, but most opportunities will be available to people with a master’s or doctorate degree. Most research done by people with master’s degrees is supervised by cognitive psychologists with doctorate degrees.

Which perspective in psychology has something to do with mental process such as sensation and perception memory intelligence language thought and problem-solving?

Cognitive psychology is the study of the human mental system and brain processes such as learning, memory, critical thinking, problem-solving, perception, attention, decision-making, and language use.

Which perspective of psychology emphasizes empathy and the good in people?

Humanistic therapy is a psychological treatment based on the personality theories of Carl Rogers and other humanistic psychologists. Humanistic therapy typically holds that people are inherently good. Empathy is one of the most important aspects of humanistic therapy.

Which perspective of psychology approach emphasizes normal behavior and human strengths?

Definition 6: – “Positive psychology is the scientific study of human strengths and virtues.” According to Martin Seligman —who is seen as the founding father of positive psychology—the positive psychology movement can be described as: “The study of what constitutes the pleasant life, the engaged life, and the meaningful life.” Source: Batthyany, Alexander, Russo-Netzer, Pninit, Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology

Which perspective of modern psychology emphasizes the role of motivation in thought and behavior?

Psychodynamic Perspective Freud believed that human behavior connected to drives and forces within the body and mind, most of which were unconscious workings. He also felt these drives were prominent in childhood and that difficulties at different stages of development would shape a human’s personality later in life.

Which perspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is in it to all humans?

References: – Openstax Psychology text by Kathryn Dumper, William Jenkins, Arlene Lacombe, Marilyn Lovett and Marion Perlmutter licensed under CC BY v4.0. https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology Review Questions: 1. Based on your reading, which theorist would have been most likely to agree with this statement: Perceptual phenomena are best understood as a combination of their components.

• a. William James
• b. Max Wertheimer
• c. Carl Rogers
• d. Noam Chomsky

2. _ is most well-known for proposing his hierarchy of needs.

1. a. Noam Chomsky
2. b. Carl Rogers
3. c. Abraham Maslow
4. d. Sigmund Freud

3. Rogers believed that providing genuineness, empathy, and _ in the therapeutic environment for his clients was critical to their being able to deal with their problems.

• a. structuralism
• b. functionalism
• c. Gestalt
• d. unconditional positive regard

4. The operant conditioning chamber (aka _ box) is a device used to study the principles of operant conditioning.

1. a. Skinner
2. b. Watson
3. c. James
4. d. Koffka
5. Critical Thinking Questions:

1. How did the object of study in psychology change over the history of the field since the 19th century? 2. In part, what aspect of psychology was the behaviorist approach to psychology a reaction to? Personal Application Questions: 1. Freud is probably one of the most well-known historical figures in psychology.

• Glossary:
• behaviorism
• functionalism
• humanism
• introspection
• psychoanalytic theory
• structuralism

1. Review Questions:
2. 1. B
3. 2. C
4. 3. D
5. 4. A
6. Critical Thinking Questions:

1. In its early days, psychology could be defined as the scientific study of mind or mental processes. Over time, psychology began to shift more towards the scientific study of behavior. However, as the cognitive revolution took hold, psychology once again began to focus on mental processes as necessary to the understanding of behavior.2.

• Glossary:
• behaviorism: focus on observing and controlling behavior
• functionalism: focused on how mental activities helped an organism adapt to its environment
• humanism: perspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans
• introspection: process by which someone examines their own conscious experience in an attempt to break it into its component parts
• psychoanalytic theory: focus on the role of the unconscious in affecting conscious behaviord
• structuralism: understanding the conscious experience through introspection

: 1.2 History of Psychology

What is the name of a perspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans focusing on the individual person?

Uses for Humanistic Psychology – Humanistic psychology focuses on each individual’s potential and stresses the importance of growth and self-actualization, The fundamental belief of humanistic psychology is that people are innately good and that mental and social problems result from deviations from this natural tendency.

Humanistic psychology also suggests that people possess personal agency and that they are motivated to use this free will to pursue things that will help them achieve their full potential as human beings. The need for fulfillment and personal growth is a key motivator of all behavior. People are continually looking for new ways to grow, to become better, to learn new things, and to experience psychological growth and self-actualization.

Some of the ways that humanistic psychology is applied within the field of psychology include:

• Humanistic therapy : Several different types of psychotherapy have emerged that are rooted in the principles of humanism. These include client-centered therapy, existential therapy, and Gestalt therapy,
• Personal development : Because humanism stresses the importance of self-actualization and reaching one’s full potential, it can be used as a tool of self-discovery and personal development.
• Social change : Another important aspect of humanism is improving communities and societies. For individuals to be healthy and whole, it is important to develop societies that foster personal well-being and provide social support.

What perspective of psychology emphasizes free will and growth potential?

Major Theorists – The following are the most influential humanistic perspective theorists:

• Carl Rogers : Believed in the inherent goodness of people and emphasized the importance of free will and psychological growth. He suggested that the actualizing tendency is the driving force behind human behavior.
• Abraham Maslow : Suggested that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs, The most basic needs are centered on things necessary for life such as food and water, but as people move up the hierarchy these needs become centered on things such as esteem and self-actualization.

Which perspective of psychology emphasizes the importance of unconscious?

Learning Objectives –

• Describe the major models of personality within the psychodynamic perspective.
• Define the concept of ego defense, and give examples of commonly used ego defenses.
• Identify psychodynamic concepts that have been supported by empirical research.
• Discuss current trends in psychodynamic theory.

Have you ever done something that didn’t make sense? Perhaps you waited until the last minute to begin studying for an exam, even though you knew that delaying so long would ensure that you got a poor grade. Or maybe you spotted a person you liked across the room—someone about whom you had romantic feelings—but instead of approaching that person you headed the other way (and felt ashamed about it afterward). According to psychodynamic theory, a lot of our behaviors and preferences of adulthood are shaped by the experiences in our childhood. Psychodynamic theory (sometimes called psychoanalytic theory ) explains personality in terms of unconscious psychological processes (for example, wishes and fears of which we’re not fully aware), and contends that childhood experiences are crucial in shaping adult personality.

Psychodynamic theory is most closely associated with the work of Sigmund Freud, and with psychoanalysis, a type of psychotherapy that attempts to explore the patient’s unconscious thoughts and emotions so that the person is better able to understand him- or herself. Freud’s work has been extremely influential, its impact extending far beyond psychology (several years ago Time magazine selected Freud as one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century).

Freud’s work has been not only influential, but quite controversial as well. As you might imagine, when Freud suggested in 1900 that much of our behavior is determined by psychological forces of which we’re largely unaware—that we literally don’t know what’s going on in our own minds—people were (to put it mildly) displeased ( Freud, 1900/1953a ).

When he suggested in 1905 that we humans have strong sexual feelings from a very early age, and that some of these sexual feelings are directed toward our parents, people were more than displeased—they were outraged ( Freud, 1905/1953b ). Few theories in psychology have evoked such strong reactions from other professionals and members of the public.

Controversy notwithstanding, no competent psychologist, or student of psychology, can ignore psychodynamic theory. It is simply too important for psychological science and practice, and continues to play an important role in a wide variety of disciplines within and outside psychology (for example, developmental psychology, social psychology, sociology, and neuroscience; see Bornstein, 2005, 2006 ; Solms & Turnbull, 2011 ).

• This module reviews the psychodynamic perspective on personality.
• We begin with a brief discussion of the core assumptions of psychodynamic theory, followed by an overview of the evolution of the theory from Freud’s time to today.
• We then discuss the place of psychodynamic theory within contemporary psychology, and look toward the future as well.

The core assumptions of psychodynamic theory are surprisingly simple. Moreover, these assumptions are unique to the psychodynamic framework: No other theories of personality accept these three ideas in their purest form.

Which perspective of psychology emphasizes the analysis of mind in terms of its basic elements?

Frequently Asked Questions –

What is the relationship between functionalism and structuralism? Structuralism was the first school of thought to emerge in psychology. Functionalism was formed as a direct response to structuralism. Where the structuralists believed psychology was about understanding the structures of the mind, the functionalists believed the goal of psychology was to understand the purpose of thoughts and behaviors. What are the similarities between structuralism and functionalism? While structuralism and functionalism took different approaches to understand human thought and behavior, they share a few important similarities. Both were interested in understanding how the elements of the mind worked together to produce actions. Both schools of thought also wanted to know more about what happens in the mind in response to the environment. How did the methods of early structuralists and functionalists differ? Structuralism studied the contents of the mind through the use of lab experiments and introspection. Functionalism, on the other hand, was more interested in using direct observation and fieldwork in order to better understand the adaptive function of behavior.

By Kendra Cherry Kendra Cherry, MS, is the author of the “Everything Psychology Book (2nd Edition)” and has written thousands of articles on diverse psychology topics. Kendra holds a Master of Science degree in education from Boise State University with a primary research interest in educational psychology and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Idaho State University with additional coursework in substance use and case management.

What is humanistic and cognitive perspective of psychology?

Whereas cognitive psychologists focus on how you think, humanistic psychologists look at what you think. Each of us has our own feelings and personal aspirations that drive us. Humanistic psychology works from the assumption that self-actualization, or the will to be the best that we can be, motivates us.

What is functionalism in psychology?

Theory, meet practice – TDL is an applied research consultancy. In our work, we leverage the insights of diverse fields—from psychology and economics to machine learning and behavioral data science—to sculpt targeted solutions to nuanced problems. Our consulting services Functionalism is a psychological philosophy that describes the mind as a functional tool that allows us to adapt to our environments.

It posits that our mental states and behaviors are survival mechanisms, in line with our inherent biological goals. Sound like evolution? That’s because functionalism, or functional psychology, stems directly from Darwin’s school of thought, emerging in the late 19th century as a counter to the prevailing theory of structuralism.

Unlike structuralism, which tries to simply understand our subjective experience of consciousness, functionalism also aims to find meaning and purpose in what we experience. ” The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.

What is structuralist vs functionalist perspective?

What is the main difference between structuralism and functionalism? Structuralism is the interpretation of the perception of the world through our senses, and understanding our environment. Structuralism focuses on consciousness and perception. Functionalism focuses on why human behavior changes.

What is functionalism in psychology example?

Functionalism in sociology sees the parts of society as components of a cohesive whole. Each part performs a useful function. For example, the parents in a family provides for the children, who will in turn care for the parents when they become elderly.

Similarly, the person who builds the road will build roads that the farmer drives on to get his produce to market, which the road builder will then buy to eat. We all have a role to play in the proper functioning of society. All the institutions, structures, and people that make up a society perform important roles.

They are interdependent on each other, Functionalists think of parts of society as organs of a body (Herbert Spencer). Each part of society performs a function that makes it work as a whole, just as a human body needs all the organs to perform their parts to make the body work (Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons).

Which approach emphasizes reasoning thinking and mental processes?

The Cognitive Approach and Cognitive Neuroscience – Science is always influenced by the technology that surrounds it, and psychology is no exception. Thus it is no surprise that beginning in the 1960s, growing numbers of psychologists began to think about the brain and about human behaviour in terms of the computer, which was being developed and becoming publicly available at that time.

• The analogy between the brain and the computer, although by no means perfect, provided part of the impetus for a new school of psychology called cognitive psychology,
• Cognitive psychology is a field of psychology that studies mental processes, including perception, thinking, memory, and judgment,
• These actions correspond well to the processes that computers perform.

Although cognitive psychology began in earnest in the 1960s, earlier psychologists had also taken a cognitive orientation. Some of the important contributors to cognitive psychology include the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909), who studied the ability of people to remember lists of words under different conditions, and the English psychologist Sir Frederic Bartlett (1886-1969), who studied the cognitive and social processes of remembering.

Bartlett created short stories that were in some ways logical but also contained some very unusual and unexpected events. Bartlett discovered that people found it very difficult to recall the stories exactly, even after being allowed to study them repeatedly, and he hypothesized that the stories were difficult to remember because they did not fit the participants’ expectations about how stories should go.

The idea that our memory is influenced by what we already know was also a major idea behind the cognitive-developmental stage model of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980). Other important cognitive psychologists include Donald E. Broadbent (1926-1993), Daniel Kahneman (1934-), George Miller (1920-2012), Eleanor Rosch (1938-), and Amos Tversky (1937-1996).

Which approach focuses on the thought processes and mental activities involved in perception memory learning and thinking?

Cognitive psychology concepts for understanding corrupt behaviour By Siri Neset (We developed this background information to accompany U4 Issue The cognitive psychology of corruption ) Cognitive psychology is defined as the study of individual-level mental processes such as information processing, attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, decision-making, and thinking (Gerrig and Zimbardo 2002).

1. A core assumption of analysing corrupt behaviour through a cognitive psychology lens is that individuals make conscious decisions to engage in corrupt behaviour.
2. These decisions most likely involve several parallel psychological processes.
3. Improved understanding about how these processes are involved in decision-making on corruption could improve the design of anti-corruption programs directed towards societies where corruption is the norm or towards individual power-holders.

Below, we review concepts related to decision-making within the field of cognitive psychology that are most relevant for explaining corrupt behaviour and that appear in our literature review. Information processing A decision involves a choice between two or more alternatives that involve choices about questions like whether, whom, when, and which,

1. Each alternative is associated with a set of beliefs about the outcome associated with each alternative.
2. Every outcome is associated with a value or preference, although these beliefs and values may well be idiosyncratic to every decision-maker.
3. Making a choice implies commitment to the chosen alternative and can involve searching for reasons or rationalisations to justify the choice.

A basic model of decision-making consists of three steps:

Input in the form of visual or auditory informationStoring and coding of that information in the brain, with this stored information used by the parts of the brain responsible for mental activities such as memory, perception and attentionOutput in the form of behaviour based on information processing (McLeod 2008).

The task of choosing between alternatives and behaving in a particular way involves various degrees of information processing. This in turn entails different forms of data-driven and concept (or hypothesis) driven knowledge acquisition activities that range along the continuum from direct knowledge (perception based) to indirect knowing (cognition based) that involves more complex inference tasks (Baron and Harvey 1980; Harris 1981; Lindsay and Norman 1977; Taylor and Crocker 1981).

Three factors influence the correct processing of information. One, time: stress and high levels of information that need processing weaken attention and accuracy (Hastie, 1981). Two, capacity: individuals require the mental capacity to process incongruent information (Fiske, Kinder and Larter 1983). Three, motivation: individual preferences for accuracy over maintaining the status quo will result in different behavioural outcomes (Crocker et al.1984).

Schemata The idea of “schemata” is a well-known concept within cognitive psychology, and can help us to understand the internal mental processes (i.e. coding and information storage) that lie between the stimuli (input) and the response individuals make in face of any given situation.

• A schema is defined as “a cognitive structure of organised prior knowledge, abstracted from experience with specific instances that guide the processing of new information and the retrieval of stored information” (Fiske and Linville 1980, 543).
• Schemata include script, examples, and analogies.
• They are a structured framework that helps people to store, simplify, and relate information, and they differ according to level of expertise and involvement.

Furthermore, they are connected to complex cognitive processes such as memory, and are at the heart of both data-and theory-driven information processing. In terms of decision-making processes, cognitive psychology research on schemata can tell us much about how established knowledge influences the way in which new knowledge is understood, categorised, selected, coded, inferred, stored and retrieved (Larson 1994).

• How schemata function can be described in five points.
• First, schemata organise experiences.
• Secondly, they influence how long-term memory stores, and retrieves, information (Taylor and Crocker 1981).
• Third, the structure of the schemata can act as a basis for filling out missing information (Minsky 1975) and as such provide information that is perceivable in the given situation (Taylor and Crocker, 1981).

Fourth, schemata contribute to simplify problem solving through shortcuts and heuristics (Tversky and Kahneman 1973). Finally, schemata are instrumental in self-evaluation by providing a basis from prior experiences. Emotions and motivations Emotions and motivations have traditionally been omitted from traditional cognitive research (Smith and Semin, 2004).

• However, within a situated cognition perspective, motivational constructs are useful for understanding the initiation and determination of information processing.
• Emotions are seen as a vital ingredient in functional cognition.
• Studies demonstrate that brain damage affecting the emotional systems (where verbal abilities and “intelligence” are intact) severely affected patients’ rational decision-making ability (Damasio 1994).

Cognition and behaviour The study of cognition is inseparably tied to observations of behaviour or actions taken by the individual. The mind is viewed as composed of inner structures that organise information from the environment, connect this information with prior stored knowledge, and process information and knowledge to form a decision upon which to act (Clark 1997, 47).

1. The cognition/behaviour link is, however, not a clean-cut relationship wherein cognition shapes behaviour.
2. A substantial body of work on some of the basic theories in psychology (such as that on dissonance theory – see Festinger 1957) shows that the connection is bidirectional and that cognition and behaviour are so closely tied that it is difficult to change one without changing the other (e.g.

Cooper and Fazio 1984). Cognition in context In most cases, context specific social and physical knowledge drives or influences information processing. Some theorists view “cognition as an adaptive process that emerges from the interaction between an individual and the world, both physical and social” (Smith and Semin 2004, 55).

Features of the environment/context that the individual operates within are thus both recourses for, and constraints on his/her cognition and behaviour (Smith and Semin 2004).The environment is both a supplier of inputs as well as a receiver of inputs and is an interactive and responsive “unit” to human actions, a process of continuous reciprocal causation (Clark 1997).

Can individuals’ cognitive psychology be changed? Theories of schematic bases of belief change are central to our understanding of how we can influence change in individual behaviour. Even though schemata are very resistant to change, it can change through experience and exposure to incongruent information ( information that does not fit with the content of the excising schema) (Crocker, Fiske and Taylor 1984).

• Incongruent information leads to schematic change via accommodation and assimilation (Inhelder and Piaget 1958).
• In most cases, incongruent information simply assimilates into the existing corresponding schema, rather than the schema accommodating or adjusting to the incongruent information (Crocker et al.1984).

People are attentive to incongruent information, but research has revealed that such information is rarely processed completely via short-term memory and then stored in long-term memory. Instead, incongruent information is often labelled “fake,” and consequently, existing mental examples do not update (ibid).

1. Several schematic features can change when faced with incongruent information.
2. First, new variables can be added to the schema and old ones discarded.
3. Second, default values associated with the schematic variables can change.
4. Third, the vertical and horizontal structure of the categories and sub-categories that compose the schema can change.

Fourth, what is mentally considered a prototype or “good example” can change. But the more developed a schema is, the more resistant it is to change, although any change that does stick is likely to have large consequences for other schemata (Fiske et al.1983).

Which psychological approach studies mental processes?

Frequently Asked Questions –

Who founded cognitive psychology? Ulric Neisser is considered the founder of cognitive psychology. He was the first to introduce the term and to define the field of cognitive psychology. His primary interests were in the areas of perception and memory, but he suggested that all aspects of human thought and behavior were relevant to the study of cognition. What is a cognitive map in psychology? A cognitive map refers to a mental representation of an environment. Such maps can be formed through observation as well as through trial and error. These cognitive maps allow people to orient themselves in their environment. How does cognitive neuroscience differ from cognitive psychology? While they share some similarities, there are some important differences between cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology. While cognitive psychology focuses on thinking processes, cognitive neuroscience is focused on finding connections between thinking and specific brain activity. Cognitive neuroscience also looks at the underlying biology that influences how information is processed. How are cognitive and experimental psychology related? Cognitive psychology is a form of experimental psychology. Cognitive psychologists use experimental methods to study the internal mental processes that play a role in behavior.

What type of psychology is the study of mental processes?

Cognitive psychology – Cognitive psychology investigates internal mental processes, such as problem solving, memory, learning, and language. It looks at how people think, perceive, communicate, remember, and learn. It is closely related to neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.