Cognitive approach Flashcards
What is the cognitive approach?
The study of internal mental processes
What did the cognitive approach replace and when?
Behaviourism in the 1950s
What are the main assumptions of the cognitive approach?
1) To fully understand behaviour, you must investigate the internal mental processes that create the response to a stimulus. Internal mental processes cause our behaviour and feelings.
2) These internal mental processes can be studied scientifically through experiments.
How do cognitive psychologists study internal mental processes scientifically?
1) Carefully controlled lab experiments, e.g. memory experiments
2) Measure outward behaviour performed by ppts on a given task
3) Make inferences about people’s cognition through their behaviour
4) Self report measures- interviews, questionnaires, etc
What is an inference?
The process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
What does the information processing model suggest?
Information flows through a sequence of stages that include: Input, Storage, and Retrieval
What are theoretical models?
Diagrammatic representations of the steps involved in internal mental processes
What are computer models?
Software simulations of internal mental processes that are created in collaboration with computer scientists
What is the human computer analogy?
The human mind works in a similar way to computers in terms of processing information
What has the HCA contributed?
Helped to develop “thinking machines”/artificial intelligence
What are Schema?
Packages of information developed through experience which act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system. As we get older, our schema become more sophisticated and detailed.
Advantages of schema
1)Help us predict what will happen in our world based on our experiences
2)Enable us to process vast amounts of information rapidly
3)Help prevent cognitive overload- becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
Disadvantages of schema
1)Can distort our interpretation of sensory information
2)Can lead to perceptual and cognitive errors or inaccurate EWT memories
3)Can caused biased recall, e.g. stereotyping
4)Can impact mental health- Negative/faulty schema can cause depressive thoughts
What is Cognitive neuroscience?
The scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes or an area of psychology dedicated to finding the underlying neural bases of cognitive functions
