Cognitive approach Flashcards
What is the cognitive approach concerned with
The processes that we can’t directly observe
When did the cognitive approach replace behaviourism
Around 1950s when computers were made
How does it believe we should study internal processes
Scientifically usually in a laboratory
How does the approach view our brains
As computers which receives data/input from our senses which it then processes to generate a response
What is important between a stimulus and the response
The thought process
How do researchers draw conclusions
They propose models or theories of how they work and make predictions about how the participant will respond when presented with a stimuli
How do we indirectly observe thought processes
By making inferences
What is an inference
Drawing conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
What is the multi-store model
A theoretical model that cognitive psychologists use to illustrate the concept of memory
What inferences are usually made
How we receive information through our senses, how we store this information and how it is manipulated
What is an information processing model
Input-processing-output
What is a schema
A network of knowledge about an item which includes the items characteristics and associations
What can be heavily affected by schemas
Processing and behaviour
What do we use schemas to do
Make sense of the information and respond appropriately
Why are schemas helpful
We can process a lot of information without becoming overwhelmed
What can schemas distort
Our interpretation of sensory information, leading to biases and perceptual errors
What does it consider
Internal, invisible processes that affect our behaviour which has helped to increase our understanding of how they operate and influence behaviour
What can cognitive approach explain
Anxiety and depression, and can lead to effective therapies like CBT
Why can the research have low validity
The tasks performed in experiments are not ones that would be performed on a daily basis
What can the use of theoretical and computer models do
Over simplify very complex processes
