Cognitive approach (app) Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is the cognitive approach?
A perspective in Psychology which focuses on how mental processes, such as thoughts, perceptions, memories, reasoning and attention, affect behaviour
What are internal mental processes (IMPs)?
Operations of the mind (e.g. perception, attention) that mediate between the stimulus and response. They are private and cannot be observed directly.
What is a schema?
A cognitive (mental) framework of beliefs and expectations that help us to organise and interpret information in the brain. They are developed from experience and help us to make sense of new information. They are used as a ‘reference point’ to help us to respond appropriately.
What is an inference?
Going beyond the immediate evidence to make assumptions about mental processes that cannot be directly observed i.e. conclusions are indirectly drawn about the way internal mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour.
What is cognitive neuroscience?
The scientific study of the brain/neurological structures that are responsible for cognitive/mental/thinking processes
How does the cognitive approach propose we behave the way that we do?
Behaviour is influenced by conscious and unconscious thoughts (technically called internal mental processes).
What is included in IMPs?
Perception, attention, memory, language, thinking, and problem-solving.
They should be studied scientifically and objectively.
What is the process?
Input: stimulus e.g. reading a maths problem
Cognitive processing: IMPs e.g. processing the maths problem, thinking about it and solving it
Output: response e.g. writing down the answer to the problem
How are models used in the cognitive approach?
Models are used to illustrate internal mental processes because they cannot be seen.
A (theoretical) model is a simplified, usually pictorial, representation of a particular internal mental process that gives us an analogy of how the process works. And they are based on available evidence.
There are also computer models which is when computer analogies are used as a representation of human cognition.
Both models are used to create testable theories about internal mental processing which can then be studied scientifically.
How computers represent IMPs:
Input: information comes in from the environment via the senses e.g. reading an exam question
Processing: information is coded as neural connections in the brain and IMPs such as attention, thinking and problem solving occur e.g. you pay attention to what the question says and consider what the answer could be
Storage: Information is held in the LTM, and is transferred to working memory when performing IMPs e.g. you retries info that you learned in class months ago to try to think of the answer to the question
Output: observable behaviour as a result of IMPs e.g. you write down the answer to a question
What are inferences?
An inference is going beyond the immediate evidence to make assumptions about mental processes that cannot be directly observed i.e. conclusions are indirectly drawn about the way internal mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour.
What is a schema?
A schema is a cognitive (mental) framework of beliefs and expectations that help us to organise and interpret information in the brain. They are developed from experience and help us to make sense of new information.
How do schemas develop?
From experience: As we get older (and have more experience), our schema become more detailed and sophisticated e.g. schemas for psychology, what happens in a dentist etc.
How are schemas useful?
They are used as a ‘reference point’ to help us to behave appropriately.
They help us to process lots of information quickly which is useful as a sort of mental short-cut that stops us being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli.
Why can schemas be detrimental?
They exclude anything that doesn’t fit our established ideas of the world. Therefore, we may develop stereotypes that are difficult to disconfirm, even with new and conflicting information.
They can distort our interpretations of sensory information (because we expect to see, hear etc. something in particular) leading to perceptual errors.
How do schemas fit into the approach?
Schemas are internal mental processes that can’t be directly observed. The cognitive approach assumes that internal mental processes affect behaviour, and schemas ensure that we behave appropriately.
What is cognitive neuroscience?
the scientific study of neurological structures, mechanisms, processes, chemistry that are responsible for mental processes.
Use PET images (non-invasive) e.g. by Tulving et al. about semantic and episodic memory locations
· Use of scanning/imaging techniques e.g. to locate different types of memory in different areas of the brain leading to treatment for memory problems (Real world application)
More scientific
Assumptions of the cognitive approach
- Behaviour is influenced by conscious and unconscious thoughts. These internal mental processes mediate between the stimulus (input) and response (output). These internal processes can and should be studied scientifically and objectively.
- Internal mental processes studied by cognitive psychologists include perception, attention, memory, language, thinking, and problem-solving.
- Models are used to create testable theories about mental processing and these can be studied scientifically.
- Humans are information processors because our internal mental processes extract, store and retrieve information that helps to guide our behaviour. The processing by humans can be compared to that of a computer.
- However we can’t study the processes directly because they are ‘private’ so they’re studied indirectly and inferences are made on the basis of observed behaviour.
- Cognitions and biological processes can be integrated leading to cognitive neuroscience as a way of understanding human behaviour.
Strength of cognitive approach (scientific)
Considered to be a scientific approach - the approach has always used highly controlled and rigorous methods in order to infer cognitive processes at work. This has involved the use of laboratory experiments in order to produce reliable, objective data. e.g. Loftus and Palmer’s study (control) - no PED, controlled video clips so everyone saw the same event from the same angle and same amount of time
As such, the study of the mind has established a credible, scientific way for reaching valid conclusions about how the mind works, supporting the cognitive approach.
Weakness of cognitive approach (machine reductionism)
A major limitation of the cognitive approach is that it suffers from machine reductionism. Whilst there are many similarities between the human mind and the operation of computers (e.g. input, storage systems etc.), the computer analogy has been criticised. Such reductionism ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system and how this may affect our ability to process information. For example, research has found that human memory may be impacted by anxiety (e.g. Johnson and Scott - 49% identified man with pen, 33% man with knife)
This suggests that by ignoring the role of such processes and how they affect our ability to process information and therefore our behaviour, the cognitive approach cannot be considered a complete explanation of human behaviour.
Weakness of cognitive approach (inferences)
A further limitation of the cognitive approach is that it relies on inferences. Cognitive psychologists can only infer mental processes from behaviour that they observe in their research. [Add an example here about how they could make an incorrect inference]
Therefore, it cannot be confidently concluded that the inferences made on the basis of observed behaviour are valid as such processes cannot be directly measured. As such, such experimental evidence cannot strongly support the internal validity of the cognitive approach.
Weakness of cognitive approach (artificial stimuli)
A limitation of the cognitive approach is that the studies often involve the use of artificial stimuli. Experimental studies of such mental processes often involve meaningless stimuli (e.g. learning random word lists to make inferences about memory processes) that may not represent the everyday processing experience.
Consequently, research on cognitive processes may lack external validity in that the results may not generalise from the artificial stimuli to real-life situations where internal mental processes occur. This suggests that the research cannot strongly support the cognitive approach.
