Which mental processes became important topics during the cognitive revolution?

The cognitive revolution marked a significant shift in psychology by renewing scientific interest in internal mental processes that behaviorism had previously sidelined. Researchers began to investigate how individuals acquire, organize, store, and use information, establishing these processes as central topics of study.1

Key mental processes that became important during this period include:

• Memory: Investigated through the lens of information processing, including how information is held in immediate memory and organized into meaningful units.1
• Attention: Studied as a critical component of how the mind filters and processes incoming information.1
• Language: Examined as an internal system for representing and applying grammatical rules, rather than just a collection of learned behaviors.1
• Perception: Explored as a fundamental mental process involved in interpreting sensory input.1
• Reasoning and Problem-solving: Analyzed through computational models and programs designed to imitate human thought processes.1

These developments helped transition the field toward cognitive science, which continues to study these complex aspects of the mind and intelligence today.12