//Cognitive approach Flashcards
What is the information processing model
- used by congitive psychologists to explain and describe mental processes
- compares human brain to computer
What is bottom up processing
- processing information as it comes in
- using prior knowledge and experience to help you make sense of what you see
What is top down processing
-using what we already know/expereince to see something
What does cognitive psychology look at
- the internal workings of the mind and explains behaviour through cognitive processes. How we think
- cognitive psychologists try to explain behaviour by looking at perception, language, attention and memory
- experimental procedures and methods used
- mind compared to computer- reductionist
- computer models are used to explain how we think and behave. Humans are treated as information processors and behaviour is explained in terms of information processing
- computer models used to explain and make inferences about the mental processes that lead to particular behaviours
Research methods used in cognitive psychology
- lab experiements- scientific and reliable but low ecological validity
- field experiements- take place in natural situations- less variable control
- natural experiments- making observations of a naturally occurring situation. High ecological validity but not that reliable as confoudning variables can affect results
Key assumptions of cognitive approach
- our mental systems have a limited capacity- the amount of processes information is influenced by how demanding the task is
- a control mechanisms oversees all mental processes- this will require more processing power for new tasks
- there is a two way flow of information- we take in information, processes it and react to it. We use our knowledge and experience to understand the worl
How did cognitive psychology develop
- as computers developed in the 1950s/1960s, the analogy between the human brain and a computer was formed
- people began to see similarities in how computers and humans make sense of information
- computer terms are often used in cogntiive psychology
Similarities between computer and humans
- the brain is described as a processor (it has data input into it and output from it)
- some parts can work sequentially (information travels along jost one path). This means one process must finish before another one starts. This occurs in demanding or unknown tasks
- they can work in parallel too (information travels to and fro along paths at the same time). Likely to happen when tasks are similar
The computer and human system follow the same route. Explain
Computer system
Information from keyboard (signals passed through wires) - computer processor - information output to monitor
Human system
-Information from sense organs (signals passed through neurons) - brain - information passed out for action
Differences between humans and computer
- humans are often influenced by emotional and motivational factors - computers aren’t affected by
- humans have an unlimited but unreliable memory, whereas computers have a limited but reliable memory
- humans have free will (the ability to choose between decisions) which computers don’t
What are schemas
- a schema contains all the information you know about an object, action or concept
- schemas can help you to organise and interpret information and experiences
What happens when information is consistent/inconsistent in schemas
- consistent information is assimiliatied into the schema. The schema is strengthened
- inconsistent information- accommodation occurs and the schema has to change in order to resolve the problem
Different schemas- role schemas
-these are ideas about the behaviour which is expected from someone in a certain role, setting or situation
Different schemas- event schemas
- these are also called scripts
- they contain information about what happens in a situation
Different schemas- self schemas
- these contain information about ourselves
- based on physical characateristics andpersonality, as well as beliefs and values
Problems with schemas
- sometimes they can stop people from learning new information
- e.g. prejudie and steroeotypes can be an outcome of schemas. A schema which holds certain beliefs or expectations about people may bias the way we process incoming information. This means we may be more likely to pay attention to information we can easily assimilate and ignore information involve changing our schemas to accomodate
Bartlett (1932)- War of the Ghosts- aim and method
- to test and illustrate the idea of schemas
- English pps asked to read a native American Folk tale
- it was an unfamiliar story, full of strange names, ideas and objects
- it had a different structure to average English stories
- the pps were asked to recall the story, after different lengths of time
Bartlett (1932)- War of the Ghosts- results
- all of the pps changed the story to fit their own schemas
- the details in the story became more English, the story started to contain elements of English culture and details, and emotions were added
- as the length of time between hearing and recalling of the story increased, the amount of information remembered became a lot less
Bartlett (1932)- War of the Ghosts- conclusion
-people use their own schemas to help interpret and remember the world around them
Bartlett (1932)- War of the Ghosts- evaluation
- the study was conducted in a lab, so it lacks ecological validity
- it was highly influential at the time as it paved the way for further congitive research
How did cognitive neuroscience emerge
- it wasn’t until the 1970s that the influence of neuroscience took hold. With modern brain imaging techniques and procedures, cognitive neurosicence started to emerge
- cognitive neuroscience is an approach which maps human behaviour to brain function, Brain imaging techniques allow psychologists to discover when and where things happen in the brain in relation to people’s behaviour at the time
Methods used in cognitive neuroscience
- lesion studies- looking at people with brain damage to see how behaviour is affected
- electrophysiology- using electric and magnetic fields to measure brain activiy, waves
- neuroimaging- pinpointing areas of the brain that are active when a task is performed. PET scans have been used to show the brain areas that are most active during memory tasks
Strengths of the cogntitive approach
- it considers mental processesm which are often overlooked in other approaches
- it has a big influence on the development of therapies e.g. CBT
- it bases its explanation at a functional, psychological level, rather than resorting to reductionism to explain human behaviour
Weaknesses of the cognitive approach
- research is often carried out in artifical situations and the role of emotion and influence from other people is often ignored- some argue that the results aren’t valid in the real world
- cognitive psychology fails to take individual differences into account by assuming that all of us process stuff in exactly the same way
- over simplistic- ignores the huge complexity of human functioning compared to computer functioning
