History of Cognitive Psychology Lecture

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Create a 10- to 15-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation lecture for your class in which you address the following:

(1) Describe the history of cognitive psychology.

Cognitive psychology as a discipline originated with Wundt's (1879) study of human thought processes that was established with Wilhelm Wundt's laboratory in 1879 to study human thought processes, and often thought of as the beginning of modern psychology. For example, cognitive psychology had its foundation in early philosophical antecedents that included studies of logical analysis, rational knowledge and empirical evidence. According to Sternberg, perspectives were drawn on theories of philosophy led to a variety of psychological perspectives emerged within schools of thought such as structuralism (configuration of elements and structure of the mind and its perceptions), and introspection (emphasis placed on information developing from consciousness).

A debate ensued regarding mind versus body. Relative to the mind vs. body dichotomy, issues arose concerning what was most influential in shaping human nature -the mind or body, or the nature vs. nurture debate--the biological or environmental emphasis on human nature. The emphasis on human cognition was viewed as central to the development of psychology as a scientific discipline. Cognition can be defined as "the act or process of knowing in the broadest sense; specifically, an intellectual process by which knowledge is gained from perception or ideas" (Webster's Dictionary). Research shows that Cognitive Psychology developed as an alternative approach to studying human behavior (Cunia, 2005).

Cognitive psychology emerged with is focus on human thought processes. In its origin, cognitive psychology was contrasted with previous theories of human behavior. There are a variety of perspectives within cognitive Psychology included in the following summary:

Social cognition focused on the social environment as it impacts personal qualities such as thinking and feeling (Balsher, Ruzik, Bonger, & Cordova, 2011). As Balsher et al explain, Social cognition is focused on schemas (set of rules) used to understand and interpret the world and how individuals function in the world.

Information Processing—approach focuses on the study of the structure and function of mental disorders
Taxonomy of Cognitive Domains—Classification of Educational objectives as to what is known.

Theories of Intelligence—the study of how human beings learn from experience, reason, remember important information, and how we ...