Cognitive Approach Flashcards
(5 cards)
1st strength of the cognitive approach
It provides explanations of human behaviour
Eg Baron Cohen’s study shows that autistic people can not easily decipher emotions from pictures of people’s eyes.
Assumption of the cognitive approach
The human mind is like a computer - it inputs, processes and responds to information, and behaviour is influenced by the way information is received and processed.
2nd strength of the cognitive approach
Useful applications
Eg Loftus and Palmer’s study shows that when police are interviewing witnesses they should not use leading questions.
1st weakness of the cognitive approach
Two of the core studies are laboratory experiments and laboratory experiments have major weaknesses.
The controlled environment means that it lacks ecological validity.
Eg Loftus and Palmer people do not usually watch clips of car accidents and recall what speed they are travelling at.
2nd weakness of the cognitive approach
It is often over simplistic and ignores the complexity of human functioning.
Reductionism is the idea that complex phenomena can be explained by simpler things.
Eg Baron-Cohen study explores just one central cognitive deficit as an explanation for autism.