Cognitive

Question 1

Nature/Nurture

Answer 1

Nature as some cognitive abilities develop with age and require the brain and central nervous system to be able to receive and process information

Question 2

Nature/Nurture

Answer 2

Nurture
As cognitive processes are influenced by the environments we are exposed to. E.g Grant showed that memory is enhanced by matching environments

Question 3

Free will/Determinism

Answer 3

Deterministic as the cognitive area suggests that behaviour is affected by the way we process information, which we don’t necessarily control. E.g. Loftus, participants did not choose to have their memory distorted by the verbs ‘smashed’ and ‘contacted’.

Question 4

Reductionist/Holism

Answer 4

Reductionist as the area tends to only look at one way (information processing) to explain behaviour. E.g Grant looked at context dependency of memory. However, there are also social factors such as stress that can affect memory and the cognitive area tends not to look at these

Question 5

Individual/Situational

Answer 5

Individual the area suggests that behaviour is the result of information processing which happens within the person. E.g. Loftus showed that changing a verb in a critical question altered the perceptions of speed. Perception happens internally, so the area tends to be individual.

Question 6

Usefulness

To Psychology in the form of improved knowledge

Answer 6

The area suggests that poor behaviour is the result of poor information processing. E.g. we have a differents schema for smashed than bumped.

Question 7

Usefulness

To society in the form of practical application

Answer 7

To improve behaviour we need change the way people think or make environmental manipulations to enhance information processing. E.g. Grant: Witnesses may remember more if they revisit the scene of a crime. Loftus: Memory distortions can be avoided by not asking leading questions

Question 8

Ethics

Answer 8

This area tends to be ethical as lab is usually when people agree to it. Cognitive processes can be studied via memory tests which don’t cause much stress E.g Loftus used a series of questions and video clips that were not harmful.

Question 9

Social sensitivity

Answer 9

Implications for society: the area suggests that information processing affects behaviour, but this may be a flawed process which we can’t trust. E.g. in loftus suggesting the unreliability led to the changes in courtroom practice and jurors were made aware of potential problems

This is a concern as it can make jurors over critical of eyewitness testimony and so discount it altogether.

Question 10

Scientific

Answer 10

As often uses lab experiments to study cognitive processes. E.g. Loftus used the same 7 clips but varies the verb in a critical question to establish cause and effect.

Question 11

Not scientific

Answer 11

To the extent that cognitive processes such as memory cannot be objectively observed.