cognitive approach Flashcards
what does cognition mean and what do cognitive psychologists study?
knowing
they study the mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired
how is the cognitive approach different from behaviourism and SLT?
-it’s an extension from behaviourism because it argues that our behaviour is determined by the way we process information taken in from our environment by using our internal mental processes
-its different from SLT because it is direct and our behaviour is not caused by observing others
-cognitive approach is not a learning theory
what are the 4 assumptions?
-focuses on how people perceive, store, manipulate and interpret info
-look at IMPs to understand behaviour
-thought processes should be studied scientifically- well controlled lab studies
-mental processes are private and cannot be observed. They are studied indirectly by making inferences
what does this approach investigate?
areas of human behaviour that were ignored by behaviourists eg perception, attention, memory, lang, thinking
what are internal mental processes?
operations that occur in the mind, but can be studied scientifically
e.g. memory, attention, perception
what is an inference?
reaching a logical conclusion on the basis of evidence and reasoning
why do we need to make inferences?
the cognitive approach recognises that mental processes are private and must be studied indirectly by inferring what goes on as a result of measuring behaviour
what are theoretical models?
simplified representations of the mind based on current research evidence
give an example of a theoretical model?
multi store model of memory
how is the brain similar to a computer?
input ——-> processing ———> output
what development caused the development of the cognitive approach?
1960s development of the computer , this led to a focus on how sensory info passes through the system
explain the computer analogy?
information passes through senses, is processed within our mind (in memory) and then after this processing we produce an output (behaviour)
what is a schema?
a ‘package’ of beliefs and expectations on a topic that come from prior experience
explain the role of schema?
they are useful by helping us take shortcuts in thinking and organise and interpret info
we are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours eg sucking and then develop and evolve from experience
what is the name for the idea that we build schema through assimilation and accommodation?
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
what is assimilation?
we add info to our already existing schema that we didn’t previously have before
what is accommodation?
having to adapt or change schema as a result of new, conflicting information
when can schemas be useful?
- in an exam- unfamiliar questions not as uncomfortable because we have expectations due to prior exam experience
- in a dangerous situation- expectations from prior experience help us detect danger
- help being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli- eg all airports around the world have the same system
when can schemas not be useful?
-can lead to stereotypes and prejudice
-can also lead to inaccurate eye witness testimony
how can schemas lead to stereotypes and prejudice?
e.g. police may have experiences with dealing with certain types of people when dealing with crime e.g. POC. They expect POC to be the ones committing crime due to built schema and are more likely to see POC as criminals and arrest them
how can schemas lead to inaccurate eye witness testimonies?
schemas are capable of distorting unfamiliar information in order to fit in with existing knowledge or schemas
who is the desirable researcher for cognitive?
Bugelski and Alampay 1962
describe the rat man study?
-two groups shown a sequence of pictures, either faces or animals before being shown the ambiguous rat man
-people who saw faces more likely to see man and people who saw animals more likely to see rat
describe how the influence of schema may be used to explain the results of the rat man study?
the mind takes in the impoverished (ambiguous) sensory input and matches it to the schema derived from past experience. The schema is used to ‘fill in the blanks’ in the input
explain some strengths of the rat man study?
-high internal validity; establish cause and effect between IV and DV
-control of extraneous variables
explain some limitations of the rat man study?
-demand characteristics
-low mundane realism so results may not generalise to real life
what is cognitive neuroscience?
the scientific study of the influence of brain structure (neuro) on mental processes (cognition)
what 3 things do cognitive neuroscientists study?
- NEURAL PROCESSES underlying memory, attention, perception and awareness e.g. episodic and semantic memories in the prefrontal cortex of the brain
- SOCIAL COGNITION, the brain regions involved when we interact with others
- how IMPAIRMENTS in these regions may characterise different psychological conditions e.g. the basal ganglia and OCD
how do cognitive neuroscientists investigate the brain using brain imaging techniques?
fMRI, TMS, PET
how has cognitive neuroscience become one of the most dominant paradigms in psychology?
advances in brain imaging techniques and experimental methods
when was cognitive neuroscience first evidenced?
in 1861 by Paul Broca
he had a 51 year old man transferred to Broca’s hospital with an uncontrolled infection, he had trouble with speech and could only utter ‘tan’
post mortem dissection found lesion in the left frontal lobe- Broca’s area.
what is Broca’s area responsible for?
speech production
what did the origin of cognitive neuroscience support?
localization of function perspective instead of holistic function perspective
parts of the brain responsible for specific functions not just the whole brain responsible for everything.
what are some strengths of the cognitive approach?
real life application
scientific and objective methods
soft-determinism
what are some weaknesses of the cognitive approach?
external validity
machine reductionism
what are 3 topic areas real life application of the cognitive approach?
cognitive development
mood disorders
memory
explain the real life application of cognitive approach to mood disorders?
the cognitive approach has been useful for helping explain mood disorders
Beck’s model of depression sees faulty thinking as the cause of depression
Ellis believes emotional and behavioural disorders develop because of irrational beliefs and thoughts
understanding of mood disorders lead to the development of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
what kind of methods has the cognitive approach focused on?
always employed vigorous methods of study to enable researchers to infer cognitive processes- LAB EXPERIMENTS to produce reliable objective data
example; Bugelski and Alampay rat man study; lab experiment
the emergence of cognitive neuroscience enabled two fields to work together and establish a scientific basis
what is soft-determinism?
recognises that our cognitive system can only operate within the limits of what we know, but that we are free to think before responding to a stimulus
how is soft determinism a strength of the cognitive approach?
it is a more interactionist (middle ground) approach than the hard determinism suggested by other approaches e.g. behaviourism
well liked approach because people like to believe they have some sort of free will
how is external validity a limitation?
cognitive psychologists are only able to infer about mental processes from behaviour observed in research- so it is usually too abstract or theoretical
also usually carried out by using artificial stimuli e.g. word lists so results may not generalise to real life
example; Bugelski and Alampay rat man study
what is the computer analogy often criticised for?
its machine reductionism; ignores the influence of emotion and motivation on the cognitive system and how this affects our ability to process information (over simplifies behaviour)
computer model simply expxlains behaviour by input—-> process ——->output
what is reductionism?
explaining human behaviour as being a result of one factor
give an example of why machine reductionism is a limitation of the cognitive approach?
research has shown that human memory may be affected by emotional factors e.g. anxiety on EWT
