Preview

Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
678 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper
Four key milestones which I have chosen are from psychologists John Mill, Wilhelm Wundt, William James, and BF Skinner. These psychologists each had something unique to bring to cognitive psychology that is used even as recent as today.
In the 18th century was a British empiricist named John Stuart Mill who was interested with associations. Associationism looks for how ideas are brought together (History of Cognitive Psychology, 1997). An example of this theory is when a therapist shows a person pictures of shapes and the person associates whatever he or she sees in that picture. The mind is active according to John, which went against his dad’s principle that the psyche is submissive. John created the thought of intellectual chemistry, which a mix of two thoughts is larger than any accumulation of separate common ideas. John wrote many books, which three others read and were influenced in their contributions to the field of cognitive psychology such as James, Gestalt, and Wundt (History of Cognitive Psychology, 1997).
Wilhelm Wundt was born in Germany in 1832. He is known as a father of psychology and the first person in history to be chosen as a psychologist. He founded a school of psychology but did not name it. One of Wundt’s students, Tichener named his own school of psychology as structuralism, which became a part of Wundt’s school of psychology when he opposed functionalism. When Wundt was studying perception and apperception, he discovered that our knowledge does not constantly match up to the physical truth. Thus, what we identify may be a misrepresentation of that which is real, or an illusion which is not real (Wilhelm Wundt, 2008). The illusion that Wundt made looks like a diamond with vertical, black, dotted lines and two red horizontal lines. The two red lines can be perceived as far away or near but they are both straight lines. This is an illusion that can be perceived in two different ways by the same person.
William James was a 19th



References: BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning. (2011). Retrieved May 16, 2011, from Simply Psychology: http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html History of Cognitive Psychology. (1997). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Muskingum: http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/cognitiv.htm Wilhelm Wundt. (2008, April 15). Retrieved May 16, 2011, from New World Encyclopedia: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Wilhelm_Wundt

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Introspection In Subway

    • 180 Words
    • 1 Page

    Wilhelm Wundt would interpret the example with the theory of introspection that is limited to what he calls the elements of psychic life which means the immediate and simple perceptions and feelings aroused by colors, sounds, lights and other stimuli…

    • 180 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this course, you will learn about the scientific study of cognitive processes. The focus will be on the research and theories that have been central to the field. Topics for the course include history, cognitive neuroscience, attention, sensation and perception, memory, language, computer models, decision making, problem solving, intelligence, and…

    • 1234 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unit 1 Psychology Notes

    • 3522 Words
    • 15 Pages

    10. Wilhelm Wundt – father of modern/scientific psychology, conducted first psychological experiment in 1979, intended to learn basic elements of consciousness, developed voluntarism (theory that attention is selective)…

    • 3522 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    ap psycho vocab

    • 3281 Words
    • 14 Pages

    4. Wilhelm Wundt – did psychology’s first “experiment”, while seeking to measure “atoms of the mind”…

    • 3281 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Psychology Quiz 1

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages

    4. Wundt is known for opening one of the first laboratories in psychology and contributing to structuralism.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Cheiron Society was one of his last creations. This society set the bar for specializing in research as well as making its mark by becoming international. During the 18th century Edwin Boring an experimental psychologist influenced the discipline of psychology during the periods of 1920s through 1960s. Edwin made his place in history by being highly respected as one of the first historian in psychology. His efforts paved a way for people to educate themselves in sensory and perceptual systems. His genius allowed him to separate philosophy from psychology. He proved his title by attempting to unify a segregated field. Over the centuries of time the concern about the relationship the mind and body possess has always been a curios factor among philosophers and psychologists. Philosophers and psychologists continued their efforts to understand the relation between the mind and body. The thought of the mind and body working alone was he consistent wonder they had. In the mid-19th century a more modern German physiologist, Wilhelm Wundt made a change within the scientific world by using scientific methods of research to determine a person’s reaction time. Wilhelm’s work showed value as it showed the relation between psychology and physiology. Wilhelm compared psychology as the human consciousness. Evaluation for the internal mind processes consist of experimental methods. In this day and age these methods are considered unusable; however during the time of Wilhelm this was acceptable. In addition this set the bar for future experiments. Another great mind was John Mill. A Great Britain historian he has managed to be a catalyst in the creation of scientific methods. His rationalist demeanor which he gave credit to his life experiences whether than his born ability started his structure with psychology. This was different then the system introduced by Descartes where he…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Eulogy Of Wilhelm Wundt

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the same way a chemist looks at chemical compounds to get clear understanding of the structure. Wundt concentrated on 3 different areas of the mind; thoughts, images and feelings. He created an illusion, in this illusion; two lines positioned in front of a series of angled lines appear to bend. Wundt taught over than 100 graduated students in psychology, including people who are now well-know psychologists, which includes Ottmar Dittrich, James Mckeen Catell, G. Stanley Hall, Walter Dill Scott, Charles Spearman, and Edward Titchener who believed the theory of structuralism and believed that every experience can be broken down into an individual’s emotions and sensations.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hatfield, G. (1997). Wundt and Psychology as Science: Disciplinary Transformations. Perspectives on Science, 5(3), 349.…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Cognitive Processes Paper

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Subliminal perception is believed to be effected by its based finding of mind control, weather it’s one person or group of people. Mind control can be used on a group of people without their awareness. The perception of this idea is to get people to do things that would not normally do. For instance, during the 1950s there was a message that says Drink Coca-Cola which attack many people into trying this product or making them thirsty for a cold Coca Cola. This ad was used enter a person mind while making them thirsty for the item, because the company wants to sell their product (Pratkanis, 1992).…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    AP Psychology

    • 1534 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A.P. Psychology Crib Notes People: Wundt- "Father of Psychology": Introspection Wertheimer- Gestalt Psychology Titchner- Structuralism James- Functionalism Watson- Behaviorism; "Little Albert Study" Freud- Psychoanalytic; dream analysis; free association; structure of personality; stages of development; defense mechanisms Milgram- Obedience; Ethics Broca- left frontal lobe: associated with expressive language Wernike- left frontal lobe: receptive language Pavlov- Classical conditioning: dogs Thorndike-…

    • 1534 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many psychologists have contributed to the field of Cognitive Psychology. Wilhelm Wundt was one of the first as a pioneer in the study of many cognitive phenomena; he was the first to approach cognitive questions scientifically and the first to design experiments to test cognitive theories (Galotti, 2014). From his first experiments to even deeper studies today Psychologists are continuing to make even bigger discoveries in the field of Cognitive Psychology.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ap Psychology

    • 13137 Words
    • 53 Pages

    Why is Wundt considered by some psychologists to be the founder of psychology?: because he initiated the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879.…

    • 13137 Words
    • 53 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Perspectives in Modern Psychology. 2013. Perspectives in Modern Psychology. [ONLINE] Available at: http://psychology.about.com/od/psychology101/a/perspectives.htm. [Accessed 29 January 2013].…

    • 2435 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the 21th century it is relatively easy to define psychology, however many forces has led to emergence of modern psychology. Much of the history of psychology has been characterized by heated debates about what constitutes the appropriate subject matter and methodologies for a science of mind and behavior. This ‘summary’ will be the period of history in which some of the critical groundwork for modern psychology has laid down.…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Behavioral Psychology

    • 1499 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Goodwin, C. J. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.…

    • 1499 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics