Final answer:
Cognitive psychology, which focuses on internal mental processes such as thinking, memory, and problem-solving, has gained prominence due to the cognitive revolution. It has become a major area in psychology by studying cognition's role in human experiences and actions. a. cognitive psychology
Step-by-step explanation:
Cognitive psychology has gained prominence in recent years as researchers have developed objective means to study covert behaviors. This field is primarily interested in how we think, remember, communicate, and solve problems. With the advent of the cognitive revolution during the 1950s, sparked by contributions from linguistics, neuroscience, and computer science, cognitive psychology has been increasingly recognized for its importance in understanding human behavior and mental processes. This psychological branch focuses on various cognitive processes including thinking, memory, language, problem-solving, consciousness, and creativity, thus emphasizing the significance of mental processes in behavioral understanding.
Cognitive psychology is defined as the branch of psychology that concentrates on the study of human thinking and its relation to our experiences and actions. This field extends into various areas of research such as sensation and perception, memory, thinking and intelligence, amongst others, highlighting its broad scope and interdisciplinary nature, often referred to as cognitive science. It has fundamentally altered the way psychologists approach the study of the mind and behavior, emphasizing cognition over purely observable behaviors.