Talking about psychology today as a single science is impossible. Each direction in it offers its own understanding of mental reality, its functioning and approach to the analysis of certain aspects. A relatively young, but rather popular and progressive is cognitive psychology. We will briefly get acquainted with this scientific branch, its history, methods, basic principles and features in this article.
History
The beginning of cognitive psychology was laid by a meeting of young electronic engineering specialists at the University of Massachusetts on November 11, 1956. Among them were the well-known psychologists Newell Allen, George Miller and Noam Chomsky. They first raised the question of the influence of subjective cognitive processes of a person on objective reality.
An important book for understanding and developing the discipline was J. Bruner's Study of Cognitive Development, published in 1966. 11 co-authors worked at its creation - specialists of the Harvard Research Center. However, the book of the same name by Ulrik Nysser, an American psychologist and professor at Cornell University, was recognized as the main theoretical work of cognitive psychology.
Key Points
The main provisions of cognitive psychology can briefly be called a protest against the views of behaviorism (behavior psychology, the beginning of the 20th century). The new discipline stated that human behavior is a derivative of a person’s mental abilities. “Cognitive” means “knowledge”, “knowledge”. It is his processes (thinking, memory, imagination) that stand above external conditions. They form certain conceptual schemes with which a person acts.
The main task of cognitive psychology can be briefly formulated as an understanding of the process of deciphering the signals of the external world and interpreting them, comparisons. That is, a person is perceived as a kind of computer that responds to light, sound, temperature and other stimuli, analyzes all this and creates action patterns to solve problems.
Features
Incompetent people often identify behaviorism and cognitive direction. However, as mentioned above, these are separate, independent disciplines. The first focuses only on monitoring human behavior and the external factors (stimulus, manipulation) that shape it. Today, some of its scientific provisions are recognized as erroneous. Cognitive psychology can be briefly and clearly defined as a science that studies the mental (internal) state of a person. It is distinguished from psychoanalysis by scientific methods (rather than subjective sensations), on which all studies are based.
The range of topics affected by cognitive direction is formed by perception, language, memory, attention, intelligence and problem solving. Therefore, this discipline often resonates with linguistics, behavioral neurology, issues of artificial intelligence, etc.
Methods
The main method of cognitive scientists is to replace the personality construct. Its development belongs to the American scientist J. Kelly and dates back to 1955, when a new direction was not yet formed. However, the author's work has largely become decisive for cognitive psychology.
Briefly, the personality construct is a comparative analysis of how various people perceive and interpret external information. It includes three stages. At the first patient they are given certain tools (for example, a diary of thoughts). They help to identify erroneous judgments and understand the causes of these distortions. More often than not, they are states of affect. The second stage is called empirical. Here, the patient, together with the psychotherapist, works out techniques for the correct correlation of the phenomena of objective reality. For this, the formulation of adequate arguments for and against, the system of advantages and disadvantages of behavior models, and experiments are used. The final step is the patient's optimal awareness of his response. This is a pragmatic stage.
In short, Kelly’s cognitive psychology (or personality theory) is a description of the very conceptual scheme that allows a person to comprehend reality and shape certain behaviors. It was successfully picked up and developed by Albert Bandura. The scientist revealed the principles of “learning through observation” in behavior modification. Today, the personality construct is actively used by specialists all over the world to study depressive states, patient phobias and identify / correct the causes of their low self-esteem. In general, the choice of the cognitive method depends on the type of mental behavior disorder. These may be methods of decentration (in case of social phobia), replacement of emotions, change of roles or purposeful repetition.
Connection with neurobiology
In a broader sense, neurobiology is engaged in the study of behavioral processes. Today, this science is developing in parallel and is actively interacting with cognitive psychology. Briefly, it affects the mental level, and puts a greater emphasis on physiological processes in the human nervous system. Some scientists even predict that in the future, the cognitive direction may be reduced to neurobiology. An obstacle to this will be only theoretical discrepancies in the disciplines. Cognitive processes in psychology, in short, are more abstract and irrelevant to the views of neurobiologists.
Problems and discoveries
The work of W. Nysser "Cognition and Reality", published in 1976, identified the main problems of the development of a new discipline. The scientist suggested that this science cannot solve everyday issues of people, relying only on laboratory methods of experiments. He also gave a positive assessment of the theory of direct perception, developed by James and Eleanor Gibson, which can be successfully used in cognitive psychology.
Briefly cognitive processes were touched upon in their developments by the American neurophysiologist Karl Pribram. His scientific contribution is connected with the study of “brain languages” and the creation of a holographic model of mental functioning. In the course of the last work, an experiment was performed - resection of the brain of animals. After the removal of large tracts, memory and skills were preserved. This gave reason to assert that the whole brain is responsible for cognitive processes, and not its individual areas. The hologram itself worked on the basis of the interference of two electromagnetic waves. When separating any part of it, the whole picture was saved, although less clearly. The Pribram model has not yet been accepted by the scientific community, however, it is often discussed in transpersonal psychology.
How can it help?
The practice of personality constructs helps psychotherapists to treat mental disorders in patients, or to smooth out their manifestation and reduce the risk of future relapses. In addition, the cognitive approach in psychology briefly but precisely helps to increase the effect of drug therapy, correct erroneous constructs and eliminate the psychosocial consequences.