History of Psychology Ch. 19 People

George A. Miller

Did pioneering research on information processing in the 1950s and 1960s that significantly enhanced the popularity of cognitive psychology.

Jean Piage

Focused on cognitive development, and how schemata evolve during maturation and through experience. Posited a well-known stage theory of intellectual development in children from birth to adolescence.

Jerome Bruner

Along with Miller and Bartlett, on of the first cognitive psychologists. Among his contributions were the popularization of Piaget and Vygotsky.

Ulric Neisser

Noted cognitive psychologist. Authored two classic textbooks and advocated for cognitive research that was both applied and ecologically valid.

Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett

One of the first modern cognitive psychologist. Noted for his use of schema to explain the reconstructive nature of memory.

Alan Turning

He is considered the father of Artificial Intelligence in computer science and psychology. He created the test to test AI.

Noam Chomsky

Trained as linguist, he wrote a review of Skinner's work on language, showed the limits of a behavioral explanation and beginning the "cognitive revolution". Much of modern psycholinguistics centers around Chomsky's theory of language.

John Searle

With his famous "Chinese room" thought experiment, sought to demonstrate that computer programs can simulate human thought processes but not duplicate them. Computer programs, he says, can only manipulate symbols according to rules, whereas humans assign meaning to symbols. Therefore, he accepts weak artificial intelligence and rejects strong artificial intelligence.