Cognitive Approach

Question 1

What does the Cognitive Approach study?

Answer 1

Internal mental processes (IMP)

Examples of IMP include memory, thinking, attention, and perception.

Question 2

What are internal mental processes (IMP)?

Answer 2

Processes that psychologists know are happening but cannot be directly observed

Unlike biological processes such as brain structures.

Question 3

How do researchers investigate internal mental processes?

Answer 3

By running research and making inferences from their findings

For example, studies like Peterson & Peterson (1959).

Question 4

What is Beck’s cognitive triad related to?

Answer 4

Dysfunctional thought processes associated with depression

There is no absolute proof for this inference.

Question 5

What do cognitive psychologists use to understand internal mental processes?

Answer 5

Theoretical and computer models

These models help in providing testable theories.

Question 6

What is the purpose of models in cognitive psychology?

Answer 6

To provide testable theories about mental processes

This allows for scientific investigation.

Question 7

What methodology do cognitive psychologists use to investigate internal mental processes?

Answer 7

Scientific methodology

A theory is considered scientific if it is testable.

Question 8

What are theoretical models?

Answer 8

Diagrammatic representations of information processing

They work similarly to flow charts used in computer programming.

Question 9

What is the Multi-Store Model of Memory (MSM)?

Answer 9

A linear model outlining the stages involved in memory

It demonstrates the flow of information systematically as input-storage-retrieval.

Question 10

What approach does the MSM exemplify?

Answer 10

The information-processing approach

It illustrates how information flows through the cognitive system in stages.

Question 11

What happens to sensory information in the MSM?

Answer 11

It enters memory via the sensory register

This is the first stage of memory processing.

Question 12

What is required for information to transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory?

Answer 12

Rehearsal

If information is not rehearsed, it is displaced (forgotten).

Question 13

What analogy is used to describe information processing in the mind?

Answer 13

The ‘computer analogy’

It compares the mind’s processing to that of a computer.

Question 14

What do computers use to complete specific actions?

Answer 14

Alphanumeric codes

This is similar to how the mind interprets environmental stimuli.

Question 15

What is the equivalent of a computer’s hard drive in the mind?

Answer 15

Long-term memory

It serves as the storage system for information.

Question 16

What does a computer’s output include?

Answer 16

Text, music, images, video

This parallels the mind’s output, which includes speech and behavioral responses.

Question 17

How have computer models contributed to artificial intelligence?

Answer 17

They are the basis for its development

This highlights the role of computational modeling in understanding brain functions.

Question 18

What functions of the brain have been highlighted by computational modeling?

Answer 18

Anticipating a reward, planning, and problem-solving

These are examples of complex cognitive processes modeled by computer systems.

Question 19

What is a significant contribution of the cognitive approach?

Answer 19

Development of AI due to its use of theoretical and computer models

This highlights the usefulness of the cognitive theory in practical applications.

Question 20

How does the cognitive approach compare to the behaviorist approach in terms of determinism?

Answer 20

The cognitive approach exemplifies soft determinism, while the behaviorist approach exemplifies hard determinism

Soft determinism acknowledges the existence of free will, contrasting with the rigidity of hard determinism.

Question 21

What does the cognitive approach acknowledge about human behavior?

Answer 21

The existence of free will

This represents a more flexible view of human behavior compared to other approaches.

Question 22

What is a limitation of the cognitive approach related to machine reductionism?

Answer 22

The study of Information Processing Model (IMP) is an example of machine reductionism

This suggests an oversimplification of human cognition by comparing it directly to a computer.

Question 23

Why is the comparison between a computer and the human mind considered artificial?

Answer 23

It is overly contrived and seems artificial and forced

Human cognition is unpredictable, multi-faceted, and emotional, unlike a computer.

Question 24

What does the limited application of the computer analogy suggest about cognition?

Answer 24

The computer analogy has only limited application to cognition

This indicates that human cognition cannot be fully captured by computational models.

Question 25

What does it mean that IMP can only be inferred?

Answer 25

The cognitive approach to explaining behavior is overly abstract and detached from real-life

This results in a lack of external validity.

Question 26

Fill in the blank: The cognitive approach’s view of human behavior is characterized as _______.

Answer 26

soft determinism

Question 27

True or False: The cognitive approach takes a rigid view of human behavior.

Answer 27

False

The cognitive approach acknowledges free will and is thus more flexible.