The cognitive revolution of the mid‑20th century fundamentally transformed psychology and laid the foundation for cognitive science. It marked a departure from behaviourism’s focus on observable behaviour and a return to studying the mind as an information‑processing system. This article traces the origins, catalysts and consequences of this intellectual upheaval.
Pre‑Revolution Psychology
In the early 20th century, behaviourism dominated American psychology. Pioneered by John B. Watson and later popularised by B. F. Skinner, behaviourism asserted that psychology should restrict itself to observable stimuli and responses, rejecting mental entities like thoughts and intentions as unscientific. While behaviourism produced valuable insights and rigorous methods, it struggled to explain phenomena such as language learning, problem solving and mental imagery.
Seeds of Change
Several developments across disciplines sowed the seeds of the cognitive revolution:
- Cybernetics and Information Theory: In the 1940s, researchers like Norbert Wiener and Claude Shannon developed theories of feedback, control and information. Their work suggested that systems (including minds and machines) could be understood as information processors.
- Advances in Computing: The invention of digital computers and algorithms by Alan Turing, John von Neumann and others provided both a metaphor for the mind and tools for modelling cognition.
- Linguistics: Noam Chomsky’s critique of Skinner’s book Verbal Behavior (1957) argued that behaviourism could not explain the rapid acquisition of language by children. Chomsky proposed that humans possess an innate universal grammar.
- Early AI: Researchers such as Allen Newell and Herbert Simon built computer programs (e.g., the Logic Theorist, General Problem Solver) that performed tasks like theorem proving, demonstrating that complex problem solving could be mechanised.
- Cognitive Psychology: Experiments by George Miller (short‑term memory limits), Donald Broadbent (attention), Jerome Bruner (concept formation) and Ulric Neisser (pattern recognition) revived interest in mental processes. Neisser’s 1967 book Cognitive Psychology synthesised these findings and helped define the field.
The Rise of Cognitive Science
As psychologists embraced mental representations and information‑processing models, scholars from other fields joined forces. Computer scientists working on artificial intelligence, linguists exploring grammar, philosophers analysing mind and language, and anthropologists studying culture formed an interdisciplinary community. The term cognitive science was coined by Christopher Longuet‑Higgins in 1973. In 1979, the Cognitive Science Society held its first conference, signalling the formal emergence of the field.
Impact and Legacy
The cognitive revolution had profound effects:
- It reintroduced mental constructs (e.g., memory, attention, representation) into scientific discourse.
- It fostered computational modeling as a method for testing theories of mind.
- It inspired research on artificial intelligence, leading to practical applications like expert systems and natural language processing.
- It encouraged interdisciplinary collaboration, giving rise to departments, journals and conferences dedicated to cognitive science.
While the revolution was not a sudden overthrow but a gradual shift, its impact endures. Behaviourist methods remain valuable, but cognitive science dominates contemporary psychology and neuroscience. Debates continue over the relative merits of symbolic and connectionist approaches, the role of embodiment and the integration of biology and computation.
Continuing the Revolution
Today, cognitive science is evolving again. Advances in deep learning, neuroimaging, genetic sequencing and big data are expanding our understanding of cognition. Emerging paradigms like predictive processing, extended mind theories and embodied cognition challenge traditional assumptions. As we build on the cognitive revolution’s legacy, we move closer to a unified science of mind and intelligence.