Lesson 5 Cognitive Approach

Question 1

Define the cognitive approach

Answer 1

It argues that internal mental processes can be studied scientifically so it investigates perception, memory and thinking

Question 2

What does the cognitive approach use?

Answer 2

Inferences which means that the cognitive model might make assumptions about mental processes that cannot be directly observed and thus goes beyond immediate research evidence

Question 3

What are internal mental processes?

Answer 3

Operations that occur during thinking

Question 4

What is a way to study internal processes?

Answer 4

The use of theoretical models

Question 5

What is an important theoretical model?

Answer 5

Information processing approach which suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval like in the MSM

Question 6

What else does the cognitive approach use?

Answer 6

Computer models where the mind is compared to a computer by suggesting that there are similarities in the way information is processed

Question 7

What concepts of the computer model is used?

Answer 7

The concepts of a central processing unit as the brain
The concept of coding
The use of stores to hold information

Question 8

Define schemas

Answer 8

Packages of ideas and information developed through experience

Question 9

What do schemas do?

Answer 9

Act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system

Question 10

what do schemes allow us to do?

Answer 10

enable us to process lots of information quickly
useful as a mental short-cut that prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

Question 11

what may schemas do that we don’t want them to do?

Answer 11

distort our interpretations of sensory information leading to perceptual errors

Question 12

who carried out the study of the role of schemas and what year was it carried out?

Answer 12

Bartlett
1932

Question 13

where was Bartlett’s study carried out?

Answer 13

a lab

Question 14

procedure of Bartlett’s study

Answer 14

English participants asked to read a Native American joke tale called the war of the ghosts
unfamiliar story as it came from a different culture
participants had to read the story and then after different lengths of time recall the story as accurately as possible to test their schemas and recall

Question 15

findings of Bartlett’s study

Answer 15

all participants changed the story to fit their own schema
reconstructed in order to recall it better
details of the story became more English and contained elements of the English culture
order of the story became more ‘logical’
changes were made like arrows changing to guns
as more time passed less information was remembered

Question 16

define cognitive neuroscience

Answer 16

the scientific study of the influence of brain structure on mental processes

Question 17

what does cognitive neuroscience aim to study?

Answer 17

the neurobiological basis of thought processes and disorders

Question 18

what are the advances in brain imaging techniques?

Answer 18

fMRI and PET scans

Question 19

what have the advances in brain imaging techniques caused for neuroscience?

Answer 19

scientists can systemically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental processes

Question 20

what has the focus of cognitive neuroscience expanded to recently?

Answer 20

the use of computer-generated models that are designed to read the brain
there has been a development of mind mapping techniques which is known as brain fingerprinting

Question 21

what could brain fingerprinting be used for?

Answer 21

to analyse the brain wave patterns of eyewitnesses to determine whether they are lying in court

Question 22

what is the aim of Maguire’s (2000) study?

Answer 22

to investigate if brain anatomy was predetermined or whether the brain is susceptible to plastic changes in response to environmental stimulation

Question 23

what was the procedure of Maguire’s (2000) study?

Answer 23

32 healthy males with an average age of 44 were investigated and split into two groups
one group were 16 licensed male London taxi drivers who had worked in the job for at least 18 months
the other group were 16 males in a control group who had never driven taxis
MRI scans of their brains were taken and analysed

Question 24

what were the findings of Maguire’s (2000) study?

Answer 24

MRI scans showed that the right posterior hippocampus in the brain of the taxi drivers were larger than the control group
this was positively correlated with how long they had been doing the job
the longer they had been doing the job, the larger their right posterior hippocampus
this part of the brain is responsible for storing visual representations of the environment and this links to the fact that taxi drivers have to navigate the streets of London

Question 25

strengths of the cognitive approach

Answer 25

- scientific and objective methods as highly controlled and rigorous methods of study were used so inferences of cognitive processes could be made. lab experiments produced reliable, objective data. eg Jacobs digit span technique was a reliable procedure - real life application as it is the most dominant approach today. approach has made an important contribution to AI and development of thinking robots. can be used to treat depression and schizophrenia where cognitive behavioural therapy is used. - less determinist that other approaches as it is founded on soft determinism since it recognises the contribution of free will before responding to a stimulus which is know as a more reasonable interactionist position compared to the behaviourist and biological approach.

Question 26

weaknesses of the cognitive approach

Answer 26

- machine reductionism as the computer analogy has been criticised because it ignores the influence of motivation and emotion on the cognitive system - studies supporting approach may lack ecological validity as cognitive psychology suffers from being too theoretical and abstract in nature because behaviour can only be inferred. a lot of memory studies use lists of words which are not applicable to everyday life meaning it lacks external validity. - the idea of inferences made about internal mental processes is not objective enough because it doesn't give the full picture of what is going on inside the brain. it is questionable whether psychologists can really understand and explain thinking by using inference alone