Cognitive psychology why is it important

The key areas of research interest in Cognitive Psychology are memory, attention, perception, learning, thinking, language, categorization, etc.

Though research evidences prove that researchers have undertaken research work previously on cognitive approaches, but Cognitive Psychology gained its importance as a subfield of psychology during late 50s and 60s. The field of cognitive psychology is heavily influenced by the developments in the field of computer science and technology.

Although Cognitive perspective is not the brainchild of any one researcher or thinker, Noam Chomsky , has a significant part to play with his far-sighted findings on the cognitive revolution. The American Linguist was quite dissatisfied with the perspective of behaviourism and considered the behaviourism to be short sighted. He believed that in order to provide a meaningful interpretation to the psychological predispositions, cognition or internal mental state should be integrated along with the behavioural patterns Miller, Jean Piaget is known for his contributions towards the stage theory of cognitive advancement, which describes how children progress in terms of logical and scientific thinking over a period of time.

As the children advance to the next stage, a progressive change or development can be seen in their thinking and reasoning capabilities. Cognitive Psychology studies complex internal or mental processes which involve an analysis of the higher-order brain functioning including problem solving, thinking and language usage. The theory uses diverse range of cognitive tools to describe how humans perceive, interpret and act in response to their surroundings, including decision making and reasoning.

Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Have you ever wondered why you remember certain details without even trying, yet other important information slips your mind so quickly?

This is just one example of the type of questions that someone working in the field of cognitive psychology might try to answer. Cognitive psychology involves the study of internal mental processes—all of the things that go on inside your brain, including perception, thinking, memory, attention, language, problem-solving, and learning.

While it is a relatively young branch of psychology , it has quickly grown to become one of the most popular subfields. There are numerous practical applications for this cognitive research, such as providing help coping with memory disorders, increasing decision-making accuracy, finding ways to help people recover from brain injury, treating learning disorders, and structuring educational curricula to enhance learning.

Learning more about how people think and process information not only helps researchers gain a deeper understanding of how the human brain works, but it allows psychologists to develop new ways of helping people deal with psychological difficulties.

For example, by recognizing that attention is both a selective and limited resource, psychologists are able to come up with solutions that make it easier for people with attentional difficulties to improve their focus and concentration.

Findings from cognitive psychology have also improved our understanding of how people form, store, and recall memories. By knowing more about how these processes work, psychologists can develop new ways of helping people improve their memories and combat potential memory problems. For example, psychologists have found that while your short-term memory is quite short and limited lasting just 20 to 30 seconds and capable of holding between five and nine items , rehearsal strategies can improve the chances that information will be transferred to long-term memory , which is much more stable and durable.

While many cognitive psychologists specialize in research and are employed by universities or government agencies, others take a clinical focus and work directly with individuals who are experiencing challenges related to different mental processes.

They may work in hospitals, mental health clinics, or private practices. Psychologists who work in this area often focus on a particular area of interest such as memory , while others might instead choose to work directly on specific health concerns related to cognition, such as degenerative brain disorders or brain injuries. The work of cognitive psychologists is essential for helping people who have experienced issues with mental processes. While we tend to take abilities such as attention and problem solving for granted, perhaps because they are so woven into the fabric of our everyday existence, cognitive disruptions can create havoc in multiple areas of an individual's life.

Attention problems can make it difficult to focus at work or at school. Even relatively minor memory problems can make it a struggle to handle the demands of everyday life. Consider, for example, how negative thinking can interfere with your health and happiness. We all experience these negative thoughts from time to time, but some people may find themselves overwhelmed with pessimistic thinking patterns that make it difficult to function in daily life.

These ruminations can lead to increased stress levels, pessimism, and self-sabotaging, and can even contribute to feelings of learned helplessness. With the help of cognitive psychologists, people are often able to find ways to cope and even overcome such difficulties.

Therapy treatments rooted in cognitive research focus on helping people change these negative thinking patterns and replace such thoughts with more positive and realistic ones. In addition to adding to our understanding of how the human mind works, the field of cognitive psychology has also had an impact on approaches to mental health. Before the s, many mental health approaches were focused more on psychoanalytic , behavioral , and humanistic approaches.

The so-called "cognitive revolution" that took place during this period put a greater emphasis on understanding the way people process information and how thinking patterns might contribute to psychological distress. Clinical Psychology.

Cognitive Psychology. General Psychology. Human Development. Psychological History. Psychology Capstone. Social Psychology. What is Cognitive Psychology? It is important to understand how we think as well as how we learn as we go through life because it allows us to develop techniques so we can better adapt to the world around us.

This is especially important as the world around us becomes far more globalized with more diversity within it. This diversity can cause issues and problems with how we perceive things or even how we reason with someone else.