Editing Cognitive psychology (section)

==Controversies==

In the early years of cognitive psychology, [[Behaviorism|behaviorist]] critics held that the empiricism it pursued was incompatible with the concept of internal mental states. However, [[cognitive neuroscience]] continues to gather evidence of direct correlations between physiological brain activity and mental states, endorsing the basis for cognitive psychology.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gardner |first=Howard |title=Changing Minds |year=2006 |publisher=Harvard Business School Publishing |location=Boston, Massachusetts |isbn=978-1-4221-0329-6}}</ref>

There is however disagreement between [[Neuropsychology|neuropsychologists]] and cognitive psychologists. Cognitive psychology has produced models of cognition which are not supported by modern [[brain science]]. It is often the case that the advocates of different cognitive models form a [[dialectic]] relationship with one another thus affecting empirical research, with researchers siding with their favorite theory. For example, advocates of ''mental model theory'' have attempted to find evidence that [[deductive reasoning]] is based on [[Visual thinking|image thinking]], while the advocates of ''mental logic theory'' have tried to prove that it is based on [[Verbal reasoning|verbal thinking]], leading to a disorderly picture of the findings from [[brain imaging]] and [[brain lesion]] studies. When theoretical claims are put aside, the evidence shows that interaction depends on the type of task tested, whether of visuospatial or linguistical orientation; but that there is also an aspect of reasoning which is not covered by either theory.<ref name="Goel_2007">{{cite journal |last=Goel |first=Vinod |date=2007 |title=Anatomy of deductive reasoning |journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences |volume=11 |issue=10 |pages=435–441 |doi= 10.1016/j.tics.2007.09.003 |pmid=17913567 |s2cid=6927091 }}</ref>

Similarly, [[neurolinguistics]] has found that it is easier to make sense of brain imaging studies when the theories are left aside.<ref name="Kluender_1993">{{cite journal |last1= Kluender|first1=R.|last2=Kutas |first2=M. |date=1993|title=Subjacency as a processing phenomenon |url= http://kutaslab.ucsd.edu/people/kutas/pdfs/1993.LCP.573.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401090017/http://kutaslab.ucsd.edu/people/kutas/pdfs/1993.LCP.573.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-01 |url-status=live|journal=Language and Cognitive Processes |volume=8|issue=4|pages= 573–633 |doi=10.1080/01690969308407588 |access-date=2020-02-28 }}</ref><ref name="Barkley_2015">{{cite journal |last1=Barkley|first1=C.|last2= Kluender|first2=R.|last3=Kutas |first3=M. |date=2015|title=Referential processing in the human brain: An Event-Related Potential (ERP) study |url=http://kutaslab.ucsd.edu/people/kutas/pdfs/2015.BR.143.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307023742/http://kutaslab.ucsd.edu/people/kutas/pdfs/2015.BR.143.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-07 |url-status=live |journal=Brain Research |volume=1629 |pages= 143–159 |doi=10.1016/j.brainres.2015.09.017 |pmid=26456801|s2cid=17053154|access-date=2020-02-28 }}</ref> In the field of language cognition research, [[generative grammar]] has taken the position that language resides within its private [[cognitive module]], while [[Cognitive linguistics#Cognitive Linguistics (linguistics framework)|'Cognitive Linguistics']] goes to the opposite extreme by claiming that language is not an independent function, but operates on general [[cognitive capacities]] such as [[visual processing]] and [[motor skills]]. Consensus in neuropsychology however takes the middle position that, while language is a specialized function, it overlaps or interacts with visual processing.<ref name="Goel_2007" /><ref name="Schwarz-Friesel_2012">{{cite journal |last=Schwarz-Friesel |first=Monika |date=2012 |title=On the status of external evidence in the theories of cognitive linguistics |journal=Language Sciences |volume=34 |issue=6 |pages=656–664 |doi=10.1016/j.langsci.2012.04.007}}</ref> Nonetheless, much of the research in language cognition continues to be divided along the lines of generative grammar and Cognitive Linguistics; and this, again, affects adjacent research fields including [[language development]] and [[language acquisition]].<ref name="Shatz_2007">{{cite book |last=Shatz |first=Marilyn|editor-last= Hoff and Schatz |title=Blackwell Handbook of Language Development |publisher=Wiley |date=2007 |pages=1–15 |chapter= On the development of the field of language development |isbn= 9780470757833 }}</ref>