First of all, when we are solving a mathematical problem, planning the next holiday, deciding which car to buy, retelling a joke, or remembering a title of a book we are involved in cognitive processing. Cognitive psychology concerns itself with the function and structure of a mind. Psychologists working in the area of cognition find out how the human mind came to know things about the world along with the use of such knowledge. The cognitive approach to understanding behavior developed around 1950 as a result of increasing dissatisfaction with behaviorism. Behaviorists argued that only behavior that could be observed should be studied. However, B. F. Skinner argued that the mind was a “black box”, input enters the mind and output exits the mind. Nonetheless, the processes that take place within the mind, concerning that input can’t be examined.
We process information through a filter of experience and understanding. The mind can be conceptualized as a set of mental processes that are carried about by the brain. Now it is important to remember that mental processes include: perception, thinking, problem-solving, decision making, memory, attention, language, memory. Cognition refers to a personal experience. We interact with the world around us. We create mental representations, which is considered a conceptual understanding of how the world works. Referring to that people, with different experiences have different mental representations. We create our outlook based on what is right and wrong or what girls and boys are expected to do or not to do. Also, mental representations guide behavior, so our personal experience influences what we think and how we behave.
I would like to introduce two assumptions of cognitive processors. Let’s start with the first one. Psychologists argue that we are not passive responders to the, but we actively organize and manipulate information that we receive. The mind can be seen as an information processing machine using hardware, the brain. The software is mental representations. It’s good to know that input is secondary information that comes to us through our interaction with the environment by bottom-up processing. However, information is then processed in the mind by top down processing via pre-stored information in memory.
The second assumption is that cognitive processing can be studied scientifically by research methods, which can be tested through the use of models and theories about cognitive processes. They are tested in laboratories in naturalistic settings. Our understanding has increased in the area and the result is that the models have changed. Also, those early models of cognition were overly simplistic. However, they helped researchers to propose hypotheses and different aspects of cognitive processes.
Written by: Karolina Kuzmoczka
Edited by: Anna DeVault
Sources:
Popov, Alexey, et al. IB Diploma Programme: Psychology Course Companion. 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2017.
Crain, John. “Schema Theory.” ThinkIB Student Pages, Inthinking , http://www.student.thinkib.net/psychology?lg=25446.
IB BioPsychology 