Cognitive Approach Flashcards
What does cognitive psychology focus on?
The perception, storage, manipulation and interpretation of information, investigating process like perception, memory, thinking and problem solving
What is the cognitive approaches key focus?
The internal mental processes, it believes these can be used to understand behaviour
What does the approach do?
Compares humans to computers or information processors, information is received by the senses and processed in the brain
What cannot be studied directly?
Thought/ mental processes, we can ask what you are thinking and you can tell us but at the moment we cannot hear or see exactly what is going on inside your head
What is inferring?
Reaching a logical conclusion based on evidence and reasoning
What is a schema?
A cognitive frame work that helps to organise or interpret information in the brain
What can schemas lead to?
Excluding information which doesn’t conform to our pre existing beliefs and ideas
What do we use schemas for?
To fill in the gaps in the absence of fill information about a person, event or thing which can lead to stereotyping
What is difficult?
Go change these schemas even if we are presented with new conflicting information
What are theoretical models?
Simplified representations of a particular mental process for example the multi store model and working memory model
Why can theoretical models be frequently changed and updated?
They are often incomplete and informal
What are computer models?
The application of computer terms to the human brain
Where has the use of analogies stemmed from?
The development of computers and computer processing, and a focus on how sensory information is coded as it passes through the brain
What do advances in science mean?
We are now able to study the living brain through non invasive imagery, from this we are able to gain lots of detailed information about the brain structures involved in mental processing
What are types of neuroimaging?
- PET scans
- fMRI
