Helmholtz's Theory Of Cognitive Psychology

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Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of how human beings process information. It is a sub discipline of psychology which explores both mental and internal processes including memory, attention, perception, motivation, problem solving, decision making, conceptual development and reasoning. Until early twentieth century, the most dominant school of thought in psychology was behaviourism. After 1950 till the late twentieth century, the focus shifted to mental processes like attention, perception, problem-solving etc. This period was called the cognitive revolution. Research on topics like the processing models, cognitive research methods and the first use of the term "cognitive psychology" were done in this period.
Aristotle (350 BC) was …show more content…

He was an advocate of the natural sciences. He had taken an interest in the speed of neural impulses. Helmholtz was known for his theory of trichromatic colour vision which is the manner in wich the cells in our eyes enable colour vision. According to the responses given by participants when exposed to wavelengths of light striking the retina, the photoreceptor cells in their eyes are classified into three types-short preferring (Blue), middle preferring( Green), long preferring(Red).These three types detect the strength of the signal which are interpreted by the brain as the visible colour.
Structuralism is the study of perceived elements of consciousness. It focuses on configurations or independent structures by analyzing items into their constituent components. Even though it does not seem to be a part of cognitive psychology, it has an important role by being an empirical science. Wilhelm Wundt was a proponent of structuralism. He believed that introspection was a significant concept in order to analyze our own …show more content…

It emphasizes that organizational processes play a significant role in perception as well as problem solving. The major proponents are Kurt Kofka, Wolfgang Kohler and Max Wertheimer. Gestalt psychologists viewed the human mind and behaviour as a whole suggesting that the whole is greater than the sum total of its parts. According to Gestalt psychologists, this movement happens because our minds fill in information that is missing. This belief that the whole is greater than the sum total of the separate parts led to the discovery of different phenomena that occur during