Self‐knowledge and psychological knowledge: Teaching psychology from the cognitive point of view 1 |
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| Authors: | Ulric Neisser |
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| Institution: | Department of Psychology , Cornell University , Uris Hall, Ithaca, New York, 14853 |
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| Abstract: | The aims and methods of teaching psychology depend on one's conception of the field. The three principal contemporary approaches are behaviorism, dynamic psychology, and cognitive psychology. Of these three, only cognitive psychology provides a frame of reference in which knowledge can be seen as valuable in its own right, and psychological knowledge as important even for non‐professionals. The three orientations have different implications for the level at which psychology can usefully be taught. A successful course taught in a junior high school illustrates the feasibility of teaching about cognition at this level, where other approaches may have little to offer. The three orientations suggest emphasis on different methods of teaching. Classroom demonstration of perceptual and cognitive phenomena plays a special role in teaching about cognition. It enables the student to discover that what he is learning applies to him, and thus endows it with specific concreteness and personal relevance. |
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