artificial intelligence is field of research attempting to build systems that demonstrate at least some form of intelligence; although such systems offer many applications, cognitive psychologists are particularly interested in work involving computer models of the intelligent processing of information (see also expert system)
associationism is a school of psychological thought examining how humans and other organisms may learn to link particular events or ideas with one another in the mind
behaviorism is a school of psychological thought that focuses entirely on the links between observed stimuli and observed responses, discounting any mental phenomena that cannot be observed directly
cognitive psychology is the study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information
cognitive science is a cross-disciplinary science, which embraces cognitive psychology, psychobiology, philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, and artificial intelligence, as a means of understanding cognition (thinking)
cognitivism is a psychological perspective suggesting that the study of how people think will lead to broad insight into much of human behavior
ecological validity is the degree to which particular findings in one context (e.g., a laboratory) may be considered relevant outside of that context; based on the notion that human thought processes interact with particular environmental contexts
empiricist is person who believes that knowledge is most effectively acquired through observation
functionalists are psychologists who hold that the key to understanding the human mind and behavior is to study the processes of how and why the mind works as it does, rather than to study the structural contents and elements of the mind
Gestalt approaches to form perception is a way of studying the perception of objects and other forms, based on the notion that the whole of a form differs from the sum of its individual parts (from German, Gestalt, "form"; see also Gestalt psychology)
Gestalt psychology is school of psychological thought, which asserts that many psychological phenomena must be understood as integral wholes and that analysis into fragmentary elements often destroys the integrity of these phenomena
hypothesis is tentative proposal regarding expected empirical consequences of a theory, such as the outcomes of research
pragmatist is proponent of a school of psychological thought that evaluates the merits of knowledge in terms of the usefulness of that knowledge
rationalist is person who believes that the route to knowledge is through the use of logical analysis
theory is a statement of some general principles that explain a phenomenon or a set of phenomena