Approaches- Cognitive Approach

Question 1

assumptions of the cognitive approach

Answer 1

• internal mental processes are important in influencing behaviour
• Information received from senses are processed by brain
• compares human mind to computer and suggests that there’s similarities in the way informations processed

Question 2

schema

Answer 2

package of beliefs and expectations on a topic that comes from prior experience

• It affects behaviour
• It develops& evolves with experiences- an adult schema’s more developed
• act as mental frameworks& provide us with mental shortcuts so we can process large vol. of data quickly

Question 3

what models are used to understand the brain?

Answer 3

as we can study though processes directly, we must infer what leads to the observed behaviour.
we do this through the: theoretical model and computer model

Question 4

theoretical model/ information processing model

Answer 4

suggest that information flows through a cognitive system in a sequence

input. –> processing–> output
stimulus. thinking. response

Question 5

advantages of the cognitive approach

Answer 5

• reliable results from scientific controlled experiments
• lead to cognitive behavioural therapy which can deal with depression without drugs
• doesn’t deny influence of moral values and social norms
• offers explanation for mental disorders–> Beck argues that negative schemas held about ourselves, the world and the future leads to depression, not external factors

Question 6

disadvantages of the cognitive approach

Answer 6

• results lack ecological validity as tasks of experiments are artificial
• machine reductionist- ignores emotions which does influence behaviour
• determinist- assumes there’s no free will
• doesnt take genetic factors into account
• reliance of inference- reduces practical applications as the research’s mainly theoretical- therefore some ideas could be too abstract.