Another important branch of psychology is cognitive psychology. It incorporates a series of mental processes in dealing with how people think, learn, remember and perceive. As an integral part of the vast field of cognitive sciences, cognitive psychology is similarly related to the other psychological disciplines that include philosophy, linguistics, and neuroscience.

The underlying focus of cognitive psychology is analyzing how people store, process, and acquires information. In this regard, practical applications have been applied as cognitive researches, such as the manners to improve one’s memory, how to formulate educational curriculums for better learning, and how to enhance decision-making skills and accuracy.

It was not until 1950’s that behaviorism became the domineering school of thought in the branch of psychology. Sometime between the 50’s and the 70’s, cognitive revolution as it was referred to, behavioral psychology was out of the limelight, as attention diverted to other topics like problem solving, memory and attention. During such period, considerable researches were generated which included cognitive research strategies, first usage of “cognitive psychology,” and processing various models.

What makes cognitive psychology different from the other fields of psychology? Dissimilar to behaviorism, which tends to focus only on noticeable behaviors, the study of cognitive psychology is more concerned on the mental or internal states. And opposing to psychoanalysis, which heavily relies on personal perceptions, cognitive psychology meanwhile uses scientific methods of researches to study and be educated further about mental processes.

Who should be formally educated on cognitive psychology? Since this area touches on other disciplines, it is befitting for people who are involved with various fields of disciplines. Commonly, people who study cognitive psychology are students who are deeply interested to learn anything about behavioral neuroscience, artificial intelligence, industrial/organizational psychology, and linguistics; curriculum designers, educators and teachers too benefit a lot if they take the time to learn more on how people learn, remember and process information; also, for thorough understanding on the internal states and mental processes, designers, architects, scientists, artists and engineers study this special particular of psychology.

Moreover, in the course of study on cognitive psychology, major topics such as memory, problem solving, perception, attentions, language, judgment and decision-making are all carefully covered. And influential names that must not be forgotten behind the antiquity of cognitive psychology are Gustav Fechner, Edward B. Titchner, Wilhelm Wundt, Hermann Ebbinghaus, William James, Edward Tolman, Wolfgang Kohler, Jean Piaget, David Rumelhart, Noam Chomsky, and James McClelland.

Do you wish to have a career in cognitive psychology? For anyone who aspires to have a career in this branch of psychology, you must be aware that cognitive psychologists deal on several areas. Most of such psychologists conduct either basic research or applied research on how human’s thought works. More often than not, a cognitive psychologist works in colleges, universities, corporate businesses, private consulting firms, or government agencies, with common titles as human factor consultant, university instructor, usability specialist, or industrial/organizational manager.

The demand for the need of cognitive psychologists essentially varies, as most are engaged in research and teaching position by some universities or colleges. However, a significant growth and need of cognitive psychologists have arisen in other areas like software development, human and computer interaction, as well as organizational psychology.

The study of cognitive psychology benefits a person in more ways than one. To start off, cognitive psychologists are readily equipped with the initiative and methods in finding solutions to whatever worldly problems they may encounter with. Also, varied career paths may be taken in areas such as education, government, consulting, and in private sectors. Contrary to these, pitfalls to a career in this psychology field include the tedious and burning tasks of doing unending researches, and the fact that most employment positions in relation to cognitive psychology require doctorate degrees.