The Cognitive Approach

Question 1

Define cognitive

Answer 1

relates to mental process such a perception, memory and reasoning

Question 2

Define cognitive neuroscience

Answer 2

an area of psychology dedicated to the underlying neural bases of cognitive functions

Question 3

What is the computer model?

Answer 3

refers to the process of using computer analogies as a representation of human cognition

Question 4

Define inference/inferring

Answer 4

means reaching a logical conclusion on the basis of evidence and reasoning

Question 5

What is a schema?

Answer 5

a cognitive framework that helps to organise and interpret information in the brain.

Question 6

What do schemas help make sense of?

Answer 6

new information

Question 7

What are theoretical models?

Answer 7

simplified, usually pictorial, representations of a particular mental process based on current research evidence

Question 8

When did the cognitive psychology become important?

Answer 8

mid-1950s

Question 9

What does cognitive psychology focus on?

Answer 9

how people perceive, store, manipulate and interpret information

Question 10

Unlike behaviourist, cognitive psychologists believe….

Answer 10

it is necessary to look at internal mental processes in order to understand behaviour

Question 11

What is a processing model?

Answer 11

model whereby information received through the senses is processed by various systems in the brain

Question 12

Give an example of a schema

Answer 12

classroom schema - teacher, work

Question 13

Why are schemas useful?

Answer 13

because they allow us to take shortcuts when interpreting the huge amount of information we have to deal with on a daily basis

Question 14

What is the (possible) negative of schemas?

Answer 14

schemas also cause us to exclude anything that does not conform to our established ideas about the world, focusing instead on things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs about a person. We may therefore develop stereotypes that are difficult to disconfirm, even when faced with new and conflicting information

Question 15

Give an example of how and when a schema can be negative

Answer 15

if we classify food as ‘foreign’, our schema will tell us what to expect and we act accordingly, e.g. think foreign food = disgusting

Question 16

Give an example of a theoretical model`

Answer 16

multi-store model of memory

Question 17

How does the computer processing method correlate to the human processing method?

Answer 17

• information stored on the hard disk = LTM
• RAM = working memory
• RAM cleared and reset when a task is finished = working memory is temporary

Question 18

What has rapid advances in ways of studying the brain meant for neuroscientists?

Answer 18

they are now able to study the living brain, and gain detailed information about the brain structures involved in different kinds of mental processing

Question 19

What does non-invasive neuroimaging techniques help do?

Answer 19

help psychologists to understand how the brain supports different cognitive activities and emotions by showing what parts of the brain become active in specific circumstances

Question 20

How do psychologists understand how the brain supports different cognitive activities and emotions?

Answer 20

by using non-invasive neuroimaging techniques

Question 21

Give 2 examples of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques

Answer 21

PET, fMRI

Question 22

Outline a study that supports the use of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques to understand how the brain supports different cognitive activities and emotions?

Answer 22

Burnett et al. (2009) found that when people feel guilty, several brain regions are active, including the medial prefrontal cortex - an area associated with social emotions.

Question 23

What is the medial prefrontal cortex associated with?

Answer 23

social emotions

Question 24

What do PET scans help show?

Answer 24

what parts of the brain become active in specific circumstances

Question 25

Give 3 examples of areas cognitive neuroscientists study?

Answer 25

1. neural process
2. underlying memory
3. attention

Question 26

What are the 5 PEEL evaluation paragraphs for the cognitive approach?

Answer 26

1. the cognitive approach has many applications
2. the cognitive approach is scientific
3. computer models have limited explanatory powers
4. the cognitive approach ignores emotion and motivation
5. studies may lack ecological validity

Question 27

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive approach evaluation point; the cognitive approach has many applications

Answer 27

P - a strength of the cognitive approach is that it has been applied in many other areas of psychology
E - in social psychology, research in social cognition has helped psychologists better understand how we interpret the actions of others and the cognitive approach to psychopathology has been used to explain how much of the dysfunctional behaviour shown by people can be traced back to faulty thinking processes
L - these insights have led to the successful treatment, using cognitive-based interventions, of people suffering from disorders such as depression and OCD

Question 28

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive approach evaluation point; the cognitive approach is scientific

Answer 28

P - cognitive psychologists’ emphasis on scientific methods is a particular strength of this approach
E - the use of the experimental method provides researchers with a rigorous method for collecting and evaluating evidence in order to to reach accurate conclusions about how the mind works
L - humans, on the other hand, do all of these things, which limits the appropriateness of explaining human thought and behaviour using computer models

Question 29

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive approach evaluation point; computer models have limited explanatory powers

Answer 29

P - the cognitive approach uses computer models to explain human information processing
E - for example, terms such as ‘encoding’, ‘storage’ and ‘retrieval’ are borrowed directly from the field of computing.
E - however, there is an important difference between the sort of information processing that takes place within a computer program and the information processing that takes place within the human mind. Computers do not make mistakes, nor do they ignore available information or forget anything that has been stored on their hard drives
L - humans, on the other hand, do all of these things, which limits the appropriateness of explaining human thought and behaviour using computer models

Question 30

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive approach evaluation point; the cognitive approach ignores emotion and motivation

Answer 30

P - a problem for the cognitive approach is that, although it can tell us how different cognitive processes take places, it fails to tell us why they do
E - in other words, the role of emotion and motivation has largely been ignored by this approach.
E - this is not surprising given that approaches that focus on the motivational processes in behaviour (e.g. Freud) largely ignore the cognitive processes involved in behaviour
L - the lack of focus on motivational states may be explained by the over-dependance on information processing analogies, as motivation is clearly irrelevant to a computer, but not to a human being

Question 31

What is the PEEL paragraph for the cognitive approach evaluation point; studies may lack ecological validity

Answer 31

P - many studies of cognitive psychology tend to use tasks that have little in common with participants’ natural everyday experiences
E - for example, experiments in memory use artificial test materials that are relatively meaningless in everyday life (e.g. random word lists or digits) rather than being based on the way in which memory is used in everyday life (e.g. why people forget appointments or repress early childhood memories)
L - as a result, it is unlikely that we would be able to generalise these findings to real-life situations. Therefore, much of the research in cognitive psychology might be criticised as lacking ecological validity, i.e. it fails to reflect the behaviours that occur in real-life settings