How did Ulric Neisser help establish cognitive psychology?

Ulric Neisser was instrumental in defining the emerging field of cognitive psychology during the 1960s. He helped establish the discipline by authoring the 1967 book Cognitive Psychology, which served as a foundational text by synthesizing disparate research on internal mental processes.12

By bringing together studies on perception, attention, memory, and thought, Neisser provided a cohesive framework for investigating how individuals acquire, organize, store, and use information. His work contributed to the broader cognitive revolution, which shifted scientific focus away from the strict behaviorist emphasis on observable stimuli toward the experimental study of the mind. This effort helped solidify the scientific legitimacy of studying mental processes and supported the development of the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science.12