approaches- learning approaches: the cognitive approach

Question 1

how does cognitive contrast the behaviourist approach?

Answer 1

-argues mental processes should be studied e.g. studying perception and memory
-scientific study of mental processes

Question 2

how do cognitive psychologists study mental processes?

Answer 2

-mental processes are ‘private’, cannot be observed
-study them indirectly making inferences (assumptions) ab what is going on inside people’s heads on the basis of their behaviour

Question 3

what are of schemas?

Answer 3

-packages of info developed through experience
-‘mental framework’ for interpretation of incoming info received by cognitive system
-babies born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours such as sucking and grasping
-as get older, schema become more detailed and sophisticated

Question 4

how are theoretical models used in cognitive approach?

Answer 4

-use theoretical models to explain mental processes
-info processing approach suggests that info flows through a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval, as in the MSM

Question 5

how is the computer analogy used in cognitive psychology?

Answer 5

-computer models to explain mental processes
-refer to programmes that can be run on a computer to imitate the human mind
-by running such a programme psychologists can test their ideas about info processing

Question 5

what is cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 5

scientific study of the influence of brain structures (neuro) on mental processes (cognition)

Question 6

how did cognitive neuroscience emerge?

Answer 6

-advances in brain scanning in last 20 years, scientists have been able to describe the neurological basis of mental processing
-scanning techniques have also proved useful in establishing the neurological basis of some disorders e.g. OCD

Question 7

ao3 of cognitive approach: uses scientific and objective methods

Answer 7

-congitive psychs have always employed controlled and rigorous methods of study e.g. lab studies, in order to infer cognitive processes at work
-in addition two fields of biology and cognitive psychology come together (cog neuroscience)
-means study of mind had established a credible, scientific basis

Question 8

ao3 of cognitive approach: application to everyday life

Answer 8

-cognitive approach dominant in psych today, applied to wide range of practical and theoretical contexts
-for instance, AI and the development of robots, treatment of depression and improving EWT
-supports value of cognitive approach

Question 9

ao3 of cognitive approach: approach is based on machine reductionism

Answer 9

-although similarities between operations of the human mind and computers (input- outputs, central processor, storage systems), the computer analogy has been criticised
-emotion and motivation have been shown to influence accuracy of recall e.g. in eyewitness accounts. these factors not considered within the computer analogy
-suggests machine reductionism may weaken the validity of the cognitive approach

Question 10

ao3 of cognitive approach: soft determinism

Answer 10

-cognitive approach recognises our cognitive system operates within certain limits, but we are free to make decisions before responding to a stimulus (soft determinism)
-this is in contrast to the behaviourist approach which suggests we are passive to the environment and lack free choice in our behaviour
-suggests cognitive approach takes a more flexible middle-ground position and is more in line w out subjective sense of free will