An overview of the history, key concepts, and research methods in cognitive psychology, focusing on how the mind processes information, problem-solving, decision-making, memory, and attention.
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Key concepts, historical background, major topics, and foundational methods
1. What Is Cognitive Psychology?
| Aspect |
Description |
| Definition |
The scientific study of mental processes that underlie how we acquire, store, transform, and use information. |
| Core Questions |
How do we perceive the world? How do we attend to stimuli? How are memories formed and retrieved? How do we solve problems and make decisions? |
| Scope |
Perception, attention, memory, language, reasoning, problem‑solving, decision‑making, and mental imagery. |
| Goal |
Explain behavior by uncovering the internal “software” of the mind (information processing, representations, and computational mechanisms). |
2. Historical Foundations
| Era |
Milestones |
Key Figures |
| Early Roots (19th c.) |
Introspection, study of mental life |
Wilhelm Wundt, William James |
| Behaviorist Reaction (1920‑1950) |
Focus on observable behavior; mental processes deemed “black box.” |
B.F. Skinner, John B. Watson |
| Cognitive Revolution (1950‑1960) |
Re‑introduction of mental processes; analogy to computer information processing. |
George Miller, Ulric Neisser, Noam Chomsky |
| Modern Era (1970‑present) |
Integration of neuroscience, computational modeling, and experimental methods. |
Alan Baddeley, Daniel Kahneman, Elizabeth Lloyd‑Bostock |
3. Major Topics & Core Theories
3.1 Perception
- Bottom‑up processing: Sensory input drives perception (e.g., edge detection).
- Top‑down processing: Prior knowledge, expectations, and context influence interpretation.
- Gestalt principles: Proximity, similarity, closure, continuity, common fate.
3.2 Attention
- Selective attention: Filter models (Broadbent) vs. attenuation (Treisman).
- Capacity limits: Limited‑resource models (Kahneman’s capacity theory).
- Spotlight metaphor: Focused vs. divided attention.
3.3 Memory
| System |
Characteristics |
Typical Capacity |
Duration |
| Sensory |
Iconic (visual) & echoic (auditory) registers |
Large (entire scene) |
< 1 s |
| Short‑term / Working Memory |
Central executive + phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer (Baddeley) |
4‑7 chunks (Miller) |
Seconds‑minutes |
| Long‑term |
Declarative (episodic, semantic) vs. non‑declarative (procedural, priming) |
Effectively unlimited |
From minutes to a lifetime |
- Encoding processes: Levels of processing (Craik & Lockhart); depth matters.
- Retrieval cues: Context-dependent, state-dependent, and cue‑dependent retrieval.
3.4 Language
- Modular view: Separate syntax, semantics, phonology (Chomsky’s Universal Grammar).
- Connectionist view: Distributed networks learn language patterns.
- Speech perception: Categorical perception, McGurk effect.
3.5 Problem Solving & Reasoning
- Algorithms vs. heuristics: Systematic procedures vs. mental shortcuts.
- Common heuristics: Availability, representativeness, anchoring.
- Insight & incubation: Sudden restructuring of problem representation.
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