Cognitive Psychology Processes

Study Notes

Mental phenomena include mental processes, states, and properties
Mental processes are formed through an individual's interaction with the environment

There are eight types of cognitive processes in psychology
Sensation: the cognitive function that allows us to reflect on objects and phenomena through the senses
Perception: the cognitive function that allows us to make out the meaning of information
Attention: the cognitive function that allows us to selectively focus on a particular stimulus
Memory: the cognitive function that allows us to code, store, and recover information from the past
Thinking: the cognitive function that involves ideas, images, mental representations, or other hypothetical elements of thought
Speech: the cognitive function, as a system of human sounds, written signs, and symbols used to represent, process, store and transmit verbal information
Imagination: the cognitive function that allows us to form images, ideas, and sensations in the mind based on past perception

Emotions reflect the surrounding world
Paul Ekman proposed seven basic emotions: sad, joy, anger, surprise, fear, disgust, contempt
Emotion typically involves feeling and differs from having an overt or implicit engagement with the world
Emotion (unconscious) is a short-term mental phenomena, feeling (conscious) is a long-term mental phenomena

Will is a conscious management of behavior and activities
It is expressed by the ability to make decisions and overcome internal and external difficulties on the way to achieving the aim
Any voluntary action has its own motive (cause) that motivates (directs) and gives motivation (energy) to be active on the way to achieving the aim

Mental states are the condition or status of an entity or system at a particular time
Emotional states include anxiety, frustration, stress, affect, etc.

Mental properties are typical characteristics of a person's peculiarities
Examples of mental properties include character, temperament, ability, and skill