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Cognitive Psychology
By Kendra Cherry | Reviewed by a board-certified physician
Updated February 05, 2018
Have you ever wondered why you remember certain details without even trying, yet other important information slips your mind so quickly? This is just one
example of the type of questions that someone working in the field of cognitive psychology might try to answer.
There are numerous practical applications for this cognitive research, such as providing help coping with memory disorders, increasing decision-making
accuracy, finding ways to help people recover from brain injury, treating learning disorders, and structuring educational curricula to enhance learning.
Learning more about how people think and process information not only helps researchers gain a deeper understanding of how the human brain works, but it
allows psychologists to develop new ways of helping people deal with psychological difficulties. For example, by recognizing that attention is both a selective
and limited resource, psychologists are able come up with solutions that make it easier for people with attentional difficulties to improve their focus and
concentration.
Findings from cognitive psychology have also improved our understanding of how people form, store, and recall memories. By knowing more about how these
processes work, psychologists can develop new ways of helping people improve their memories and combat potential memory problems. For example,
psychologists have found that while your short-term memory is quite short and limited (lasting just 20 to 30 seconds and capable of holding between five and
nine items), rehearsal strategies can improve the chances that information will be transferred to long-term memory, which is much more stable and durable.
Psychologists who work in this area often focus on a particular area of interest such as memory, while others might instead choose to work directly on specific
health concerns related to cognition, such as degenerative brain disorders or brain injuries.
Some of the reasons why you might consult with a cognitive psychologist:
The work of cognitive psychologists is essential for helping people who have experienced issues with mental processes. While we tend to take abilities such as
attention and problem solving for granted, perhaps because they are so woven into the fabric of our everyday existence, cognitive disruptions can create havoc
in multiple areas of an individual's life. Attention problems can make it difficult to focus at work or at school. Even relatively minor memory problems can make it
a struggle to handle the demands of everyday life.
Consider, for example, how negative thinking can interfere with your health and happiness. We all experience these negative thoughts from time to time, but
some people may find themselves overwhelmed with pessimistic thinking patterns that make it difficult to function in daily life. These ruminations can lead to
increased stress levels, pessimism, and self-sabotaging, and can even contribute to feelings of learned helplessness.
With the help of cognitive psychologists, people are often able to find ways to cope and even overcome such difficulties. Therapy treatments rooted in cognitive
research focus on helping people change these negative thinking patterns and replace such thoughts with more positive and realistic ones.
Cognitive behavior therapy and rational emotive behavior therapy are two methods in which clients and therapists focus on the underlying cognitions that
contribute to psychological distress. Using these methods, therapists can help clients identify irrational beliefs and other cognitive distortions that are in conflict
with reality and then aid them in replacing such thoughts with more realistic, healthy beliefs.
If you are experiencing symptoms of a psychological disorder that would benefit from the use of cognitive approaches, you might see a psychologist who has
specific training in these cognitive treatment methods. These professionals frequently go by titles other than cognitive psychologist such as psychiatrist, clinical
psychologist, or counseling psychologist, but many of the strategies they utilize are rooted in the cognitive tradition. If you're unsure of a practitioner's discipline
or approach, just ask him or her.
You may find it helpful to learn as much as you can about your initial diagnosis and to consider putting together a list of questions you have before your next visit
with your physician, cognitive psychologist, or mental health professional. This can help you feel better prepared and ready to tackle the next steps in your
treatment.
The field of cognitive psychology is a rapidly growing area that continues to add to our understanding of the many influences that mental processes have on our
health and daily lives. From understanding how cognitive processes change over the course of child development to looking at how the brain transforms
sensory inputs into perceptions, cognitive psychology has helped us gain a deeper and richer understanding of the many mental events that contribute to our
daily existence and overall well-being.
Sources:
Selby EA, Anestis MD, Joiner TE. Understanding the relationship between emotional and behavioral dysregulation: Emotional cascades. Behaviour Research and Therapy; 2008.
Seligman, M.E. (1972). Learned helplessness. Annual Review of Medicine, 23,(1), 407–412.
Sternberg, R.J., & Sternberg, K. Cognitive Psychology. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning; 2016.