Experimental psychology began in the 19th century and had gradually been evolving with an increased interest in studying higher mental processes. The rejection of behaviorism, which was primarily driven by Noam Chomsky’s critique of empiricism and behaviorism, and the consequent adoption of a mind based on the computer in the 1950s marked the cognitive revolution spawning a new view of mental processes referred to as cognitive psychology. Behaviorism was mainly focused on the study of associations between animals. Before this revolution, psychology in America was dominated by this approach which had many constraints in creating theoretical frameworks for stimulus-response notions. Cognitive psychology introduced the concept that cognition could be interpreted as the flow of information within an organism and has since gained significant formal recognition in educational and other fields.
It was BF Skinner, who is considered as the father of operant conditioning, who introduced a new terminology called “reinforcement” into the Law of Effect by Thorndike. According to Skinner, there was a likelihood of the behavior being repeated if it was reinforced and a probability of that behavior being extinguished or dying out if it was not reinforced. Skinner was also of the opinion that it was more beneficial for psychologists to study observable behaviors than to study complex mental processes and internal events like emotion and thinking that were not visible. He and other proponents of behaviorism viewed consciousness, attention, ideas and thought as unobservable concepts and hence outside the realm of psychology and science in general. In Skinner’s view, there were three types of operant or responses that included punishers, reinforcers and neutral operant that could follow behavior and could serve either to decrease the likelihood of occurrence, increase the probability of occurrence or have no effect at all respectively.
Other scholars in this field like Wilhelm Wundt, however, were of the contrary opinion that psychology is the study of the mind ‘Geist’ and its main property is consciousness. Wilhelm Wundt observed consciousness as self-renewing and focused on the study of internal mental processes as a form of synthesis of scientific data. His contribution to the field can be seen in the six principles dealing with development towards opposites, mental growth, heterogeneity of ends, psychological contrast, psychological relativity, and creative synthesis. While other researchers in the field discredited some of the assumptions made by Wilhelm Wundt, his contribution helped shape various perspectives in the psychology as he emphasized it scientific nature.
With the eruption of World War II and numerous technological advancements for the advancement of warfare, came the need to understand human performance. The necessity of how to train military personnel to maintain attention while under duress and how to have them use technology more effectively became essential. Behaviorism provided little insight into this matter, and there was a need for understanding the complex operation of the human mind. The development of computer systems significantly advanced the field by opening new avenues of psychological thought with numerous parallels being drawn between the human mind and computational processes. The development of artificial intelligence and the subsequent study of the implications of artificial intelligence significantly helped cognitive psychologists in creating new constructs in this area.
Cognitive psychology, as known to the contemporary world, refers to the study of mental processes like thinking, creativity, problem-solving, perception, memory, use of language, and attention. Various other disciplines and fields of study like psychological study and cognitive science derive their theoretical frameworks in areas such as economics, linguistics, developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, personality psychology, social psychology and educational psychology from cognitive psychology. Studies in the gradual evolution of cognitive psychology are continually helping in the comprehension of the transformation, reduction, elaboration, storage, recovery, and use of sensory inputs. Various scientists and psychologists are also continually building on earlier conceptual frameworks as new developments emerge in the field.