Approaches - Cognitive Approach

Question 1

Assumptions

Answer 1

Argues that internal mental processes can and should be studied scientifically. Cognitive approach studied areas of human behaviour that were neglected by the behaviourist approach, such as memory, perception and thinking.

Question 2

Internal mental processes

Answer 2

Private operations of the mind such as perception and attention that intervene between stimulus and response

Question 3

Schema

Answer 3

The mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence the way we perceive and process certain things. Can be innate or learned.

Innate: Babies have a motor schema of grasping things that enter their hand and sucking on anything that enters their mouth.

Experience/Learn: Most schemas are learnt from experiences in life. For example, something with 4 legs and a place to sit is seen as a chair.

Question 4

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 4

Scientific study on the influence of brain structures on mental processes. For example, the cerebral cortex is the largest part of the brain and is responsible for brain functions such as: sensation, perception, memory, association, thought and voluntary physical action.

Question 5

Inference

Answer 5

The process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes work based on observed behaviour.

Question 6

Evaluation

Answer 6

Strength:

• Employed highly controlled methods of study
• Lab experiments to allow for reliable, objective and replicable data.
• Contributed to wide range of practical and theoretical concepts, e.g, Artificial Intelligence

Limitation:

• Only infer mental processes from behaviour they observe
• Being to abstract in nature
• Artificial stimuli means it may not represent everyday memory experience
• Lacks external validity
• Lacks mundane realism