Ap - The cognitive approach Flashcards
What does cognitive mean?
Relates to mental processes such as perception, memory and reasoning.
What is cognitive neuroscience?
An area of psychology dedicated to the underlying neural bases of cognitive functions.
What is the computer model in the cognitive approach?
Refers to the process of using computer analogies as a representation of human cognition.
What is inference/inferring?
Reaching a logical conclusion on the basis of evidence and reasoning.
What is a schema?
A cognitive framework that helps to organise and interpret information in the brain. Schemas help an individual to make sense of new information.
What are theoretical models?
In cognitive psychology, models are simplified, usually pictorial, representations of a particular mental process based on current research evidence.
What does cognitive psychology focus on?
How people perceive, store, manipulate and interpret information; studying processes like perception, memory, thinking and problem solving.
What does the cognitive approach study?
Internal mental processes - information processing including selecting important information (attention), using it to solve problems (thinking), storing it in memory and retrieving it as needed.
How does the cognitive approach recognise that mental processes need to be studied? Directly or indirectly?
Indirectly by inferring what goes on as a result of measuring behaviour.
Why are schemas useful to us?
Because they allow us to take shortcuts when interpreting the huge amount of information we have to deal with on a daily basis.
Why are schemas bad?
They cause us to exclude anything that doesn’t conform to our established ideas about the world, focussing instead on things that conform our pre-existing beliefs and ideas.
What do schemas help us do?
Fill in the gaps in the absence of full information about a person, event or thing.
What are non-invasive neuroimaging techniques?
Such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
What do non-invasive neuroimaging techniques help psychologists understand?
How the brain supports different cognitive activities and emotions by showing what parts of the brain become active in specific circumstances.
What is an example of a study/psychologist that uses non-invasive neuroimaging techniques?
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.
