The Cognitive Approach Flashcards
1
Q
What is a schema?
A
- Contains all the information you know about an object, action, or concept,
- Schemas help to organise and interpret information and experiences.
2
Q
What are the different types of schemas?
A
- Role schemas, ideas about behaviour which is expected from someone in a certain role, setting, or situation,
- Event schemas, also called scripts. Contain information about what happens in a situation,
- Self schemas, contain information about ourselves based on physical characteristics and personality, as well as beliefs and values. Self schemas can affect how you act.
3
Q
Bartlett (1932), method
A
- English participants asked to read a native american folk tale, called ‘The War of the Ghosts’,
- It was an unfamiliar story, full of strange and unusual names, ideas and objects,
- It also had a different structure to your average English story,
- Participants were asked to recall the story after different lengths of time.
4
Q
Bartlett (1932), results
A
- All the participants changed the story to fit their own schemas,
- The details in the story became more English, the story started to contain elements of English culture, and details and emotions were added,
- As the length of time between hearing and recalling increased, the amount of information remembered became a lot less.
5
Q
Bartlett (1932), conclusion
A
- People use their own schemas to help interpret and remember the world around them.
6
Q
Bartlett (1932), evaluation
A
- Study was conducted in a laboratory; lacks ecological validity,
- Highly influential at the time; paved the way for further cognitive research.
7
Q
What are three methods used by cognitive neuroscientists?
A
- Lesion studies; looking at people with brain damage to see how behaviour is affected,
- Electrophysiology; using electric and magnetic fields to measure brain activity and brain waves,
- Neuroimaging; pinpointing areas of the brain which are active when a task is performed.
