approaches 1.3

Question 1

cognitive approach

Answer 1

uses experimental research methods to study internal mental processes such as attention, perception, memory and decision-making

Question 2

what do cognitive psychologists assume?

Answer 2

that the mind actively processes information from our senses

Question 3

internal mental process

Answer 3

the processing between stimulus and response

Question 4

inference

Answer 4

making assumptions on mental processes that cannot be directly observed and going beyond immediate research evidence

Question 5

how does the cognitive approach differ from the behaviourist approach?

Answer 5

it argues that mental processes should be studied e.g. studying perception and memory

Question 6

role of inference in the study of mental processes

Answer 6

mental processes are ‘private’ and cannot be observed, so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences (assumptions) about what is going on inside people’s heads on the basis of their behaviour

Question 7

schemas

Answer 7

cognitive frameworks that help us to organise and interpret information

developed through experience and can affect our cognitive processing

Question 8

what happens if information is inconsistent?

Answer 8

it will be accommodated to the schema and it will be adapted

Question 9

what happens if information is consistent?

Answer 9

it is assimmulated and strengthens the scheme

Question 9

why are schemas useful?

Answer 9

they help us predict what will happen in our world based on our experiences and enable us to process vast amounts of information rapidly and prevent us from becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

Question 10

why can schemas be unhelpful?

Answer 10

since schemas are ‘pre-conceived’, they may lead to perceptual distortions
due to having an already established mental framework e.g. James Potter et al (2009)
showing that when watching TV, “although viewers may share the same story schema, 1
they appear to make different judgements on the schema elements, and hence their
judgements about violence vary”.

can lead to perceptual errors or inaccurate EWT/ memories and cause biased recall

Question 11

theoretical models

Answer 11

an ex. of a theoretical model would be the working memory model,

the invention of the computer in the 1960s was crucial in the development of cognitive
psychology, as psychologists now had a metaphor for the mind.

Question 12

why are theoretical models used?

Answer 12

psychologists use boxes and flow charts to simplify the process of human thinking

these show cause and effect of the stages of a particular mental process

these are easy to read, interpret and understand (high face validity) but also frequently adapt and change

Question 13

computer models

Answer 13

refer to programs that can be run on a computer to imitate the human mind (e.g. conversational machines to deal with customer enquiries)

analogies can also be made between the
workings of a computer and the functions of
the human brain, both contain
a series of 3 processes: input, the use of a processor (e.g. the brain) and the production
of a comprehensible output (e.g. computer code or human language)

allows psychologists to test their ideas about information processing

the brain can be likened to a computer

Question 14

cognitive neuroscience

Answer 14

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

Question 15

brain mapping in 1870s

Answer 15

Carl Wernicke, based on case studies of patients who
all had damage to a specific area of the brain and all suffered from the same type of
aphasia (Wernicke’s), inferred that Broddman’s area 22 must be involved in language
comprehension

Question 16

objectively Investigating Brain Localisation Theory in the 1970s

Answer 16

advances in
technology meant that it was possible to systematically measure and observe the
neural processes which coincide with specific brain functions. e.g. using
PET scans, Petersen et al (1988) found evidence of Wernicke’s area being activated
during a listening task and Broca’s area being activated during a reading task.

Question 17

current focuses of cognitive neuroscience

Answer 17

current research focuses on the neural
basis of model-based planning (including the role of the dorsal hippocampus), the
neurological basis of autism, and also the neural basis of moral reasoning (involving
the ventral striatum).

Question 18

3 brain scanning techniques

Answer 18

lesion studies

electrophysiology

neuroimaging

Question 19

lesion studies

Answer 19

looking at brain damaged patients to see what they can and cannot do

Question 20

electrophysiology

Answer 20

measuring and altering brain waves to assess the change in thinking

Question 21

neuroimaging

Answer 21

pinpointing the parts of the brain that are active when tasks are performed either through heightened blood flow or growth in areas

Question 22

why do we use scanning techniques?

Answer 22

to locate different types of memory, appropriate treatments for neurological problems, the normal ageing of the brain, structural differences between a normal brain and those with a disorder, computer simulations to model and test theories and the use of eye tracking to study processing

Question 23

explain how supporting evidence from HM is a strength of the cognitive approach

Answer 23

the case study of HM provides further support for the theoretical model known as the MSM

MSM proposes that there are separate stores for three different types of memory; sensory memory, STM and LTM and information goes through each of these stores in a linear, ordered process

HM was involved in a bicycle accident which led to him developing epilepsy and experiencing seizures, they worsened which left him with the option of surgery

however, having parts of his brain removed left him with memory problems. he was unable to form any new long term memories but could remember things from before the surgery

he couldn’t transfer information from STM to LTM

therefore, the case study of HM helped provide supporting evidence for the cognitive approach, specifically in terms of theoretical models such as the MSM as it showed there are separate stores for long term and short term memory

Question 24

explain how the use of lab experiments is a strength of the cognitive approach

Answer 24

the approach can be praised for its use of lab experiments

this is because there is a high degree of control over the variables which means that cause and effect can be established

additionally, the high control allows for the standardisation of procedures which enables research into mental processes to be replicated to check the reliability of the findings

therefore, this adds credibility to the cognitive approach’s explanation of human behaviour because its based on highly scientific evidence

Question 25

explain how being reductionist is a weakness of the cognitive approach

Answer 25

the approach is criticised for being reductionist

this is because the approach places emphasis on computer models and information processing and views the mind as mechanical

this is a problem because much of human behaviour and thought is unlike the logical linear process of a computer

humans can be irrational and unpredictable as times and additionally much of human behaviour and thought can be shaped by emotions

for example, research has shown how emotions such as anxiety and fear can affect your recall of events, particularly as an eyewitness to a crime

by breaking down behaviour to a set of computer processes it could be argued that it loses what it means to be human

therefore, it calls into question the extent to which the cognitive approach is fully accounting for and explaining human behaviour

Question 26

explain how the cognitive approach being less objective than the behaviourist approach is a limitation of the cognitive approach

Answer 26

the behaviourist approach, with the work of B.F Skinner would argue that only directly observable behaviour can be studied scientifically and therefore would criticise the cognitive approach’s wat of studying the mind through inferences

for behaviourists, inferences are not a truly objective study of the mind because we cannot know for certain that what they infer is going on in the mind is actually going on in the mind

because we cannot directly observe it, it could be wrong

therefore, it could be argued that on this point the behaviourist approach is superior because of its stronger focus on the scientific process

Question 27

Bartlett (1932)’s aim

Answer 27

to investigate the impact of schemas on memory recall

Question 28

Bartlett (1932)’s procedure

Answer 28

English participants were 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

the participants were asked to recall the story 20 hours later remembering as much detail as possible

Question 29

Bartlett (1932)’s results

Answer 29

all of the participants changed the story to fit their own schemas

the details in the story became more English an the story started to contain elements of English culture, and details and emotions were added

as the length of time between hearing and recalling the story increased, the amount of correctly recalled information decreased

when they recalled the stories later, they became more distorted

Question 30

Bartlett (1932)’s conclusion

Answer 30

people use their own schemas to help interpret and remember the world around them