This article aims to expound the definition,the origins,the study scope,the research methods and the contributions of cognitive
psychology to
cognitive linguistics.As is well recognized,
cognitive psychology deals with how people perceive,learn,remember and think about information.The origin can date back to two ancient Greek philosophers,Plato and Aristotle,concerning the debate between rationalism and empiricism.Its scope of research includes the nervous system,perception,attention and consciousness,knowledge representation,memory,problem solving and creativity,the development of expertise,reasoning and decision making,language and individual differences in cognition.The research methods usually employed by cognitive psychologists are self-report,natural observation,case study,psychobiological research,computer simulations and artificial intelligence,and controlled laboratory experiments.Last but not least,cognitive psychology has made great contributions to the study of cognitive linguistics.