Approaches In Psychology - The Cognitive Approach Flashcards
What is the cognitive approach?
An approach focused on how our mental processes (thoughts,perceptions,attention) affect behaviour
What is a schema?
A mental framework that lets us organise & interpret information based on past experiences & knowledge that help us make sense of new information quickly
What is inference?
The processes whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
What is cognitive neuroscience?
The scientific study of biological structures that underpin cognitive processes
What are the assumptions of the cognitive approach?
Argues that internal mental processes should be studied scientifically
Studies memory, perception & thinking (cognitive functions)
Why are theoretical models developed?
To describe different processes e.g. memory,attention, language
What is the information processing model?
A theoretical model that suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include input, storage & retrieval
What is the computer metaphor & what does it involve?
How the mind is similar to a computer
Involves storage to hold information, operates a lot of functions at the same time, takes information & processes it & has input & output
What is cognitive neuroscience? 2
Address questions of how cognitive activities are affected by/controlled by neural circuits in the brain
Branch of neuroscience & psychology
Overlaps behavioural neuroscience, cognitive psychology, physiological psychology & affective neuroscience
Relies upon theories in cognitive neuroscience coupled with evidence from neurobiology & computational modelling
What is Broca’s area?
In the left hemisphere of the brain (mostly) back of the frontal lobe - linked to speech production
What are the 2 types of brain imaging used in cognitive neuroscience?
fMRIs & PET scans
What is an advantage of cognitive neuroscience?
Useful in establishing the neurological causes of some mental disorders
What are the strengths of the cognitive approach?
Scientific & objective methods - use lab experiments that produce reliable & objective data (cognitive neuroscience has allowed the study of the mind to be credible of a scientific basis)
Real-life application - has had an important contribution to cognitive psychology & the development of AI
Soft determinist - recognises that our cognitive system can only operate within the limits of our knowledge - more reasonable than other approaches
What are the limitations of the cognitive approach?
Machine reductionism - by reducing the human mind to a computer the influence of human emotion to process emotion is ignored e.g. memory affected by anxiety in eyewitnesses
Application to everyday life - can be to abstract & theoretical, artificial stimuli e.g. tests of memory may not be representative of everyday memory - lack external validity
