We must all know about biology, psychology, neurology and other forms of studies but in the recent development of domains, an interesting advanced form of psychology is Cognitive Psychology. Cognitive psychology is the study of the mental processes of the brain. To put it simply, we have our brain which has its biological processes happening- secretion of neurotransmitters, secretion of hormones and many more, but we also have our brains doing mental processes like thinking, attention, perception, visual processing, problem-solving, abstract reasoning and creative thinking. Cognitive psychology is the study of these mental processes. It helps us understand the way we think, where it starts, processes and what it leads to. It is a recent hot topic in psychology used mostly in therapy because of the objective approach it has towards understanding ourselves. And we love some objective reasoning for our problems!
Cognitive psychology comprises several domains which integrate to form our mental processes.
The domains include
Memory
Memory constitutes all the necessary information needed for communication and information processing. It encompasses encoding, storage and retrieval. Encoding is the process of understanding sensory information- visual, auditory, tactile and other forms to store them inside the memory. Storage is the process of holding the information encoded into the memory. It can be either short-term or long-term depending on the information being rehearsed or necessary. Retrieval is the process of accessing the stored information when needed. Considering the process of memory, there are types of memory as well to understand which are implicit and explicit memories and types under them as well. Implicit memory refers to the memory we store or remember unconsciously, for example, when you learn to ride a bike you do end up riding it effortlessly after a while which means memory of learning becomes unconscious. Explicit memory refers to the memory we consciously work to remember like trying to learn a phone number, studying for an exam and many more.
Attention
Attention is the ability to focus awareness on a particular stimulus and receive information which allows us to perform actions effectively. Attention leads us to follow the memory processes and enable other activities like perception, decision-making, learning and many more. Attention is of various kinds, but the basic ones are Divided and Selective Attention
You might find yourself listening to music and reading a book sometimes, or most times multitasking in your everyday life. It becomes a perfect example of understanding divided attention. Here you process multiple stimuli simultaneously. There has been continuous improvement in the research of divided attention and it forms to be the most common everyday cognitive function performed by us. Another important type of attention would be selective attention where you focus on a stimulus among many others. For example, you might focus on one aspect appearing on the screen while other people are talking to you, this makes for selective attention to happen which helps in many other aspects of life as well.
Perception
Perception is the process by which we integrate sensory information and give meaning to our environment. There are several perceptual processes that form the information we receive and give meaning to. These perceptual processes can be categorised into top-down processing and button-up processing. Top-down processing is where sensory information builds about your brain, from simple information to more complex. Bottom-up processing is where you interpret your pre-existing knowledge and interpret the sensory information around you.
An example of these perceptual processes may take place in your daily life as well. Imagine yourself in a noisy environment and you’re talking to your friend where you assess their pitch, tone, and words they use and integrate them into your brain to formulate what they are trying to say. This is an example of bottom-up processing taking place where the sensory information is integrated into your brain. Further, when you talk to your friend, you take your pre-existing knowledge to converse with then, especially in a noisy setting where there are gaps which you fill yourself knowing your friend’s perks and habits. This is an example of top-down processing helping us integrate information accordingly.
Language
Language is a complex system occurring through the brain where acquisition, comprehension, production and representation. It helps in putting forward your own thoughts and feelings and also converses with others and develops social skills. It is important to understand that language can be either verbal or non-verbal. An example of the acquisition of language can be when you utter small words as a child and develop it accordingly. Further, as you develop language acquisition, you are also able to comprehend what others are saying by understanding the meaning of the sounds uttered by them. Moreover, you are also able to produce speech in a way where you can select words, organize them into grammatical structures and integrate them. Hence, you also develop a memory Lexicon which comprises of all the information of your language knowledge. To put it simply, its a dictionary of words and their meanings in the long-term memory.
Emerging Trends in Cognitive Psychology
Considering the rising popularity and importance of Cognitive Psychology here are some of the emerging trends of concepts in the field.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is targeted at changing the core beliefs people hold starting with the Negative Automatic thoughts and many more which in turn help the person understand themselves and modify their behaviour.
Cognitive Aging is another concept that helps in understanding cognitive development over time and in turn helps in formulating interventions for older adults for cognitive development.
Cross-Cultural Cognitive Psychology helps in studying various cultural factors shaping a person, their cognitive processes and mental representations. It helps us understand the universality and variability of the processes across cultures.
Neuroplasticity is another trend that accounts for the way our experiences and learning can change the structure and functioning of the brain throughout the lifespan.
Embodied cognition is another concept that theories that cognitive processes are deeply rooted in the body’s interaction with the environment, emphasizing the importance of the body in shaping the mind.
There are so many different theories and concepts that embody the essence of cognitive psychology that help in understanding how we do what we do in an objective sense.
In conclusion, Cognitive psychology is deemed to be one of the most trending and popular fields in psychology and mental health today. It helps us in understanding our thought processes and how we perceive, remember and solve problems. Cognitive psychology has practical applications in various domains such as education, therapy and artificial intelligence, making it an essential field of study in both academic, research and everyday life.