2.1 - Approaches In Psychology (Set D - Cognitive Approach)

Question 1

What is the method for the cognitive approach?

Answer 1

recognises that mental processes can not be studied directly, so are instead studied indirectly through inferring what goes on as a result of measuring behaviour - allows theories to be formed about how mental processes lead to the observed behaviour

Question 2

What are schemas, what’s there role, how are they formed?

Answer 2

• cognitive framework that helps to organise and interpret incoming information in the brain
• schemas help an individual to make sense of new information
• developed through experience

Question 3

What is the cognitive approach?

Answer 3

Studies information processing (ways we extract, store and retrieve information) that helps guide our behaviour

• recognises they can not be studied directly - must be studied indirectly by inferring what goes on as a result of measuring behvaiour

Question 4

Explain the role of schemas outlined by the cognitive approach?

Answer 4

• mental representations based on our experience and our knowledge/understanding of how things work
• Help us predict what will happen in the world based on past experiences and also help process a lot of information very quickly

Question 5

Explain how schemas change and develop with an example?

Answer 5

develop and evolve through experience - becoming more detailed and sophisticated

• eg schema of school when you were 5 would be 1 teacher and a few lessons - where as a schema of school for a 16 year old would be lots of teachers and many subjects

Question 6

Explain why schemas are important - outline a potential problem of schemas?

Answer 6

• help us predict what will happen and enable us to process vast amounts of information rapidly
• can lead to faulty conclusions and unhelpful behaviours such as stereotypes

Question 7

Outline and explain 2 problems with schemas?

Answer 7

• can cause us to exclude anything that does not conform to our established ideas about the world - instead we focus on things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and ideas
• we may develop stereotypes that are difficult to disconfirm

Question 8

Outline Bugelskys rat man study as evidence for schemas?

Answer 8

Two groups of people were each showed faces or animals and then both shown the same final image, the people in the group shown faces would see a man but the people in the group shown animals would see a rat

Question 9

What are theoretical models, explain their features and give an example?

Answer 9

• simplified representations of cognitive processes based on current research evidence
• usually pictorial with boxes and arrows
• often incomplete and are frequently changed and updated

E.g working memory model

Question 10

What are computer model, explain their features and give an example?

Answer 10

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

E.g computer model of memory

Question 11

Outline the general idea behind computer models?

Answer 11

using a computer analogy,information is inputted through senses, encoded into memory and then combined with previously stored information to complete a task

Question 12

Explain why the computer model of memory works well?

Answer 12

• Information stored on the hard-disk is like long-term memory (remains on the system)
• working memory is stored in RAM - which is temporarily as RAM is cleared and reset when the task being carried out is finished

Question 13

Outline the emergence of neuroscience?

Answer 13

Development in technology, specifically non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as PET and MRI scans helps psychologists understand how the living brain supports different cognitive activities by showing which part of the brain become active in specific circumstances

Question 14

Outline and explain Burnett et al work on cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 14

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 15

What are some problem’s with comparing our brain to a computer?

Answer 15

• we are capable of forgetting things, computers are not
• we have a conscious and emotions, computers do not

Question 16

Outline 4 practical applications of cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 16

• see where different types of memory locations are in the brain
• Detect a particular area of the brain which is dtysfunctioning
• See what happens when people experience a stroke - observe what areas are damaged and how it affects the person
• use of computer simulations to help in the treatment of schizophrenia - helps people differentiate what is real and not

Question 17

Outline how the brain can be studied using scans?

Answer 17

matching behaviour/emotions with an area of the brain which is being used/active - done with the use of brain scanning equipment like MRI and PET scans

Question 18

Outline 3 assumptions of the cognitive approach?

Answer 18

• The mind actively processes information from our senses (touch, taste etc.)
• Between stimulus and response are complex mental processes, which can be studied scientifically
• Humans can be seen as data processing systems which encode and store information, and have outputs

Question 19

Outline 3 strengths of the cognitive approach?

Answer 19

• Models have presented a useful means to help explain internal mental processes
• The approach provides a strong focus on internal mental processes, which behaviourists before did not
• The experimental methods used by the approach are considered scientific.

Question 20

Outline 3 weaknesses of the cognitive approach?

Answer 20

• could be argued that cognitive models over-simplify explanations for complex mental processes
• The data supporting cognitive theories often come from unrealistic tasks used in laboratory experiments, which puts the ecological validity of theories into question (i.e. whether or not they are truly representative of our normal cognitive patterns)
• Comparing a human mind to a machine or computer is arguably an unsophisticated analogy

Question 21

Outline the cognitive approaches stance on free will v determinism?

Answer 21

This approach is highly determinist, suggesting that there is little or no free will over behaviour

Question 22

Outline the cognitive approaches stance on nature v nurture?

Answer 22

The approach does acknowledge both nature and nurture. Many of our internal mental process are innate (memory) but some of our knowledge is a product of our environment (schemas influenced by our surroundings)