Cognitive approach Flashcards
What are the 4 assumptions of the cognitive approach?
- Focuses on how people percieve, store, manipulate and interpret information
- Cognitive psychologists look at internal mental processes to understand behaviour
- Thought processes can and should be studied scientifically
- Mental processes are private and can’t be observed
What does cognition mean and what does this mean cognitive psychologists study?
Cognition= knowing
This means they study the mental act or process by which knowledge is aquired
How is the conitive approach different to behaviourism and SLT?
Bevaviourism= not interested in what happens in between stimulus and response
SLT= argue that things take place within the organism that mediate between S and R because you are learning through observation
Cognitive= extend the behaviourist idea and say that our behaviour is dtermined by the way we process information taken in from an environment using our internal mental processes
What is an internal mental process? Give three exaples
How the processes of thinking and knowing shape our behaviour
Perception, attention and memory
What is an inference?
Reaching a logical conclusion on the basis of evidence and reasoning
We must do this as our mental processes are private
How are computer models used?
Development of computers led to focus on how sensory information passes through the system
Information passes through senses, is processed within our mind and then we produce an output
Describe the role of a schema
A package of beliefs and expectations on a topic that come from prior experience. They help us take shortcuts in thinking, organise and interpret behaviour
Describe the two processes by which we build schemas
Assimilation= we add more information to our schema we didn’t have before
Accommodation= having to adapt or change our schema as a result of new information
How can schemas be useful?
-Can help us predict what will happen in a situation
How can schemas lead to prejudice and stereotypes?
Creating stereotypes about characteristics can cause wider issues such as segregation, racism and sexism
How can schemas lead to innacurate eye-witness testimonies?
Can disort unfamiliar or unconsciously unacceptable information in order to fit in with our existing knowledge or schemas
What is cognitive neuroscience?
The scientific study of tghe influence of brain structure on mental processes
How did cognitive neuroscience originate through Paul Broca?
-A 51 year old man was transferred to Broca’s hospital with an uncontrolled infection
-He had extreme difficulty with speech
-Post-mortem dissection found lesion in left frontal lobe
-Broca’s area is responsible for speech production
Give three examples of methods of studying cognitive neuroscience
-FMRI
-PET
-TMS
How can the cognitive approach be practically applied?
-Cognitive development
-Mood disorders
-Memory
