Cognitive Approach Flashcards
What are the assumptions of the cognitive approach?
Cognition means thinking
Focuses on how people perceive, store, manipulate and interpret info
Info received through senses is processed by systems in the brain
The perceptions are internal so can’t be studied, inferred through observation of visible human behaviour
Explain the 4 internal mental processes
Attention - selecting the important info
Thinking - using it to solve problems
Storage - holding the info in your memory
Retrieval - remembering the info when it is needed
What are inferences?
Reaching a logical conclusion on the basis of evidence and reasoning. Allows cognitive scientists to develop theory’s led by observed behaviour
Explain the theoretical computer model
Suggests the brain operates like a computer
Information processing model suggests that info flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages
Based on serial processing when one piece of info is processed at a time.
What is the three parts of the information processing model?
Input - info is inputted through the senses
Processing - encoded into memory and combined with existing info
Output - task completed
What is a schema?
A cognitive framework that helps to organise and interpret info in memory and is based on experience.
Allows us to process info quickly and stops us being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
Explain cognitive neuroscience, with evidence
Scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes
Use of brain scans and study of neurotypical and abnormal individuals to locate the physical basis of cognitive processes
Evidence - Broca’s aphasia, impaired speech production
Wernicke’s aphasia, impaired speech comprehension
What is the two strengths of the cognitive approach?
Holistic - considers both nature that behaviour is a result of info processing which occurs in the brain biologically and nurture that schemas are modified by experiences
Practical applications - research into memory and effects of misleading info has reduced use of eyewitness testimony, let to major reforms in police procedures (cognitive interview)
principles applied to the treatment of depression through CBT
What is the weakness of the cognitive approach?
Too abstract - relies on inference of mental processes rather than direct obseration can sometimes suffer from being to abstract in nature. Some studies carried out using artificial stimuli, not representative
