cognitive Flashcards
(14 cards)
What does cognitive mean?
relates to mental processes such as perception, memory and reasoning
The cognitive approach AO1 spec points:
What the cog approach focuses on
How they are studied
Theoretical models
Computer model
The role of schemas
The emergence of cognitive neuroscience
What does the cog approach focus on?
The examination of internal, mental processes: perception, memory, attention.
How and why is the cog app studied diff
Bc these processes are internal, they cannot be studied directly.
Instead, by observing and measuring the resulting, visible human behaviour, psychologists use inference to attempt to establish how these mental processes work.
What is a theoretical model?
A theory about how something works, in the form of a model.
- simplified, usually pictorial representations of a particular mental process based on current research evidence
eg the multi-store model of memory based on the information processing analogy.
What is a computer model?
refers to the process of using computer analogies as a representation of human cognition
Views human processing as similar to that of a computer; information is encoded (environmental input is changed by our perception and interpretations) stored (in our memory) and the output (our behaviours) result from the processing of this information.
What is the role of schemas in cog app
A schema is a cog framework that helps organise and interpret info in the brain
Allow us to take shortcuts when interpreting a huge amount of info on a daily basis
But schemas can cause us to exclude anything that doesn’t conform to our established ideas ab the world
Help us to fill the gaps in the absence of info
eg if we classify the person next to us as old, schemas tell us how to act accordingly
consequence: stereotypes that are difficult to disconfirm
The emergence of cognitive neuroscience
cognitive neuroscience= an area of psychology dedicated to the underlying neural bases of cognitive functions
Rapid advances in ways of studing the brain means we can now study the living brain, giving detailed info ab brain structures involved in diff kinds of mental processing
Use of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques (PET) and fMRIs helps us understand how brain supports different cognition activities and emotion by showing what parts of brain become active in specific circumstances
AO3: cognitive approach
str: application
str: scientific
lim: studies lack ecological validity
Str/lim: cog neuroscience methods
Str cog approach: applications
Cog app has been applied in many other areas on psych
Social psychology: helps psychologist understand how we interpret others
Psychopathology: explain how much of dysfunctional behaviour shown by ppl can be traced back to faulty thinking
= successful treatment, using cog based interventions for ppl suffering w disorders eg depression
CBT therapy for depression
Ellis: REBT (a form of CBT) had a 90% sucess rate
Str cog approach: scientific
Emphasis on scientific methods
Use of the experimental method provides researchers w a rigorous method for collecting and evaluating evidence to reach accurate conclusions
Reliable, consistent and repeatable
Scientific evidence is reliable so may be more trusted by people than theories based on common sense and introspection
Lim cog app: comp models
Computer models have limited explanatory powers
Terms such as encoding, storage and retrieval are fron the computer field
However, theres a difference between info processing in a computer and a human- computers don’t make mistakes or ignore info or forget info thats been stored
This limits it’s appropriateness of explaining human thought and behaviour
Links between computer models and human behaviour are limited and therefore limits the usefulness and applicability of the cog approach
Lim cog appr: studies lack ecological validity
many studies of cog psych have little in common w participants natural everyday experiences
eg: experiments in memory use artifical test materials (random word lists- Baddeley encoding)
unlikely we would be able to generalise these findings to real life situations
Lacks ecological validity
Str/lim: cog neuroscience methods
Cognitive neuroscience methods are objective and reliable (PET scans/fMRIs)
= We can understand how treatments of certain disorders work, but we cannot yet understand why
Cog neuroscience has not etsbalished cause and effect via brain scans
= limited application
