However, cognitive psychologists who study memory are interested in understanding the structural and functional characteristics of short term and long term memory. For example, are these two types of memory actually two separate functional systems or are simply two different aspects of a single memory system. This is the sort of thing that cognitive psychologists argue about incessantly. Also, most importantly, although cognitive psychologists do not study the brain per se or the neural level, often times the functional structures identified by cognitive psychologists turn out to correspond to brain functions or areas. In fact, cognitive research and behavioral neuroscience have merged into a new discipline called cognitive neuroscience.
Cognitive psychology is committed to an empirical, scientific approach to studying human cognition.
We then generate hypotheses or predictions that should follow if the description of the underlying cognitive process is on the right track. Finally we conduct experiments to test our predictions and based on the outcome of these experiments we revise our theory. This is sometimes called the experimental method, practiced by much of science, including psychology. Thus, much of the content of the course will concern various ideas and theories proposed by cognitive psychologists and the empirical studies performed to test these theories. Part of what I hope you will gain from all of this is an appreciation for the process of doing science, in this case in the domain of cognitive psychology.