Cognitive Psychology: An Ongoing History of Reaction, Differentiation, Interaction, and Assimi

Biological evolution progresses from simple to complex, and so has the discipline of psychology. This means that psychology students today have a myriad of options when it comes to choosing which school (or combination of schools) of thought they want to incorporate into their future professional practice. 

From the compartmentalized approach of structuralism to the systems-approach of functionalism, to behaviorism and on into the subconscious with psychoanalysis, to humanistic psychology and then cognitive psychology, with numerous offshoots and intertwining vines along the way, the journey toward discovery has been both fruitful and painful, both respected and ridiculed, both human and inhuman.

As has always been the case with any new study of an unknown subject, the first step in embarking upon the discipline of psychology was to divide the entity (in this case the mind) up into various sections and get to know how it was structured, piece by piece. 

Some people, however, became dissatisfied with just looking at parts, and functionalism emerged as a means of observing how all the different parts work together; functionalists (such as Charles Darwin, William James, John Dewey and Harvey Carr) also strove for greater accuracy through a focus on observable behaviors in place of introspection. 

With behaviorism, the entire focus was on observable behavior and on how the environment is the only factor influencing behavior. Two branches of behaviorism are classical conditioning (discovered by Isaac Pavlov) -- which produces a reaction in a subject and operant conditioning (created by B.F Skinner) -- which produces or increases a desired behavior.

Psychoanalysis (founded by Sigmund Freud), is also known as the psychodynamic approach. Psychoanalysis affirms the existence of an unconscious mind, which influences conscious behavior.

Humanistic psychology is centered around a belief in each individual's freedom to choose, grow as a person and self-actualize. Two important humanists were Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

Gestalt psychology (of late 19th century Germany and Austria) is based upon a synergistic world view in which the various parts of a thing interact to create an effect, such that the whole is greater than simply the sum of those parts.

Cognitive psychology is the study of how people think, perceive, remember and learn. It is part of the multidisciplinary field of cognitive science. Cognitive psychologists collaborate with others such as neuroscientists, philosophers and linguists.

Cognitive psychologist Jean Piaget introduced four cognitive developmental stages of life: sensory motor (birth to two years), pre-operational (two to six years), concrete operational (seven to eleven years), and formal operational (12 years on into adulthood). Piaget asserted that children and adults have different thought processes. 

One exciting development in the field of cognitive psychology is the use of computerized mental imaging as an aid to the cognitive approach, as well as to other approaches such as behaviorism. Cognitive psychology strongly-emphasizes the importance of incorporating differing perspectives into one's practice in order to increase accuracy.

Psychology has truly come of age, journeying through differentiation, back toward reconnection and collaboration: it remains fully-relevant within today's postmodern world.

This post is brought to you by Argosy University. Argosy University offers a wide selection of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs in a variety of psychology concentrations at 19 locations across the nation.