Wilhelm Wundt is credited with beginning the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879. Unlike behaviorists, who studied outward and observable behavior, Wundt focused on the internal, invisible approach to learning via introspection.  He examined the workings of the mind, or cognition, through self-observation.

Wundt's methodological contribution was "the development of introspection as a means for studying the mind".   (Winn and Syder 1996)

Gestalt psychology, Edward Tolman's cognitive learning (1932), and Jean Piaget's cognitive development theory also have roots and tendrils into cognitive psychology. 

Jerome Bruner, whom we met on the Constructivism page, influenced cognitivism as well.  He believed that learning also included the ability to make predictions and work in a creative process.

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Albert Bandura emphasised social cognitivism in his theory that learning takes place through watching and then doing the same thing as another person in order to accomplish challenging tasks.

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"Anderson (1985) lists three main influences for the modern development of cognitive psychology:

1. Information processing approach: Broadbent's information (1958) processing model gives consideration to perception and attention. The important characteristic of an information-processing analysis is that it involves a tracing of the sequence of mental operations and their products in the performance of a particular cognitive task

2. Artificial Intelligence: Allen Newell and Herbert Simon's work in cognitive psychology has promoted use of concepts from computer science in the development of psychological theories.

3. Linguistics: Noam Chomsky asserted that language learning must include internal constructs. A theory that only considers the observable stimuli and responses in linguistic interaction is not sufficient."  http://www.personal.psu.edu/wxh139/cognitive_1.htm