Assumptions

Question 1

What are the key points of the computer analogy?

Answer 1

Cognitive psychologists often compare the human mind to a computer.
It compares how we take in information (input), store it or change it (process), and then recall it when necessary (output).
During the process stage, we actively use our internal mental processes.

Question 2

What did Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) propose?

Answer 2

Multistore model.
It was proposed that information is input to the brain through the senses and moves to the short-term memory store and then to the long-term memory store.
Mind = hardware.
Cognitive processes = software.

Question 3

What are the key points of the internal mental processes assumption?

Answer 3

Humans = information processors.
Essential cognitive processes all work together to enable us to make sense of and respond to the world around us.
Some of the most studied cognitive processes include:
Perception.
Attention.
Memory.
Language.

Question 4

What’s an example from psychology that links to the internal mental processes assumption?

Answer 4

When we see a dog, what enables us to know it’s a dog?
We have to pay attention to it, perceive its features, and search through our memory store to see if there is a “match” with something we’ve already seen / experienced.
To be able to name it, we use our knowledge of language.
Our mental processes work together within a split second to allow us to respond to the world around us – this is known as information processing.

Question 5

What did Griffiths (1994) investigate?

Answer 5

The thought processes, using introspection, of people who gambled regularly VS non-regular gamblers, proposing that the thought processes of gamblers would be more irrational.
To assess this, the participants were asked to “think aloud” while playing a fruit machine and being asked a list of instructions.
The study found gamblers used more irrational verbalisations.

Question 6

What are the key points of the schema assumption?

Answer 6

Schemas are organised packets of information that are built up through experience and stored in our long-term memory.
Generally, they are derived from past experiences but can be refined through further interactions with people and the world around us.
Schemas don’t necessarily represent reality as they are often built up via social exchanges rather than personal interactions.