HOME CONCEPTS
             The Cognitive Perspective

  
  There are a number of psychology perspectives.  These perspectives involve different explanations for human behavior. One of these psychology perspectives is the cognitive perspective.

Cognitive Perspective Definition:

    
The cognitive perspective is concerned with understanding mental processes such as memory, perception, thinking, and problem solving, and how they may be related to behavior.

Cognitive Personality Theory:

     
A cognitive personality theory may explain individual differences in behavior with respect to differences in the way people think and process information.

Cognitive Perspective Example:

     
Imagine that a college student makes little effort to achieve good grades in college courses.   One possible cognitive explanation for this low achievement motivation is that the person has low self-efficacy.  The person may believe that he or she does not have the ability to achieve good grades, and thus the person makes little effort.