Cognitive Approach

Question 1

What is the cognitive approach in psychology?

Answer 1

A framework that studies internal mental processes scientifically and contrasts with the behaviorist approach.

Question 2

What areas does the cognitive approach investigate?

Answer 2

Memory, perception, and thinking.

Question 3

How does the cognitive approach study behavior?

Answer 3

It studies behavior indirectly and makes inferences about the mind based on behavior.

Question 4

What are schemas?

Answer 4

‘Packages’ of information and ideas based on experiences; mental frameworks.

Question 5

Give an example of a basic motor schema that babies are born with.

Answer 5

Schemas for suckling and grasping.

Question 6

What is the grasping schema?

Answer 6

Moving hand towards an object and closing hand around it.

Question 7

How do schemas help us process information?

Answer 7

They act as mental shortcuts to prevent being overwhelmed by stimuli.

Question 8

How do schemas change with age?

Answer 8

Schemas become more detailed with age.

Question 9

What did Bugelski and Alampay (1962) find about schemas and perception?

Answer 9

2 groups shown a series of images
- Group 1 saw images of people
- Group 2 saw images of animals
- Then shown the ‘rat man’ and asked what it was
- Group 1: thought it was a person
- Group 2: thought it was an animal

The interpretation of ‘rat man’ was influenced by prior exposure to different types of images.

Question 10

What is the information processing approach?

Answer 10

A theoretical model suggesting information flows through the cognitive system in stages.

Question 11

What is a computer model in cognitive psychology?

Answer 11

Programming a computer to see if the output resembles human cognitive processes.

Helped develop artificial intelligence

Question 12

What is cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 12

The scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes.

Mapping brain areas to different cognitive functions

Question 13

Who was Broca and what did he discover?

Answer 13

Broca discovered that damage to the frontal lobe can impair speech production.

Question 14

What imaging techniques are used in cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 14

fMRI and PET scans.

Able to observe and describe neurological processes
- Expanded recently to include computer generated models designed to ‘read’ the brain

Question 15

What did research find about episodic and semantic memory activity?

Answer 15

Activity occurs on opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex.

Established the neurological basis of some mental disorders

Question 16

What is linked to activity in the parahippocampal gyrus?

Answer 16

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Question 17

What was the aim of the experiment on problem solving?

Answer 17

To find out the effects of other people on problem solving.

Question 18

What were the conditions in the problem-solving experiment?

Answer 18

Condition A: children allowed to talk; Condition B: children worked in silence.

Both conditions have to answer 30 questions in 2 hours

Question 19

What were the findings of the problem-solving experiment?

Answer 19

Condition A solved 204 problems; Condition B solved 324 problems.

Question 20

Why is the objective and scientific nature of the cognitive approach a strength?

Answer 20

• Uses highly controlled methods
• Practical application
• Contributed to artificial intelligence development
• Enhances scientific credibility

Question 21

What is the limitation of the cognitive approach?

Answer 21

Relies on inferences
* Can be too theoretical
* Studies use artificial stimuli
* Lacks external validity
* Doesnt represent real life experiences

Question 22

True or False: The cognitive approach is the most dominant field in psychology today.

Answer 22

True.

Question 23

Fill in the blank: The cognitive approach has practical applications in the treatment of _______.

Answer 23

depression.

Question 24

What is the cognitive approach based on that makes it a limitation?

Answer 24

Machine reductionism
- assumes mind and machine are similar
- Ignores emotion and motivation
- Memory can be affected by emotions
- Learning can be affected by motivation