Introduction to the Topic
Cognitive Psychology
A psychological movement emerging in the 1950s and 60s as a direct reaction to behaviorism. While behaviorism focused on external behavior, cognitive psychology returned to exploring internal mental processes (perception, memory, thinking, decision making). It often uses the metaphor of a human as a computer that receives, encodes, stores, and processes information.
Cognitive Psychology and Processes of Knowing
Ulric Neisser and J. S. BrunerPioneers of Cognitivism
Ulric Neisser defined the movement with his book Cognitive Psychology (1967). Jerome Bruner focused on the processes of categorization and how culture influences cognitive development.
Noam Chomsky*1928Cognitive Linguistics
A pivotal figure in the cognitive turn. His devastating critique of Skinner's explanation of language acquisition showed the limits of behaviorism and accelerated the cognitive revolution.
- LAD (Language Acquisition Device)
- An innate mechanism for language acquisition. Chomsky argued that humans are born with a biological predisposition to understand universal grammar rules, which explains why children learn to speak so quickly and creatively.
George A. Kelly1905–1967Personal Construct Psychology
Introduced an original theory that views the person as a "scientist" who constantly forms hypotheses about the world and tests them.
- Personal construct
- A bipolar scale (e.g., 'friendly vs. unfriendly') through which a person interprets events and the people around them.
- REP test (Role Construct Repertory Test)
- A diagnostic tool developed by Kelly to reveal an individual's system of personal constructs.
Karl H. Pribram1919–2015Neuropsychology
Significantly influenced cognitive science by connecting it with neurology and cybernetics.
- Holographic model of the brain
- The theory that memory and information are stored in the brain similar to a holographic record – not in a single cell, but distributed throughout.
- TOTE model
- The basic unit of behavior and information processing: Test (check status) -> Operate (action) -> Test (re-check) -> Exit (terminate when the goal is reached).
Developmental Psychology
Jean Piaget1896–1980Cognitive Development
A Swiss psychologist who described how thinking develops in children. He argued that children are not "little adults," but think in qualitatively different ways.
- Assimilation
- The process of incorporating new information into already existing mental schemas.
- Accommodation
- The process of altering and adapting existing schemas when new information cannot be assimilated.
- Schema
- A basic cognitive structure or pattern for behavior or thinking.
1
1. Sensorimotor stage (0–2 years)
Learning through senses and movement, discovering object permanence.
2
2. Preoperational stage (2–7 years)
Language development, egocentrism (the child sees the world only from their perspective), animism (inanimate objects have a soul), lacks understanding of conservation (preservation of quantity).
3
3. Concrete operational stage (7–11 years)
Logical thinking about concrete things, understanding of conservation and reversibility.
4
4. Formal operational stage (11+ years)
Abstract thinking, working with hypotheses and the future.
Erik H. Erikson1902–1994Psychosocial Development
Described personality development through the resolution of eight psychosocial crises.
- Epigenetic principle
- The assumption that one developmental phase follows another in a fixed order, and successfully overcoming a crisis conditions healthy development in the next phase.
Exam Trap
The fundamental difference between Freud and Erikson: While for Freud personality development practically ends in adolescence (with sexual maturity), Erikson's model is lifelong – encompassing adulthood and old age right up to the moment of death.
John Bowlby and Mary AinsworthAttachment Theory
Fundamentally influenced the understanding of early social and emotional development.
- Attachment theory
- Bowlby's evolutionary theory that children form a strong, biologically driven emotional bond with their primary caregiver, which is crucial for their mental health.
- Strange Situation
- An experimental procedure devised by Mary Ainsworth to observe and identify types of attachment in children (secure, anxious-avoidant, anxious-ambivalent).
Lawrence Kohlberg1927–1987Moral Development
Built upon Piaget's work and created a theory of the development of moral reasoning, which he studied using moral dilemmas (e.g., the famous Heinz dilemma).
1
Preconventional level
Morality is determined by reward and punishment (self-interest).
2
Conventional level
Morality is determined by an effort to meet social expectations and obey society's laws.
3
Postconventional level
Morality is guided by abstract ethical principles and one's own conscience, even if it means breaking the law.
Lev S. Vygotsky1896–1934Sociocultural Theory
Emphasized that thinking has social origins.
- Zone of proximal development
- The difference between what a child can do on their own and what they can do with the help of an adult or a more experienced peer.
- Internalization
- The process of internalizing social processes and cultural tools (especially language) into individual thinking.
Other Key Figures and Modern Fields
Stanislav Grof*1931Transpersonal Psychology
Czech-born psychiatrist working in the USA, co-founder of transpersonal psychology, which explores the spiritual aspects of the human psyche and altered states of consciousness.
- Holotropic breathwork
- A method of inducing altered states of consciousness through intense breathing and music (developed as a legal alternative to LSD experiments).
Martin Seligman*1942Positive Psychology
Former APA president who shifted psychology's focus from illness to mental health and optimism.
- Learned helplessness
- A state in which an individual, after repeated failures, becomes convinced that they have no control over the situation, leading to passivity and depression (originally studied in dogs).
Gordon W. Allport1897–1967Personality Psychology
An advocate of an eclectic approach and the study of human uniqueness.
- Proprium
- Allport's term for the 'Self' – the unifying core of personality that develops from childhood.
The Nature of Prejudice
Allport is the author of the classic book The Nature of Prejudice. Be careful not to confuse him with T. W. Adorno, who around the same time described the so-called Authoritarian Personality (the relationship to prejudice through rigid upbringing).
Combined Card: Key Names for TestsImportant Concepts
A brief overview of authors you must know for correct matching in exams:
- Emil Kraepelin
- Founder of modern psychiatric classification. He described the illness 'dementia praecox' (premature dementia) with a pessimistic prognosis.
- Eugen Bleuler
- Revised Kraepelin's concept and in 1911 introduced the term used today: schizophrenia (emphasizing the splitting of the mind, not necessarily dementia).
- Thomas and Znaniecki
- Authors of The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, they introduced the concept of attitude into social psychology.
- Ludwig von Bertalanffy
- Founder of general systems theory, which influenced systemic therapy (the family as a system).
Key Takeaways
- Cognitive Psychology: Human as an information processor; N. Chomsky (LAD), U. Neisser, G. Kelly, K. Pribram.
- Jean Piaget: 4 stages of cognitive development; assimilation and accommodation; childhood egocentrism.
- Erik Erikson: 8 psychosocial crises; lifelong development (unlike Freud).
- Bowlby and Kohlberg: Attachment theory and three levels of moral development.
- L. S. Vygotsky: Social origins of thinking and the zone of proximal development.
- S. Grof: Transpersonal psychology and holotropic breathwork.
- Psychiatry: Kraepelin (dementia praecox) vs. Bleuler (schizophrenia).
In which stage of cognitive development according to Jean Piaget does a child begin to understand the law of conservation (of quantity), but still needs to work with concrete objects and cannot fully hypothesize abstractly?
Correct Answer: Concrete operational stage (7–11 years)Explanation: In this stage, the child overcomes egocentrism and understands that, for example, the amount of water remains the same even after being poured into a different container. The ability for purely abstract thinking and working with hypotheses emerges only in the final formal operational stage.
What is the main difference in the concept of severe mental illness between Emil Kraepelin and Eugen Bleuler?
Correct Answer: Bleuler replaced the term 'dementia praecox' with the concept of 'schizophrenia' and emphasized the splitting of psychological functions instead of intellectual decline.Explanation: Kraepelin believed the illness led to inevitable dementia. Bleuler was more optimistic and, with the term schizophrenia, wanted to express the disruption of coordination between thinking, emotions, and behavior.
Which psychologist became famous for presenting test subjects with moral dilemmas (e.g., the Heinz dilemma involving stealing medicine for a dying wife) and creating a theory of moral development based on their answers?
Correct Answer: Lawrence KohlbergExplanation: Based on the resolution of these dilemmas, Lawrence Kohlberg defined three main levels of moral development: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.