The Switch to Cognitive Theory
Question
for today: Why did psychology move away from behavior theory toward cognitive
theory?
Why
did the following not fit behavior theory?
•Common sense about
experience
•Verbal learning research
•Gestalt psychology phenomena
•Developmental theories
•Purposive behavior
Verbal
learning research
•Serial position curve
shouldn’t exist.
•Nonsense syllables had
meaning.
Gestalt phenomena
•Incomplete figures are
filled in.
•Information is added through
interpretation.
•Lights appear to move when
they flash.
Developmental
theories
•Piaget
–Children at different stages
respond differently.
–Interpretation of the world
changes through assimilation and accommodation.
•Vygotsky
–Development involves
internalizing the culture.
–Inner speech comes to control
behavior.
–(ZPD) not really evidence,
just interesting.
Purposive behavior
•New behavior often appears
spontaneously after what appears to be a planning stage.
•Subjects show surprise at
outcomes, as if they expected something different.
So why did that all
lead to cognitive theory?
•It couldn’t be explained by simple S-R associations.
•There appear to be cognitive processes that are the
basis for behavior.
•Learners are not passive responders to stimuli.
•Learners actively make mental connections between old
and new information.
•Learners organize their knowledge into networks.