Cognitive Learning Theories Applied in Modern Day Psycho Therapy - Essay Example

The presence of varying degrees of intellectual capabilities has been also acknowledged in Buddhism example, only a minute amount had been taught to people of knowledge which is known to the enlightened one because certain phenomena could not be comprehended by the ordinary. The root source of such differential capabilities is considered “karma.” Furthermore, wisdom is found “within.”  It encourages intellectual reasoning and freedom in thinking as opposed to blindly venerating abstracts. Thus Buddhism can be considered as the earliest approach for understanding the human cognitive process. Although it is not commonly acknowledged by western psychiatry, Buddhist techniques can be used for modern-day psychotherapy example, meditating on loving-kindness.

Learning theories of the 20th century largely focus on individual genes, experiences, inert processes and environments alternatively.  Example Piaget, 1975, described cognitive development as a biological process involving adaptation and organization.  When a child is presented with an unfamiliar situation it becomes assimilated and accommodated in his or her memory. These two processes jointly result in adaptation to the changes. The natural process of creating structures of related and interconnected information in human minds termed as an organization in Piaget’s theory. Due to the organization, the previous unfamiliar situations become common when presented repeatedly. Empirical applications of Piaget’s theory are found in the education field of the mentally disabled. Example J. González-Pérez used this theory to design an evaluation system for the learning of languages by mentally deficient in 2003.

Learning had been described by using a rather different approach by Vygotsky et. al., in 1962. Accordingly, cognitive development begins in a social arena where parents are an important influence. Children learn by listening, observing and imitating people and objects in their environment. After knowledge had been internalized child becomes competent in them example child’s thoughts are generated in terms of his or her mother language. This theory is widely used in the field of speech-language pathology. Example Phyllis Schneider and Ruth V. Watkins used Vygotskian theory for intervention in with language impairments.

The classical condoning theory is largely used in treating modern-day phobia and anxiety. It is a behavioral theory involving an unconditioned stimulus (example smell of food) and the unconditioned response (example, salivation reflex), conditional stimulus (sound of plates) and conditioned stimulus. The unconditioned response can be also simulated by conditioned stimuli example, a dog salivating at the sound of plates before smelling the food.