Cognitive approach Flashcards
What do cognitive psychologists focus on?
Attention, memory, how people perceive, store, manipulate and interpret information
What are 4 mental processes?
Attention, thinking, store information in memory, retrieve information
How do cognitive psychologists study cognitive processes?
by using inferences
Schemas
Cognitive frameworks developed through experiences and expectations about how we should behave helping us organise and interpret vast amounts of information and can act as a short cut to fill in gaps of missed information
What can schemas cause us to do?
exclude anything that does not conform to our ideas about the world
Role schema
A schema about behaviour that is expected from someone in a particular role
Event schema
A schema about what to expect from an event
What are the advantages of the cognitive approach?
+ many applications like understanding cognitive biases and impressions
+ emphasises scientific methods like lab experiments as there is high levels of control so more objective
+ helped development of cognitive neuroscience and devising cbt
What are the disadvantages of the cognitive approach?
- ignored by other models (biological)
- doesnât give a full picture about what is going on in the mind
- Soft determinism, behaviour is determined by environment but cognitive ignores this idea
Who studied the role of schemas?
Bartlett (1932)
How did Bartlett (1932) study the role of schemas?
In a lab. English pps asked to read âthe war of ghostsâ, a native american folk tale, an unfamiliar story due to differing culture and story structure. They had to recall the story after reading it
What were the results from Barlettâs (1932) study?
All pps changed the story to fit schemas and reconstructed its order.
As more time passed between reading the story and recalling the details, it was found that participants seemed to remember less information.
How did participants change the story in Bartlettâs (1932) study?
- Details of the story became more English in culture
- Details of ghosts left out
- Order of the story was changed to be more logical
- âcanoesâ were changed to âcarsâ and âbowsâ and arrows changed to âgunsâ
What was the conclusion of Bartlettâs (1932) study?
People use their own schemas to help them interpret and remember information, and this is dependent upon culture to an extent. Schemas are important when studying internal mental processes.
What are the advantages of Bartlettâs (1932) âThe War of the Ghostsâ study?
+ In a lab setting so IV can be highly controlled and results will be reliable
+ Confirming how important schema theory is
What are the disadvantages of Bartlettâs (1932) âThe War of the Ghostsâ study?
- Criticised as there may have been demand characteristics
- Biased sample used as there was only english participants
