Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychology

Introduction

Cognitive Psychology is referred to as the branch of psychology that studies various mental processes such as how people think, perceive, remember and learn different things in different situations. Cognitive psychology mainly focuses on the acquiring, processing and storing information capabilities of people. Increasing the accuracy of decision making abilities, improving memory and improving the education structure for better learning are the various applications of cognitive psychology (Medin, 2005, pp.12). Cognitive psychology is also related with other studies and disciplines including philosophy, linguistics and neuroscience and also takes into account various theories related to these considerations.

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Cognitive neuropsychology is the subfield of cognitive psychology which deals with the people suffering from mental disorders including disorders of thinking, memory, perception, belief or reasoning formation, attention and spoken and written language processing. The basic reason which distinguishes cognitive neuropsychology from cognitive neuropsychology is that cognitive neuropsychology studies the disorders of mental abilities of people whereas cognitive psychology generally studies the mental processes and their cognitive behaviour (Morris, 2004, pp. 27). There are different methods available for understanding the concept of neuropsychology and functions involved in neuropsychology, one of these methods is case study method or technique.

Case study technique makes it easier for an individual to understand the concepts and functions of neuropsychology and presents an overview of the case. It helps to develop the understanding necessary to sensibly understand the nature of the disability the patient suffers from and how was he treated to help him feel better and finish the prevailing disabilities. Case studies are investigations of a particular event, community or group. Relevant data is extracted from these investigations with the help of different methods which may include interviews and observations, this data further helps the neurologists to understand the problems and disabilities of the patients and treat them accordingly. Case study technique basically itself is not a research method but researchers use different method to obtain data from different sources and then combine them with relevant theories and suggest that what methodologies will be suitable for treating the patient successfully. Some case studies also involve just observing an individual as to what exactly happens to him and forming a case history to understand better as to how the patient would be treated. This technique of observing an individual critically is known as the Idiographic approach (Apps, 2010, pp. 65).

In psychology and neuropsychology, case studies generally involve studying and concentrating on a single individual and the events that are taking place in an individual's life. The psychologists may use different data sources to be in a better position to handle the relative patient and his case. These sources could be the patient's school records, psychological test reports, medical reports and employer's reports. The psychologist could also interview people who have a very good knowledge about the patient including his family and friends. It is very important to know and understand that the case studies should only be conducted by researchers and psychologist who have relevant education and ...