Cognitive Approach Flashcards
(16 cards)
What is its belief?
Says that the way we think is what drives our behaviour
What are internal mental processes?
Information received from our senses is processed by the brain which directs how we behave
Why must internal mental processes be studied?
To understand human behaviour
What do mental processes do?
Mediate between the stimulus and response
What is the role of the schema?
- They help us process lots of information quickly without getting too overwhelmed
- They enable us to know how to behave appropriately
- They can lead to inaccurate EWT
- They can cause us to exclude important information and focus on pre-existing ideas
- Can lead to unhelpful behaviour
What is a schema?
A mental representation of experience, knowledge and understanding
What does the rat man experiment investigate?
What happened during it?
- Whether existing schemas affect the perception of new material
- Saw if people perceived the image as a rat or a man
What is the Independent Variable in the Rat Man experiment?
The faces and the rat
What is the Dependent Variable in the Rat Man experiment?
The number of people who saw each thing
What are Cognitive Processes?
Theoretical models
What type of experiment is the Rat man experiment?
Lab experiment
What is the emergence of cognitive neuroscience?
It links biology (mental processes) with psychology (brain structure)
What can cognition and biological processes lead to?
Cognitive neuroscience as a way to understanding human behaviour
What are some strengths of the Approach?
- It uses scientific methods
- EWT is a real-life application
- Its the most dominant approach in psychology
What are some weaknesses of the Approach?
- It relies heavily on lab experiments which lack ecological validity
What are the uses of computer simulations?
- They help with the treatment of schizophrenia
