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Definition:
Pure cognitive theory largely rejects behaviorism on the basis that behaviorism reduces
complex human behavior to simple cause and effect. However, the trend in past decades
has been towards merging the two into a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral theory.
This allows therapists to use techniques from both schools of thought to help clients
achieve their goals.
Social cognitive theory is a subset of cognitive theory. Primarily focused on the ways in
which we learn to model the behavior of others, social cognitive theory can be seen in
advertising campaigns and peer pressure situations. It is also useful in the treatment of
psychological disorders including phobias.
Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including
how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive
science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience,
philosophy, and linguistics.
The core focus of cognitive psychology is on how people acquire, process and store
information. There are numerous practical applications for cognitive research, such as
ways to improve memory, how to increase decision-making accuracy, and how to
structure educational curricula to enhance learning.
Until the 1950s, behaviorism was the dominant school of thought in psychology.
Between 1950 and 1970, the tide began to shift against behavioral psychology to focus on
topics such as attention, memory, and problem solving. Often
• Perception
• Language
• Attention
• Memory
• Problem Solving
• Decision Making and Judgment
• Intelligence
• Gustav Fechner
• Wilhelm Wundt
• Edward B. Titchener
• Hermann Ebbinghaus
• William James
• Wolfgang Kohler
Edward Tolman
Jean Piaget
Noam Chomsky
David Rumelhart
James McClelland
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