Description

Cognitive psychology in some form has been a field of study for thousands of years. Early philosophers addressed questions about cognition that are still viable today. For example, Aristotle suggested an early metaphor for the mind to explain how memory processes work. He proposed that our memory could be envisioned as a wax tablet with memories formed in the tablet like molds in hot wax. The durability of the memory depended on different factors in the same way that the durability of molds in wax can vary; if the wax tablet is heated, the form can become distorted or disappear. Cognitive Psychology: Theory, Process, and Methodology, introduces students to the main topics of study in this exciting field through an engaging presentation of how cognitive processes have been and continue to be studied by researchers. Using a student-friendly writing style and focusing on methodology, this book covers such core content as perception, attention, memory, language, reasoning and problem solving, and cognitive neuroscience. Cognitive Psychology: Theory, Process, and Methodology engages students in the key topics of study by making connections to situations and encounters in their day-to-day lives. Employing a student-friendly and personal writing style, with a focus on methodology, the text covers essential topics such as perception, attention, memory, language, reasoning and problem solving, and cognitive neuroscience. We are pleased to present Cognitive Psychology: Theory, Process, and Methodology to aid students in their learning about this field. We wrote this text to share our love of cognitive psychology with students learning about this exciting area of psychology. Our main goal in writing this text was to engage students in the topics through connections to everyday situations they might encounter (each chapter begins with one of these real-world situations or stories) and with a student-friendly and personal writing style. However, we also focused on methodology in this field as a way to allow students to gain the researcher's perspective in studying these topics and to understand how such research aids in evaluating theoretical perspectives on cognitive psychology, which are constantly changing as new data are collected. To illustrate the different methodologies, we have chosen a mix of classic studies and more recent findings in the areas covered in each chapter.